A Good Problem to Have

[Jennifer Swartout portrays Janis Joplin in the movie short, "Janis." Go to the Facebook page "Steel Corset Productions" for details and find out where and when YOU can see it!]

Hey there... another long spell of not blogging... I know, I suck, but it is just that I have been so crazy busy I have had no time or energy to write. But I really DO want to keep you in the loop! So please join me on my new Facebook page, STEEL CORSET PRODUCTIONS ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baltimore-MD/Steel-Corset-Productions/169509529729209?ref=ts ).

There, in the soundbite style we have all become accustomed/addicted to, you can find out exactly what I am/have been/will be up to, and find out in a way timely enough so that you may actually attend some of these events instead of just hearing about the aftermath! Also I will be posting there whenever people like extras, interns, or production assistants are needed, so if you have always wanted to work on a movie set you will likely soon have the opportunity. I will also list calls for crew and actor auditions there, for my own projects as well as my filmmaker friends.

I'm going to try to be a better twitterer, too, but no promises there.

But become a fan ("like") Steel Corset Productions ASAP, because things are happening! Tomorrow night is the premiere screening of, "Lamplight," at the Wind-up Space, where you will also be able to see the very first teaser/trailer for Chris Lamartina's "Witch's Brew." And if you see a young woman that looks like a pretty version of Janis Joplin, that is my friend Jen Swartout who indeed portrays Janis Joplin in a short we collaborated on this summer that will be screening soon at the Creative Alliance. So, in a nutshell that is tomorrow night, you can see the fruits of my summer of labor. But you need to go to the Facebook page to get all the details, because it is a lot of info and, as usual, I am exhausted!

P.S. this does NOT mean I am completely abandoning the blog! I will post a link to it on the SCP Facebook page whenever I make a new post. I am heading to the Poconos for several days, so I very well may have some time to write!

DUDE...

"DUDE...," as I have come to know this phrase, is short for, "DUDE, you don't even KNOW..." Which is pretty much how I would describe my life to just about anyone these days.

I had a late lunch with the Director I am currently working with, Chris Lamartina. I got called, "Dude," quite a bit during that conversation. With most people of the opposite sex, I have a problem if they call me, "dude". But for Chris, I understand. I've been working with him for for about a month now on the set, and there are different inflections of dude-ism with him. Sometimes it means, "Really, dude, what the hell?!" Sometimes it means, "Dude, just work with me." And sometimes it means, "Dude, I'm pretty sure you know what I am talking about." For the most part, with me, I think so anyway, I get the latter.

Currently I am working as Assistant Director on Chris' latest flick, "Witch's Brew". I am having an absolute blast. I want to tell you all about it, and all about the half dozen other projects I am involved in at the moment, but honestly, I am just so frickin' EXHAUSTED. So that, being exhausted as a direct result of being busy, is why I am, at the moment, a horrible blogger. A good problem to have, methinks.

The bottom line, which I hope to have time to tell you more about, soon, is that I feel like things are working out the way I had hoped, and that my personal and professional investments are paying off. I can honestly refer to myself as a freelance filmmaker now.

There are some realities about that that are not so convenient, like not having health insurance. Sunday night on the set, I grabbed a piece of caramel candy from the craft services table. That 5 cent pice of candy cost me $120, after it pulled out a dental crown. But, whatever, things happen.

The larger picture is that I am... poor...ish... but ridiculously happy. I am not even exaggerating. DUDE. I mean, you can do things that pay the bills; you can do things that suit you; and you can do what you were meant to do. It does not bother me that I am finding out now that I should be doing this. I am not sure I would have been able to do it earlier in my life.

But seriously, Dude. I went out for dinner with friends tonight, and a few martinis later I am a bit loopy. Glad I could make a short post (I have been feeling guilty about it), but would love to chat more when I have the time as well as the cognitive fortitude. I don't expect you to stay sharply tuned, when I slag off and only post every once in a blue moon. But I will let you know if I ever intend to abandon it completely, so until then, check in with me once in awhile!

Toodles,
JC