What in the hell? Sooooo, go to E’s last nite.
Flashback, two weeks ago.
Lying in Bed with E. Prolly in the morning. Saturday morning, you know, after.
Yeah, after.
So we’re lying there, and I mention that if she’d like, I am going to ask my friend, my closest friend (one of two that get the word “best”), Gus, if E can come to his inlaws house for the holiday weekend of July 4th. He always tells me that he’s excited for me to bring a date out to the house, I sleep in my own room out there (even though its not a bedroom), so why not. So I tell E, I’ll ask, would she like to go.
“Maybe.”
OK. Maybe. So I ask Gus, and he says, he’ll ask. Let him find out. Not much of a vibe one way or the other.
Ruling comes down, and it’s a negative. Not the best weekend for it, full house, BUT, another weekend, lets pick one that’s not so crowded in August, good to go.
OK, I tell Gus, don’t even worry about it. I’m treated like a prince out there, they are very generous, its always been great. Great family. Call em my summer parents (his wife’s parents).
Anyway, so more background. I was Gus’ best man. He just had a kid. I don’t get to see him that much. So I was looking forward to seeing him and I think he might have been looking forward to seeing me even more.
Now Im in bed with E, last nite, and have to let her know.
“Im going out to the beach for a few days this weekend,” I try to soft-sell it.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and you cant go. I asked, they said this weekend doesn’t work but another weekend, would be great.”
Ensuing personality explosion. This whole to-do about the fact that I am picking to go out there instead of spending time with her. BTW, we saw each other last Sat. nite and the previous Sat. nite, having made plans no earlier than, hey, Sat. nite after eight PM both times. So wasn’t’ like I am automatically penciled in on the weekends.
And after I get this message that she cant be attached, Too recently separated. Lets not plan, yada yada.
She seemed a little apologetic in the morning, when we were leaving her place. I of course wasn’t happy and did my best to show it rather than just make up like is my instinct.
In Happy NEWS- my dad’s further health tests came back clean. In other words, he has cancer, in his prostate (sorry Dad) but it hasn’t metastasized and the surrounding area is otherwise clean. And a small benefit, his blood tests came back overall very well, so nothing else seems to be wrong. So he has very treatable cancer cuz they caught it so early.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Sweatin It Out.
Getting into it heavy now on the preproduction of the new movie. Casting Friday and today, and you know what that means. All the actresses (and actors) are coming out of the woodwork for parts. There are about six parts for young teen types (remember, it is a horror movie, so we need some kids to chop shop) and then some adult parts where we’ll try to cast some semi-names – best we’re gonna do because of the limited budget. But the script is strong, the lure of this working arrangement with our big Co-Producer, the computer company, is significant, and so we shall see where we end up.
Was exhausted at the casting today. Some really good and some pretty sorry actors came in, some really beautiful women too. I don’t normally sit through every audition, I pop in and out and stay for a bit and leave. If I am not doing the reading, and am not particularly into the actor (ie. have any great curiosity to see them read) I tend to get pretty bored.
Why was I tired. Well, E and I spent Sat nite together and (1) she has no air conditioning (well, she does but its not hooked up cuz she doesn’t use it, and (2) her place is boiling hot, and (3) we have unbelievable sexual chemistry which makes, all around, for not so much sleep. I had to be at the Studio this morning at 945 (well, the casting was starting, but I didn’t so much have to be there) and didn’t get up til about then. Or actually, it was the second time I woke, after the first time, we got into it a little and I feel asleep for another hour or so after. I think in the hot apartment, we set the world perspiration record. In two rooms.
Went to Superman on Thursday nite for a National Board of Review screening. Kinda liked it. A little slow, and a very grown up movie. Well directed, and the new Superman is the real deal. Very charismatic. Even liked Kate Bosworth. Spacey seemed to be the only one playing it as a comic strip – well, he and Parker Posey, but of course, Parker always has that quality. All in all, it’s a good film, but very much a date movie. Not so much a summer kids popcorn movie, and if I were an exec at WB, I’d be worried about my profit margins. Not to mention the 800 pound gorilla that is Pirates II eight days later.
My dad should be getting test results on the bone scan for his prostate cancer this week. I haven’t really been inclined to write about it, not sure I am now. It is quite a bit on my mind, obviously, and though the prognosis is good, its that fuckin word, Cancer. Cant sound innocuous no matter how you put it.
We had dinner (parents Rich and myself ) on Saturday, lobsters at Centro Vasco. Great dinner, moods seemed to be good. Out with Rich afterwards, I drank way too much, the stress from the week, from selling the family movie, etc. just making me thirsty.
Two shots of JD. Used to be able to take it, almost heaved up the second one. Perhaps that has something to do with my Saturday nite sweats too.
Was exhausted at the casting today. Some really good and some pretty sorry actors came in, some really beautiful women too. I don’t normally sit through every audition, I pop in and out and stay for a bit and leave. If I am not doing the reading, and am not particularly into the actor (ie. have any great curiosity to see them read) I tend to get pretty bored.
Why was I tired. Well, E and I spent Sat nite together and (1) she has no air conditioning (well, she does but its not hooked up cuz she doesn’t use it, and (2) her place is boiling hot, and (3) we have unbelievable sexual chemistry which makes, all around, for not so much sleep. I had to be at the Studio this morning at 945 (well, the casting was starting, but I didn’t so much have to be there) and didn’t get up til about then. Or actually, it was the second time I woke, after the first time, we got into it a little and I feel asleep for another hour or so after. I think in the hot apartment, we set the world perspiration record. In two rooms.
Went to Superman on Thursday nite for a National Board of Review screening. Kinda liked it. A little slow, and a very grown up movie. Well directed, and the new Superman is the real deal. Very charismatic. Even liked Kate Bosworth. Spacey seemed to be the only one playing it as a comic strip – well, he and Parker Posey, but of course, Parker always has that quality. All in all, it’s a good film, but very much a date movie. Not so much a summer kids popcorn movie, and if I were an exec at WB, I’d be worried about my profit margins. Not to mention the 800 pound gorilla that is Pirates II eight days later.
My dad should be getting test results on the bone scan for his prostate cancer this week. I haven’t really been inclined to write about it, not sure I am now. It is quite a bit on my mind, obviously, and though the prognosis is good, its that fuckin word, Cancer. Cant sound innocuous no matter how you put it.
We had dinner (parents Rich and myself ) on Saturday, lobsters at Centro Vasco. Great dinner, moods seemed to be good. Out with Rich afterwards, I drank way too much, the stress from the week, from selling the family movie, etc. just making me thirsty.
Two shots of JD. Used to be able to take it, almost heaved up the second one. Perhaps that has something to do with my Saturday nite sweats too.
Monday, June 19, 2006
do it!!!
Been tardy. Been away. Been in preproduction. Or rather, been trying to get into preproduction. And financing the random lucy liu or Jessica alba film that’s presented to me.
Hot stuff.
No, not really, and certainly not until I actually get it done.
But back to the preproduction. Chief signed off on doing a horror movie. And while it isn’t the movie I wanted him to do, it’s a movie that makes sense to do. Why?
Cuz…
1. Its cheap.
2. The script is good (top 50/3000 in slamdance script competition, though it is kinda sick and weird.
3. We are producing with the hefty cooperation of a major computer company that is doing all the post-work and a nice chunk of promotional work as well. I don’t wanna be indiscreet so I wont mention the name of the Company, but its named for a fruit. Yeah, that one.
So even on this one, Chief seemed to be waffling when I spoke to him last week. Like he wasn’t sure he wanted to go ahead. I told him low budget movies were all about planning, and getting ppl ready to do their jobs (and excited about it too, hopefully). I basically told him he had to decide whether to do it now, or not too (the writer/director has only about a four week window to do the movie). He said, Do you think we should/
Great, now its on me.
I said, yeah, it’s a good deal. Lets do it.
So we’re doin it.
Hot stuff.
No, not really, and certainly not until I actually get it done.
But back to the preproduction. Chief signed off on doing a horror movie. And while it isn’t the movie I wanted him to do, it’s a movie that makes sense to do. Why?
Cuz…
1. Its cheap.
2. The script is good (top 50/3000 in slamdance script competition, though it is kinda sick and weird.
3. We are producing with the hefty cooperation of a major computer company that is doing all the post-work and a nice chunk of promotional work as well. I don’t wanna be indiscreet so I wont mention the name of the Company, but its named for a fruit. Yeah, that one.
So even on this one, Chief seemed to be waffling when I spoke to him last week. Like he wasn’t sure he wanted to go ahead. I told him low budget movies were all about planning, and getting ppl ready to do their jobs (and excited about it too, hopefully). I basically told him he had to decide whether to do it now, or not too (the writer/director has only about a four week window to do the movie). He said, Do you think we should/
Great, now its on me.
I said, yeah, it’s a good deal. Lets do it.
So we’re doin it.
Monday, June 12, 2006
More Ego stroking junk
Now that I didnt pay for it, Tickle sent me a full rundown of my test, which I've edited for brevity. Not much so far as explanations go, perhaps the person who wrote the computer program lacks a high IQ.
Your IQ score is:
142142
You scored 142 on Tickle's IQ test. This means that based on your answers, your IQ score is between 132 and 142. Most people's IQs are between 70 and 130. In fact, 95% of all people have IQs within that range. 68% of people score between 80 and 120.
There's more to intelligence than a single number, a single score or a single label. Tickle uses four distinguishable Intelligence Scales in the Ultimate IQ Test. By analyzing your individual scores on those four scales, we are able to look beyond the raw IQ score into how you process information and thereby determine your Intellectual Type.
Your Intellectual Type Is:
Your mind's strengths allow you to think ahead of the game — to imagine or anticipate what should come next in just about any situation. Because you're equally skilled in the numerical and verbal universes of the brain, you can draw from multiple sources of information to come up with great ideas. The timelessness of your vision and the balance between your various skills are what make you a Visionary Philosopher.
In addition to your strengths in math and linguistics, you have a knack for matching and anticipating patterns. These skills and your uncanny ability to detect the underlying blueprint of most of life's situations add to your Visionary Philosopher mind. Two philosophers who share the same combination of skills you possess are Plato and Benedict Spinoza. Spinoza had insight into how things worked in the world. He could envision a future based on the patterns he saw in life, and used mathematical logic as a structure within which to present his philosophical arguments. With that base he was able to use logic to formulate his theories. Borrowing from his linguistic strengths he wrote eloquent texts and, therefore, was able to bring his philosophical ideas and structure to the rest of the world. His story exemplifies the talents that are present in the Visionary Philosopher intellectual type.
Whatever you decide to do in life, you've got a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a wide variety of ways. You can expand your mind to understand a situation. Your strong balance of math and verbal skills will help you explain things to others. For example, if you were on an archaeological dig and discovered an object, you could probably use your deductive powers to figure out not only what the object was but also how it was used. Given your ability to put things together, you are more than capable of inventing a life plan that is in synch with your perspective on how things were, how they are, and how they might be one day.
Great Jobs For You
Because of the way you process information, these are just some of the many careers in which you could excel:
• Archaeologist
• Detective
• Psychologist
• Sculptor
• Architect
• City planner
• Chief executive
Some of Your Greatest Talents
You've got tons of strengths. It wouldn't surprise us if you:
• Think of the "big picture"
• Can anticipate and predict patterns
• Are good at context clues
• Can see similarities in seemingly disparate things
Your 4 Intelligence Scales
Now let's look at the factors that contribute to you being a Visionary Philosopher with a 142 IQ score.
