Career of pushing the button

Photography has paid my bills for quite some time. I'd like to think that I'm a decent photographer.

What is photography though? To me, it's not about pushing a button in front of a subject. It's about interaction.

As photographers we interact with things and try our best to capture a moment of time.

With this understanding, we shouldn't look to see how nice of a camera we can ladder up to. We need to master our gear we use, yes, but we should also take notes on who we've become as a person using these skills.

Stars not Actors

It can be a sad moment for me when an actor starts trying to be a diva. It reminds me why I must always stay humble.

I also get to see why so many people come to Los Angeles to make it big. They don't see the passion of the craft, they see stars in their eyes and are willing to hurt anyone in their path to it.

It's a little shameful if you ask me. We need to be more about the work, not the reward that the work can bring. The movies are a business. And actors are employees - even when they are independent contractors.

The only advice I can give it to show up early or on time. Be prepared as you can with what you are given. Be joyful around the people that work so hard to make you look good. Do as you're told when it comes to the story. Only speak up about it if it can enhance the story, not if it's a story change that you'd like to see. There's a reason we write what we write to see it on screen. We don't want to make your movie. If you feel so strongly about your story change....become a writer, not an actor.

East and West worlds

The title is called Two because of the main character's two sets of parents and being of two worlds - the West and the East.

It's a drama about adoption reunion and growing up middle eastern in America. A story of a kid born and raised in the Midwest and he travels to California for the first time in his 20's to try to find his biological parents and himself in the process.

I wrote it because of my life growing up having a specific look but my allegiance to being a nationalist first. It can be conflicting having people/media say that middle easterners are the enemy when it's not the people of any place that are the enemy, just the radicalized ones in charge that have an agenda to push onto others. That and oligopolization of governments that are either bound by slowly adaptive religion and/or greed/fear of the true people taking over as leaders. We as people are scared into not saying or doing certain things. This is a system of control made early on by the powers that be -  the Royal powers that started civilization. We are given consumption of information without a way to question it. We aren't given the chance to think large.

The happenings are fictional but the ideals written are real and of my own.

I've been told that this is my most mature work I've written. I'm going to make it with a budget of 1.5 million dollars and film it in the San Francisco Bay Area.

No matter what, this is supposed to be entertainment. But I do interject some thought-provoking content so people won't know they're being educated.

Regarding the Hollywood gender bias subpoenas

Hollywood is a strange place. It's like a strip club. No one really wants to go there, but some of us have no choice to either work there or be caught going there. Most of the action going on in a strip club is probably illegal but we all look the other way, because the alternative is independent contractors taking more money in without a middleman. Even our wording is male dominated. Middleman is just somebody that takes a cut, but we reference a man doing it. The major studios want money, just like any stripper or strip club owner wants. Actors and filmmakers being the strippers and the studios being the owners of the club.

This is America, where we are basically free to hire the best person for the job. Now, unlike strip clubs, the studios are being positioned as being immoral for not hiring women. I am not against the studios even though we don't work together. What I have been saying to friends and colleagues is asking why they haven't just created independent content instead with a camera and a lens like this?

Make a production company, hire women to direct, produce, write. Then hire men to make it even standards. But for some reason everyone wants to work in Hollywood, be a freelance director with an agent that is probably male, and hope for the best, but not expect the worst.

It's time our thinking evolved.

The movies I'm making now as opposed to what I thought I'd be making

I never thought I'd be making the kind of movies I make now. See, the thing is, I care very much about storytelling. Writing and making movies brings happiness to my day and makes me sleep well at night.

I matured while thinking my specialty was going to be action movies. You know, action with a little comedy supported by smart-ass characters: The Lethal Weapon, the Die Hard, the Desperado, the Reservoir Dogs. Anything with machismo and a 'too cool for school' vibe coming from it.

Now, I haven't been working a whole lot the last two years- Err, I say that, but I have been working a whole lot. My focus hasn't been on paying rent and making a per-year salary like most people. You see, before this, any money I've made from jobs or gigs has gone into paying actors, camera equipment, gas money for crew, travel expenses and the like. My end goals are to make these films and release them out this year and the next and the next.

What I've been spending more time with these last two years is trying to figure out what I should be doing instead of what I think I should be doing.  This is the time I've gained by working less and technically not making a profit(or making less of a savings for that matter!).

