Fashion Week Sucks!

Okay, it's that time of the year again that I've grown to hate living in New York City: Fashion Week. For one thing, I go to school directly across the street from Bryant Park and my school, Katharine Gibbs, happens to be neighbors with the official hotel of Fashion Week: The Bryant Hotel. Needless to say there is so much traffic congestion on 40th Street, it's enough to make me want to scream! Also if you go to any deli in the area this week, it will be hard to find 3 things: yogurt, bottle water and cigarettes - the supermodel diet! Not that I smoke, but if I did, I would have to go outside of the vicinity of Bryant Park to find my smokes. Most of the guys in school (the straight ones anyway) love the fact that there are gorgeous supermodels walking down the street ignoring them as we make our way past the police barricades to get to school.

It started last week almost right a week after the Monday Night Film Festival ended. In the summer, Bryant Park shows old movies that start at sundown on Monday nights. They show really films that run the gamut from classic to camp, musical to drama, action to family and the such. Some of the films that they showed in the past have been "Psycho", "To Sir With Love", "Annie Hall", "Rosemary's Baby", and "Casablanca." Sometimes it's a lot of fun to chill out after work on the lawn with a group of friends, a picnic basket and a bottle of wine and watch a film from yesteryear all as the sun goes down on a hot day. But once Labor day hits, the fashion crowd invades the park and the climate changes in more ways than one.

I'll admit it's interesting to watch the limos and town cars unload on 6th Ave in front of the entrance tent on 41st street. Lots of famous faces, I've seen make the trek up the stairs over there. But living here in the city, you can sometimes get jaded by seeing celebrities walking the street. It's the tourist who live in the Midwest that get the big rush out of seeing Sly Stallone or Anna Wintour pound the pavement. Frankly, I'm long past jaded. I even get upset sometimes when I can't cross the street in my daily routine because: "We're trying to get a shot. Can you walk across the street?" Ask any New Yorker about what it's like to have any of the many "Law & Order" series shoot in your neighborhood, and you probably will get a negative response.

Don't get me wrong, any time there is a film or television production shot here, its good for the economy. The only thing you have to watch out for is crossing the streets or being kept from entering your apartment building because Mariska Hargitay or Sarah Jessica Parker is shooting a scene.

Things are looking up!

This has been an incredibly busy week for me. I made the Dean's List again and they had an award ceremony this week that I was too busy to attend because I had classes back-t0-back that day. I got a gig as a tutor at school helping students with Final Cut and Final Draft, etc. But most importantly now I even have a cell phone! Things are really starting to look up. I started submitting my resume for internships this past week. I even finished my EPK project this week. My rough cut is due tomorrow but I have to get to school first thing in the morning to finish it for class at 9am. Today the school is close, othewise I would have been in there at this very moment editing myself into a tizzy.

Now I can concentrate on getting my thesis film done. It is a comedy that everyone who has read it says it's HILARIOUS! All I can say is that it stars Wayne Chang and I know it will be a fun project. Pretty soon I'm going to post an ad for actors and animals for my film. Yes I did say animals! My script includes a couple of English Bulldogs that look like the ones in the photo above. But most importantly I need to find location, location, location for my piece that I know will be the hit of the film festival circuit once I get it complete. If anybody reading this knows of any locations, dogs or crew that can enhance my project please drop me a line. Or if anybody reading this blog would be interested in being a Producer then DEFINITELY drop me a line. I think I will soon hold a backers reading to get some money to get this thesis film done with style!

Today is Labor Day and in my neighborhood it's the West-Indian Parade. Needless to say the noise level has been really loud around here as I type my entry on my laptop. Thank God for headphones!

Shooting Footage, Comedy Writing and The NY Fringe Festival

This has been a crazy week again for me. Today I shot some footage (known as B-roll) to accompany the interview and other visuals that I will incorporate in the EPK (Electronic Press Kit) that I am doing for my 5th Quarter project. I'm doing it for a for a music producer/sound engineer who has his studio in DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and I feel that it will be a great project because I've gotten more comfortable with AVID Xpress Pro and my instincts as a cameraman today were on point and I think I went away with some truly awesome footage. I have one more day of shooting (the interview) and then production is complete and the post-production begins. Hopefully I can have it complete before Labor Day that way I can fully focus on my thesis project and the pre-production.