Based on the results of your test, Tickle divided your scores into four distinguishable dimensions — mathematical intelligence, visual-spatial intelligence, linguistic intelligence and logic intelligence.
Here's how each of your intelligence scores break down:
Mathematical Intelligence
Your Mathematical Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the mathematical intelligence scale. This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did. The scale above illustrates this visually.
Your mathematical intelligence score represents your combined ability to reason and calculate. You scored relatively high, which means you're probably the one your friends look to when splitting the lunch bill or calculating your waitresses' tip. You may or may not be known as a math whiz, but number crunching might come a little easier to you than it does others.
Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Your Visual-Spatial Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the visual-spatial intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did. The scale above illustrates this visually.
The visual-spatial component of intelligence measures your ability to extract a visual pattern and from that envision what should come next in a sequence. Your score was relatively high, which could mean that you're the one navigating the map when you're on an outing with friends. You have, in some capacity, an ability to think in pictures. Maybe this strength comes out in subtle ways, like how you play chess or form metaphors.
Your Linguistic Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the linguistic intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did.
Linguistic abilities include reading, writing and communicating with words. Tickle's test measures knowledge of vocabulary, ease in completing word analogies and the ability to think critically about a statement based on its semantic structure. Your score was relatively high, which could mean you know your way around a bookstore and maybe like to bandy about the occasional 25-cent word to impress friends.
Logical Intelligence
Your Logical Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the logical intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did.
Tickle's logical intelligence questions assess your ability to think things through. The questions determine the extent to which you use reasoning and logic to determine the best solution to a problem. Your logic score was relatively high, which could mean that when the car breaks down, your friends look to you to help figure out not only what's wrong, but how to fix it and how you're going to get to the next gas station.
What do all these percentiles mean?
For each scale, Tickle determined how many people received scores above and below yours. Your "percentile" represents what percentage of people scored lower than you. In other words, 90th percentile means you scored higher than 80 to 90% of people did.
How are the percentiles determined? These percentiles were determined based on the one million users who have already taken our test. We then adjusted these percentiles based on a nationally representative IQ distribution to make sure that no level of intelligence was over- or underrepresented in the analysis. Thus, the percentiles we present reflect your score compared with people in the United States in general.
What factors helped determine my score?
If your score isn't as high as you thought it would be, remember that there are plenty of external factors that can affect your performance on the test. If you were tired, hungry or distracted, you might have scored lower than you expected because you were less able to concentrate.
Your level of formal education and your familiarity with taking these kinds of tests also influence how well you do. That's part of the reason IQ tests aren't a perfect measure of your intelligence. Your score would probably be quite different if the IQ test was designed to take into account your musical, artistic, emotional and social skills.
On their own, IQ scores can't predict someone's ultimate success or definitive potential for success. Many of the qualities that lead to great achievements are learned through culture, experience and schooling - not solely from doing well on an IQ test.
What your IQ test can help explain, however, is how your brain works best. By looking at the kinds of questions you answered correctly and the kinds of questions you answered incorrectly, we can tell you more about your intelligence type — the type that explains the kind of information that makes sense to your brain.
What is an IQ?
The intelligence quotient (IQ) measures the ratio of a person's intellectual age to his/her chronological age. Most adult intelligence tests are designed for people who are at least 16 years old. For this reason, if you are younger than 16, your Tickle IQ score might be slightly lower than your "true" IQ.
History of IQ Testing
One of the first scientific investigations into the concept of intelligence, came from nineteenth-century British scientist, Sir Francis Galton. Galton believed that mental traits, like physical traits, could be inherited. He published his ideas on hereditary intelligence in his book, Hereditary Genius.
Meanwhile in France, psychologist Alfred Binet was exploring ways of measuring children's' intelligence. Like Galton, Binet was passionate about testing and measuring human capabilities. Binet worked with two groups of children - those who were average students, and those who were less mentally capable. He discovered that average students could complete certain tasks that less mentally capable students could not. Based on those findings, Binet calculated the "normal" abilities for students within different age groups. From there he could estimate how many years above or below the norm a student's mental age was.
Just before WWI, German psychologist Wilhelm Stern came up with an alternative to mental age for measuring people's intelligence. He suggested that a more accurate method for assessing someone's intelligence was to measure their capabilities given their chronological age. He proposed that for a true estimate of someone's intelligence, researchers needed to calculate a ratio between the subject's mental age and their chronological age. Since the resulting numbers were represented by decimals, scientists decided to multiply this "quotient" by 100 to get rid of the decimal places. Thus, the formula for an IQ is: IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100.
Based on the ratio that Stern created, Lewis Terman, an American psychologist at Stanford University, coined the term Intelligence Quotient for Stern's Binet test scoring system.
How People Might Evaluate You Based on IQ Score
IQ tests serve as a useful tool for institutions such as public schools and the military, where great numbers of people must be processed quickly and efficiently, and placed in appropriated classes or positions.
In the United States, kindergarten-aged children are often given IQ tests to evaluate whether they need special attention or services. For example, children scoring 130 or over are often considered "gifted" and placed in programs accordingly. However, in most institutional uses of the test nowadays, the importance placed on the actual IQ score has changed.
The military tends to use IQ test results to assess which field a recruit might be best suited to. Instead of relying solely on the intelligence rating, the IQ score, the military will now look at the kinds of questions a recruit answered correctly. Once they know that, they have a better idea of what innate skills the recruit can bring to specific assignments and duties.
And as far as the business world goes, uses of such tests for employment purposes was declared illegal — except in rare circumstances — by the Supreme Court in 1971.
In social life, the IQ test is only really applicable if you're specifically joining an organization based on IQ scores like Mensa, a society founded in 1964 for people who score in the top 2% of the IQ test. But, in general, there are still some misconceptions about the importance of test results. Chances are, people you know are more likely to be judgmental about a high or low score than most institutions are. Luckily, this is usually just a case of misinformation and is easily remedied.
Your IQ score is:
142142
You scored 142 on Tickle's IQ test. This means that based on your answers, your IQ score is between 132 and 142. Most people's IQs are between 70 and 130. In fact, 95% of all people have IQs within that range. 68% of people score between 80 and 120.
There's more to intelligence than a single number, a single score or a single label. Tickle uses four distinguishable Intelligence Scales in the Ultimate IQ Test. By analyzing your individual scores on those four scales, we are able to look beyond the raw IQ score into how you process information and thereby determine your Intellectual Type.
Your Intellectual Type Is:
Your mind's strengths allow you to think ahead of the game — to imagine or anticipate what should come next in just about any situation. Because you're equally skilled in the numerical and verbal universes of the brain, you can draw from multiple sources of information to come up with great ideas. The timelessness of your vision and the balance between your various skills are what make you a Visionary Philosopher.
In addition to your strengths in math and linguistics, you have a knack for matching and anticipating patterns. These skills and your uncanny ability to detect the underlying blueprint of most of life's situations add to your Visionary Philosopher mind. Two philosophers who share the same combination of skills you possess are Plato and Benedict Spinoza. Spinoza had insight into how things worked in the world. He could envision a future based on the patterns he saw in life, and used mathematical logic as a structure within which to present his philosophical arguments. With that base he was able to use logic to formulate his theories. Borrowing from his linguistic strengths he wrote eloquent texts and, therefore, was able to bring his philosophical ideas and structure to the rest of the world. His story exemplifies the talents that are present in the Visionary Philosopher intellectual type.
Whatever you decide to do in life, you've got a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a wide variety of ways. You can expand your mind to understand a situation. Your strong balance of math and verbal skills will help you explain things to others. For example, if you were on an archaeological dig and discovered an object, you could probably use your deductive powers to figure out not only what the object was but also how it was used. Given your ability to put things together, you are more than capable of inventing a life plan that is in synch with your perspective on how things were, how they are, and how they might be one day.
Great Jobs For You
Because of the way you process information, these are just some of the many careers in which you could excel:
• Archaeologist
• Detective
• Psychologist
• Sculptor
• Architect
• City planner
• Chief executive
Some of Your Greatest Talents
You've got tons of strengths. It wouldn't surprise us if you:
• Think of the "big picture"
• Can anticipate and predict patterns
• Are good at context clues
• Can see similarities in seemingly disparate things
Your 4 Intelligence Scales
Now let's look at the factors that contribute to you being a Visionary Philosopher with a 142 IQ score.
Based on the results of your test, Tickle divided your scores into four distinguishable dimensions — mathematical intelligence, visual-spatial intelligence, linguistic intelligence and logic intelligence.
Here's how each of your intelligence scores break down:
Mathematical Intelligence
Your Mathematical Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the mathematical intelligence scale. This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did. The scale above illustrates this visually.
Your mathematical intelligence score represents your combined ability to reason and calculate. You scored relatively high, which means you're probably the one your friends look to when splitting the lunch bill or calculating your waitresses' tip. You may or may not be known as a math whiz, but number crunching might come a little easier to you than it does others.
Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Your Visual-Spatial Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the visual-spatial intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did. The scale above illustrates this visually.
The visual-spatial component of intelligence measures your ability to extract a visual pattern and from that envision what should come next in a sequence. Your score was relatively high, which could mean that you're the one navigating the map when you're on an outing with friends. You have, in some capacity, an ability to think in pictures. Maybe this strength comes out in subtle ways, like how you play chess or form metaphors.
Your Linguistic Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the linguistic intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did.
Linguistic abilities include reading, writing and communicating with words. Tickle's test measures knowledge of vocabulary, ease in completing word analogies and the ability to think critically about a statement based on its semantic structure. Your score was relatively high, which could mean you know your way around a bookstore and maybe like to bandy about the occasional 25-cent word to impress friends.
Logical Intelligence
Your Logical Percentile
You scored in the 100th percentile on the logical intelligence scale.
This means that you scored higher than 90% - 100% of people who took the test and that 0% - 10% scored higher than you did.
Tickle's logical intelligence questions assess your ability to think things through. The questions determine the extent to which you use reasoning and logic to determine the best solution to a problem. Your logic score was relatively high, which could mean that when the car breaks down, your friends look to you to help figure out not only what's wrong, but how to fix it and how you're going to get to the next gas station.
What do all these percentiles mean?
For each scale, Tickle determined how many people received scores above and below yours. Your "percentile" represents what percentage of people scored lower than you. In other words, 90th percentile means you scored higher than 80 to 90% of people did.
How are the percentiles determined? These percentiles were determined based on the one million users who have already taken our test. We then adjusted these percentiles based on a nationally representative IQ distribution to make sure that no level of intelligence was over- or underrepresented in the analysis. Thus, the percentiles we present reflect your score compared with people in the United States in general.
What factors helped determine my score?
If your score isn't as high as you thought it would be, remember that there are plenty of external factors that can affect your performance on the test. If you were tired, hungry or distracted, you might have scored lower than you expected because you were less able to concentrate.
Your level of formal education and your familiarity with taking these kinds of tests also influence how well you do. That's part of the reason IQ tests aren't a perfect measure of your intelligence. Your score would probably be quite different if the IQ test was designed to take into account your musical, artistic, emotional and social skills.