And it's pretty simple, I find, really. I want...

EQUALITY.

I'm going to push for more women directors, movies about homosexual characters, different religions and faiths exposed to more people. I'm gonna risk everything on very young and very old writers. Alternative directors, producers, musicians, and I'll push for a wide range of diversity in front of and behind the camera. This is something that isn't being done in mass by other producers, and I feel I'm the right candidate for the job.

I've spent my early adult career losing lots of money. I stopped being afraid to lose money a while ago now. It's no longer even a worry for me. I expect to lose more money than I've ever lost before coming up in the future. And, yes, I do believe I'm going to win some profit substantially, because that's how gambling with big odds goes. It's who believes I'm passionate enough about my craft to gamble on me. It's these types of people that I like doing business with. The ones that aren't afraid either. These people are the ones that I want to fight for and win with.

That's it. There's really nothing to say. This isn't a "fireworks going off" celebration. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and do the exact same thing I've been doing since 2003. Fighting the good fight.

Why I won't change my black character

A potential producer/writer read my adoption script and notes he gave me were that I should write out the black character as being 'more urban'. Not that the character was a bad character; It was that the character wasn't 'black enough' and I shouldn't write a main character without some urban influence.

Background on the character I wrote: His name sounds urban-ish and his uncle lives in Oakland. That's it. That's about as far as he goes as being a stereotypical young black man. My black character I wrote is reasonably intelligent, a normal individual tossed into extraordinary situations. He's not white or black or yellow or brown in a box. He's a human being, a character in a story that has potential to be better if they make the right choices - and let's hope he does. I wrote the character to be like that, because that's the kind of people I write for. I want people to be better for watching my movies or be able to escape... or even learn to accept others for who they are.

I am not homophobic, racist, sexist, or hateful towards any types of people. The joke is that I hate everybody equally. People (currently) die eventually, one way or another. The next generation must succeed the previous. The producer/writer that read my script had some notes and I appreciate where he was coming from. But the fact that he is not understanding of today's nuances does make a difference. If this were a story set 10, 20, 30 years ago - then yes those notes would be much better to make a lot of impressions.

My black characters are black. They happen to have skin tone, but that is it. People come from a different range of backgrounds and cultures. This character is a modern man of the times. In fact, every one of the characters knows urban speak. They just don't need to use that type of language in private. Think about slang in your life. You might use it as a way of showing understanding but do most of you use it every minute? No. You are professionals, or working as professionals or you live with your parents who would slap the shit out of you if you talked to them like that. It's not a mindset that others think with on a consistent basis. That is important. There are kids growing up with knowledge of the world on screens all over. Ghettos will still be here for a while, but they are not going to be the same ghetto.  The black characters I write for grow up knowing black culture, but are more interested in learning about the entire world's culture, and communicating with others in EVERY culture they can access.

So these black characters are not typical of media idealism. They can still be tough, they can still get respect. They just fight with words more than fists or guns. It's reality becoming art and art becoming reality. As a writer myself, I control that ideal.

I write for characters of emotional and comprehensive intelligence in tough situations. That is the drama which I want to see. And correct me if I'm wrong, which I'm not, but everyone wants to feel that.

The Two Moons of Arrakis and not being unusually bored

I was labeled a gifted child somewhere around the age of 5. How this was discovered remains a mystery. I was sent to a counselor's office with my parents and being asked to listen to a story and then being asked questions about the story. I had little quizzes to take. I remember never having been in that room, it was stuffy in there, and not wanting to be there.

I was put into a "Gifted" class for 2 hours at a time on a Wednesday. All I knew was that I was happy not to be in class. Being reflective, I don't know how much I really learned there. It was very relaxed, and we got to do things we wanted like making new inventions or talking to each other. I got to get out or normal classes though and go do fun things like use computers, meet other kids who were different, and one time, our gifted instructor sat us down to watch a VHS movie called Dune.

It was magic. It was a live-action version of the serious cartoons I had envisioned in my head. I didn't know there were directors or actors at the time, I didn't understand the schematics of how they put on lavish costumes and worked with huge production puppets. Why were they calling me gifted again? Well, I assume every once in a while, one nerd slips thru the cracks.

