Cold Weather In California and Other Non-Sequiturs

This just in. Venice is cold.  And I've become a warm-weather wimp.  Its still September, I am all-ashiver about how cold I'm going to be come winter-time.  I actually can see wearing some of my heavier NYC wardrobe.

Its been overcast and in the mid-sixties for the past week, and I'm bundled up like a grandmother.   Been out and about just a little bit, headed to Gold's Gym, which I joined because it was close and much nicer than the terrible and depressing LA/Marina Fitness in Marina del Rey.  Back to yoga, cardio, weight-lifting.  Slow-going getting back into shape...Also (and not helping the getting back in shape thing) went with Mike K., my neighbor and a friend from high school, to the newly-opened beer hall on Lincoln, Wurstkuche (umlauts omitted), for some snausages and litres of beer (they come in litres?? (obscure tweaked movie reference, five movie geek points for getting the reference).  It was fun, and we ran into the managers of Baby Blues, the BBQ joint across the street, checking out their new neighbors, and bought them a round for making some really wonderful BBQ very close to home.

Work has been slow this month, so I am spending too much time netsurfing and not enough time being productive.  Sound familiar.  Things have seemingly started to pick up though, and its not like I don't have things around the house (still no maid) that I could be doing more productive than playing stupid games on FB.   The games aren't even that much fun, they just provide something to do.  I had an invitation to head back to Vegas for another four or five days, but I passed, as I should be looking for more lucrative opportunities, regardless of missed fun.

Been quiet - and hence, boring blog entry.  I'll try to be more fascinating next time.

Grumps

Airplane Bloggin’: TIFF and the Return of Grumpy O’Selznick

Well, its obviously been some time since I last wrote this blog about my experiences in the film industry and the accompanying issues in my personal life that arise out of these choices I’ve made for myself. Too much water has passed under the bridge since my last writing to really give any kind of comprehensive view of my life and work (note that life and work are, and continue to be, separate words and distinct concepts). A very brief summary of the last eighteen months of so since I posted:

• Closed up and gave up the NYC residence for good (at least that residence).
• Worked for a foreign sales company for a year, as a head of business affairs, during which time I had to deal with a manic company president and four wolf hybrids (the president often acted more like one of his wolf-pets than a person).
• Produced a family comedy I’ll refer to as “Romeo” in California, where I met a beautiful young single mother (and her infant-turned-toddler), a close friend of a now-formerly close friend-turned-enemy??, that I…
• Dated and then lived with in West Hollywood and then in Albuquerque, NM for six months (where she worked as an actress). At various moments, wonderful, awful, and almost always tumultuous, with a very bitter ending, when we split, and I …
• Moved to Venice, California at the beginning of summer, and have begun adjusting to my recovered singledom on the Westside, a very different life experience that living in Hollywood or West Hollywood.
• Traveled to India to prep a romantic drama, for which the financing fell apart, which negatively impacted a number of relationships I have in the entertainment industry, most of which hopefully can be repaired (in the business where a new paycheck fixes everything, for the most part). Thankfully my hands are clean.
• Took a consultancy with a newly-formed company doing film investment, technology development and investment, and film production, headed by a friend of mine, Kyle, in whom I have a good deal of faith, in the role of running operations and business affairs, which leads me to…

Toronto, in my capacity of a yet-unnamed position with this new company. My friend Mario is accompanying me to Toronto for its opening weekend. We’re staying at the Metropolitan Hotel and should be in the mix for a lot of interesting screenings, parties and hopefully some fun over the next three days. Mario is a well-known composer, having scored a number of well-known and award-winning films, including Precious and Taxi to the Dark Side, both of which won Academy Awards. He’s also one of the nicest people you’re going to meet, and he scored two films for me, Scott Dacko’s The Insurgents, and Lev Gorn’s short film, 10:31.

I am still a bit under the weather, having caught some bug in Las Vegas over the past week I spent there. I went to Vegas with a new friend, The Cove producer Charles Hambleton. We went to help organize and promote the Las Vegas demonstration for Celebrate Dolphin Day Japan, which was being simultaneously being recognized in fifty cities around the world. September 1 is the day that the dolphin slaughter begins again in Taiji, Japan. If you don’t know what I am talking about, I suggest you sit down and watch The Cove on Netflix and find out about this important issue. And the film, which won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 2009, is simply unforgettable and amazing.

The demonstration in Vegas was run by another new friend, Angela Shih, with her partner, Eric Conner, lending a significant hand. In true Vegas style and tradition, Angela, a server at the Wet Republic Dayclub, recruited a crew of beautiful girls from the hospitality industry to stand, bikini-clad, on the walking bridge between The Cosmopolitan and The Planet Hollywood hotels, and draw attention to the signs and the literature and well, the cause. They did a terrific job attracting attention, not surprisingly, and did so in a manner that was truly appropriate for their home city. Here are some pictures of Charles (the only guy in the posted pics) and the Vegas team. The photographer that was arranged unfortunately didn’t show, but I’d brought my camera as a back-up, and I ended up standing in for him. It was a fun assignment, and the results were passable. Angela is in the front row of the first picture, far right. More on facebook if you go to the page for Celebrate Dolphin Day Las Vegas 2011.