On their own, IQ scores can't predict someone's ultimate success or definitive potential for success. Many of the qualities that lead to great achievements are learned through culture, experience and schooling - not solely from doing well on an IQ test.
What your IQ test can help explain, however, is how your brain works best. By looking at the kinds of questions you answered correctly and the kinds of questions you answered incorrectly, we can tell you more about your intelligence type — the type that explains the kind of information that makes sense to your brain.
What is an IQ?
The intelligence quotient (IQ) measures the ratio of a person's intellectual age to his/her chronological age. Most adult intelligence tests are designed for people who are at least 16 years old. For this reason, if you are younger than 16, your Tickle IQ score might be slightly lower than your "true" IQ.
History of IQ Testing
One of the first scientific investigations into the concept of intelligence, came from nineteenth-century British scientist, Sir Francis Galton. Galton believed that mental traits, like physical traits, could be inherited. He published his ideas on hereditary intelligence in his book, Hereditary Genius.
Meanwhile in France, psychologist Alfred Binet was exploring ways of measuring children's' intelligence. Like Galton, Binet was passionate about testing and measuring human capabilities. Binet worked with two groups of children - those who were average students, and those who were less mentally capable. He discovered that average students could complete certain tasks that less mentally capable students could not. Based on those findings, Binet calculated the "normal" abilities for students within different age groups. From there he could estimate how many years above or below the norm a student's mental age was.
Just before WWI, German psychologist Wilhelm Stern came up with an alternative to mental age for measuring people's intelligence. He suggested that a more accurate method for assessing someone's intelligence was to measure their capabilities given their chronological age. He proposed that for a true estimate of someone's intelligence, researchers needed to calculate a ratio between the subject's mental age and their chronological age. Since the resulting numbers were represented by decimals, scientists decided to multiply this "quotient" by 100 to get rid of the decimal places. Thus, the formula for an IQ is: IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100.
Based on the ratio that Stern created, Lewis Terman, an American psychologist at Stanford University, coined the term Intelligence Quotient for Stern's Binet test scoring system.
How People Might Evaluate You Based on IQ Score
IQ tests serve as a useful tool for institutions such as public schools and the military, where great numbers of people must be processed quickly and efficiently, and placed in appropriated classes or positions.
In the United States, kindergarten-aged children are often given IQ tests to evaluate whether they need special attention or services. For example, children scoring 130 or over are often considered "gifted" and placed in programs accordingly. However, in most institutional uses of the test nowadays, the importance placed on the actual IQ score has changed.
The military tends to use IQ test results to assess which field a recruit might be best suited to. Instead of relying solely on the intelligence rating, the IQ score, the military will now look at the kinds of questions a recruit answered correctly. Once they know that, they have a better idea of what innate skills the recruit can bring to specific assignments and duties.
And as far as the business world goes, uses of such tests for employment purposes was declared illegal — except in rare circumstances — by the Supreme Court in 1971.
In social life, the IQ test is only really applicable if you're specifically joining an organization based on IQ scores like Mensa, a society founded in 1964 for people who score in the top 2% of the IQ test. But, in general, there are still some misconceptions about the importance of test results. Chances are, people you know are more likely to be judgmental about a high or low score than most institutions are. Luckily, this is usually just a case of misinformation and is easily remedied.
Fuckin Golden
Sooo. Silence is often an effective negotiating tool. The first offer I got, that lowball offer, the one I griped loudly about last week, well, I went back with a markup of the deal and sent it into this distrib.
Among other things, I asked for a $500,000 advance against DVD sales in the event that I didn’t get anything more than a test release for the movie, ie. because it didn’t gross enough to mandate the distributor to move to a wider release.
Did I think that he would accept this DVD advance number? Not particularly. He made it very clear in his response that he wouldn’t even discuss a number like that. And that if the movie failed to get a wide enough release, because it didn’t test well, that would be because the movie wasn’t strong enough, not because the job the distrtib did wasn’t strong enough.
OK. I guess that settles that.
So I do what I do, in negotiations, to find out what the other side is really upto.
I create silence. I wait for them to respond.
Its not always easy to do because sometimes you really want a response on something and you want it now. Good or bad.
Been there? Yeah, I live there too. Used to live there all the time, so it’s a matter of willpower for me.
So now he emailed, he wants to talk on Monday, and we shall see if the waiting, if the creation of silence, helped in the negotiations.
What did make it easier, is that I don’t necessarily want to speed up the negotiations. Because, “drum roll please” – perhaps we have had a break. This woman who our in-house photographer knows from the pub around the corner, just happens to be (1) a huge fan of a old short film that the Artist did, that was nominated for an Academy Award, and (2) a fan of the movie (just having seen it and loved it). Went to lunch on Friday with her. She feels the movie is a (1) wide (2) studio or major release. When I say wide, I mean wide for this genre (or she means it) which is 800 screens.
She is going to be calling the new head of MGM and her distrib friends at FOCUS as well. She plans on telling them that the movie is a movie that they need to see and consider. I quote her “This movie should play very well with audiences. Its studio quality and better than a lot of the crap that gets released by the majors.”
OKAY.
Be following up with her this week. Fingaz and toez crossed.
Stayed at E’s last nite, first “SLEEPOVER” hehe. I think she finally decided she liked me.
(Not so) Grumpy (today).
Among other things, I asked for a $500,000 advance against DVD sales in the event that I didn’t get anything more than a test release for the movie, ie. because it didn’t gross enough to mandate the distributor to move to a wider release.
Did I think that he would accept this DVD advance number? Not particularly. He made it very clear in his response that he wouldn’t even discuss a number like that. And that if the movie failed to get a wide enough release, because it didn’t test well, that would be because the movie wasn’t strong enough, not because the job the distrtib did wasn’t strong enough.
OK. I guess that settles that.
So I do what I do, in negotiations, to find out what the other side is really upto.
I create silence. I wait for them to respond.
Its not always easy to do because sometimes you really want a response on something and you want it now. Good or bad.
Been there? Yeah, I live there too. Used to live there all the time, so it’s a matter of willpower for me.
So now he emailed, he wants to talk on Monday, and we shall see if the waiting, if the creation of silence, helped in the negotiations.
What did make it easier, is that I don’t necessarily want to speed up the negotiations. Because, “drum roll please” – perhaps we have had a break. This woman who our in-house photographer knows from the pub around the corner, just happens to be (1) a huge fan of a old short film that the Artist did, that was nominated for an Academy Award, and (2) a fan of the movie (just having seen it and loved it). Went to lunch on Friday with her. She feels the movie is a (1) wide (2) studio or major release. When I say wide, I mean wide for this genre (or she means it) which is 800 screens.
She is going to be calling the new head of MGM and her distrib friends at FOCUS as well. She plans on telling them that the movie is a movie that they need to see and consider. I quote her “This movie should play very well with audiences. Its studio quality and better than a lot of the crap that gets released by the majors.”
OKAY.
Be following up with her this week. Fingaz and toez crossed.
Stayed at E’s last nite, first “SLEEPOVER” hehe. I think she finally decided she liked me.
(Not so) Grumpy (today).
Thursday, June 08, 2006
For whatever its worth
Been sitting at work, waiting to leave (I have a dinner and a party to go to near work, not so near home, so killing time in the Studio. So run across an online IQ test and Job Satisfaction test. I took em. Walked away from the IQ test in the middle for an hour because of someone coming into the Studio, don’t know if that woulda impacted my score and I don’t wanna pay the 12 bucks to find out. Prolly not though.
Its all on Tickle.com. Consider me tickled. Looking at the jobs report though, maybe producing is the right career for me.
FROM MY JOBS TEST
Strategic and Creative
As a Strategic type, you want to be able to express yourself and your ideas through work. Sure there's a time and place for rules and procedures, but when a good thought strikes you, you don't want it to be boxed into one way of thinking. You're willing to go outside the rules if there's a chance that the risk will reap big rewards.
You are stronger than most when it comes to generating ideas. And because of this, it might sometimes feel easier to take on all aspects of a job yourself instead of wasting time explaining it to someone else who might not "get it" like you do. But because you have so many ideas and are willing to take on so much, you might find that you sometimes have trouble finishing every project you start.
Your diplomacy and adaptability make you a valuable asset. But your need to feel invested in a company that allows you to express your original ways of thinking will ultimately impact how happy you are in the workplace.
FROM IQ TEST
Congratulations, Gregory!
Your IQ score is 142
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.
Your Intellectual Type is Visionary Philosopher. This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that's just some of what we know about you from your IQ results.
FROM ME
The interpretation that I found for the score on another site....
FROM http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq04.htm
IQ stands for intelligence quotient. Supposedly, it is a score that tells one how “bright” a person is compared to other people. The average IQ is by definition 100; scores above 100 indicate a higher than average IQ and scores below 100 indicate a lower that average IQ. Theoretically, scores can range any amount below or above 100, but in practice they do not meaningfully go much below 50 or above 150.
Half of the population have IQ’s of between 90 and 110, while 25% have higher IQ’s and 25% have lower IQ’s:
Descriptive Classifications of Intelligence Quotients
IQ Description % of Population
130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%
Apparently, the IQ gives a good indication of the occupational group that a person will end up in, though not of course the specific occupation. In their book, Know Your Child’s IQ, Glen Wilson and Diana Grylls outline occupations typical of various IQ levels:
140 Top Civil Servants; Professors and Research Scientists.
130 Physicians and Surgeons; Lawyers; Engineers (Civil and Mechanical)
120 School Teachers; Pharmacists; Accountants; Nurses; Stenographers; Managers.
110 Foremen; Clerks; Telephone Operators; Salesmen; Policemen; Electricians.
100+ Machine Operators; Shopkeepers; Butchers; Welders; Sheet Metal Workers.
100- Warehousemen; Carpenters; Cooks and Bakers; Small Farmers; Truck and Van Drivers.
90 Laborers; Gardeners; Upholsterers; Farmhands; Miners; Factory Packers and Sorters.
IQ Expressed in Percentiles
IQ is often expressed in percentiles, which is not the same as percentage scores, and a common reason for the misunderstanding of IQ test scores. Percentage refers to the number of items which a child answers correctly compared to the total number of items presented. If a child answers 25 questions correctly on a 50 question test he would earn a percentage score of 50. If he answers 40 questions on the same test his percentage score would be 80. Percentile, however, refers to the number of other test takers’ scores that an individual’s score equals or exceeds. If a child answered 25 questions and did better than 50% of the children taking the test he would score at the 50th percentile. However, if he answered 40 questions on the 50 item test and everyone else answered more than he did, he would fall at a very low percentile — even though he answered 80% of the questions correctly.
On most standardized tests, an IQ of 100 is at the 50th percentile. Most of our IQ tests are standardized with a mean score of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. What that means is that the following IQ scores will be roughly equivalent to the following percentiles:
IQ Percentile
65 01
70 02
75 05
80 09
85 16
90 25
95 37
100 50
105 63
110 75
115 84
120 91
125 95
130 98
135 99
An IQ of 120 therefore implies that the testee is brighter than about 91% of the population, while 130 puts a person ahead of 98% of people. A person with an IQ of 80 is brighter than only 9% of people, and only a few score less than 60.
