Pillow Fight pillowfight.co <— the start
Let’s get it started. I don’t spend enough time writing on my own damned site! It seems like life has a tendency to rush by at such a fervent pace there’s scarcely time to stop, analyze, ponder and of course appreciate! Shame on me for not stopping to take a little shot of perspective.
This journey over the past couple of years has been fantastically wild. I’ve learned so much, have fallen for a girl, have found successes at the office, have FINALLY dug the heels firmly into the soil and spent some real time being a filmmaker and actor. The operative word there, however, is “some” time. I’ve busied myself with projects that fall more into the hobby category of things; I’ve certainly met some amazing film minds that I consider rather dear and have been lucky enough to call friends. I’ve challenged myself in small bursts to dig deeper, to discover what my process really means to me as an actor, but I would be lying to others and myself to say I’ve really embraced the complexities of it all.
But Pillow Fight has become something so much more. It represents a solid about-face in my world. It’s the first project I’ve conceived, written, game-planned and executed with a closely scrutinized measure of satisfaction. I’m so damned lucky to have the people around me I do; to have Tania Aleman as my counterpart, life-coach, support system and critic. Joseph Lao, with his exceptional talents, commitment and vision, on-board as a creative collaborator in the venture. The many talented actors, the producers, coaches (Marla Finn)… the list could continue on and on. But this is it. The inaugural run at it all. The start of (hopefully) a long-listed career or films and projects we incubate and then push out to the world, finding creative hurdles to find a mainstream or even niche audience to communicate to.
We’re working on our final episode to make up our “pilot package” of episodes to roll out to the web this weekend. NAIVETY. It’s got grit galore, stupendous talents attached, and now a real framework for success (as explored in the previous five eps of the series) to propel us through the finish line.
What tomorrow means, we’ve yet to really discover. We’ve piqued the interest of a few noticeable players in the game, we’re starting to uncover the mechanics of the gauntlet that lies ahead. This project could really catapult us forward, it could flop, but in either instance, we’ve learned a ton about what we can do and the competencies we have in bringing it to fruition.
Our tapestry (if you will) is a starting point. We want to bring filmmakers together, to get them a forum to contribute to an organic, no-budget, piece with a direct aim, length, theme/tonality. Intimate chat with two people in a bedroom setting. Post sex. Where deceptions are an after thought, where every bit of life’s intimacy is shared, this the bedrock for a different type of dialogue. As mentioned, I have no idea where this thing could go! We came in with a simple goal: to really explore characters, language, to showcase talents that are underused here in Arizona, to bring to focus the potential for greatness we have in an otherwise identity-less cinema landscape. So far, I think we’ve passed the test with flying colors. But the next phase of the challenge comes in the public’s acceptance; comes in the form self-doubt. The willingness to bullhorn it out to any-/everyone we can, to get them to watch the thing, critic it, praise it, one-up it! If we can do that thing, if we can strike the match that starts a fire, well then…
So this is the start. This starting line has a variety of ebbing paths with no real endpoint in sight. But I know I plan to keep it better journal’d, to document as much as I can share what I can, if for no other reason that time take a snapshot of the place I’m sitting at at this very moment. We can’t forget our beginnings. We can’t lose site of the start.
Be sure to follow the progress and the people that have contributed so much at pillowfight.co and www.facebook.com/pillowfightweb.
Jeff Goldsmith - The Q & A - iTunes
This is a quickie, but for those that are a fan of the cinemas, love to hear from filmmakers and the origins for a script, the filmmaking process, in particular the writing, this (FREE!) podcast truly is the gold standard.
Jeff Goldsmith’s enthusiasm rings true in every sense. His investigative research and the pin-point questioning really put him ahead of the class. In a lot of ways, he hosts a solid Screenwriting 101.
Thank me later.
This song is really sticking with me at the present. Such an amazing melody that really works for the Another Earth trailer. I still need to check the movie and the screenings are limited to one arthouse theatre, but it’s on my radar for the week.
Joseph Lao (director) will be at the helm of the new project. Such an amazing visual eye. He truly is a one-man wrecking crew.