Speaking of the thesis film. I handed in my 2nd draft last week and got my notes today. So tomorrow I will hand in my 3rd (and hopefully final) draft to my Script Development Professor. I don't know, but I have a really good feeling about my thesis film and I think if I can secure the locations and cast, I think it will be really magical. So in a few weeks I'm going to post casting notices for actors and crew for the film. I'm really excited!

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend a performance at the NY International Fringe Festival that one of my very good friends, Bambi Engeran is performing in with her theater company from New Orleans. It is called "Sustained Winds" and it was PHENOMENAL! I really liked its multi-media mix of theater, dance, song, and photography. I think it's only running for a few more shows at the festival and I strongly suggest you go see it! Check out the link for more info.

On a very sad note baseball lost a legend this week, Phil Rizzuto. He played short stop on the Yankees for his baseball playing career. He will be missed. The world of entertainment lost a great this week as well, Merv Griffin. I remember as a child watching his talk show and I will always think of him whenever I watch my favorite game show, Jeopardy.

The (Crazy) Week That Was!

Right now I'm home because the subways are not running out of Brooklyn due to the heavy rain that we had overnight. I walked to 4 train stations this morning to be turned away by MTA workers and told that the trains were our of service or MAJOR DELAY. One woman I spoke with in the street said that she was sitting on the 2 train for 30mins and it wasn't moving, so she said "screw it" and got off. (Well, she actually used another expletive, but I was cleaning it up here). Anyway, I'm watching that GORGEOUS Mike Woods on FOX-5 News talking about the miserable weather and the region-wide flooding. But enough about the weather, it' too miserable to talk about (although the sun has just come out)

So much happened since my last post, but good and bad:

• We lost 2 film giants: Ingmar Bergman and Michaelanglo Antonioni. Both directors passed away on the same day, July 30. They legacy of film genius will live forever
• Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron record yesterday and hit his 756th homerun
• On this end of the country, ARod hit his 500 career homerun (GO YANKEES!!!!!)
• I finished writing a new script. It's a comedy short that I will film for my final thesis and I'm really, excited about filming it because everybody who has read it thinks it's really funny
  
• I finally saw the new film version of HAIRSPRAY. All I can say is I LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!!! Seeing John Travolta as Edna Turnblad was worth the ticket price alone
• I gave a speech in my Verbal Communications class yesterday, titled "How to Get on Television Without Having to Eat a Cockroach". It went over well. I just spoke about what I knew and spoke from my heart, although I don't think I'm going to be a political speech writer anytime soon
  

Speaking of Hairspray, everyone who reads this knows how big of a John Water's fan I am, but I must confess: I liked this musical version better than the Divine/Rikki Lake original. But I think Divine would be proud to see that John Travolta played the role that he originated with such dignity and class. Also, and this is nothing against Harvey Fierstein (who was GREAT as Edna on Broadway), but John Travolta has a nicer singing voice and we all know that the man can shake his ass! As far as the rest of the cast: Michelle Pfeiffer (as Velma Von Tussel), Queen Latifah (as Motor mouth Mabel) and Christopher Walken (as Wilbur Turnbald) were simply great. But I think Allison Janney (as Purdy Pingleton) and Nikki Blonsky (as Tracy Turnblad) STOLE THE SHOW!!!!

Okay, enough for now.