What does all this mean. Well, i guess (1) I should be a producer, and (2) Im never satisfied, because I think Im higher than 142, even though thats in the top .5 percent or something. I hate those fucking diagram questions, like which friggin one doesnt belong. I dont play with blocks, how the hell should I know.
In fact, I can't think of any I got wrong out of 50 (who knows, I probably missed one stupidly). Maybe not, maybe I took too long cause I walked away from my computer.
G
Its all on Tickle.com. Consider me tickled. Looking at the jobs report though, maybe producing is the right career for me.
FROM MY JOBS TEST
Strategic and Creative
As a Strategic type, you want to be able to express yourself and your ideas through work. Sure there's a time and place for rules and procedures, but when a good thought strikes you, you don't want it to be boxed into one way of thinking. You're willing to go outside the rules if there's a chance that the risk will reap big rewards.
You are stronger than most when it comes to generating ideas. And because of this, it might sometimes feel easier to take on all aspects of a job yourself instead of wasting time explaining it to someone else who might not "get it" like you do. But because you have so many ideas and are willing to take on so much, you might find that you sometimes have trouble finishing every project you start.
Your diplomacy and adaptability make you a valuable asset. But your need to feel invested in a company that allows you to express your original ways of thinking will ultimately impact how happy you are in the workplace.
FROM IQ TEST
Congratulations, Gregory!
Your IQ score is 142
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.
Your Intellectual Type is Visionary Philosopher. This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that's just some of what we know about you from your IQ results.
FROM ME
The interpretation that I found for the score on another site....
FROM http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq04.htm
IQ stands for intelligence quotient. Supposedly, it is a score that tells one how “bright” a person is compared to other people. The average IQ is by definition 100; scores above 100 indicate a higher than average IQ and scores below 100 indicate a lower that average IQ. Theoretically, scores can range any amount below or above 100, but in practice they do not meaningfully go much below 50 or above 150.
Half of the population have IQ’s of between 90 and 110, while 25% have higher IQ’s and 25% have lower IQ’s:
Descriptive Classifications of Intelligence Quotients
IQ Description % of Population
130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%
Apparently, the IQ gives a good indication of the occupational group that a person will end up in, though not of course the specific occupation. In their book, Know Your Child’s IQ, Glen Wilson and Diana Grylls outline occupations typical of various IQ levels:
140 Top Civil Servants; Professors and Research Scientists.
130 Physicians and Surgeons; Lawyers; Engineers (Civil and Mechanical)
120 School Teachers; Pharmacists; Accountants; Nurses; Stenographers; Managers.
110 Foremen; Clerks; Telephone Operators; Salesmen; Policemen; Electricians.
100+ Machine Operators; Shopkeepers; Butchers; Welders; Sheet Metal Workers.
100- Warehousemen; Carpenters; Cooks and Bakers; Small Farmers; Truck and Van Drivers.
90 Laborers; Gardeners; Upholsterers; Farmhands; Miners; Factory Packers and Sorters.
IQ Expressed in Percentiles
IQ is often expressed in percentiles, which is not the same as percentage scores, and a common reason for the misunderstanding of IQ test scores. Percentage refers to the number of items which a child answers correctly compared to the total number of items presented. If a child answers 25 questions correctly on a 50 question test he would earn a percentage score of 50. If he answers 40 questions on the same test his percentage score would be 80. Percentile, however, refers to the number of other test takers’ scores that an individual’s score equals or exceeds. If a child answered 25 questions and did better than 50% of the children taking the test he would score at the 50th percentile. However, if he answered 40 questions on the 50 item test and everyone else answered more than he did, he would fall at a very low percentile — even though he answered 80% of the questions correctly.
On most standardized tests, an IQ of 100 is at the 50th percentile. Most of our IQ tests are standardized with a mean score of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. What that means is that the following IQ scores will be roughly equivalent to the following percentiles:
IQ Percentile
65 01
70 02
75 05
80 09
85 16
90 25
95 37
100 50
105 63
110 75
115 84
120 91
125 95
130 98
135 99
An IQ of 120 therefore implies that the testee is brighter than about 91% of the population, while 130 puts a person ahead of 98% of people. A person with an IQ of 80 is brighter than only 9% of people, and only a few score less than 60.
What does all this mean. Well, i guess (1) I should be a producer, and (2) Im never satisfied, because I think Im higher than 142, even though thats in the top .5 percent or something. I hate those fucking diagram questions, like which friggin one doesnt belong. I dont play with blocks, how the hell should I know.
In fact, I can't think of any I got wrong out of 50 (who knows, I probably missed one stupidly). Maybe not, maybe I took too long cause I walked away from my computer.
G
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Et tu, Brute
Et tu, Brute
Remember when I said that Id finally convinced the Artist, the director, the owner of the Studio, you know, that madman. Id convinced him that doing a movie every two years was not the way to operate a business, or to keep his studio afloat. That there was a need, indispensable, to bring in outside business, outside movies, and also to continue the work on the studios projects, which needed to be more diversified than just doing movies for one potential audience. Like, doncha put all your eggs in one basket. Big Chief supported the idea, The Artist was warming to it, Farm Boy was all in.
Then Big Chief gets cold feet, or slows the process down, as I recently vented about. I vented, but because he’s holding back, supposedly, to invest in the distribution of a movie I produced, I don’t have much grounds for complaints.
A little background is in order. When I arrived at the Studio, they were hanging on by a thread. Literally. If I hadn’t helped them out, they would have been closed. Locked up even maybe, not due to anyone’s fault, just due to some mismanagement of funds and the failings of the attorney they had previously hired.
I dug em out, with the help of the Chief. We straightened out the show, and the Studio made the movie. They stayed in business. The Artist got to continue being an artist. And I got paid a little bit of money to make the movie, and to work at the Studio. Never much, but enough to live on. And it was fine, no complaints.
Then when the movie began to take longer and longer to complete, the well started to run dry. But since the work wasn’t done, I kept working. No pay, I actually went into my own pocket, and worked my tail off for nine months without a check from the Studio.
Yes, really. I’m about to be paid fully for my work over that time, so that’s fine. No problem there. Of course, once again, with my being here, there would be no way that the additional funding would ever have come in. In other words, I got myself paid. Ive done this all along, while keeping the Studio doors open.
Flashforward. Til Sunday, just past. Without me knowing, Chief meets with the Artist and with a horror film producer, someone with a questionable record of success. Someone who wrote a movie that did fairly well for him, but who has had quite his share of failures as well.
Why? To greenlight the idea of working on horror genre films at the Studio to keep the door open.
Which means I have to be beholded to this guy (lets call him Zombie). Zombie knows more about the movie biz than me? Please. I mean really, please. His last movie, the one he just made, was one of the least distributable movies I’ve ever seen. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t distributed.
I wont work for him. Im bothered significantly that my idea has to be run by Zombie for him to approve them. Yeah, he knows George Romero and Wes Craven, but how much has that helped him make money with his movies over the last ten years. And now, I have to hear third hand that they have had a meeting regarding to consider doing the movies that I’ve brought in (or others like them), without telling me, and having the Zombie come along?
Why would I put up with this shit. Anyway, headed into a sitdown about this, I am sure. See how it goes. I have a lot invested here, yes, but I’m not going to kill myself if the investment isn’t respected.
G
Remember when I said that Id finally convinced the Artist, the director, the owner of the Studio, you know, that madman. Id convinced him that doing a movie every two years was not the way to operate a business, or to keep his studio afloat. That there was a need, indispensable, to bring in outside business, outside movies, and also to continue the work on the studios projects, which needed to be more diversified than just doing movies for one potential audience. Like, doncha put all your eggs in one basket. Big Chief supported the idea, The Artist was warming to it, Farm Boy was all in.
Then Big Chief gets cold feet, or slows the process down, as I recently vented about. I vented, but because he’s holding back, supposedly, to invest in the distribution of a movie I produced, I don’t have much grounds for complaints.
A little background is in order. When I arrived at the Studio, they were hanging on by a thread. Literally. If I hadn’t helped them out, they would have been closed. Locked up even maybe, not due to anyone’s fault, just due to some mismanagement of funds and the failings of the attorney they had previously hired.
I dug em out, with the help of the Chief. We straightened out the show, and the Studio made the movie. They stayed in business. The Artist got to continue being an artist. And I got paid a little bit of money to make the movie, and to work at the Studio. Never much, but enough to live on. And it was fine, no complaints.
Then when the movie began to take longer and longer to complete, the well started to run dry. But since the work wasn’t done, I kept working. No pay, I actually went into my own pocket, and worked my tail off for nine months without a check from the Studio.
Yes, really. I’m about to be paid fully for my work over that time, so that’s fine. No problem there. Of course, once again, with my being here, there would be no way that the additional funding would ever have come in. In other words, I got myself paid. Ive done this all along, while keeping the Studio doors open.
Flashforward. Til Sunday, just past. Without me knowing, Chief meets with the Artist and with a horror film producer, someone with a questionable record of success. Someone who wrote a movie that did fairly well for him, but who has had quite his share of failures as well.
Why? To greenlight the idea of working on horror genre films at the Studio to keep the door open.
Which means I have to be beholded to this guy (lets call him Zombie). Zombie knows more about the movie biz than me? Please. I mean really, please. His last movie, the one he just made, was one of the least distributable movies I’ve ever seen. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t distributed.
I wont work for him. Im bothered significantly that my idea has to be run by Zombie for him to approve them. Yeah, he knows George Romero and Wes Craven, but how much has that helped him make money with his movies over the last ten years. And now, I have to hear third hand that they have had a meeting regarding to consider doing the movies that I’ve brought in (or others like them), without telling me, and having the Zombie come along?
Why would I put up with this shit. Anyway, headed into a sitdown about this, I am sure. See how it goes. I have a lot invested here, yes, but I’m not going to kill myself if the investment isn’t respected.
G
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Public Service Announcement - Loose Change
No, its not perfect, and probably not totally accurate, but it raises very important questions that havent been satisfactorily answers, and if half of it is right, my god.
What a week!
What a week. What a rollercoaster. (And the reason for no post).
Family movie blues? Working on the sale of this movie. Good convo after good convo with the distributor. Then the offer comes in, the worst lowball shit, compared to what we discussed on the phone. So I respond to the distrib. as in, “What the fuck is this?”
A little more formally, of course. A well reasoned assassination of his first offer.
His response – Its all part of the process.
OK. So this lowball shit, after you say ABCD you offer D. And that’s the process.
In other news (on the same topic) the film was offered a spot in a major festival (for this audience) and initially the director of the festival said that she loved the movie, we could have any spot we wanted, we could screen in competition or out of competition, yada yada yoo.
Anyway, flash forward from the initial discussion a few weeks, and enter SONY. You know, SONY. The multinational entertainment conglomerate. Come on, you know.
They have a movie. Its kinda for the same audience as mine. And they have lotsa money to promote it. I got squat for mine, basically. Maybe not quite squat, but not a whole lot.
So SONY buys the opening spot in the fest, and all of a sudden, my offer to open the festival – whoosh. Gone. See ya. Wouldn’t wanna be you if you told your investors we were offered opening nite.
So I say, fine, we’ll take another spot, be in competition (because everyone who has seen the films feels that we have a great shot to win). And this festival director, she with the forked tongue tells me that maybe we cant be in competition now. That the fest is really packed.