David Lynch, one of my idols in personal and business sense, a decade or so later, would I realize was the director of Dune. And by critical accounts, hated for it. I couldn't understand it. The man was a genius. And his other work is part of my collection of most loved movies.

Every once in a while I'll go back and revisit the House of Atreides, Paul, and the spice melange. Yes, it's got a campy vibe at times, but the colors, the design, the magic is still there.

Also, in my teens, I realized that the spice was marijuana. I was way off with that thesis, but I'm pretty sure it made sense to me at the time.

Two

My first film was done with the help of my brother, who I met at the age of 13. He was given up for adoption and he was able to find us. This was back before the internet became popular. Our talks ranged from what sports we liked to how good we were in a fight. You see, my brother and I never got the opportunity to grow up as kids together, therefore, we lost out on a few chances to see who was the leader of the group. We are blood related, but as far as official paperwork goes, we are just two really good friends. When I told him I wanted to make movies, he wanted to be in my movie. Now, the end result was a 21 year old experimenting with moving images, but luckily I've grown my dedication to my craft. I've created over 50 short films, some very experimental, some have had slight viral success. I've always wanted to move forward and make a feature-film.

I write one feature-length film a year. About three years ago, I wrote an action-thriller that got some of the best responses I couldn't dream of. The problem is that no one will hand over millions and millions of dollars to a first time director. So I went back to the drawing board and wrote a personal story with dramatic elements - a combination of my brother’s life  and mine. What I came up with is Two. A story about someone adopted that goes searching for answers, and the answers aren't the ones that he was going for.

This is a personal journey, and I’d like for everyone to see my film. I’d like to have others see what being American by birth and having roots of somewhere unknown, is really like. I’ve rewritten this script almost a dozen times now, and with each revision, it becomes more magical. And I don’t use that term loosely.

I’ve directed dozens of films and commercials for startup companies and small businesses. I’ve produced music videos and commercials for large corporations. I’ve produced a feature documentary now. I want to see what else is out there to make as art, and make it a profitable venture. I can’t see myself doing anything else.

Movie Theater businesses evolving toward higher end clients

You may or may not have noticed that a few movie theaters are now offering beer and wine service. There's a few theaters around here that have chairs that feel like loveseats complete with ottomans.

This is a great evolution of film. Since film downloads and streaming have hit high marks, the theaters have been scratching their collective heads trying to figure out where to go and high end clientele still need a place to go out to, without going to a dirty club to dance to EDM music that they can't dance to anyway. Well, nobody can really dance to that music, that's the point, but that's another story.

There are even theaters around the country that offer waitstaff to bring select gourmet foods to your "table".  After doing some searching, here's an article that will give you some insight as well.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/theaters-639602-movie-sushi.html

As a forecaster, I would assume this to happen for the future of my profession's cineplexes:

1. Less seating. More legroom, bigger chairs, plugins for phones(yes!), and pre-seating conversational music.

2. Age categorized rooms. Less teens mixed with seniors. Actually, both of those groups are the make-out groups, so maybe lump them together, and have 30s to 50s in same rooms and optional baby/kid clubhouse for rated PG-13 and up supervision.

3. Old Days. Tuesdays are half-price and you can sit with people that aren't in your preference and gourmet food and beer must be consumed out of the screening room.

4. Pillow rentals like a hotel.

Magic is real

I believe in a few things. My abilities, my family and friends, and magic. Magic being real means everything to me. It's why I'm so passionate about writing, filmmakers, and filmmaking. The idea of something not of this world, something like magic, I would have a hard time believing that what I'm watching on a screen really happened. Sure, there's suspension of disbelief. You know it's just moving pictures projected on a screen at 24 frames a second. Now, what about what happens in your own mind? It's a reality that you've created in there.

That's the thing. When you go to a movie theater or watch a movie on a screen, you give up that reality that your life is. The truth becomes whatever is presented to you in front of your own eyes, and there is no other option. 

Imagine watching something like a professional wrestling match. We all know these men and women workout regularly, and maybe they are actually nice people in the locker room; but once the stage lights go on and the crowd is roaring: There is no acting involved. It's all real.

Magic is the same way. Let's say something extraordinary happens. The imagination believes it happened even if there's no logical reason or explanation. To your mind, it has to be otherworldly. It is a voodoo spell or a curse or a plague on everyone's houses.