Pic 1

Pic 2


After the demonstration, we spent some time scouting for Charles’ upcoming television show. I won’t give away what its about, but we snuck into the restricted land controlled by the Water Authority to obtain samples for testing. There are a lot of water issues in the City That Shouldn’t Be, and we spent a few days working on that. On the last day, Angela somehow magically got us comped at Wet Republic, and we spent most of the day there being introduced to the staff. They all had a lot of respect for what Charles has achieved. Watch The Cove and you’ll see why too.

So that’s the recap, and the plane is angling down, which means we’ll be on the ground shortly, and I need to sign off. Grumpily yours (still), and welcome back.

Airplane Bloggin’: Up In The Air Edition

Well, ok, so not necessarily the most specific title for a series called Airplane Bloggin’, but it is timely, no? I actually haven’t seen the movie so I don’t even really have a basis for any type of analogy. Hey, maybe I’ll get more hits on the site because of my use of Jason’s movie title.

We are on our way back from the Dances. Spent from Thursday night to this morning in Park City, and I have some observations.

1. We met with the writers from the next Slamdance horror winner. Cool guys (as well as good writers). We met with Brandon, head of the contest. Cool guy as well. Got a chilly reception (at best) from the boss, but that was expected. What can you do – I’m over it.
2. We had a place up on Woodside – and when I say up, I mean up. Woodside towers a few hundred feet over Main St. and the cabs couldn’t even get up the hill if it was snowing. A good amount of walking, and huffing and puffing, up the steps to our street, given the altitude as well. By the end though, it was fairly easy – I guess one’s body adjusts fairly well to the altitude in a short time.
3. I still have standards. Had a lay-up pickup yesterday at the gersh party at the Spur. Some drunken Salt Lake native. Physically appealing enough, but personality was a bit scary. I passed, even after she started making out with one of her girlfriends. (Guys, begin moaning wtf now).
4. I literally was in the same condo building as my friend, actress and writer Eleonore Hendricks and we knew it for three days and we didn’t manage to meet up though I sincerely believe both of us wanted to say hi.
5. The Indie movie scene is dying. That’s it for that.
6. I’m kind of over the whole Park City thing. I mean, I really like the place, geographically. But the hubbub of the festivals – I was so ready to get on our plane and go back home this morning. And this isn’t just because I was sleeping on one of the all-time worst pull-out couches in our condo living room, though that didn’t help. Thing felt like a bbq grill without the heat.
7. Agents (including sales agents) will always be agents. Scorpion and the Frog.
8. Adrienne Grenier is a nice guy, in a shaggy dog sort of way, and I mean that in a positive way. And he made a pretty good documentary.
9. Wilmer Valderama has a good handshake.
10. America Ferrara is even shorter then you though she was.
11. Ben Silverman is taller and even more hyper than you think he is.
12. Screaming at someone on the phone on Main Street at 2:30 Am is a good way to get frostbite.

That’s kinda it. E7 didn’t buy anything at the festival (though we might). We were negotiating two deals, one is going to close and the other one looks like it won’t. The best party I went to was for Dry Land. Gersh was runner up (and I also got several cute girls’ phone numbers). The worst party was Slamdances’ party at the Star Bar (too crowded, and hot, and bad ratio, and the weather outside made it such a slosh to get in). I only saw one movie. But I got to see some folks I rarely get to see, meet some new peeps, some who were very fun, and now I get to sleep in my own bed.

Grumps.

Airplane Bloggin’ : 2010 and Back to LA

You know what really kind of pisses me off. Companies offering free this or free that, on terms so unclear or difficult to figure out that you basically don’t even want to risk trying it or bother in the first place.

Example one: Flying back and forth on Delta from LAX to MIA, there was an offer for free wi-fi for the first time that one used the new pay-wifi service Delta offers, called GoGo. You know why its called GoGo? No, neither do I.

Anyway, I saw a mention of this free offer on one of the Delta TV screens and didn’t catch the password. It was well into the first part of my trip to Miami, which was an overnight and I had great aspirations of sleeping. I think I may have even achieved them to a degree. In any event, due to the difficulty with the password being unavailable (one would think they would put it somewhere on the Delta website or something, or on GoGo’s site, but no) it seemed like using my one free trial during a long flight where I wanted to be out with the lights was not the best use of the trial. The ATL-MIA leg was short (90 minutes or so) so those legs in each direction again didn’t seem the best opportunity. I figured that I’d use it on the way from ATL back to LAX to catch up on emails, pass the time, explore Zangarmarsh (never mind). But I ended up taking an ambient on this flight, with the hope of sleeping through a decent portion of it. Hasn’t happened and so now, an hour and a half in, I am basically wide awake. There’s still that free trial, so why not. I pull out the laptop and try to log on.

Like last time I played with it for a little, it made no mention of the password, and provided no link to sign in as a free trial (I don’t know why). It also didn’t give any indication of when the free trial offer expired, though in one of the flight magazines there was a mention of “holiday season.’ Well, apparently the holiday season has completed during the weekend of New Year’s eve. I got onto a help (ya) chat with a GoGo employee who told me as much. Too late. Had they told me that from the first, perhaps I’d have given it the free try on the way to Miami. Now, I’ll not have the benefit, and they’ll have an issue getting a new customer who might not want to take it on faith that the connectoin is worth 13 bucks for a few hours. I guess I’d say that this story is unfinished, but at the moment, I find it somewhat aggravating. Now I am flying, cross country in a middle seat between two dudes (again), though the first leg I actually got an exit row, just by checking in online the night before. Very weird to end up with something that good.