And what Im thinking?
That SONY has paid so handsomely for their opening spot, to promote the festival, for fancy flowers at the awards ceremony, that all of a sudden, maybe the fest doesn’t want us in competition. SONY is a lot more likely to pay next year for a spot if they win this year. After all, winning is the best press.
So I do my producer thing, start lobbying with her bosses, telling her why we should be in competition. She tells me she’ll fight for me (Yeah, right, as if).
So she fights for me. And we’re in competition. And then I have to say Thank you.
Thank you.
Welcome to the movie biz.
****
E has been in Miami in my apt for a week or so, with her mom. Started with the neg again, she seems to like me better when I don’t pay so much attention to her. Texted me four times without a response yesterday after calling me without a response the nite before. I don’t wanna have to play it this way, Bitter, but what choice do I have. What else am I supposed to do. This is apparently how she likes it. When I am too attentive, she isn’t responsive the same way she is when shes initiating. So I am gonna ride the horse in the direction it is going, as the saying goes.
Family movie blues? Working on the sale of this movie. Good convo after good convo with the distributor. Then the offer comes in, the worst lowball shit, compared to what we discussed on the phone. So I respond to the distrib. as in, “What the fuck is this?”
A little more formally, of course. A well reasoned assassination of his first offer.
His response – Its all part of the process.
OK. So this lowball shit, after you say ABCD you offer D. And that’s the process.
In other news (on the same topic) the film was offered a spot in a major festival (for this audience) and initially the director of the festival said that she loved the movie, we could have any spot we wanted, we could screen in competition or out of competition, yada yada yoo.
Anyway, flash forward from the initial discussion a few weeks, and enter SONY. You know, SONY. The multinational entertainment conglomerate. Come on, you know.
They have a movie. Its kinda for the same audience as mine. And they have lotsa money to promote it. I got squat for mine, basically. Maybe not quite squat, but not a whole lot.
So SONY buys the opening spot in the fest, and all of a sudden, my offer to open the festival – whoosh. Gone. See ya. Wouldn’t wanna be you if you told your investors we were offered opening nite.
So I say, fine, we’ll take another spot, be in competition (because everyone who has seen the films feels that we have a great shot to win). And this festival director, she with the forked tongue tells me that maybe we cant be in competition now. That the fest is really packed.
And what Im thinking?
That SONY has paid so handsomely for their opening spot, to promote the festival, for fancy flowers at the awards ceremony, that all of a sudden, maybe the fest doesn’t want us in competition. SONY is a lot more likely to pay next year for a spot if they win this year. After all, winning is the best press.
So I do my producer thing, start lobbying with her bosses, telling her why we should be in competition. She tells me she’ll fight for me (Yeah, right, as if).
So she fights for me. And we’re in competition. And then I have to say Thank you.
Thank you.
Welcome to the movie biz.
****
E has been in Miami in my apt for a week or so, with her mom. Started with the neg again, she seems to like me better when I don’t pay so much attention to her. Texted me four times without a response yesterday after calling me without a response the nite before. I don’t wanna have to play it this way, Bitter, but what choice do I have. What else am I supposed to do. This is apparently how she likes it. When I am too attentive, she isn’t responsive the same way she is when shes initiating. So I am gonna ride the horse in the direction it is going, as the saying goes.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Sleep, Perchance to dream and shit
Aaargh. Shiver me fuckin timbers, and shove 'em up ur ass.
Yes, friends and lovers, I am in a mood. I'm most displeased.
Why, you ask? Oh, pray, tell.
Im getting to it. Still shiverin me timbers over here.
The chief aint ready to pop me 500 K for the horror movie! And I thought I had it like that. It’s a horror movie for god sake. And Im producing it, I mean, like, is it not gonna make money? Puhlease!
Yet, can I complain. Me. After all, lets recount the Chief’s recent contributions to the continuation of my livelihood:
1. He floated a cool mil Dec 04.
2. Over the last twelve months hes added another 300 grand or so, give or take.
3. He has been the only investor to step up with more money.
4. He is holding back on his funding because he’s considering investing in the distribution of the family movie, or matching someone elses funding of the family movie.
5. His funding of the family movie’s distribution will benefit me directly and inditectly.
So why, dear boy, are you griping? Ciz I was pretty sure he said he would do it. He told me while I was in Florida that he wanted to do other projects with me. He told me he liked the script. He told me that if the whole studio thing didn’t work, we could still proceed. And now, hes on the fence.
Also asked me to continue to try to raise some money elsewhere. Spoke to a partner on the project, and a Company in Germany is interested potentially in taking foreign rights. Then if the Chief will go half, we can get this going. Course, I know him, and once he hears that someone wants half, he may change his mind and put up all of the money.
So it goes. What can u do?
Had dinner with E and her mom. Went to Uncle Nicks, a Greek place in Hell’s Kitchen. I don’t think it was as good as it used to be, maybe just this meal, maybe not (thought the red snapper was great, however). E somejhow saw through me immediately, saw something was wrong. I asked her how she could tell, and she said, well, you’re always so happy to see me, and tonite you aren’t?
Really?
No really?
I guess I got no game. Ugh. That’s not a good way to maintain. She thinks Im that into her – sounds like a dangerous set of circumstances. Also told me the fact that we live so far apart isn’t so great (about an hour on the train). So to retaliate I give her “You’re tough.” Yeah, I didn’t think it was that bright either.
She took some offense, I had no purpose in saying it except maybe to get a little sympathy, which I got from her but which was not nearly worth the accompanying “bitch” feeling that washed over me for my acting like such a little bitch.
Shes working for my associate Russ in my building tomorrow, as his office is in the buiiding. He knows we’re dating and he asked her – Don’t you have the address, haven’t u been to Grumpy’s place. She told him she hadn’t. As I am sitting next to her at dinner. Helluva day.
Yes, friends and lovers, I am in a mood. I'm most displeased.
Why, you ask? Oh, pray, tell.
Im getting to it. Still shiverin me timbers over here.
The chief aint ready to pop me 500 K for the horror movie! And I thought I had it like that. It’s a horror movie for god sake. And Im producing it, I mean, like, is it not gonna make money? Puhlease!
Yet, can I complain. Me. After all, lets recount the Chief’s recent contributions to the continuation of my livelihood:
1. He floated a cool mil Dec 04.
2. Over the last twelve months hes added another 300 grand or so, give or take.
3. He has been the only investor to step up with more money.
4. He is holding back on his funding because he’s considering investing in the distribution of the family movie, or matching someone elses funding of the family movie.
5. His funding of the family movie’s distribution will benefit me directly and inditectly.
So why, dear boy, are you griping? Ciz I was pretty sure he said he would do it. He told me while I was in Florida that he wanted to do other projects with me. He told me he liked the script. He told me that if the whole studio thing didn’t work, we could still proceed. And now, hes on the fence.
Also asked me to continue to try to raise some money elsewhere. Spoke to a partner on the project, and a Company in Germany is interested potentially in taking foreign rights. Then if the Chief will go half, we can get this going. Course, I know him, and once he hears that someone wants half, he may change his mind and put up all of the money.
So it goes. What can u do?
Had dinner with E and her mom. Went to Uncle Nicks, a Greek place in Hell’s Kitchen. I don’t think it was as good as it used to be, maybe just this meal, maybe not (thought the red snapper was great, however). E somejhow saw through me immediately, saw something was wrong. I asked her how she could tell, and she said, well, you’re always so happy to see me, and tonite you aren’t?
Really?
No really?
I guess I got no game. Ugh. That’s not a good way to maintain. She thinks Im that into her – sounds like a dangerous set of circumstances. Also told me the fact that we live so far apart isn’t so great (about an hour on the train). So to retaliate I give her “You’re tough.” Yeah, I didn’t think it was that bright either.
She took some offense, I had no purpose in saying it except maybe to get a little sympathy, which I got from her but which was not nearly worth the accompanying “bitch” feeling that washed over me for my acting like such a little bitch.
Shes working for my associate Russ in my building tomorrow, as his office is in the buiiding. He knows we’re dating and he asked her – Don’t you have the address, haven’t u been to Grumpy’s place. She told him she hadn’t. As I am sitting next to her at dinner. Helluva day.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
To be loved, To be loved...Oh Baby, To be loved
Birthday, mostly uneventful on any kind of grand scale, came and went. Which is ok, im 36. But people from work did get together and get me a 150 dollar gift certificate to BLT, one of NYC finest restaurants, and I got pretty good birthday cake, and Big Man, my biz partner brought me 4 movies (Fearless Vamp. Killers, Divorce Italian Style and Straw Dogs all referential to the upcoming Horror movie, and Ronin, for no particular reason). Got a bottle of good red from my bro, shit between us can be water under the bridge. I don’t have the energy to stay with it, and he finally brought me a fuckin check, and it’s a bank check, so it can’t bounce.
Had some people down to the studio – had wine and beer on the deck, and it was a little chilly. And DB (who I believe paid for the gift certificate) got E, her mom (Ugh) and I a table with a few other people at the Blue Note. Band wasn’t that good, but it’s the thought that counts.
Actually, doesn’t it only seem that the thought is what counts when the gift sucks. Why is that?
Got calls from the people that count, those I didn’t see. Most of em. Not from the ex – wonder if it occurred to her. Course I didn’t check messages last nite, but this saves me from having to call her back. Pain is still here, maybe, sis, but the relationship is dust.
So meeting E.’s mother after going out for a short period of time. Kinda easy, cuz the woman doesn’t speak a lick of English. She musta known who I was. Been instructed that women tell their mothers everything, that the mother would have known exactly who I was when they showed up at the studio. If she didn’t then, she does now after multiple PDA between E and I. I guess I have credibility.
Do I want it, a completely different question.
Though Im leaning towards yes. Yeah. I do. OK.
Got a call from the beauty queen today, of course. Timing always seems to work out that way. Dunno if I will call back, could always downshift it to the friend zone. Women love that, they love being rejected.
Well they don’t quite love it, but in some way it does turn them on, make them interested, in that what am I missing kind of way. No, Sis, not all of them, and not once you’re already involved, but at the beginning, the Neg is king. The more I neg, the more women I respond. And the better looking or more desirable they are, the more Neg required, the more they need.
Bring on the Neg.
Oh. And I can prove that ahm not that cocky, cuz im posting a bday pic of me that absolutely sucks ass.
Had some people down to the studio – had wine and beer on the deck, and it was a little chilly. And DB (who I believe paid for the gift certificate) got E, her mom (Ugh) and I a table with a few other people at the Blue Note. Band wasn’t that good, but it’s the thought that counts.
Actually, doesn’t it only seem that the thought is what counts when the gift sucks. Why is that?
Got calls from the people that count, those I didn’t see. Most of em. Not from the ex – wonder if it occurred to her. Course I didn’t check messages last nite, but this saves me from having to call her back. Pain is still here, maybe, sis, but the relationship is dust.
So meeting E.’s mother after going out for a short period of time. Kinda easy, cuz the woman doesn’t speak a lick of English. She musta known who I was. Been instructed that women tell their mothers everything, that the mother would have known exactly who I was when they showed up at the studio. If she didn’t then, she does now after multiple PDA between E and I. I guess I have credibility.
