I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but in the last couple weeks there has been a big uproar in the entertainment industry when Ramin Setoodeh wrote an article in Newsweek claiming that gay actors could not “play straight.” This was a response to watching the broadway play Promises, Promise where he was unconvinced by leading man Sean Hayes’s performance.  Since then, the after math includes venomous retaliation from fellow cast member Kristen Chenoweth and fellow gay Alan Cumming, among others, who were appalled by Setoodeh’s remarks.

Now, I understand the uproar.  I get why they would come running to the defense of Sean and other’s like him.  However, I couldn’t quite gel with their arguments.  And I have figured out why when I read an article posted by the genius himself, Aaron Sorkin.  Immediately I felt “this is my opinion.” Funny that, I knew I had an opinion, I just couldn’t articulate what it was.

Me trying to recount it would only butcher the grace in which he writes, so I have posted Sorkin’s response in it’s entirety below.

Now That You Mention It, Rock Hudson Did Seem Gay

This is a sentence I never thought I would type: I’m coming to the defense of a theatre critic.

Newsweek’s Ramin Setoodeh wrote an article last week titled “Straight Jacket” in which he argues that gay actors can’t and shouldn’t play straight characters. His “Exhibit A” in the piece is Sean Hayes, the stunningly gifted actor who came to our attention playing Jack MacFarland on the much beloved NBC half-hour comedyWill and Grace. (This was back when NBC broadcast television shows.) Mr. Hayes just opened in the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises, a 1968 musical by Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach and Hal David that was based on The Apartment, the Academy Award-winning film by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. (Izzy) Diamond that starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Are you following so far?

It doesn’t really matter, because all you need to know is that Sean Hayes plays C.C. Baxter in this great show, and that C.C. Baxter is a man who is attracted to women.

Ramin Setoodeh, unlike the overwhelming majority of the people in the audience at the two preview performances I attended, was unhappy with Sean Hayes’ performance. This reaction was not due to Mr. Hayes’ acting, singing, dancing, comedy, unique charm and exceptional rapport with the audience. Mr. Setoodeh’s problem with the star’s performance was that in real life, Mr. Hayes is gay. And as if the studio had given the screenwriter a note that the story had to be spicier, Mr. Setoodeh is gay as well.

Much is being made of the Newsweek piece. Much should be. I’m proud to say that my friend, Kristin Chenoweth, who stars opposite Mr. Hayes in the show (and about whose performance I can’t possibly be objective — she’s sensational and we’ll leave it at that) led the charge — posting an online rebuttal to Mr. Setoodeh in which she called him homophobic.

For an actress who makes her living and her reputation on Broadway, throwing down with a prominent theatre critic isn’t something you do as a career move. In her response to Setoodeh, Ms. Chenoweth made good point after good point after good point…

…and missed the point.

So did Setoodeh.

Read the rest of this entry »

My good friend and mentor Stephen Davis has started a blog. It’s a different type of blog because it is a body of fiction.

It is a love story between two people via email, starting from 1999. Each blog post is one of the emails, which he updates regularly.  He has just started and it’s already entertaining.

I’m excited to see how it plays out.  And it really doesn’t take that long.  I check it between my emails and facebook.

Check it out here:

Bored Olives by Stephen Davis

I just finished a draft of a screenplay which I have entered in to the Nicholl’s Fellowship. ¹  Whether or not I make it to the semi-finals, finals, or even win the competition, I cannot get over the sense of accomplishment I feel just by entering it.

Like any up and coming so-called writer, I have a hard drive FULL of first drafts, half drafts, title pages, notes, treatments, and drool… but this is different for me, for some reason.  I wrote a couple of different drafts myself, ² then, at the point of my most subjectivity, I roped three unsuspecting people into workshopping it with me.

The workshop was comprised of my partner and two of my very close friends. These are among the very few people that I trust enough to read my work without fearing judgement, well, personal judgement.  There is a certain vulnerability to putting a work in progress out to be read.  Not only was I admitting that I put my best efforts into this 100 page pile of papers, but that after  my best efforts it still wasn’t finished.  On top of all that, I was asking them to spend a good chunk of time reading it and then committing several hours to discussing it with me.

After everyone had read it, the four of us talked about the script in general; the characters, the story as a whole, the holes in the whole, the strengths, the weaknesses, etc.  Then we sat down and went through the entire script page by page breaking it down further.  It took better part of a day and a half.  So two days, eaten out of their rare three day weekend.  All that for ONE free lunch.  It’s a big ask, and they were troopers.