There are many corners of magic. White magic, black magic, protection rituals, curses, and bindings.

If it's an illusion, the illusion is real. The presentation itself is just a formality. 

That is why, even with everything there is to know about writing, the music charms, the spectacular movies to see, the technical moviemaking achievements, and the whole universe around us: 

I, without a doubt, 100% believe in the magic I cast for you to see, to laugh with, to cry for, to think and feel about.

That is what being a Wizard is all about.

Risk it

I'm not here to spin in circles.

One of the biggest principles I have stood for in my education, career, and life is in these two words.

Risk it!

It just sounds exciting even thinking about it. It’s a reminder to step aside from what I'm doing and reflect on myself if what I'm doing or saying is the right choice for what I want when trying something new. I like to ask myself these questions:


Is it a challenge? If not, then why am I doing it?
Is anybody else doing it? If so, then what purpose does it serve me?
Can I live with myself if I don’t do it? If so, then it’s probably not that big of a deal and I should find another task. If I can’t live with myself, then I better get started on the mission.


If I can’t answer these questions while thinking I’m going out there to make that small difference in the world, then I’m not interested. If I wanted to do nothing, I’d stay at home. Maybe taking risks won’t give me exactly what I want, but it’ll align the path to what I’m destined for. I'm not looking to win any awards, but what I am looking for is to have a simple message that anybody can understand. It's not an easy way to be subjective if I’m doing things the regular way all the time. I can be sure I’m onto something worth fighting for when my mind hits that certain threshold. I get more blood pumping in my veins. I have that specific vision. That’s when I know what I’m doing is making things happen. That’s when I know that persistence pays off and I’m going to go for the gold.

That's what makes me so comfortable about myself. I'm happy with who I am, and if it means I do things a little differently, then so be it. I dare myself to push harder, to reach the highest mountain. If I was content with mediocrity and being regular or average, I wouldn't be in college or I wouldn't have moved to California in search of bigger opportunities.


I surround myself with smarter than myself and risk-taking people. My principle is to lead by example, teaching others to check themselves before they wreck themselves. If a few more people can think about risking it more often, there’d be more chances of making that bullseye.

Wayne Gretzky said it best. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. The odds are in our favor, then.

Actors List for Two

UPDATE: I now have been brewing about actors in my mind and the state of this list. As I watch more movies that I like and what makes a good actor, I've decided to look at theatre actors closer so this list will definitely change.


I've been acting as my own Casting Director's Assistant (Casting Associate) for my feature film, Two.

I've compiled a list of actors that would be within budget(not astronomically high cost for talent, the chances of being a diva to come play a few day's role). They should also be willing to work with a mixture of union and independent film cast and crew towards the ultimate goal of a subject of adoption. 99% of the roles are the ones that most actors would want to do because of the caliber of iconic roles they would be able to play.

The cast probably will change a few names here and there as people die unexpectedly, or are busy doing their own thing, or would never want to work with someone else that is cast due to politics. That's the nature of this business and please don't hold it against me. I would love to work with every actor eventually and given the timing and nature of my writing, probably will.


A note about all this: I have been writing this list out, researching actors, looking at faces, ages, past work, personal behavior, etc. When I wrote this screenplay, these characters didn't have that personality they have today. It's because of this research, this thinking of what an actor could possibly bring to the role that I have brought this list out and given the material larger than life memorable attitudes. Once the actors are cast, these personalities become theirs and whatever choices they create are no longer mine, but they are of the screen in which you see them.


MAX
Michael Angarano
Taylor Lautner
Carter Jenkins
Corbin Bleu
Mark Indelicato
Dev Patel
Suraj Sharma


ALINA
Nicole Beharie
Lenora Crichlow
Ruth Negga
Yaya Alafia
Amandla Stenberg
Jurnee Smollett
Jordin Sparks
Keke Palmer


JESSICA
Retta
Rashida Jones
Tatyana Ali
Rosario Dawson
Persia White
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

TRÈS

Doc Shaw
Jaden Smith
John Boyega
Tristan Wilds
Michael B. Jordan
Evan Ross
Leon Thomas III
Dayo Okeniyi