Do I want it, a completely different question.
Though Im leaning towards yes. Yeah. I do. OK.
Got a call from the beauty queen today, of course. Timing always seems to work out that way. Dunno if I will call back, could always downshift it to the friend zone. Women love that, they love being rejected.
Well they don’t quite love it, but in some way it does turn them on, make them interested, in that what am I missing kind of way. No, Sis, not all of them, and not once you’re already involved, but at the beginning, the Neg is king. The more I neg, the more women I respond. And the better looking or more desirable they are, the more Neg required, the more they need.
Bring on the Neg.
Oh. And I can prove that ahm not that cocky, cuz im posting a bday pic of me that absolutely sucks ass.
Friday, May 19, 2006
The Song Remains The Same
So my birthday is around the corner, on Monday, actually. Heading into my late thirties (some would say at 35, I was already there, but Im not so literal).
What have I accomplished to this point, besides making women have multiple orgasms.
Hee hee. That’ll teach Bitter to talk about her sex life.
Lessee. Spent nine years in a career I never particularly enjoyed. Made bunches of money, didn’t save any unfortunately. That’s prolly OK, cuz I prolly would have spent it on making a movie, rather than raising money from others to make one.
I went through biz school and law school, in three years, and got a CPA. Such a rush to get nowhere I wanted to be, ahh, the irony. These are all tools in the toolbasket, of course.
I have no little amount of schooling – but Ive learned so much, good and bad, the past couple of years, about human nature, about how life really works. When you work for a big firm like I did, you live a little bit in a glass tower. You don’t so much interact with how life is for most people. I got my check, my problems were which vacation to take, how much to work (still a problem actually), which neighborhood to live in (could choose any I liked).
Being on my own, my entrepreneurship, makes things totally different. After leaving corporate America, first running a restaurant for some time, and then turning to the movie biz, and the film festival I run, these are very different from the experiences I had before. There are a lot less bites at the apple, people have very conflicting agendas and with very limited resources. These are the tradeoffs I made when I left doing something I didn’t enjoy for something I do- I don’t regret it, but things have become very different. My priorities changed, by necessity. My needs diminished in some regards. My expectations, vastly altered.
******
Things with E and me. She and I went to Brick Monday nite – BTW, great great movie, everyone should go see it and support it. Then, the nite before her mother came in from Russia, we got together. She got together with me, she tells me, despite wanting to spend some time alone because she wanted to see me. But while at her house, she started a fight about a joke I made, and was petulant. We made up, went for a motorcycle ride for an hour or so, then went back to her house. It was already quite late and she made me a cup of tea, to have before I went back on the bike for the ride home. As I was leaving, she told me that my goatee hurts too much, she cant and wont kiss me with it.
Half a joke, maybe two –thirds.
But of course, the issue is not the goatee (though I have had it for six years). The issue is what the HELL is going on. Then I got a text message, late last nite while I was out to dinner.
It reads : I mixed up the things was clumsy and felt hopeless last nite. I have some inner conflict and it got stress from it. I made u confuse I guess.
Seems like an apology. Or is it a backstep. When we spoke today, she told me that she was going to email me or talk to me today, that she needed some time alone. Didn’t know whether she meant in the future, or the time she had already taken. So yeah, she made me confused. We definitely have communication issues, when we aren’t in person.
And maybe more than I know, when we’re together as well.
What have I accomplished to this point, besides making women have multiple orgasms.
Hee hee. That’ll teach Bitter to talk about her sex life.
Lessee. Spent nine years in a career I never particularly enjoyed. Made bunches of money, didn’t save any unfortunately. That’s prolly OK, cuz I prolly would have spent it on making a movie, rather than raising money from others to make one.
I went through biz school and law school, in three years, and got a CPA. Such a rush to get nowhere I wanted to be, ahh, the irony. These are all tools in the toolbasket, of course.
I have no little amount of schooling – but Ive learned so much, good and bad, the past couple of years, about human nature, about how life really works. When you work for a big firm like I did, you live a little bit in a glass tower. You don’t so much interact with how life is for most people. I got my check, my problems were which vacation to take, how much to work (still a problem actually), which neighborhood to live in (could choose any I liked).
Being on my own, my entrepreneurship, makes things totally different. After leaving corporate America, first running a restaurant for some time, and then turning to the movie biz, and the film festival I run, these are very different from the experiences I had before. There are a lot less bites at the apple, people have very conflicting agendas and with very limited resources. These are the tradeoffs I made when I left doing something I didn’t enjoy for something I do- I don’t regret it, but things have become very different. My priorities changed, by necessity. My needs diminished in some regards. My expectations, vastly altered.
******
Things with E and me. She and I went to Brick Monday nite – BTW, great great movie, everyone should go see it and support it. Then, the nite before her mother came in from Russia, we got together. She got together with me, she tells me, despite wanting to spend some time alone because she wanted to see me. But while at her house, she started a fight about a joke I made, and was petulant. We made up, went for a motorcycle ride for an hour or so, then went back to her house. It was already quite late and she made me a cup of tea, to have before I went back on the bike for the ride home. As I was leaving, she told me that my goatee hurts too much, she cant and wont kiss me with it.
Half a joke, maybe two –thirds.
But of course, the issue is not the goatee (though I have had it for six years). The issue is what the HELL is going on. Then I got a text message, late last nite while I was out to dinner.
It reads : I mixed up the things was clumsy and felt hopeless last nite. I have some inner conflict and it got stress from it. I made u confuse I guess.
Seems like an apology. Or is it a backstep. When we spoke today, she told me that she was going to email me or talk to me today, that she needed some time alone. Didn’t know whether she meant in the future, or the time she had already taken. So yeah, she made me confused. We definitely have communication issues, when we aren’t in person.
And maybe more than I know, when we’re together as well.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
As The Worm Turns
Busy, busy, busy.
Been cutting down the Script for the chicks strike back flick. Its fun, campy stuff. I should send it to bitter, get her taste (shes into genre), but she never finishes reading the stuff I send her.
Just emailed it to her and Happy. We’ll see if they read it. Happy will, he likes to procrastinate at work.
Happy, hope you put my free agent pick through by now. It wasn’t in, last I looked.
So yeah, the script. As I said, its campy, horrific, thrilltastic, and gonna make it tight. Had to cut back some stuff that would be too expensive to shoot and still keep the budget at what I consider to be no brainer level- No I wont tell y’all. What kind of producer would I be.
The chief thought I was talking even smaller – when I told him where I thought the budget was coming in, he said Woo- but I think he’ll still do it. I’ll offer him partners potentially, but he doesn’t like partners, and I think he’ll just do it himself. Particularly if things are looking good for the Family Movie.
Called E Sunday nite, and didn’t hear back from her. I wasn’t seeing her Sunday nite, but thought I would have heard from her.
So called her again, on Monday, around noon. I gave E the straight of it. (No Happy, not that straight, I meant a conversation).
It went a little like this…
I tell her that I like her. I tell her that I think about her and what she’s doing when she isn’t around. I tell her I would like to spend more time with her.
She says “FINALLY,” and we chatted a bit, made no plans.
Guess Bitter mighta had a point there. Maybe not though. I dont know, these relationship things are tougher. And we arent even sleeping together yet. But why (Keep reading, Gus)?
She called me in the evening to remind me of the plans we tentatively had, asked why I didn’t call her, and so we went to see Brick last nite at the Angelica. Best indie Ive seen in a long time (Thanks for Smoking was also really good, but since the budget was akin to a small studio movie, Im not comparing them. We did our smooching on the street, and went our separate ways. She wanted to get one drink, I didn’t –moneys tight and I was tired anyway. She did tell me that she wanted to tell me something, especially after I was so forthcoming that morning.
Cut to:
Interior, Bedroom (tonite)
Me: So what were you gonna tell me. (She mentioned last nite she had something to tell me).
E: I don’t know if I want to talk about it on the phone.
Me: (Very convincing reasons to do so- I don’t want to wait).
E: It doesn’t concern you, it concerns me.
Me: You’ve been married,
E: I still am. Getting divorced, but still married, that’s why I left Tokyo.
Well, it doesn’t really bother me that someone is getting divorced or is still married. We weren’t at the point of full disclosure, and a very smart therapist told me once (while I was in therapy) that people who are married, naturally, show much more propensity to be involved seriously then those who have never committed to that kind of relationship.
And she did tell me, I didn’t just find out on my own.
Yes. I know.
G-
Been cutting down the Script for the chicks strike back flick. Its fun, campy stuff. I should send it to bitter, get her taste (shes into genre), but she never finishes reading the stuff I send her.
Just emailed it to her and Happy. We’ll see if they read it. Happy will, he likes to procrastinate at work.
Happy, hope you put my free agent pick through by now. It wasn’t in, last I looked.
So yeah, the script. As I said, its campy, horrific, thrilltastic, and gonna make it tight. Had to cut back some stuff that would be too expensive to shoot and still keep the budget at what I consider to be no brainer level- No I wont tell y’all. What kind of producer would I be.
The chief thought I was talking even smaller – when I told him where I thought the budget was coming in, he said Woo- but I think he’ll still do it. I’ll offer him partners potentially, but he doesn’t like partners, and I think he’ll just do it himself. Particularly if things are looking good for the Family Movie.
Called E Sunday nite, and didn’t hear back from her. I wasn’t seeing her Sunday nite, but thought I would have heard from her.
So called her again, on Monday, around noon. I gave E the straight of it. (No Happy, not that straight, I meant a conversation).
It went a little like this…
I tell her that I like her. I tell her that I think about her and what she’s doing when she isn’t around. I tell her I would like to spend more time with her.
She says “FINALLY,” and we chatted a bit, made no plans.
Guess Bitter mighta had a point there. Maybe not though. I dont know, these relationship things are tougher. And we arent even sleeping together yet. But why (Keep reading, Gus)?
She called me in the evening to remind me of the plans we tentatively had, asked why I didn’t call her, and so we went to see Brick last nite at the Angelica. Best indie Ive seen in a long time (Thanks for Smoking was also really good, but since the budget was akin to a small studio movie, Im not comparing them. We did our smooching on the street, and went our separate ways. She wanted to get one drink, I didn’t –moneys tight and I was tired anyway. She did tell me that she wanted to tell me something, especially after I was so forthcoming that morning.
Cut to:
Interior, Bedroom (tonite)
Me: So what were you gonna tell me. (She mentioned last nite she had something to tell me).
E: I don’t know if I want to talk about it on the phone.
Me: (Very convincing reasons to do so- I don’t want to wait).
E: It doesn’t concern you, it concerns me.
Me: You’ve been married,
E: I still am. Getting divorced, but still married, that’s why I left Tokyo.
Well, it doesn’t really bother me that someone is getting divorced or is still married. We weren’t at the point of full disclosure, and a very smart therapist told me once (while I was in therapy) that people who are married, naturally, show much more propensity to be involved seriously then those who have never committed to that kind of relationship.
And she did tell me, I didn’t just find out on my own.
Yes. I know.
G-
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Huh?
OK, so i admit it. Im outta practice. I havent really gotten involved with anyone on a meaningful level since J and I split two years or so (wait, its three now, goddamnit) and though I've dated, in some cases, for months at a time, it was with any committment (or desire for it). Now that may seem to be changing.
