Posts Tagged nashville
More Progress/Meetings
I spent most of the day today thinking. Thinking about where I might be going, sending out emails to folks in Nashville and elsewhere, talking to other folks online, etc. I keep staring at the edit for Standing Firm and not doing much. I need to finish up the last few things needed before mailing this thing off. I think I need a boost. I need to send the thing out and just be done with that part of things. Only until I get (or don’t get) a phone call will I be able to move forward. I think it’s just time to get it in the mail and part with it. Close a chapter and HOPEFULLY open a new one if we get a good response. It’s going right to a VP of a companies house, not a giant pile on a desk somewhere in the back of an office. We’ll see…
We had a production meeting for The Grace Card later in the evening. I love getting these out of the way because I keep sensing folks being more and more comfortable with their involvement. The more we meet and just talk about things that need to be done, the stronger as a team we get and the better we become at communicating. This friday is going to be an interesting time as we have Michael Joiner coming in to do a free comedy show at Calvary Church, and we introduce the film more officially to people. It’s going to be an interesting weekend I think, and plenty to do in just a few days. I can’t wait for it to be over already, lol.
The more I think about where I’ll settle, the more I realize I don’t need to be anywhere in particular. You can make movies anywhere, because odds are you’ll travel where you make them. You can do web design, graphic work, etc. anywhere because it’s all internet based. You can write from anywhere because email and phone is really the only thing you need to accomplish delivery. The only thing I’m missing that I really need is a team of people to plug into or start with someone. NY is just a crappy place to do that and nobody else is there really. I don’t want to travel 9 months out of the year. I want to make movies yes but I don’t want to be alone where I am either. If I go to Nashville I have this feeling that on most nights I’ll be completely alone, just sitting there. It’s just a delicate decision because I DO NOT want to spend a bunch of money going somewhere and getting an apartment only to go “oops.” I need to be careful and make sure I go where God wants me to be…so it’s just a long period of asking and waiting.
That’s about all I can think of to say for now…g’night.
Humid
Ugh today was brutal. It was easily 90 degrees in my room all day because of the hot weather (hit 90 or so today), all the rain we’ve been getting, and the massive hot air from my computer stuff. I didn’t have the motivation to do a thing today…it was just too hot. I finally got the videos working on the Standing Firm site, so I can release the first one sometime soon. I realized I can’t release it right away because now there is some sort of trouble with the email client I’m using. They want to review my profile before letting me sign up to send out things. If it’s not one thing it’s another.
I watched The Shawshank Redemption with commentary for the first time today. Frank Darabont is such a cool guy…you can just tell in his commentary how warm of a guy he is and how intelligent he is. I’m sure I would melt if I ever met him…lol.
I went to Ben’s today to just hang out and do nothing. We talked, I fixed the video stuff on the website, we watched very little of a movie, and just sat there LOL. It was uneventful, and that’s just fine with me. Ben is hilarious sometimes. I keep telling him to write down some of the funny things he has in his life, no matter how ridiculous or small…because they always crack me up. He has a giant industrial fan in his room, because he likes to keep cool, and he prefers sleeping with a constant noise if possible…doesn’t like silence. I just happened to notice the little center silver thing on the fan that’s in the front. The cap looking thing…and it said “King of the Fans” That’s just a little taste of the funny odd things that centers around this guy 
I told him he’s a walking sitcom…
Not much else transpired today. It was really a relaxing, try not to melt kind of day. Probably the best part of it was just cruising home with the window down, something I write about a lot 
One thing I forgot was when pulling into Lewiston where Ben lives I saw these guys outside a bar (obviously hired or paid by the bar) with a fake guitar, a barrel and drum sticks, and a fake mic…with mops on their heads and bills jerseys…and they were singing and acting like Jamaican guys. It was hilarious because when I pulled into the Subway next door the guy at the gas station was just looking at them as he pumped his gas. I walked by him towards the shop and made eye contact and I said “wackos…” We both laughed and I went into the Subway, ha ha.
Hard to believe I’m leaving here again next week. It doesn’t feel like I am…I haven’t thought about it much. This time I’m leaving for a lot longer too than my stay in LA (which was supposed to be longterm). This one is for sure because now I have a project to work on that will take time no matter what happens. I need to make sure I start getting work regularly if I’m going to make a decent living at this. I don’t care if it’s websites, film jobs, editing, graphics, etc. I want to start making at least $2500 a month consistently after this movie is done. That’s a start too and I think it’s doable. The movie will allow me to coast a little but not for long, especially if I have to find my own place. I think I’m starting to build a decent amount of contacts that if I really needed work I could find it. Here’s hoping
There are some great developments in regards to The Grace Card. Some very exciting folks for the cast have come about and I’m excited to share more officially when the time comes. Either way it feels very odd to know I’m going to be directing some of these people at my age. It’s very odd indeed, but I’m extremely honored and excited to get a chance to do it.