2nd Week of 5th Quarter

Well, here it is, the 2nd week of my fifth quarter at film school. That's why I haven't made any entries in almost 2 weeks. It's been crazy. On top of that I was going through some health issues, but I finally got a clean bill of health so now I can exhale. Lots of changes this quarter that I am finding both interesting and challenging. Unfortunately, another one of my favorite professors left school as well. Professor MacGillivray took another position we were told. I wish him much luck and he will be missed. The professor who replaced him is Professor Marshall and he is very cool and very funny (not to mention very easy on the eyes too}! I have a feeling that I'm going to really like this Script Development Class. I've already had to submit 3 ideas for a film that will be my thesis film that will be shot next quarter. I've decided to do a narrative short and all I can say is that I'm writing it to star one of my favorite actors that I worked with earlier this year on my PSA, Wayne Chang. He is a great actor and my short is a comedy and if there is anyone who can pull it off, I know it's Wayne. Plus he's a joy to work with. I only hope he can fit it in his schedule and is available when we go to production.

I'm also taking a Video Production/Editing class that meets 3 days a week and is taught by 2 professors. Professor Ezovski teaches the Editing part on Monday and Wednesday while Professor Garcia teaches the Production part on Tuesday. Like every quarter we are expected to produce a project for our final grade. For this class our project is the EPK (a/k/a Electronic Press Kit) and since the quarter only goes 10 weeks this summer, we have to do it at a more rapid pace than projects in the past quarters. I think I have a client but I don't want to say right now because I don't want to jinx myself. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that it will be fun doing it and not as crazy as the last 2 projects. Professor Ezovski says that most of us will probably wind up doing lots of EPKs when we get out of sch00l because the time factor that it takes to make them and they can be lucrative to make some $$ to pay for your other camera and editing equipment (not to mention: paying off the massive student loans!)

For some reasons they are the only 2 Digital Film classes that I have on my full schedule this quarter, sort of. I am also taking Career Development which is suppose to prepare us toward finding an internship that is my requirement for next quarter. Even though it's technically a general education course, it's geared specifically to the Digital Filmmaking and Multimedia Program. Professor MacIntosh, who teaches this course is an industry professional who is actually taking off for 4 weeks to attend some film festivals that she has her work in at the time. She is very cool and I have a feeling that I'm going to like her class a lot. I also think that I will DEFINITELY find an internship that I will like after taking this class. She already got us to volunteer for the upcoming IFP (International Feature Project) Market thats happening in September here in New York. Well at least some of us in class registered for it already, I don't know if some of my classmates are really into "volunteering" as opposed to getting paid. Boy, won't they be in for a rude awakening in the real world once school is over for them. While all of us sitting in the front row are updating our resumes and doing our research, everyone else from the back of the room are known to watch movies and play computer games. Imagine, paying 40K to go to school just so you can surf the web? But I digress. In the meantime, I am busy working on my resume that desperately needs to be updated to reflect my current career aspects. I just have to remember to take off my resume that position that I had for a brief time period as a fluffer. Hmm, good times. Good times.

Anyhoo, my other courses this year are general education courses that I think will be easy. I'm taking History of Western Civilization and Verbal Communication (something that I've NEVER had a problem with). The only bad thing about both of these courses is that they both meet once a week so, I really can't miss ONE class because participation is 10% of your grade. However I already missed one (my second of 9 classes - no class on Labor Day) Verbal Comm classes because I had to go to the doctor for a follow-up for a procedure I had done 2 weeks ago. I had an "internal struggle" (Ya see, the script development classes are working already!) trying to debate whether or not I should skip the class to see the doctor (it was the only day he could see me at the clinic) but in the end I realized that my health is more important. BTW, it's better knowing that you are healthy even if it jeopardizes your 3.92 GPA. I just have to work extra hard to make up for the class that I missed on Monday. I actually had to give a speech. I emailed my professor and she told me to be prepared to give it next class. I actually prepared a speech about one of my favorite directors whose work has always been an inspiration to me, John Waters. Monday afternoon when I go into my class the speech must be ON POINT because I really can't afford to get a bad grade. I only wish I could afford to go see "Hairspray" (which just opened to RAVE reviews BTW) over the weekend, but funds are low. However I'm open to any guy that would like take me on a date to see it! :-) Of course, I'm a EXCELLENT date when dinner is include as well! (wink, wink)

The history class is interesting too. I know I'm going to like it because it's a small class and Professor Jacobs seems to make the class very interesting despite the subject matter. It's funny but I never appreciated subjects like math and history when I was in high school but now, I guess because I've grown older, I have a better respect for these subjects. This class has LOTS of reading, but it's actually rather interesting so far.