Egad.
But Im confused, don't know whats goin on. Now faithful reader(s!?) - E is from Russia, by way of Tokyo, Paris and god knows where else. We dont communicate in the same native tongue (heh, heh, he said Tongue - right Bitter). I think that we often have this problem, thus far, where I say something that is intended to convey my meaning but its not direct and she doesnt get it.
For example, consider, if you will, kind readers, the following interchange
E; How is Miami?
Me: Great. The beach is wonderful. You should come.
E: You're having a good time.
Me: Very much so.
E: Why dont you invite me? Don't be mean.
Me: What do you think I was just doing?
That was from while I was away. We seem to have had a bunch of those kind of exchanges.
I think she is definitely, if you'll pardon me, hooked but we're just not clicking on things quite as well as we should, particularly when we communicate when we're not in person. She was going to the Russian bathhouse today - invited me to join her yesterday, but then she didnt go and we never got together. When I told her I was going to a birthday gathering for one of the investors in the family movie, again, that familiar pause.
E: Who are you going with?
Me: (Sensing where she is going) Um,....I'm going with (The Director). Are you asking if Im taking a date?
E: (No answer)
Me: Are you asking if Im dating anyone else?
E: Yes, I am asking.
Me: No I am not.
I didnt invite her because when I've been out with this investor its been a guys nite out kinda thing. And this wasnt dinner, just drinks I was told, which made it seem even more a guys nite out kind of thing. I told her as much. She said she understood.
Course, when I got there, it was dinner, and the wives/girlfriends were there. She had texted me just fifteen minuted before I arrived to see this, congratulating me again on the family movie situation, saying she was very happy for me (Aside- I think we text too much). When I see the dinner situation, I call to invite her, but she's already on her way to some downtown party. I tell her to call me if its no good.
No call.
I text her, How is It. She says Good. How's urs? I say We're done. It was nice.
No reply, and now Im typing.
Was I too indirect again? Should the response have been - Coming to see u OK?
Dunno.
Egad.
But Im confused, don't know whats goin on. Now faithful reader(s!?) - E is from Russia, by way of Tokyo, Paris and god knows where else. We dont communicate in the same native tongue (heh, heh, he said Tongue - right Bitter). I think that we often have this problem, thus far, where I say something that is intended to convey my meaning but its not direct and she doesnt get it.
For example, consider, if you will, kind readers, the following interchange
E; How is Miami?
Me: Great. The beach is wonderful. You should come.
E: You're having a good time.
Me: Very much so.
E: Why dont you invite me? Don't be mean.
Me: What do you think I was just doing?
That was from while I was away. We seem to have had a bunch of those kind of exchanges.
I think she is definitely, if you'll pardon me, hooked but we're just not clicking on things quite as well as we should, particularly when we communicate when we're not in person. She was going to the Russian bathhouse today - invited me to join her yesterday, but then she didnt go and we never got together. When I told her I was going to a birthday gathering for one of the investors in the family movie, again, that familiar pause.
E: Who are you going with?
Me: (Sensing where she is going) Um,....I'm going with (The Director). Are you asking if Im taking a date?
E: (No answer)
Me: Are you asking if Im dating anyone else?
E: Yes, I am asking.
Me: No I am not.
I didnt invite her because when I've been out with this investor its been a guys nite out kinda thing. And this wasnt dinner, just drinks I was told, which made it seem even more a guys nite out kind of thing. I told her as much. She said she understood.
Course, when I got there, it was dinner, and the wives/girlfriends were there. She had texted me just fifteen minuted before I arrived to see this, congratulating me again on the family movie situation, saying she was very happy for me (Aside- I think we text too much). When I see the dinner situation, I call to invite her, but she's already on her way to some downtown party. I tell her to call me if its no good.
No call.
I text her, How is It. She says Good. How's urs? I say We're done. It was nice.
No reply, and now Im typing.
Was I too indirect again? Should the response have been - Coming to see u OK?
Dunno.
Having A Little Faith
So the inkling of a big breakthrough on the Family Movie. Been plugging along with it for a bit, now, working towards finding a distributor for the movie. Now in all candor, it’s a good movie, and its also one that I’ve worked my guts out on, for over a year and a half. I’ve put a lot of eggs in this basket, and I want the movie to have a good release for personal reasons as well as for the health of the Studio.
We hired (at gunpoint) an Exec. Producer type who basically held us up. He had the talent we need to make the movie, we needed the talent, his entry fee was that he’d sell the movie for us for a 5 percent commission when we were done. Problem is, when we signed (never actually did a contract) or agreed with him, he was a senior partner in a huge agency. Since then, he’s departed the agency and probably lost a lot of the leverage that he had before. Consequently, its been a struggle, because he doesn’t seem entirely able to do the job he pitched himself for. Ive been working on trying to disconnect the Studio from him, as he seems out of ideas. Sent him a sort of ambiguous email the other nite asking if he had any other ideas. He said he didn’t so I asked if we should move on….
No Reply.
Anyway, using our contacts and not his, we’ve gotten some strong interest in the family movie from a smaller company that has a biz plan pretty similar to ours. They loved the movie, thought it had a lot going for it, and they want to release it theatrtically. They don’t have the cache of a big Hollywood shop like a Lions Gate, but doing this business, they’ve started to make some inroads. They are saavy, but most importantly, they are talking about a decent sized theatrical release for the movie, 200 plus screens. While this isn’t the 800 that we bandied about, it would still be great to have that happen – particularly when we were thinking that maybe we’d be relegated to a video/TV deal instead.
Anyway, they are talking to their financing partners early next week. In the meantime, upon presenting the Chief with the news (he financed a healthy share of the family movie), he was very pleased and inquired after the budget of the first little movie we’re going to do together, a sort-of Russ Meyer horror film, to be directed by my biz partner, BigMan. Gotta see if we can make the budget workable, but all in all, was a very good end to the week.
Had dinner after seeing a show with my Russian model, E. DB and a friend tagged along, then we hit Johns on 12th. Bitter knows the place, took her there with my folks when she was in town. It was the site of her meltdown (which one – heehee), and my terrible behavior.
E told me I was handsome – gonna have her eyes checked.
We hired (at gunpoint) an Exec. Producer type who basically held us up. He had the talent we need to make the movie, we needed the talent, his entry fee was that he’d sell the movie for us for a 5 percent commission when we were done. Problem is, when we signed (never actually did a contract) or agreed with him, he was a senior partner in a huge agency. Since then, he’s departed the agency and probably lost a lot of the leverage that he had before. Consequently, its been a struggle, because he doesn’t seem entirely able to do the job he pitched himself for. Ive been working on trying to disconnect the Studio from him, as he seems out of ideas. Sent him a sort of ambiguous email the other nite asking if he had any other ideas. He said he didn’t so I asked if we should move on….
No Reply.
Anyway, using our contacts and not his, we’ve gotten some strong interest in the family movie from a smaller company that has a biz plan pretty similar to ours. They loved the movie, thought it had a lot going for it, and they want to release it theatrtically. They don’t have the cache of a big Hollywood shop like a Lions Gate, but doing this business, they’ve started to make some inroads. They are saavy, but most importantly, they are talking about a decent sized theatrical release for the movie, 200 plus screens. While this isn’t the 800 that we bandied about, it would still be great to have that happen – particularly when we were thinking that maybe we’d be relegated to a video/TV deal instead.
Anyway, they are talking to their financing partners early next week. In the meantime, upon presenting the Chief with the news (he financed a healthy share of the family movie), he was very pleased and inquired after the budget of the first little movie we’re going to do together, a sort-of Russ Meyer horror film, to be directed by my biz partner, BigMan. Gotta see if we can make the budget workable, but all in all, was a very good end to the week.
Had dinner after seeing a show with my Russian model, E. DB and a friend tagged along, then we hit Johns on 12th. Bitter knows the place, took her there with my folks when she was in town. It was the site of her meltdown (which one – heehee), and my terrible behavior.
E told me I was handsome – gonna have her eyes checked.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
An end and a beginning
So the camel’s back finally broke. I imposed my will, long at last. My housekeeping deal at the Studio has become full service- we’ll be doing more movies, different genres, and moving forward to make entertainment and make better livings for all of us. Finally.
Two years ago (not quite, but almost) when I started here, it was all about making one flavor of movie, for the African American audience. To be sure, the concept of making fulfilling and entertainment for the audience is a good biz objective, one that makes sense for both the audience and for the general commercial goal of making a dollar or two. At the same time, what it took me over a year to get across is that it is not sound biz to solely occupy one spot on the horizon, and that all businesses that survive are properly diversified.
Even more, the Studio was a one man show, artistically. The director, a great artist, is also quite a slow worker, and we’ve languished for months into a year, not working on any new Studio projects (though to be sure, I’ve worked on outside projects), spending money on overhead, watching bank accounts diminish.
No more.
We’ll be going ahead, trying to attract outside work. Trying to do our own movies with the Chief and other investors. Making this a factory that’s working full time. No more one-armed paper hanger stuff. So it begins.
Now the challenge will be different, making commercially viable movies that recoup for their investors at moderate budgets, in between the occasional larger projects that come through the studio, both for the Director and for other directors we bring in.
Two years ago (not quite, but almost) when I started here, it was all about making one flavor of movie, for the African American audience. To be sure, the concept of making fulfilling and entertainment for the audience is a good biz objective, one that makes sense for both the audience and for the general commercial goal of making a dollar or two. At the same time, what it took me over a year to get across is that it is not sound biz to solely occupy one spot on the horizon, and that all businesses that survive are properly diversified.
Even more, the Studio was a one man show, artistically. The director, a great artist, is also quite a slow worker, and we’ve languished for months into a year, not working on any new Studio projects (though to be sure, I’ve worked on outside projects), spending money on overhead, watching bank accounts diminish.
No more.
We’ll be going ahead, trying to attract outside work. Trying to do our own movies with the Chief and other investors. Making this a factory that’s working full time. No more one-armed paper hanger stuff. So it begins.
Now the challenge will be different, making commercially viable movies that recoup for their investors at moderate budgets, in between the occasional larger projects that come through the studio, both for the Director and for other directors we bring in.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
A little wiggle room
So I just had my first experience with something akin to Hollywood shadiness from a close tie. A director who I’ve been working with was brought onto a project that came to me by my biz partner, BigMan. Anyway, this director, who was brought onto the project not as a director, but part of the overall package, continued conversations with the writer of the script after we had walked away from it because the writer couldn’t really deliver the attachments that she said she would deliver. That in and of itself is not a problem. But he never told BigMan, his friend for years and year, not even when he was attached as the Director of the project, replacing BigMan. I think that’s kinda shady. Anyway, I’ve been working to get him this other film and he shows up to talk about it, and tells me the whole story about how he’s been meeting with financiers on this other project. I ask, Did you tell your close friend BigMan.
“Yeah, he knows about it.”
“Oh. OK” - Strange cuz BigMan tells me everything and I hadn’t heard word one.
So of course, I bring it up with BigMan and he doesn’t really know anything about it. Now, a little discourse on producing – As a producer, if I get involved in a project and I can’t or don’t make it go anywhere, I am not really in a position to complain if I walk away and someone who stays around makes something happen. However, BigMan is a director, brought this other guy (call him Talk) Talk onto the project and then Talk replaces BigMan – OK- but without telling him. When BigMan brought him to the table.