But the trip itself? Hmmm. Yeah, that. It was a pretty basic week and change. As my brother and his wife were out of town in NYC, and my closest friend who typically does parties in Miami didn’t come down this year, I didn’t do a lot of nightlife. My associate producer David, from the movie My Brother, bought a 12,000 square foot penthouse on Miami Beach and I hung with him a few times, but that was pretty much it. We went out once with his gal and her friends but I left early, and we watched the football game last Sunday at the new refurbished Clevelander. Those were the primary “going out” highlights. I spent a bunch of time with my parents, much of it with us gathered around reading or doing out thing, and some more of that when Stephanie and her boys showed up. The weather was really only beach weather perhaps twice, so we did that both of those days, and we also went on a river ride out of an alligator farm that was quite tourist but pretty entertaining nonetheless and conveniently located near a very solid BBQ joint called the Pit. I was on the couch in the living room for the six or seven days Jake, Derek and Steph were in town (they got there three days after I did and left the day before), but my back is even mostly recovered by now.

In short, I didn’t even go out or make a wholehearted attempt on New Year’s Eve. Didn’t have a partner in crime and was not inclined to drop hundreds for a party where I’d know next to nobody. Writing it like that, wow, makes a lot of sense.

And now I am on ht way back to work and bills and the gym and the new apartment. It was time to go back. Was ready, despite how enticing I find the sea/sun combo in Miami. As my folks get older, these trips take on for me, a greater importance that a jaunt to a beach or a nightclub.

I live in Los Angeles now, for most of the year. With the new full time job, I will be neither in New York or Miami regulatly, That limits my interactions with my parents, and they are in good health but they aren’t getting younger. So each time is a half-life, if you will, of our time together until their gone. When you’re packing a bag full of boxer shorts and socks, it is that which gives you pause to consider what your priorities are and how you fit them all in the same basket. Its mostly why I fly across the country to see them. And it’s a very good reason, I don’t know how I am going to continue to fit all of these things in the same basket. I don’t even know if I am supposed to fit them. All I do know is that it feels like yet another pressure from another angle, something that needs doing, for good and valid reason, and even in the doing of it, it feels, as I fly back to LA with my father’s words “See you next year” ringing in my ears, insufficient. The effort isn’t enough for what its worth, and I end up feeling like I put effort into something that doesn’t go far enough to really matter.

OK. I am not writing airplane blogs on Ambien anymore. Didn’t know it had these emotional side effects. I just wanted to sleep, not write a treatise of observations about how I feel like I am failing at life. This plane ride is not nearly long enough for me to write that anyway, I’d need to fly to the moon.

That’s about all I have to say for now. The guys on either side of my seat are very much awake and I am going to choose not to make a spectacle of myself.

Talk soon.

Grumps.

Airplane Bloggin’: Miami for the Holidays Edition

Airplane Bloggin’: Miami for the Holidays Edition

Well, so much for subtly named blog posts, that one comes right out and says it. To whom (other than Dawn?) good question. I imagine I’ve lost most of my once small audience do to the infrequency of my posting. In fact, it seems that I post only when I fly. For the most part, that’s been the case. If its any saving grace, I do actually plan to be traveling quite a bit more than I have in the past few years, as the job I’ve taken (more below) promises more of that. Even now, I bave a few more trips on tap over the next few months.

So what’s been going on? Quite a few things….

I took a job with a small but rapidly growing sales and production company in Los Angeles. It’s a full time, in-office position, and thus, I am officially a full time resident of Los Angeles. No more back and forth – though I may travel, I am fully based in Los Angeles and report to a job M-F etc. etc.

Towards that end (and also towards the end of having a place to live with roommate who can pay the rent), I moved from my old digs in the Cahuenga pass area to newer digs in West Hollywood, with a brief stop on Cherokee in Hollywood during my search for a new place – thank yous to Scott and John, John for his hospitality, and Scott for his vacancy and generosity. After the waylay on Cherokee, and a misstart with another apartment on Franklin, I’ve been at the new place, on Alta Vista just below Sunset Blvd., for a but less than a month now. I have a new roommate, we get along fine, though we’re not close and I don’t particularly see that changing. He’d just moved up from San Diego to take a job with Disney Radio. Pretty much, we both work outside the place, and do mostly our own thing when we get home. Cordial, fine, not remarkably friendly, but its fine.

The apartment itself is close to the new job and to my gym, and its on a very attractive block in West Hollywood at about the most central location one could hope for. It’s hardly more than I was paying at the old place, and its nice and new and I have my own bath. It’s a fairly good situation this far. Oh, and its pretty quiet, except for the occasional garbage truck in the morning.

