Day of the Girl

We are almost certain the film will premier on International Woman's Day (3/8/14).

The film is now titled Day of the Girl.

Details coming soon:-)

2014 My Writing Year

Whenever I notice I'm neglecting the blog, I always say I need to blog more. This time,  I have a good reason for the long absence, I am WRITING.

I took four memoir writing classes at Santa Monica College last year.  It was challenging writing such personal stories and sharing them with a room full of strangers. There were days when I didn't want to write or go to class. I didn't want to visit the past, I had already spent a hell of a time living it, getting help in the form of therapy, shedding the old skin, purging bad habits and healing. I am here in the present, where life is the best it's ever been BUT the stories want to claw their way out of me and I have this driving desire to rip them out and put them out to world.  Writing what will eventually be a memoir started draining me physically and emotionally by the end of 2013.  I didn't want to stop writing so I put the memoir to the side and started writing about another time in my life.

I wrote about a crazy experience from my teenage years. This is the piece that's occupying most of my time. I want to get it as polished as possible and use it as a writing sample to apply to a writer's program. It will be part of a book of short stories about coming of age in Washington Heights.

I do miss working on the memoir.  I will take it up again in about two weeks when I'm done with the fiction piece.   I plan to divide my writing time between the memoir, the short stories and my screenplays.

I'm looking forward to all the great things 2014 has in store for me.

xoxo,

Lucy

Almost Done

The film is almost done.
Mr. Brian Sorbo's Flickersound is putting the final touches on sound design & color correction.
I'm also going to change the name of the film - more of that on the next post.

xoxo,

Lucy

ps
The Big Deal will screen one more time in the new year - more of that on a future post

Rough Cut Done

I managed to get it down to 3 min & 18 seconds - I would like to bring it down to 3. I hope I can get Brian Sorbo to color correct and do the soundmix, he did an excellent job with The Big Deal. I hope he doesn't consider this too small a project.

So far, I've spent about $300 on this film, hopefully Sorbo will work his magic and add to my production value - I don't expect miracles, just want it to look and sound good when it screens it at a few festivals.

I'm going to do another $300 short before I embark on my next high end short and the feature after.

xoxo,

Lucy

I Bought a House & Made a Horror Film

That's my excuse for not blogging. Mateo and I are proud residents of the LBC!

When Matt and I met, he lived in Newport and I lived in Culver City. The ½ way point for us was Long Beach but Matt always came up to CC on the weekends.  When it came time for us to move in, Matt wanted to live in LA even though his job is at the southern tip of Orange County.  We lived in Marina del Rey/Venice for almost three years. We loved our time there but the commute was taking a toll on Matt.  

In February we started exploring Long Beach, it's a good mid point for both our commutes. We fell in love with  the beach town vibe, the sense of community and the diversity of the city.  Once we figured out where we wanted to live, we hired a realtor.  We put a bid on a house we saw on our second outing with the agent. Our bid got accepted and we closed escrow in March.

I moved from NY to LA in January 2003 – I landed at Long Beach Airport.  The second time I “landed” in Long Beach, I was wiser and better married (Matt is my 2^nd and last husband, in case you didn’t know).  Life has a funny way of bringing you back to where you started!

Another cool thing happened when we got settled in the new house, we filmed most of GHOOOUL!  The “crew” was tiny – My friend Laura used her Panasonic GH2 and she was the DP. I was very lax about this whole production. I was prepared with my shot list and I got two amazing actors to play The Girl and The Man.  (I will write more about the shoot in the next post).

Owning a house will be great for productions. We filmed in our neighborhood and all the gore took place in the alley behind our house.  Carl, the SFX Artist was walking around drenched in blood and carrying a fake head so I'm glad the alley shielded us from public view. I'm relieved no one called the cops on us!

There were a couple of people standing near the alley as we set up the last scene, I was worried they were going to be nightmares but they were really cool and just watched and stayed out of the way. They clapped and laughed along with us when  we accomplished the final shot of the film.   

Below are some pics  for your enjoyment. Thanks to Teri from DizzidentFilms for capturing the fun.

We had a ton of fun and I can't wait to make the next one.

xoxo,

Lucy

I Can Breathe Again!

Tuesday was my last day of the master class.  WOW, that was intense but I made it. I am proud of myself; I held my own against a talented group of actors. Everyone brought their game, the performances were phenomenal and Judith’s lessons are not just for the screen and stage but for life.

Judith Weston is the best teacher I’ve ever had, every time I take a class with her, I manage to elevate my craft to a new level.  I would urge anyone who has the opportunity to study with her, even if it’s just a weekend workshop to take advantage of it.

Anxiety Girl

I'm very happy these days but I think that in order to feel "normal" I need something to worry about.  I'm having too much fun in he improv class, so I decided to torture myself in a healthy way (I have made a lot of progress in my 6 years in therapy) and enroll in a scene study/master class.

It's been a while since I've taken a class with Judith, this will give me a chance to delve into script analysis, do character work and give me the right amount of anxiety.  The classes themselves are hard for me because Judith really pushes you to challenge yourself and work from a place of truth.  I am taking the Woody Allen master class. The material is funny because it comes from a dark place. I know that Judith will push me out of my comfort zone to get an honest performance out of me and by the end of the class I will be a stronger and more confident director.

The link below gives a description of the class.

Judith Weston's Master Class