It was an amazing process, the workshopping.  There were three very different voices coming at in in three very different ways, being very honest and open with how they felt with the script and the story.  I assure you it wasn’t two days of my besties talking about how awesome I was.  Far from it.  I took none of the criticism to heart, as a personal attack on me or my work, but as criticism and much needed objectivity that will help my project grow to new heights. I got so much out of it.  Perhaps one day when I can afford to buy them two lunches, and perhaps slightly fancier ones, I will do it on another project.  It was an absolutely invaluable process. I recommend it to anyone.

After that, I spent the last day of my holiday working in some of the changes we talked about.  Then every waking moment over the next week.  (Time was starting to bear down on me and I had a deadline to make.) I didn’t take everything they said word for word, because ultimately it was my script and I had to really discern what the story I want to tell was.  However, I now had a better sense of the flaws and how I could possibly make the story more precise and clear.

Then I made my partner read it twice more… in one day.  We worked on the typos and made sure all the lines read right and then… well, and then there was nothing more I could do.  Well, of course, there is always more to do, but I had gotten it to the point of a solid draft.  It told a decent story and showed off my writing potential (whatever that may be).  I was proud to submit what was in front of me.

Then it was gone.  Out of my hands.  There was nothing more I could do.  Now, I can only wait and see what happens with it.

And start on my next project, of course.

___

A delightful insight, tongue pressed firmly in cheek.

New blogs have been added to my links.  —->

Hollywood University OR: How to get a job in Hollywood

and

A TV Calling

Also, my earnest apologies for the lack of updates.  The joys of an crazy life.

I’ve heard that Draft One of a screenplay is the most difficult to write.  It’s hard to see the finish line as you drown somewhere in the middle of Act II (My Act I was so solid, why isn’t it propelling me more?!  This should be writing itself!)  I suppose it’s why all us aspiring writers have a bunch of half-written screenplays hogging the corners of our hard drives.

I have decided that Draft 2 is my nemesis.  I sit there thinking “but it’s written, why is it not good enough for you people?!” and I am disheartened by the worthlessness I feel by not being some kind of prodigy.  It’s hard to go back and kill your babies, if you will, meaning taking out all the little gems that you think make the screenplay gold and unique.  It’s a pain, because you sit there thinking about how you will never be able to be as crisp, articulate or funny again.  It’s the danger of good one liners.  They either hold up the editing process or set the bar too high, either way, I’m digressing.

Then comes figuring out strategy.  Do I have to start with a blank page, or can I just walk through each scene and rejig what’s not working?  I’ve heard different schools on this.  Starting over completely is intriquing because it really is a blank slate.  You are coming up with out of your head again.  Yes, you have points in your head, but you don’t have it sitting in front of you, forcing only the important points to stick out in your brain.  On the other hand, Draft 1 couldn’t be all that bad, surely there is something working enough that’s worth keeping.

I’m experimenting with a new technique on my current screenplay.  I call it the “Draft 1.5.”  Though I’m sure I’m not the first person to ever do this, or a variation thereof, I’ve never heard of anyone speak of it specifically.

I’m writing the first draft by hand.  This means that I force to get my idea out of my head onto paper and because there’s no curser I can’t just go back and change anything I want.  It keeps the temptation to be constantly rewriting at bay.  Hopefully this means I’m less likely to burn out, get to close to the story, write myself in a corner, and get the draft complete.

Eventually, after I have gotten as many ideas on paper as I can at the time, I will have to transcribe it onto the computer.  Agents very rarely accept spiral notebooks as manuscript these days, especially with the chicken scratch known as my handwriting.  This is when I can start seeing what works and what doesn’t.  As I go through the screenplay I can massage what I have already written and see what works and what doesn’t.  It’s an automatic second pass of the story without having to start completely from scratch.

Hopefully, by the end of it, I will have an insanely attractive first draft and not some pile of poo.  Then I can take a week off, forget about it and go back for my real second draft.  Maybe by then I will be able to decide what strategy I wan to take on tackling it.
Draft 1.5 will either be insanely efficient or a massive waste of time.  Only time will tell.

Today I had to turn down the opportunity to work on film because they couldn’t pay me up front.  Technically, they planned on paying me, but on a deferred basis, which means I get paid when the film goes into profit.  So it would have been months, maybe a year, before I saw one cent.