The job, well, yeah, the job. I am the head of business affairs for a film sales and production house. Means I am in charge of all that is legal and contractual. However, since it’s a small company, and (bow) I have a multitude of skills, I am spending my time in production (which is how I want to spend my time, as much of its as possible), in acquisitions, not bad, and doing a few other things to help move the Company’s business along. It’s an adjustment to be back at a full time job after many years on my own, but its OK. Adaptation is an important trait, and I guess I am still in practice, well enough. Besides, I work out of a compound where the owner’s house is also located, and it’s a fairly informal attitude except for the general office policy. That might have something to do with the industry; it definitely has something to do with the five wolf hybrids running around the compound at all times. Sounds scarier than it is and besides, with respect to the pack, I think I’ve climbed to a respectable place in the middle.

Aside from the office time, I’ve already spent time at the American Film Market, where we have a booth each year to sell the films we make and acquire. I’m booked to go to Park City for Slamdance and Sundance, after a hiatus during last winter. And unless we are in production on a movie, it seems likely that I’ll go to the Berlin Film Market and Festival during early February. If not, I’ll go to Cannes for either the TV or the Film market in the spring. So there is a lot of potential travel involved.

One adjustment has been dealing with having allocated vacation time. I only have two weeks annually in my contract, and I basically was required to take one week during this holiday. The office (and the vast majority of the entertainment business) is closed, and if I hadn’t taken the vacation, it would have been treated as “leave” and been unpaid. I’d prefer to be paid, and it worked out anyway, as I get to go to Miami and see my parents. The timing of my visit isn’t perfect in some ways, but alls well enough, and they are excited I am visiting. The apartment is going to be very crowded, as my sister and her sons will be in town as well during five or so of the ten days I’ll be in Miami. Haven’t seen the boys in a while, so that will be nice. Most likely, I’ll get to take them to the beach a few times while they are down there. Its been a little terse with my sister for a reason or two, but I am sure we will all have a good time together, and I know how much my parents are looking forward to it. I’ve visited them in Florida quite a bit for New Year’s, I think this is the third year in the last four I’ve been with them. Last year was with Newman and two years before that, I was there alone I think (I remember bringing home a girl on New Year’s Eve after getting separated from the people with whom I’d been out, Ryan and company), and waking with her and hearing my parents already awakened. They were super relaxed about the whole thing, and I think they were just happy to have me there having a good time. Hehe.

So hopefully the weather will be decent and I’ll get a little sun. LA’s been quite dreary for about a month, rainy and/or cloudy, and I hate to say, as it reflects my new sensitivity to colder weather from living in LA, absolutely freezing some of the time. I’m not that keyed up about what to do for New Years, so I’ll play it by ear and see if I am interested. Last year was fun most of the week, but New Years itself kinda stunk, and that was the same in 2007. I’ve never been a huge fan of the holiday, and always considered it a big rookie night where the chance of having a blast was less than the chance of having someone vomit on your shoes. Pushing 40 (almost), that opinion has only been reinforced. But what I can look forward to it relaxing, unwinding, and spending time with my terrific parents and family. That sound pretty good right now, and I guess on the flight back, we’ll know for sure.

Grumps.

Airplane Blogging

Wrote this a few weeks back. Wasnt sure i was going to post, but what the hell.


*****
Long indeed but I won't be starting with any apologies faithful reader. How hollow would that ring when we both know that this blog is merely a tickle in my side only at 33000 feet it seems.

Emotionally one of the roughest experiences in years. A colleague, friend, confidant, a terrible late night argument. Him aggressive and accusatory and myself defensive and denying. It seems that there was a lot more bad blood between us than I would have thought and for whatever reason it all came flowing out that night. By the end of the argument it had degenerated to name calling in the loudest of volumes. I haven't screamed like that in anger, fury, for years. After hanging up he deleted me as a facebook friend and emailed that he didn't want to know me, work with me, ever again. Will see what happens, If a detente is possible but I don't know. Its not just what was said but the feelings behind it were so full of anger. Regardless of apologies or anything else, don't those remain. Its difficult to be told by someone that virtually everyone that knows us in common thinks you are an asshole, that you are the most selfish person that only looks out for themselves. That you are to blame, largely for a huge mess which was brought upon you by others and which you did your best to rectify. Emotionally I'm still rather spent and raw. Recovering. I woke that morning after with a hangover in fact even though I hadn't had anything to drink. I've spent a fair amount of time discussing those accusations with friends and thinking about them myself. Some I can disregard I believe and some perhaps have an element of truth. I'm not perfect and I can strive to be nicer to people . Ill do that.

Whew.

I'm actually Blogging on my phone as my laptop is out of juice. Its making me less verbose than normal. About to land in austin. Here with Steve hentges hunger and looking forward to seeing some of the most laid back city in America.

Grumps.

Airplane Bloggin’: Back to NOLA

Sitting in the Admiral’s lounge for American airlines in Miami International Airport, I cannot help to feel more like a yeoman. No wireless access. No complimentary beverages other than coffee and water, and if you want a complimentary meal, I guess one can subside on three or four of the mini-muffins they have displayed under the glass cases. They do seem to have a full cash bar, but that’s not really the point of these airline clubs, is it? I thought the point was, when you’re encountering the ordeal that airports are in the modern age, it was a little oasis, with free lubrication. I don’t pay for the club, I get in by virtue of a platinum amex, but still, its just one more thing that’s been taken away, put on a paying basis. Its like the girl who used to lay you for the hell of it, the friend with benefits, who know wants girlfriend status. It’s a poor analogy, but forgive me, its early and I am still a bit groggy, a situation not aided by the weak-ass coffee here. Only thirty minutes from my flight, guess I should mosey (mosey?) to my gate…

Well, its hours later and I am in my hotel room in New Orleans. I think I am the first one back in the city from the production.