Ok time for bed, I’m beat. Tomorrow hopefully three friends from out of state will be looking at Standing Firm so I’m hoping for decent things…I don’t get my hopes up.
Yes, I’m Moving…
Ok this is a wake up call for anyone who doesn’t read the blog but might come across this. I’m NOT in LA anymore. I still get people thinking I’m still there and have no idea I move while all my Twitter / Facebook statuses revolve around NY LOL. Either way I was back home as of the beginning of July and now I’m heading to Memphis to work on The Grace Card for a time period that’s currently unknown. I have a lot more creative input in the film than originally planned and I have no intension of co-Directing the film in the prep / shooting stage and leaving. I’m in this for the long haul, no different than Standing Firm. Now granted there won’t be any jobs for me in Memphis after this film is done but I should do well enough (as this is my first paying film job) to coast for a little bit to find another job that can pay me while I finish the film with Calvary Pictures. That’s the current situation. One plus is that God has brought a lot of people into my path in the Nashville, TN area and I feel like in the next year I’ll be calling that place home. A lot of folks work in TV / Film there and even the possible distribution folks for Standing Firm are located there so it’s a win either way. I’ll be working project to project from now on.
If I’m on a film I’m paid, if I do a website I charge a fair rate for my time, etc. I can’t afford (literally) to do a bunch of “favors” for folks anymore because now it’s down to eating or not or still having a car or not, etc. It’s time to make a living, lol. Heck Torry Martin might even be reading this thinking “hmm I wonder if he needs a room?” Ha ha, love you Torry…
We’ll see what happens. Whether it’s Standing Firm, The Grace Card, any other ideas I might have or projects, ChristainFilmTrailers.com and rare income from that, odd web/graphics/video jobs, etc…I’ll be just fine. I think I have enough now to get a career moving. I’ve made sure in the last 4 years that my name is plastered on quite a few websites and such to legitimize myself. That’s what it’s all about when it comes to the internet stuff. You have to throw yourself out there, and it seems to be working.
Ok now about my day…I felt pretty awful today again but got up and headed to church anyways. I was reluctant to shake hands obviously because of my cold and people were appreciative. The guy who sticks out his hand full of mucus and goes “hey how you doing?!” isn’t something I want to respond to, lol. I left church to follow Brad & Jen to Brad’s hockey game at Cruisers. I haven’t played hockey in so long, I miss it. Either way when we got there and the game started it poured! I mean really poured! Hurricane type rain where you can’t see a thing. I was afraid I had a window open at the house so I made sure I got home and forgot about the game. Nothing happened to the house (don’t worry parents, haha). The rain had made the parking lot at the hockey place like 3inches deep. I’ve honestly never seen that much rain fall down here in this area since I’ve lived here, which has been my whole life. The doppler was RED for like 60 square miles…insane.
I went back up to Niagara Falls to meet Brad and Jen at an Arby’s to eat. I love those guys, such an encouragement to me and I love watching them around each other. They’re gonna get married, it’s for sure We went to go see Funny People afterwards which was a lot better than I thought. It’s not an all out comedy. It’s a comedy about comedians so right there you have differences in the approach. It was a lot more crass than I thought it would be, being about stand up of course…but overall it redeemed itself ending up being much more serious and character driven.
Back at home I just sorta sat around talking to people, watched a little bit of a movie with a commentary, watched a rough cut of a friends film to give notes for, struggled to get my videos on my website working (it’s been 3 days and the server still isn’t working right…I’ve been on tech support forever. They’re gonna get an earfull. I’ve given them TONS of money in the past 5 years or so since I started using them), and waited for another storm. I have never seen so many lightning strikes around here before. We’re talking like 2 every few seconds for more than an hour. It was a laser-light show out there, sorta freaky. I felt like a tornado was about to rip through the town.
I ended the day talking to a few folks about the move (which prompted the beginning of the blog post). Yea I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it again…this year has been interesting and will continue to be. Wrapped my first feature, starting my second, moved to CA, moved back to NY a month after that, now I’m moving to Memphis and after that probably heading to Nashville. I just want to find one place where I can stay and dig in deep. I really don’t like moving at all…it sucks. I think I’ll wait forever to buy a house because I want to find one I can make my own and just stay in until I croak. Here’s hoping…
