Lunch with Jim McQuaid

Today I had the pleasure of eating BBQ with Jim McQuaid (@TurnipVideo), a fellow filmmaker who lives in the Triangle.  He came bearing gifts of film making wisdom, and his films on DVD!  I'm so thrilled to have my hands on his latest work, Eight Lessons in Living Together.


Earlier this year, Jim and I cohosted a networking event for filmmakers.  (Here are some photos from the event.)  He's also been super supportive during these recent months when I struggled a bit with life and the balance of making my first film.  He recently offered to join me for lunch so we could chat about film making, and I'm so thrilled he did.  It was just what I needed, and I'm so grateful for his company and words of advice.

It was really fun to hear him talk about Eight Lessons, and his plans for the film now that it's finished and on DVD.  (Psst, you can buy a copy here, which would make him quite happy.)  He's got "a good head on his shoulders" as my dad always says.  It was so helpful to hear about his plans for the film, and future events he's planning.  (He's working on something fun for January, which I'll share with you when more info is available.)

Working at Designbox has helped me realize something very critical: I'm a people person.  (Duh.)  This isn't really news to me, but it's an important lesson for making future films.  I like, crave, and need to be around other people in a balanced way.  Coworking from Designbox has been such a great gift!  I'm so humbled and grateful for the opportunity.

These past months have kept me holed up in a room editing video, and I think that made me a bit sad.  I got caught up in a vacuum.  Editing video and being in the same room, alone, for hours on end...this is not one of my strengths.  But it is work that needs to be done.  What a joy to be doing this work from Designbox now.

Thanks for the lessons, Jim.  I'm looking forward to watching Eight Lessons!

On Being Grateful

Earlier this week I scanned some photos taken in Vietnam by one of our cast members in the 1970s.  After I scanned the image, I spent some time on digital imaging to make it look a little better.  Within an hour, I had about 20 images scanned, cropped and edited.  As I closed Photoshop, I smiled and thought to myself, "Wow, I am so glad I studied graphic design and photography.  This could have taken a lot longer to accomplish otherwise."

There are moments like that throughout each week, where I do something quickly and almost effortlessly.  It has become such a wonderful feeling to be in familiar territory!  After the task is complete, I pause with gratitude and delight in actually knowing how to do something well.  It's a private moment, but one I relish because I've lived in such chaotic space for so long trying to figure out new things for Abandoned Allies.

Oh, how jealous I am of students studying film in school!  The lessons I'm learning daily while making Abandoned Allies are priceless, but it certainly would have been grand to know how to swim before jumping in the deep end as I did so willingly in 2008.

That's the thing, though.  You don't know how to swim without getting in the water, right?  (Surely there's a country song about that, or I'm quoting some piece of literature without realizing it.) 

The truth is, quite honestly, that making this film is one of the most challenging, rewarding and frustrating things I've ever tried to do in my entire life.  But if I can finish this one, then I can make the next one better.  And the next one better.  And the next one better.

This week, alone, has been incredibly productive.  For that I am also grateful.  Perhaps I'll save the rest of the list for a Thanksgiving blog post.  After all, it's right around the corner!

Let the Coworking Begin!

I'm coworking from Designbox to finish Abandoned Allies.

Today is my first day of coworking from Designbox (@DBRaleigh), and I'm thrilled to be here thanks to shovemedia.  Everyone has been so welcoming!

It really is a thrill to escape my little home studio and set up shop in a space like this one.  Most folks think that you should be able to work anywhere--and you can, for the most part--but a space like this changes the game.

Don't think your desk is important?  Watch this short documentary, which my friend Matthew Hayhurst (@mwhayhurst) pointed out recently.

A desk is a very important thing.  Working in an environment that encourages creativity makes a drastic difference in the work you produce, especially when you're surrounded by other creative people.

For the past few months, my home office has been less than inspiring.  This is for a number of reasons too boring to write about, but let's just say that the way I had it set up leaves one aching for escape.  It was messy, cluttered and smelled a lot like my dog.  I worked on making it better this weekend, but it still needs some help.

Who knew my physical space could be so stifling?  It's not a bad space to work in, but it definitely left me blocked.  I woke up this morning feeling like a kid on Christmas Day, and I couldn't wait to get to the gift waiting for me.  It is such a gift to be at Designbox today, knowing I can keep working here for the next 30 days to finish Abandoned Allies.

Buckle up, folks.  It's going to be a wild ride.  Let the coworking begin!

Get Fired Up

Illustration by Camden Watts

With the news that I won the shovemedia contest, I have been so thrilled about the reality of finishing Abandoned Allies.  This office space, deadline and encouragement is exactly what I needed--without even knowing it.  I'm so fired up about wrapping up the film and showing it to people that I can hardly sleep at night.  There's so much work to do, and very little time to finish it.

We have only about five weeks before Thanksgiving, which is when I hope to have the film completed. 

The Full Frame film fest submission deadline is November 30th, and I want Abandoned Allies to be entered.  That means we could, hopefully, show the film at the festival in April 2011.  (Hopefully!)  This would then, in turn, give us enough time to prepare for our own premiere event to take place weeks after the festival (more on that in future posts).

While April 2011 feels very far away, Thanksgiving feels like it's just around the corner.  This is both thrilling and terrifying for me, because I so desperately want to finish the film before the holidays. 

It's my belief that our volunteers shouldn't feel stress about working on Abanadoned Allies during the holidays.  It's time they might otherwise be spending with family, resting from being so busy, or working on their own projects.  So I hope we can hustle and have the film in tip top shape and submitted to the festival before Thanksgiving gets here.

That said, it's time to get fired up!  There's not much time, and we have lots of work left to do on the:

• Opening segment
• Narration
• Motion graphics
• End credits
• Music selection / composition
• Branding
• Marketing and communications

Over the course of these next few weeks, with the help of my very talented crew, this little film will start to feel much more like a Film (with a capital F).  We'll be adding the final finesse, finally!  I'm beyond thrilled.