Miami…Miami. Was great. It was terrific to have that time with my parents, as its not often that I get to see them for an extended period of time. A bump here and there, to be sure, but all in all a great and relaxing trip. Dave Newman came down and despite the cramped quarters (we had to split a room, and David bought his version of an air mattress, which was a pool flotation device, only Newman) to sleep on. And with Ryan and Ricky in Miami, for the most part, the nightlife was kicking. New Years Eve itself was probably the weak link in the nightlife chain, a rookie night as I’ve always called it. But hitting the other spots, from the places at the Fontainbleau (Liv, and the outdoor portion of Blade by the Pool), the Mondrian (with Jen Styles, an LA friend), Mokia, Rokbar and all the rest. Oh, and the Shore Club, at Skybar which was lowkey (yeah yeah) and fun and non-pretentious somehow.

We hit the beach almost every day (except for the days spent at the Fontainbleau pool). The beach was a scene of course, crawling with paparazzi and the occasional celebrity. I actually ran into AnnaLynne McCord, who was an actress who was attached to Slaughter when it was supposed to enter production. You might know her better from 90210 (the new one) or from playing the teen seductress of Dylan Walsh on Nip/Tuck. In any event, despite our shared trials and tribulations she was very nice and gave me a New Year’s hug and kiss despite being clad in a very small bikini, which is something I really hope some reaching paparazzi got on camera.

I also had Mickey Rourke shake my hand and inadvertently spit on me. I hope it was inadvertent. Especiallybecause I bought him a shot of Jagermeister afterwards. He drank it like it was a shot of apple juice. We didn’t hug afterwards.

It was a bit of a whirlwind, ending up with Newman and I at Mokia the last night he was in town (he left the third, me the fourth) til 5 Am , me basically watching him people watching. He had an 8AM pickup for the airport, and was gone when I woke up hours later. I basically spent much of my last day first waiting for confirmation that I was leaving the next day (today), sleeping, packing and sleeping (lots of sleeping).

And now its back to work in New Orleans. Did some location scouting today, mostly in the ninth ward, and hit up the famous Port Of Call for Burgers and Monsoons, and to see Miami lose to Ravens, unfortunately. Like the Dolphins’ season, it wasn’t a perfect vacation, but it was pretty darn good.

MIA in MIA

I broke the streak of airplane blogging I had going, so instead I am Miami apt. blogging. Wow, what an exciting introduction….

Just finished at 830am two days ago the first of two legs of the New Orleans shoot for Sinners and Saints, complete with flipping cars, well-armed mercenaries with automatic weapons and full muzzle loads, and lots of fake blood. Without a doubt, it’s the most testosterone-laden set I’ve even been on. Very Michael Mann and I mean that in a good way. How suitable that I depart for Miami during our planned hiatus.

The Miami apt., in the fam since 1965, was a regular for me for the last ten years, save the last two, when I’ve been west-coast centric. The last time I was here was NYE two years back, which was fun, and which I spent with a lot of the same folks (Ricky in particular) that are coming down this time around. The indefatigable (except when sick) Ryan will be coming through as well, so I expect well-ordered excitement, as is his usual course.

My parents were down here when I arrived at the place, and Dave is coming down for a well-deserved break from the snows of the Northeast. Looking forward to the beach (gonna be 80 plus tomorrow and much of the week), some cheesy happy hours down in South Beach (I’m close, by the Delano and Shore Club), and then the NYE hullabaloo. After the turn, a few days of recovery and back to New Orleans, hopefully with a few less night-shoots on the schedule, and perhaps with somewhat recovered feet. My feet are actually the only part of me with any continuing malaise, but for those of you who have worked on shoots (movies, ads, photo, wtver, you know why). A three week stretch of six day weeks awaits on my return to the big easy, which after that stretch will probably feel more like the big lousy. I’ll be fine though, always seem to make it through.

Grumps in the sub-tropics

Sinners and Saints

Its been a busy kinda week (well, the past seven days or so) for work. This down economy feels perilous for all of us, economically at least, and the word of friends losing jobs is spreading around.

I’ve been fairly busy though, and the producing stuff seems to be coming along. However, as I always say, making movies is a roller-coaster. Don’t get on. So while things appear to moving forward nicely on a few projects, some long-gestating, some new, I’ll believe it totally when we break escrow. Just the way things are and the way they work.

I’m liking the new apartment, that it’s a one minute walk to the gym, and that the kitchen is so much better than where we were before. I bought a gas grill last weekend, and we’ve already used it a few times. Being able to walk onto the terrace and use a grill is great, very happy about that too.

Wow, I sound like a happy person. So strange. Don’t worry, I’ll snap out of it.

Im heading down to Louisiana in a few weeks for Will Kaufman’s movie, Sinners and Saints. We locked up a few names for the last few roles, and I think this one is a winner. The director is super-talented, and the cast, many of whom came on for pennies (well, not literally), seem to recognize that. I’m looking forward to being on a set, something I haven’t had the chance to do since making 10:31 over the summer.

