Airplane Bloggin

Sorry I haven’t blogged since before I left. It was a crazy busy week on all fronts during the week I spent in California. Russ and I headed out there together to get some work done on individual projects and on a project we are working on together.

I got out there on Saturday nite and immediately headed to a house in the Hills for a party at a well-known producer’s house, off Laurel Canyon Rd. Now, I live in New York, I’ve spent a total of three weeks or so in LA during the past fifteen years (all this year) and needless to say, when I go to a party in the Hollywood Hills I don’t really expect to know anyone beyond the people with whom I showed up (and in Hollywood, even knowing the people with whom you’re traveling is an “IF”).

So wrong.

I walked in and I knew five or six people at the party from the forty people there. A producer with whom I worked on The Ten, a producer/line producer who worked with Johnnie G. (I think as a prop master), and the beautiful young actress Katherine Winnick. Also a well known NYC entertainment attorney, Steven Beer, from the same firm that my brother works for in Miami, and one or two more people. All of sudden, heya, I am on the scene. And I know people.

I guess all the networking is paying off.

The next few days were spent attending the AFM, which is the total meet market (pun intended) that its made out to be. As Johnnie said, a Fellini Film. Borat was there, but I musta missed him. Did see David Carradine, hung with a slightly egotistical Fred Williamson, met with bunches of biz people, and pitched a project to Focus, that seemed to be well-received.

Also, one nite we crashed the Google Party at the AFM. We basically talked our way in, and it was a good one. I guess those google guys are doing OK. Ran into Dan Mirvish, Slamdance cp-founder, and invited him to serve on the Jury of the next PictureStart Film Festival (aka the Home Film Festival). He accepted, so I guess we’ll be seeing him in NYC. I like the idea of having someone from Slamdance there, given my recent production deal with them.

At the Google party, I also ran in Oldenburg Alum Chris Stromopolous, who I met first in 2004 at Oldenburg. Chris did something very unique as a young man. With two of his friends, Chris, at the age of eight, began a scene by scene remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, exactly the same as the real deal (or as close as they could get - a dog played the monkey and chris, I believe, played Indy), complete with rolling boulders, etc. It took Chris and his friends ten years or so. After they were finished they put aside their opus, and went on with their lives, until years later, someone got a copy of the film to Steven Spielberg. Her was very impressed and thought it was a great story, so he sent it to Scott Rudin. Voila, three years later they are close to a final script from the writer of Art School Confidential, Chris is producing, and the movie is supposed to be shot in Alabama in 2007. A great story.

Rest of the week was many meetings, get togethers and as common in LA, lots of driving around. Went to New Line, CAA, and made a bunch of other stops, including a lunch/pitch session with a legendary tv producer who produced both Star Search and Solid Gold, the type of guy who pitched directly to the decision makers at the networks. And he liked my idea.

“My Brother” screened to a crowd of 450 people of so at the Writers Guild Theater on Doheny on Friday nite, and that seemed to go very well.

But the big professional highlight of the week was the Slamdance release, which kicked off a bunch of press, with Angel Baby Entertainment appearing in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Reuters and IMDB News all on one day, and in the LA times over the weekend as well. I met with the Slamdance people, and they are all very excited about going forward with the deal, as are people in the industry who are talking about various distribution alternatives with the movies made out of this production deal. Also, dropped off Hot Baby for the first time, and The Insurgents, which already had gotten good marks from its initial screening at Slamdance. Hopefully, one or both of the movies will be playing at Slamdance. Either way, I will be there, giving away a ten thousand dollar check to the writer of the winning Horror Script in the Competiton.

BTW, trying to figure out a name for the brand of movies coming out of the competition and production deal – the first idea I’ve had was “Screaming Voices” which pays some homage to the Writers who fuel the competition and also obviously makes sense for the Genre. Gonna keep thinking. If you have any suggestions, lemme know. Maybe I’ll get one I like better.

After the screening, I went to meet Heidi’s sister, Kristina, who attends USC and is, personality-wise, a spitting image of her older sister. She was definitely the coolest girl in the very hip and crowded place we met, Monroes, as her co-revellers seemed to make very clear. She’s an actress as well, and she has quite a presence, I think she’ll go far.

The irony of coming home is that perhaps two of the most important conversations I had in LA ended with my counterparty asking me when I am back in LA. Like, can I come back next week. Ugh. I like LA. I hate flying (especially when there is turbeulence, like there is right now). But for obvious reasons, looks like I am going to be a bi-coastal blogger for the time being.