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.