Here’s will’s reel. This is from a super-low budget “nights and weekends” movie made for pocket-chance (again, not literally, but very inexpensively – VERY VERY). If he can do this kind of work at that budget, i simply cannot wait to see what he can do on Sinners with a bigger budget and a talented cast.

Grumps.

New Apartment

So i dont post as much as I used to. But I got a new place, and I do miss posting. So maybe with the new place in LA and the wireless internet that I just seemed to have figured out (needed to download airport extreme update to keep from getting disconnected every seven seconds, ugh), I will be inspired to share just a little bit more with the four people who read this (well, three plus me).

New place is working out fine, got the free direct TV in today, wireless is up. Dont have my new bed yet, but that comes tomorrow. Cannot wait. We still need a bunch of other furniture, Mike, Linda and I but we're getting there. Bought all the cooking/kitchen crap on sale over the weekend, should be here end of the week. Priorities remain a sofa, a bbq, and my bed, but thats just a matter of time.

Never have had my own bathroom before and its really nice. Big shower. Just wish water was a little warmer and pressure was a little better. But no complaints. I cannot believe this place is the same price (after factoring in free gym, internet and cable/direct TV). If only I knew, would have been out of the hovel last year sometime.

Gym is next door, so its a stroll over in three minutes. Plus I saw Andy Dick there yesterday, which means I guess I'll be staying out of the locker room.

Roommate?

I am still roommateless as the month crawls to a close. No good.

That dude who said he'd do it backed out the next day, the skag. Waiting for some news tomorrow, and the current roomie is half out the door.

Hoping to find someone compatible in the next few days. Im trying to think positive thoughts. Of course, Im gonna have to live with this person.

Grumps.

The Up and The Down

I have a headache, for hours. Not sure why. Accumulated dehydration, perhaps. Anyway, it hasnt gone away.

In other news, it seems I have found my next roommate for the new york apt. Seems like a great guy, laid back, will be a good fit.

Grumps.

Hellboy

I havent really been posting. OK. I havent been posting. Im in prep on a film. and when I haven't been prepping (its just a short film, hopefully a good one), I've been out of my apartment because they are removing all of the rebar from the outside of the building. With drills. All afternoon long. Every day. It sounds like they are drilling my skull.

Anyway, I've been hanging by the gym and the pool in my building to avoid the noise in the apt. Less computer and more blackberry time, and thats a lame excuse but I am going with it. Its also allowed me to get pretty tan (and somewhat reddish in my tax, as I usually am, at least at the end of a day of being in the sun).

Kinda like a less muscular and more sarcastic version of Hellboy.

Incidentally, go see Hellboy II. Its tons of fun, and visually fantastic. It even has a moral. Basically, its an example of a filmmaker at or near the top of his game.

Not Columbia's best move to let Uni take the sequal.

Grumps

Still Single

Yes, hard to believe, I know.

I think I am going to order a wife from overseas. Any thoughts on the best country from which to order. I think Argentina is having sales this week.

Airplane Bloggin’: Saturday Morning Shuffle

Im on the Jet Blue flight, 1140 AM back to NYC, out of Burbank, and thank you very much. I wisely upgraded to the four more inches of space seat for an extra twenty bucks. My kneecaps have been thanking me since I sat down an hour and a half ago.

Heading back to the Apple for the final two weeks before this, the twelfth edition of NYC PictureStart. Bunch of work left to do before we’re ready to go, still picking last film entries, though the script finalists are done (yet to be posted), the venue, god willing, is locked in, and the dates are set (same as the venue, god willing).

Each go around seems like it should get easier, but to some degree, I feel like each time, to a certain degree I need to reinvent the wheel a bit. We’ll be returning to Retreat, thanks to the owner’s generosity but it first seemed like we weren’t heading back over cost issues. I still don’t have a third judge locked in, though I am sure I can find someone great quickly this week. Everything is just more complicated now, running a film festival in New York when I spend the vast majority of my time in California. It had seemed that I was going to spend all of May in NYC, but it ended up that I had to fly back to LA to interview for a production attorney gig for a movie shooting in LA. It’s a good project, and I got the gig, so it was worth the trip.

And now back to NY, to add the final icing to the cake that is the 12th NYC PictureStart Film Festival. Victor Garcia, director of the still-to-be-filmed Slaughter, is joining as a juror, as is Morris Levy, producer (shall I say co-conspirator) of The Ten. The third juror, well, I have my suspects in mind. A few calls and that will be set.

Over 160 movies this time around, for 15 spots. Its getting more and more competitive. I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that we’ve grown into one of the bigger short film festivals, and we’re definitely among the more selective. The interest in filmmaking seems to grow exponentially, and the short format of a short film is well-attuned to the online, download, Youtubey internet promotion and distribution of much new media product. Yeah, so I am cutting edge. Can ya dig?

Details will be posted in full on the website in the next day or two. Come down one or both days and join us for some short film and some drinks and some networking, and get YOUR SHORT FILM SCENE (shameless plug, but it is my blog).

One thing about LA vs. NY.

The gym.