ROXY
Kaya Scodelario
Analeigh Tipton
Brie Larson
Zosia Mamet
Kristen Stewart
Emma Watson
Zoey Deutch
Shailene Woodley
Ariana Grande
Victoria Justice
Selena Gomez
Hannah Marks
Lily Collins
Joey King
Lourdes Leon
Seychelle Gabriel
Josie Loren
Christian Serratos
Isabelle Fuhrman



MARIEL
Chloe Moretz
Juno Temple
Saoirse Ronan
Emma Stone
Shailene Woodley
Bonnie Wright
Kaya Scodelario
Mia Wasikowska
Emma Watson
Chloe Moretz
Mae Whitman
AnnaSophia Robb
Elle Fanning
Imogen Poots


UNCLE REGGIE
Craig Robinson
Jerome Caldwell
Terry Crews
Dule Hill
Dolvett Quince
Isaiah Mustafa
Derek Luke
Blair Underwood
Lenny Kravitz
Laz Alonso
Michael Ealy
Lance Gross
Jesse L. Martin
Morris Chestnut
D.B. Woodside
Charles Michael Davis
Damon Wayans Jr.
Shemar Moore
Jesse Williams
Boris Kodjoe
Andre 3000
Keith David
Dennis Haysbert
Samuel L. Jackson
Tone Loc
Isiah Whitlock Jr.


GOTHAM SHAH
Maz Jobrani
Richard Ayoade
Omid Djalili
Oded Fehr
David Cross
Ciaran Hinds
Tony Shalhoub
Ron Silver
Said Taghmaoui
Faran Tahir
Shaun Toub
Arjun Rampal
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Hrithik Roshan
Raza Jaffrey
John Abraham


VINCE
Whit Spurgeon
Gary Cole
William Fichtner
J.K. Simmons
William H. Macy
Harry Dean Stanton
Steve Buscemi
Thomas Hayden Church
Clifton Collins, Jr.
Bruce Dern
Chris Elliott
Sam Elliott
William Forsythe
John Goodman
Woody Harrelson
Michael Keaton
David Koechner
John C. McGinley


LINDA
Kathy Bates
Holly Hunter
Joan Allen
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Frances McDormand
Joey Lauren Adams
Catherine Keener
Jane Lynch
Edie McClurg
Catherine O'Hara
June Squibb


NESS
John Turturro
Christopher Walken
Erick Avari
Graham Greene
Luis Guzman
John Leguizamo
John Ortiz
Michael Pena
Miguel Sandoval
Jacob Vargas

MITCH
Douglas Booth
Will Poulter
Ansel Elgort
Kare Hedebrant
Paul Butcher
Kenton Duty
Mitch Hewer
Graham Patrick Martin
Brett Davern
Shane Sheckler
Rufus Taylor
Devon Gearhart
Lloyd Daniels
Chris Brochu
Chad Dylan Cooper
Sam Evans
Christopher Zurek


DAWOOD
Derek Luke
Columbus Short
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Tahir Moore


CAMEO ROLE
Danny Derakhshan (myself!)

Naveen Andrews
Serj Tankian
Daniel Martinez
Aziz Ansari

CYBILL
Lisa Kudrow
Kathy Baker
Suzanne Whang
Debra Monk
Amy Poehler
Bai Ling
Molly Ringwald
Tea Leoni
Uma Thurman
Winona Ryder
Patricia Arquette


TAMARA
Ariana Grande
Sarah Hyland
Zoe Kravitz
Vanessa Hudgens
Samantha Barks
Freida Pinto


KENNY
Cung Le
CM Punk
Nicolas Cage


MRS. YAMSKUL
Suzanne Whang
Lu Liping
Zhang Ziyi
Gong Li

Sandra Oh

DAVID YAMSKUL JR.
David Yu
Harry Shum Jr.

John Cho
Ezra Miller

DAVID YAMSKUL SR.
George Takei

Ken Watanabe

ANNA
Willow Smith
Saoirse Ronan
Perrie Edwards



FRONT DESK PRISON GUARD
John Amos
Anthony Anderson
Wilford Brimley
James Caan



CONTAINMENT CELL PRISON GUARD
Joaquim de Almeida
Scott Bakula
Corbin Bernsen
Vincent Cassel



ASIAN TOURIST
Suzanne Whang
Jamie Chung
Jenna Ushkowitz



INTERESTING FACES*
Dylan O'Brien
Bobby Cannavale
Allen Covert
Giancarlo Giannini
Giovanni Ribisi
Ben Foster

*Not in the script, but I l'd love to have these actors in something if I can find a part to write for them.