I don’t think its right. I am not cutting off ties with Talk, but somehow it doesn’t sit right with me.
Family movie is getting hot again – seemingly – with some smaller partners coming in with interest. Might actually end up better to have smaller partners that care more about the movie. Im expecting a lowball offer from Lions Gate – that’s what Ive read between the lines on our communications with them and its also what I have become very familiar with hearing when talking with people who have dealt with them selling movies. Spoke to a prominent actor/producer who declined to sell his movie to them. He told me to expect a lowball offer- that’s the way they play- their playground.
So we’re also considering smaller companies that have the financial power to push a theatrical release, and where we won’t get ripped off and we can retain some control over the marketing.
In the personal life department, just having gotten back, hung out on thursday nite at a Tribeca FF after party with my LA Actress. Definitely screwed that up a bit. She was going home with her friend, but changed her mind when I said I was staying. We left the club for Pastis for a bite to eat. After dinner, she asked me in the cab if I had to be anywhere the next day (um, Clue 1). I said I had to go to the office. Then when we got to her place (shes staying at the apt of a friend who’s out of town), after kissing good nite, she starts to go to the door, but then runs back into my arms and starts kissing me again (Hello, Clue #2) . Anyway, I got back in the can and went home. About five seconds after watching her head into the Apt bldg, it hit me. When did I become so dumb that I don’t recognize an invitation. She went back to LA yesterday.
Went out with the Russian model yesterday nite. Had dinner then went our separate ways. She’s doing some work for La Perla. I guess that makes her a lingerie model? I guess I get points for that.
Time to start the day.
Cheers.
G
“Yeah, he knows about it.”
“Oh. OK” - Strange cuz BigMan tells me everything and I hadn’t heard word one.
So of course, I bring it up with BigMan and he doesn’t really know anything about it. Now, a little discourse on producing – As a producer, if I get involved in a project and I can’t or don’t make it go anywhere, I am not really in a position to complain if I walk away and someone who stays around makes something happen. However, BigMan is a director, brought this other guy (call him Talk) Talk onto the project and then Talk replaces BigMan – OK- but without telling him. When BigMan brought him to the table.
I don’t think its right. I am not cutting off ties with Talk, but somehow it doesn’t sit right with me.
Family movie is getting hot again – seemingly – with some smaller partners coming in with interest. Might actually end up better to have smaller partners that care more about the movie. Im expecting a lowball offer from Lions Gate – that’s what Ive read between the lines on our communications with them and its also what I have become very familiar with hearing when talking with people who have dealt with them selling movies. Spoke to a prominent actor/producer who declined to sell his movie to them. He told me to expect a lowball offer- that’s the way they play- their playground.
So we’re also considering smaller companies that have the financial power to push a theatrical release, and where we won’t get ripped off and we can retain some control over the marketing.
In the personal life department, just having gotten back, hung out on thursday nite at a Tribeca FF after party with my LA Actress. Definitely screwed that up a bit. She was going home with her friend, but changed her mind when I said I was staying. We left the club for Pastis for a bite to eat. After dinner, she asked me in the cab if I had to be anywhere the next day (um, Clue 1). I said I had to go to the office. Then when we got to her place (shes staying at the apt of a friend who’s out of town), after kissing good nite, she starts to go to the door, but then runs back into my arms and starts kissing me again (Hello, Clue #2) . Anyway, I got back in the can and went home. About five seconds after watching her head into the Apt bldg, it hit me. When did I become so dumb that I don’t recognize an invitation. She went back to LA yesterday.
Went out with the Russian model yesterday nite. Had dinner then went our separate ways. She’s doing some work for La Perla. I guess that makes her a lingerie model? I guess I get points for that.
Time to start the day.
Cheers.
G
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Trapped on an island
Trapped on an Island
DAY 3. Starting to write this entry, though, it has nowhere to go. Kinda like me.
In Barbados, in a house that has a view that would make an artist spout in his trousers. I like it a bit too, but remember, Im in my thirties.
Got to Barbados two days ago, staying on the less populated Atlantic Coast of the island. Trade winds on this side of the island make it cool, and the water is a clear azure blue. The waves, however, are strong, and the surfing (I’m told) is intense. Been in the sea a few times, the waves are strong, there is a powerful undertow. Its pretty much great swimming, mixed with a wrestling match with a much stronger opponent who never tires. (Reminds me of the movie biz).
Thing is, we’re very far away from most of what’s going on, and the roads here are best explored with a little bit (read – tons) of faith. They wind, you’re driving on the left side of the road, and people whip by inches away without a though (and without insurance much of the time, but hell, probably die anyway due to the gullies and cliffs that side many roads- who needs insurance).
Still the weather’s gorgeous, and the guy who invited DB and I down, lets call him Stork, has been a great host. The house, while not overly fancy, serves its purpose. What purpose that is, for me, I haven’t yet figured.
Other than swimming, and drinking and smoking, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of things to do – sail, scuba, go whoring, you know, the typicals. I don’t sail and I am not much on prostitutes (never feel comfortable, kinda like taking a taxi ride from NYC to JFK when you only have 45 dollars in your pocket, and you don’t know if its enough, and then you get there and you missed your plane – SO I’M TOLD).
The sun blazes into the house every morning, around six thirty. The wind howls mightily all night long, there are barking (and whining dogs) and a big cock (i.e., rooster) that does his thing all day long. Talk about hormones.
Mediocre greek food and some Metaxa last nite. A little peaked this morning, but generally OK. It’s a bit strange for me to walking around for 72 hours and never not be a bit sweaty, but we’re only a hundred miles from South America.
Alright peoples. I gotta go sit around.
G
Day 6. Leaving on a Jet Plane
So heading back to the mainland tomorrow. Its been an interesting trip. The stork is an absolute whirlwind, a constant source of noise and energy that are a bunch for me to swallow, particularly because (not through all my fault) I often can’t understand what he is saying, and when I do, I often find it doesn’t make much sense to me. Still he is undeniably brilliant – just not sure what the application for his brilliance can be, and if I can bear the energy storm enough to enjoy it. Crazy stuff.
Talking about doing a slate of three or four movies in Barbados – low budget, product place, action comedy thrilla whateva. Guy next door, turns out, is a sculptor and a playwrite- gonna have him email me some ideas. His sculpture is great.
DB and I had lots of fun, today, on our own. Somehow, DB and I have our best days on the vacation on our own (though we had fun with Teach as well). DB met a pretty young Basian honey yesterday and we shepherded her and her cousin around the island all day. They were nice girls, poor (by American standards, though I think they’d be middle class here) and very classy. DB offered to buy them anything they wanted from the fanciest shop on the island and they demurred.
Im pretty sure Lana, the cousin, had it in for me. I wasn’t aboard though. Not really my type, though she was nice. Didn’t want to start something that meant nothing – especially because of DB’s interest in his girl and my general physical attraction indifferent to Lana. Though she looked good in a swimsuit when we hit the baths.
Trip is done. The best things down here, to me, are the coasts, especially the desolate and beautiful Atlantic coast, the baths in the coral formations, the Oistens fish fry Friday nite, friendly Basian’s who go out of their way for you and the tradewinds. The worst things are driving at nite on roads with no signs and with highbeams from oncoming cars rushing by inches away during the 35-50 minutes rides to and from the West Coast, the heat (on the West coast only), Cheffette (one meal only but terrible) and the fuckers at the airport.
Sayin goodbye to the fuckers, and the rest of it tomorrow. Pretty sure I’ll be back.
DAY 3. Starting to write this entry, though, it has nowhere to go. Kinda like me.
In Barbados, in a house that has a view that would make an artist spout in his trousers. I like it a bit too, but remember, Im in my thirties.
Got to Barbados two days ago, staying on the less populated Atlantic Coast of the island. Trade winds on this side of the island make it cool, and the water is a clear azure blue. The waves, however, are strong, and the surfing (I’m told) is intense. Been in the sea a few times, the waves are strong, there is a powerful undertow. Its pretty much great swimming, mixed with a wrestling match with a much stronger opponent who never tires. (Reminds me of the movie biz).
Thing is, we’re very far away from most of what’s going on, and the roads here are best explored with a little bit (read – tons) of faith. They wind, you’re driving on the left side of the road, and people whip by inches away without a though (and without insurance much of the time, but hell, probably die anyway due to the gullies and cliffs that side many roads- who needs insurance).
Still the weather’s gorgeous, and the guy who invited DB and I down, lets call him Stork, has been a great host. The house, while not overly fancy, serves its purpose. What purpose that is, for me, I haven’t yet figured.
Other than swimming, and drinking and smoking, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of things to do – sail, scuba, go whoring, you know, the typicals. I don’t sail and I am not much on prostitutes (never feel comfortable, kinda like taking a taxi ride from NYC to JFK when you only have 45 dollars in your pocket, and you don’t know if its enough, and then you get there and you missed your plane – SO I’M TOLD).
The sun blazes into the house every morning, around six thirty. The wind howls mightily all night long, there are barking (and whining dogs) and a big cock (i.e., rooster) that does his thing all day long. Talk about hormones.
Mediocre greek food and some Metaxa last nite. A little peaked this morning, but generally OK. It’s a bit strange for me to walking around for 72 hours and never not be a bit sweaty, but we’re only a hundred miles from South America.
Alright peoples. I gotta go sit around.
G
Day 6. Leaving on a Jet Plane
So heading back to the mainland tomorrow. Its been an interesting trip. The stork is an absolute whirlwind, a constant source of noise and energy that are a bunch for me to swallow, particularly because (not through all my fault) I often can’t understand what he is saying, and when I do, I often find it doesn’t make much sense to me. Still he is undeniably brilliant – just not sure what the application for his brilliance can be, and if I can bear the energy storm enough to enjoy it. Crazy stuff.
Talking about doing a slate of three or four movies in Barbados – low budget, product place, action comedy thrilla whateva. Guy next door, turns out, is a sculptor and a playwrite- gonna have him email me some ideas. His sculpture is great.
DB and I had lots of fun, today, on our own. Somehow, DB and I have our best days on the vacation on our own (though we had fun with Teach as well). DB met a pretty young Basian honey yesterday and we shepherded her and her cousin around the island all day. They were nice girls, poor (by American standards, though I think they’d be middle class here) and very classy. DB offered to buy them anything they wanted from the fanciest shop on the island and they demurred.
Im pretty sure Lana, the cousin, had it in for me. I wasn’t aboard though. Not really my type, though she was nice. Didn’t want to start something that meant nothing – especially because of DB’s interest in his girl and my general physical attraction indifferent to Lana. Though she looked good in a swimsuit when we hit the baths.
Trip is done. The best things down here, to me, are the coasts, especially the desolate and beautiful Atlantic coast, the baths in the coral formations, the Oistens fish fry Friday nite, friendly Basian’s who go out of their way for you and the tradewinds. The worst things are driving at nite on roads with no signs and with highbeams from oncoming cars rushing by inches away during the 35-50 minutes rides to and from the West Coast, the heat (on the West coast only), Cheffette (one meal only but terrible) and the fuckers at the airport.
Sayin goodbye to the fuckers, and the rest of it tomorrow. Pretty sure I’ll be back.
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