Let me draw some comparions. I’ve been working out five to six days a week for four or five months now to get back into shape. It had been too long, and I owed it to myself to get into better condition, and not to rely on pushups alone. It also helps me manage my stress, which was for various reasons, getting a workout all its own.

My gym in New York is the gym in my building. It has a view of the Hudson.

My gym in Los Angeles is on Hollywood Blvd. It has a view of the Hotties. Lots of em.

NY has a few cardio machines, one or two benches, and a few universal type machines. There is a pool and a hot tub as well.

LA has every machine you could possibly think of, cardio, weightlifting, cybex, life force, whichever. It also has a pool, hot tub, sauna, full court basketball, day care (not that I have kids), a tremendous free weight room, free parking on Hollywood Blvd., and a great grocery store with lots of healthy choices for after the gym. And a little juice bar with wonderful blended fruit drinks that I am sure taste better than they are truly healthy. It also has beautiful women using all of these things, providing that extra inspiration to proceed towards additional perspiration.

NY no such luck. Occasionally I get to use the gym alone in the afternoon, though, and they have free coffee. But it isn’t very good. Did I mention the view of the Hudson.

NY Price? 70 per month.

LA Price? 30 per month.

Are we noticing a trend here? A little more on that. My car insurance in LA is about the same as my motorcycle insurance in New York. Health insurance in CA is about 100 per month, maybe half of what it is in New York. And my place in LA, shitty as it may be, costs a fraction of what a similar place in New York would cost. Maybe 40 percent of what the NY cost of a small studio would cost, without the parking (included in LA) and the backyard (not available in NY, sorry, thanks for asking).

Did I mention the girls?

Anyway, for now I am still bicoastal, but the cash drain is well, a cash drain. Aalok, the NY roommate is supposed to be moving out shortly and hopefully whoever replaces him will be paying a far larger share of the rent, given how inexpensive the apartment is by current NY standards. That will make it easier to stomach paying for two places, even though I am in the one (far less nice one) like 75 percent of the time.

Still, I am looking forward to being back in NY for a bit. I had fun on my last stay, and people seem indeed very pleased to have me back when I am back. I think I must be very charming in small doses. Which means I should probably stop this entry. Now.

Ciao.

Grumps.

S Bar

On Hollywood Blvd., right next to Katsuya on the corner of Vine. S Bar is one of the coolest looking places I've been in LA. Its really just a high ceilinged box, with some couches and chairs. However, bringing in Philippe Starck to design the place, where the "S" stands for Satan (no, not mike ovitz), was worthwhile.

Ended up there after a spot at dominicks by the beverly center, which was unusually quiet. I was with a friend from NYC, Inna, and we stopped by the Stone Rose, and I was incredulously turned away. I've been there Wednesday after Wednesday, but I didn't call ahead and Bret Gursky, who runs the party, was nowhere near the door. I didn't feel like waiting for him to show up, so i just moved on.

We met Katie, Ki-Moon, Hill and some other folks at this S Bar place, which I'd heard about but never been to. Dave Navarro was partying at the next table with a bevy of babes, presumably getting over Carmen. Each wall had a concept - over the bar was an Omen-ish four horsemen of the apocalypes photo, four white horses looking frothy and angry. The south wall had a Hotel California motif, endless hotel doors opening one after another, into infinity. All the lamps in the place hang from the ceiling, upside down. Its a very unnerving thing when you first realize it.

I liked it, what can i say. Doesn't make me a devil worshipper. Unfortunately, the cel phone camera doesn't have a very good flash, so the better pics of the murals are ripped offline. anyway, have a looksie.




HOTEL CALIFORNIA MURAL


KI MOON AND INNA
THE INDEFATIGABLE KATIE MATTHEWS

Plans

Just got back from the gym, spot of dinner. A little work, and a little West Wing (upto season six on DVD now, almost through it, and onto the final season, seven).

I am flying back to New York Saturday morning, which means I get to NY saturday evening, around eight or so.

I've been working as production counsel on a movie, and its a good script and I like the director. The people who got me hired on the movie, unfortunately, are no longer with the project, so thats a little weird. I can't really say any more about it. It is, as I like to say, what it is.

California's been getting hot, Friday's supposed to top out at 100 or so. I don't have A/C in the hovel, but it's only a day or so in that heat, and supposedly, its a dry heat, like a blow torch or a dog humping your leg. Well, maybe not so much like a dog humping your leg.

Be good to be back in NY. NYC PictureStart Film Festival is coming up at the beginning of June, the team is almost done with prep, and final selections are forthcoming this week.

See y'all back in NY. Unless I do some Airplane Bloggin', a distinct possibility.

Oh, and dont forget, Indiana Jones returns on my birthday.

Grumps.

Just Along for the Ride.

Went out last night with some friends, Chase and Marie and Sha-hid. We were at the rapily declining Les Deux, it was very young and high school, maybe college aged. We had fun unto ourselves, but the place seems done.

Anyway, a friend, Ari was outside, trying to get in, so Chase went out to try to get him in. Things got confused and we thought Chase and Ari had rolled to Winstons. Chase’s phone was dead so we couldn’t reach him. Turns out that Ari had rolled to Winstons and that Chase ended up being left behind. I thought Ari told me that they were together but the club was loud and I must have misheard. So upon getting to Winston’s and seeing no Chase, we immediately left back to Les Deux to go look for him.