What It Feels Like to Do Everything and Nothing In One Day

Some new details for the Adoption Reunion story.

1. We've got a name! Are you ready to read the words of greatness? OK, here we go.
Finding His Family. I could not think of a title for 2 years of writing this story, with exception of Clocks That Can't Be Fixed, referring to being adopted and wanting to find out about roots being a way of time being lost. Philosophical? Yes. Easy to say? No.

2. After much feedback, I've been writing all week long to a better revision. It's almost surreal how close to a movie this screenplay is now. The even more surreal part? It's gonna get better with each revision. I have this vision of dialog becoming better and characters becoming more iconic and the right mix of known actors and up-and-coming talent being introduced to me.

3. A fellow producer, Dan Janvey, from Beasts of the Southern Wild is now on my Advisory Board. This is great because one of the smartest friends I've worked with are backing me up on this journey.

4. A SAG signatory producer is wanting to help me with logistics and actors to handle this project. We'll see if all the agreements happen, but no matter what, this means I can't stop now.

I've spent 9a.m. til 10p.m. today working. I've been applying to Producers Labs, tweaking the screenplay, and writing up potential actors for the project that I can see a good fit for the film and within the budget. I am 90% done with it and I'll post it up in case anyone has worked with anyone of them before and can introduce me once funding goes further.

I also edited a boxing promo for a local company nearby that I'll be doing some more videos for in the future and I got a local comic book shop to agree to me making their web commercial for them. I have a great idea of having a bunch of people in costume mock fighting in front of the store trying to get in to get the newest batch of comics. I got the pet supply store to set a date to film this web commercial for them too. I also spoke to the manager of a medical marijuana dispensary to create some educational and informative videos for them.

Basically, I worked all day and night on what I love, but now my eyes don't want to keep looking at a computer monitor for a while. The reason I wrote everything and nothing in one day is that I know I'm just one man and I can't do everything, no matter how much I want to. I spent hours and hours today working but the reality is I can't do it all and have time for any recreation. That's a problem I'm working on. I've got my eye on an experienced producer to come in and work with me to get things done soon.

OK, if you're reading this: Anything is possible. I'm the proof. Watch this as it happens cause I'm on the journey.

2 years and 1 week

It took me 2 years to write a real first draft of my adoption reunion drama. The revised draft is taking me a week. Of course, this is a whole week of doing nothing but writing. A big apology to all my family, friends, and bills that are past due; I've been committed to this work and nothing else. They say movies take 4 or 5 years to make from idea to seeing it at a theater or on Bittorrent. Well, I'm about halfway there now(haha!).

I've spent the same amount of time on the computer this week, but more re-writing than I've ever done. I wake up around 7 or 8am and I'll work a few hours at a time, take a half hour break, then go back at it, only taking time off to eat or run errands. Maybe it's cause I'm so anticipatory towards this version. A lot of good friends tearing into the story, telling me what was bad and what was horrible helped. I can't say this was all me. They took time to read it, and got me to realize what made it mean and full of life; like a pitbull figuring out it has teeth. Possibly the funniest thing that happened was with one of my longest relationships, a man named JP. His feedback almost gave me a heart murmur. It shocked me so hard that he was right, that I suddenly felt embarrassed I had sent it out to so many people.

Drama is not easy, especially for an 80's/90's person like me, who grew up on Terminator and Rambo and Alien franchises as well as cheesy comic book heroes like Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Also, I'm incredibly positive in life, and that is apparent in my writing. I had to go deeper and darker for this draft. And I'll probably have to go darker for the next draft after this.

OK, back to positive thinking: Most spelling and obvious grammatical errors fixed. Challenges to protagonist corrected. Discovery process for protagonist envisioned. Not everything is handed to him. It's his story about being adopted and trying to figure out how to deal with sealed birth certificate laws and circumventing them because they're outdated and information should be freely available.

I also figured out a scene I want to film as proof of concept and tone.