Anyway I'm trying to sell some of my textbooks back to the bookstore but they just want to give me "some" credit and not cash (the cheapskates!). I went to Barnes and Noble on Fifth and 18th Street to sell some and either they didn't want them because they had them in their system as "no value" or they wanted to pay me $5 for a book that cost over $85. I don't think so!

BTW, I wasn't really kidding before about the date to see Hairspray, however I was kidding about my prior employment as a fluffer. It was really more of an internship.

Later.

John Amaechi and Amaury Nolasco: Why do I feel having like a sandwich now?

Right now I've had a couple of Vicodin and I'm currently feeling no pain. I had the Vicodin because I'm recovering from a minor surgical procedure that I had a on Wednesday of this week. So now I'm just on my laptop about to post an entry wondering if anybody is out there reading my blog about my exploits as a film student being a black gay man of 40 plus...

Speaking of being Black and Gay, I finished John Amaechi's book, "Man In the Middle" a few weeks ago and I want to put down some of my thoughts about what I thought. First of all I have to say that I find John Amaechi incredibly HOT! and I hope that I get the chance to meet him in person one day. He is OH SO MY TYPE! Reading his memoir it read like I was reading about my life in many ways growing up feeling "different." Like him, I was was a overweight kid who had issues with my size growing up and was constantly picked on by other children. I resorted to reading and buried myself in books too. I felt that I related to a lot of what he was saying as a gay man too. I would love to have a family even though society may feel indifferent to a gay man raising children. He is now a psychologist living in the U.K. and he has proved that not all athletes are big and stupid. He is a very bright man and, in my book, what I would call "husband material." He's funny and has a good head on his shoulder and is very comfortable in his skin. Just like me. Maybe I should move to Manchester, England? I'm sure if he is single, he won't be for long. Besides what would he want with a 43 year old unemployed college student with a 3.94 GPA? Okay, it's the Vicodin talking now. Moving on....

I saw the film "Transformers" on the 4th of July with my friend Donald. No, Donald wasn't in the movie, I just went to the theater with him to see the movie. Am I making any sense? Anyway I was happy to see that another HOTTIE was in it: Amaury Nolasco. Of course he was a totally hottie as well in the film. Oh the film itself was pretty silly plot wise, but technically it was GENIUS! The whole time I'm sitting there watching it, I'm thinking to myself, "how'd they do that?". The mix of CGI and SFX with the live action was seamless. I had no clue whatsoever as to what was going on story wise, but I was so taken away with the techniques incorporated to make these "Transformers" transform before my eyes on screen. I was never a fan of the original cartoon that the film was based on but I am a fan on great SFX. I smell an Oscar nod.

I picked up my books for the next quarter yesterday. I'm excited because it looks like my 5th quarter will be very exciting too. Oh I also wanted to mention that if you get a chance to get to the New York International Latino Film Festival later this month, don't forget to check out "Lola". It's a short film written and directed by one of my favorite professors, Betty Garcia. I remember back in March around my birthday Betty had asked me to assist her with her shoot but because of a scheduling conflict I wasn't able to do it and she shot this short. In just that short amount of time she wrote, shot and directed and now it's premiering later this month at this film festival. I'm so happy for her I know that it will be a success.

The Grades Are In!

Okay, so my grades are back and I'm still on the Dean's List for this quarter. Yeah! I made and A in four subjects and an A minus in one. The A minus was from Composition and Motion Graphics, Professor Byrne's class. Honestly, I thought that was generous. But I feel lucky for having gotten an A in both of my general education courses, English Composition and Critical Thinking. Okay, I knew that the A was in the bag for English, I'm a writer after all.

I'm on my second week of vacation from school. I've been re-editing Daphne's music video. (I got an A on it by the way). I've also been preparing my documentary, "Measure of Life" for distribution to film festivals. I guess even though class is out, I'm still keeping busy. I suppose that is the life of a film maker. I better get used to it.