Now, Chase and crew had been out since 2PM (I joined them at 1030 or so) so they were, shall we say, well on their way. Chase went back in the club, couldn’t find us, got pissed off that we bounced on him and left him before we got back to Les Deux, perhaps forty minutes after we left. He had already gotten a cab home, was cranky, etc. I was the only sober one in the bunch, so I drove the others back to Chase’s place. We got there, squared stories, dealt with Chase’s crankiness with some herbicological assistance (is that a word) and then I want to go home. By this time, it was 4AM. I had no cash, but called a cab and requested one that could accept a credit card.

While I was in the cab, I found a purse of a young lady. A phone. A digital camera. Thirty dollars wadded in a corner. Nothing else. I called her entry “Home”, spoke to her mom, who much have tracked her down. The girl called me forty minutes later. Her name is Candice.

Candice thanked me for finding her purse and offering to return it. She then told me where she was and asked me to meet her at the Roosevelt hotel, where its clear she is drunk, again. In fact, on the phone of a friend, Ahmed, whose name she had to ask (so maybe they just met), I heard her say to a girlfriend, I cannot believe I am drunk again. It was perhaps 1:30PM.

I don’t know whether I was more taken aback by the fact that this girl was drunk again, with a strange dude, or that she was presumptuous enough to ask me to deliver her purse to her instead of coming to get it on her own. She did confide that none of her group was sober, which was why she asked me to deliver it to her. Fair enough, at least she is being responsible enough not to ask Ahmed to drive drunk.

Anyway, this is just a little slice of life, and while I like LA, this is so typically Los Angeles (the girl is from a suburb called Gardenia, her mother told me when we talked). Its one of the things that does annoy me about this town, and perhaps something that scares me about the generation that follows mine.

Of course, my generation was the one that had these folks drinking from 2PM on a Saturday through the nite, and they drove to the club. I was a sober participant, just along for the ride.

Grumps

UPDATE:
Went to drop off the wallet at the Roosevelt hotel, and Candice came out to meet me. She was in all respects very gracious and appreciative. Perhaps we're not all doomed to anything worse than being frequently inebriated.

Airplane Bloggin’- End of April Edition

Headed back to LA on a fine Saturday morning, I haven’t really had my fill of New York since returning maybe three weeks ago. Seems like such a short period of time to spend in my New York home before returning to my LA home (aka the “hovel”), where I spent two months after Sundance.

Im headed out for a number of reasons. I have an interview for a production attorney position on a movie, and the producers on this particular movie insisted on a face-to-face meeting. I am not sure why, as its definitely not typical for lawyers to be interviewed in person, and even more so, at the prospective client’s office. But as money has been tight and this job pays decently, its certainly worth the trip. I am told I have the inside track because the line producer recommended me. I hope so.

Scott (The Insurgents) Dacko has been in LA for most of the week, staying in the hovel in my absence. But he’s just rented an apartment a few blocks from my place, and he’ll be vacating my place and taking up his new digs. He’d been spending money on hotels etc with his trips to LA, which were quite frequent, and so for the same economic reasons as me, he’s now a semi-resident of Los Angeles.

The other reason why its good I am making the flight involves Scott. Scott’s new screenplay (newish, I’d read a draft perhaps five months ago when we were in hard prep on Slaughter) has been optioned, with him attached to direct and me attached to produced, by a heavy hitter exec producer. They are putting up some decent money for Scott to do a script polish and for the option itself, and they’ve invited us to lunch to discuss moving forward, I suppose. I might not have been able to have made the trip just for the lunch, but I am glad I’ll happen to be in town for it, and get to meet another big time producer. This guy has had his name of lots of genre hits, and he’s exec producing a Will Smith movie at the moment – no small thing these days.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum though, Jet Blue, old faithful, changed their website. Not only was it two pains in the neck to book reward travel because the interface to do so was almost hidden, but also, I wasn’t able to choose my seat online. The function wouldn’t work on either of two browsers. So I didn’t have a seat assignment until I checked in this morning at the airport and of course, ninety minutes before flighttime there were only middle seats. I’ve been crunched between two large guys for the past five hours-not so much my idea of fun, and its been tough to sleep, even though I had both Valium and Tylenol PM before I got on the flight. I probably got two to three hours of fitful sleep in, mostly at the beginning of the flight. I didn’t take my normal 6AM flight, as I thought, hey, its Saturday, what’s the hurry, I will take the 9AM instead. In retrospect, however, when taking a flight where you cannot chose the seat, take the flight most likely to be half empty (the 6AM).

Had a great time with my brother Scott and friends (Dave, Mari, Adi, Lali) doing karaoke on Thursday night, which made it even a little more painful leaving New York early. But fun is fun and work is work, so here I am, crunched in coach.

Anyway, we’re beginning descent, so gonna wrap this up. Talk to you from the City of Angels (or, um, Dodgers).

Grumps.

Request (Updated)

My sister is having thyroid surgery tomorrow. Drop by her blog and give her your best, I am sure she'll appreciate it. And since I typically get readers from her and not the other way, I am sure she'd appreciate the additional traffic.

UPDATE
Steph is home resting comfortably. Everything went smoothly and she was vigorous enough to debate with me on the phone today.