It's Saturday at night, and I should be relaxing, but I need to finish this. I'll relax next week. :)

Fast and the Furious

Sometime in the early 2000s, my brother got started with a Honda tuning crew. He bought himself a 1988 Honda CRX and started suping it up. It was great and a lot of fun to drive in the passenger seat so I decided I wanted a CRX too. I ended getting a 1991 model, but I didn't do anything to it except get a quieter tailpipe conversion. I wanted to be elusive in the the night while my brother wanted to show off during the 39th Street car shows.

Then, something happened. A movie trailer came out that depicted amazingly detailed cars in an action-thrill ride. We both knew we were going to see it on opening night.

We showed up around 7pm or so and the parking lot at the mall where the theater was located was packed full of mostly Asian and some European modded cars. My brother's CRX fit in perfectly.

The movie began and all the loud noises stopped as we began the journey of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. When the movie ended, we all got up and paced towards the exit.

I'll never forget hearing a teenager in front of us yelling at the top of his lungs, "This is the best movie of the year!"

Production Designers

I was on a show that is very popular, and there was a subway scene in New York being filmed.

The Production Designer gave everyone briefcases and newspapers and coffee cups...

This is a problem in the 2010's and up era. Anyone taking the subway is going to have an iPad or Kindle or listening to music on their commute. The newspaper is still bought, yes, but not at the rate of people buying devices to read on.

Everyone should have earbuds plugged into them and playing on their phone or laptop. Just saying.

Stronger than all

What's been interesting about all this work that's been going on is that I now feel like I'm not doing enough. I am, I really do believe I'm doing as much work as 2 highly caffeinated persons but it doesn't feel like it's enough. I'm waiting for feedback from a few high profile industry producers that are mentoring me thru the process of directing my first feature film next year and I'll post more on that soon. It's about 1am PST right now. I've been spending my Saturday night writing proposals, replying to emails, finding new screenwriters labs, directors labs, and producers labs. It's strange isn't it? I'm doing all 3. I've met up with some potential producers and I like one guy so far. He's never produced a feature but been a script supervisor on over a 100 feature films in the last decade. I like his honesty about himself and how he's unsure of a few things but willing to take a shot at it anyway. That's the kind of person you want to be your right hand. Just for fun, I'm going to make a quick list of titles I've got and maybe titles I need:

-Cinematographer

-Co-Producer

-Associate Producer (3)

-Producer/A.D.

-Mentor (3)

-Seed Investor (1)

That's it so far. I've reached out to a few Line Producer friends, a Casting Director, and a Costume Designer, but those are still just waving around until I can pull a real team together. 

Filmmaking is such hard work, but I think adidas says it best: 

"When you love what you do, it's not really work, it's just what you do."

I'm making movies.

From the Heart Productions

It's funny how things work. I'm speaking about me and my work of course, since this is my blog. I've been working non-stop for quite a while now, marketing my new company's vision and strategy. I created FredRose Films to make movies but I had no idea what type at the time. I named the company after my father and my mother. Now, FredRose Films is set to be for my short comedy sketches and experimental short films. I created a new production company back in March. This company is for a feature film. A drama story. An adventure story. The company is called Derakhshan Films. Why? It is my goal to have the majority of people in the world know how to pronounce Derakhshan, much like most people can now pronounce Schwarzenegger. Something I've always dreamed is that my last name would be a household name someday. This is my dream becoming real with these steps I'm taking.

I spoke with my pal, Josh Penn, a while back about what route I should be taking for my feature documentary, Panomundo. He gave me some sound advice and I incorporated it into my own style and now I'm using it towards my first narrative feature film.

I've actually been speaking with a lot of people lately. I've gotten some great friends who are guiding me towards a big thing like making a feature film that will look good and tell a good story.

I've never written so many drafts before. I've never changed so many characters I've loved and lived with characters I've hated for so long. It was this "character building" that got me where I want to be: Right here and right now.

I came home today and got my mail. I am expecting a check for either scholarships, sponsorships, or grants I've been applying to. I got rejected last week from 3 in less than 48 hours but I wasn't down. I understood the process. I got my mail and got a letter that felt like a rejection letter. I opened it and my Untitled Adoption Reunion story is now officially sponsored by From the Heart Productions. A wonderful non-profit organization is backing me up!

A bonafide organization that believes in me and wants the rest of the world to believe in me, and root for me to keep going. This was what I have been seeking. I was so happy I went to my next door neighbor and also small business owner, Jonathan Weitz, to tell him the great news.

It's time to apply for donations and seed funding. I've got a lot more non-stop work to do.
Stay tuned!

Untitled Adoption Reunion Project

Captain's log. Stardate -308660.8264205986.

I quit my dayjob almost a year ago to become a Captain. A full-time filmmaker and photographer. Most sales/marketing jobs let you do your thing, but there were a few that totally drove me up the wall with micromanagement and it was probably because I knew how little we were all getting paid for it. I knew I was worth a lot and I'm not talking money. Money is a tool and nothing more. It will never be a sign of someone's worth to me.

The film gods must see my persistence because they saw me starve this last winter and gave me a helping hand. The gods told me that since I was hungry, I could take up time in the day by writing continuously. I wrote and wrote and WROTE on this story so many times it changed into a new beast and it changed me as well. I've told this story so many times, I can recite it to anyone that passes by with barely a recollection needed.

My story is simple. It's about a Middle Eastern kid that is born and raised in the Midwest. He was given up for adoption as a baby and raised by white parents. He has never been sure where in the Middle East his ancestry is from, and all of his life he has felt there is a connection out there he wants to know and feel complete with. On his 20th birthday, he is kicked out of his home by his parents, who feel he needs to grow up, to stop being such a slacker with a menial job, and go find his destiny. He uses his adoption papers, birth certificate information, and with the help of his technologically advanced friend, goes to Northern California where the last known physical address of his biological parents is. It's here that he embarks on his journey to find out his roots, and hopefully himself.

The theme is about the discovery of ourselves through our past while embracing the present and keeping an eye on the future. And the strength to enjoy today. People of different backgrounds unite in the same upbringing, and that family can be anybody or any community you belong to. There are also underlying themes of coming of age, and the courage to deal with it.

Being American and having Middle Eastern roots is an interesting way to grow up, but this relates more to us all as being a nation of immigrants and keeping our ancestral identity while assimilating in the melting pot that is the United States of America. Now, the best part about this is that America is no longer the only nation of immigrants thanks to technology and advances and cost of travel. Our world is changing and it's the best time to be alive today.

I look forward to tomorrow.

Goals of filmmaking

I'm here to wish you a great week coming up. My favorite holiday is Halloween as I get to dress like a maniac and no one seems to care.

My goals are lofty. Sometimes they fail miserably, sometimes they just work, and sometime they work but not the way I'd hoped them to. I'd like to take a moment to share my goals and why I do them. As you can see, I treat all new ideas by starting off small and working my way up higher, and eventually I move on to something new. Over the past 7 years when I moved to California from my hometown in search of bigger and better since I saw the future that was there for me: I had nearly topped out, with very little more I could accomplish in my search of truth.

I moved to California to work. I'm serious about story, whether it's drama or comedy or documentary. I go at a steady beat. I rarely will jump in to attack. I want to seek and find out tactics from others while gathering information and learning from them as well. Know myself and know the people around me. After moving to Los Angeles almost 2 years ago, I studied by watching everyone around me -whether film related or not- to see what works and what doesn't in business and art.

Film is a specialty market. You have to reinvent yourself over and over. I've already got plans to reinvent myself once I've touched the top of the movie mountain here. I'll tell you later about that. Think of companies like Apple that make products that people don't know they need yet. That's the kind of space to be in with any entrepreneurship state that you are seeking.

I'm a writer, director, and film producer. I spend time writing with people who like to write, I'll call friends to direct them in my movie ideas, and I spend countless hours writing up business proposals, going to fundraisers encouraging others to give support, and invest in these projects, speaking at events to encourage others to do well, and overall being a witty guy. This makes me one of the best film producers I know.

Speaking of producing, my film Panomundo has a goal of $100,000 by the end of March. We have gotten support to the tune of $35,000 so far, so we are almost halfway there. And this is all private sponsorships, grants, and a little bit from crowdsourcing. When I came on to this project I had very little knowledge about Trinidad & Tobago and the steelpan. Now people ask me questions about the country and origins of the drum. Very exciting stuff. I'm going to the islands in March/April to celebrate the wonderful movie we're creating and I hope you will watch my path as I go higher and higher up this mountain. Thank you for being my friend, my fan, and a well-wisher. I'm almost there.