It was a pretty tough call for me.  On one hand, I’m in no position in my career to be turning down a credit, especially on a feature film.  I have nothing against the film and I wish it success, but it was a small, fairly new company trying to get a low budget comedy up and running.  The likelihood of it turning much profit was slim.  (Maybe it wasn’t, maybe it will go one to rake in oodles.)  Unfortunately, the other hand is that I need to pay rent now, this month, and I can’t take weeks/months of unpaid time because I have enough trouble paying the bills and my credit card off as it is.

It would have been nice to have a credit on that film.  I have a fairly anemic resume at the moment and another feature film could have helped me a lot in getting my next (paid) gig.

So this is what it means to be an adult then; making decisions based on being able to eat opposed to “pursuing a dream.”

Hopefully, next time this sort of thing comes up I will have the cash saved away that I will be able to take the time off, but unfortunately now, my car insurance needs me.

1. There is semen at every single crime scene and it shall be the crucial DNA fingerprint that will solve the case.
2. You will magically lose 10 lbs. from May to September if you are female, but gain 10 lbs. if you are male.
3. Relationships have a two year maximum before they get boring.  A wedding will be announced but will be the relationship’s kiss of death.
4. You are not pregnant.  You will think you are at an inopportune time in your life but will reluctantly grow attached to the idea of parenthood only to find out it was a false positive when you consult your doctor.
5. You will learn your lesson only to repeat the mistake next week.
6. Murder mysteries can be solved in three days and all murderers will be caught.  Usually they’ll confess if you can make them cry.
7. You will find yourself hanging on the proverbial cliff in the mid to late May.  Watch out.
8. No matter what you do for a living, you can afford a spacious and trendy apartment in New York City.
9. You don’t have to go to class, just show up and hang out on couches and/or in the lunchroom all day.
10. A musical montage is a great opportunity to rapidly get something done, solve a problem or learn a new skill.
11. Only 1-2 extended family members will show up at any important life event such as graduation or open heart surgery, that is if any show up at all.
12. If you die, you might not actually be dead.
13. The bumbling geek can win over the attractive popular girl.
14. You more than likely have a destiny that only you can fulfill. No worries though, there’s generally an old dude to help you out.
15. Your destiny is a top secret from everyone except your closest friends and the only person you don’t want to know but inevitably will find out.
16. YOu can talk to hallucinations and/or otherwise invisible people out in the open without passersby noticing.
17. If you have an item that must be kept a secret, it is important that you take it out of it’s uber-secret hiding place to look at it on a regular basis.
18. You often think aloud even if it is unnecessary to do so.  These thoughts are usually short pointed witticisms that only you can hear, even if others are around you.
19. Chess club and science clubs are high school suicide.
20. All geeks are hotties behind thick rimmed glasses.
21. Same sex encounters only happen sometime around November and are never mentioned again.
22. As soon as you’re happy, some outside force is going to take it away.
23. Mean people are really just tortured souls who actually have a sensitive side and a transparent reason for being mean.
24. Amnesia is a likely outcome to any number of events but don’t worry, it’s usually temporary.
25. If everyone is telling you the creepily dreamy guy is a stalker, listen to them, he’s a stalker.

2010 is upon us.  It’s time for those resolutions. ¹

Frankly, this is always set me up for disappointment.  As it does for the rest of the world.  It just goes to show that I’m not quite as original as I think I am.   It’s no surprise that most of my resolutions go unresolved by June, only to be reattempted the following January.

For some, the strategy would be aim lower.  That way, at least you accomplish something.  It’s the philosopy to aim for a “6″ instead of a “10,” that way when you get a “6,” you won’t be disappointed.  However, in the last couple of years, I have decided to take the opposite opinion.

Aim higher.

Set a higher goal, and if you don’t accomplish it, at least you’ve accomplish something pretty great.  Aim for a “15,” that way when you get a “10,” you still  have a fricken “10.”  And 10 is a good effort.  So that’s what I’ll be doing this year.

Among other things ² I made a creative goal to tackle five projects in 2009.  In the end of course, I acomplished three  and had lots of miscellaneous notes and false starts.  It’s not the five I shot for, but I have some pretty decent portfolio pieces and a lot of much needed practice.

In my book, that’s a win for me.  And I don’t think it’s settling.  New year’s resolutions aren’t about winning a prize, they are about bettering yourself.  If I hadn’t had made the goal to write five pieces, the three I did accomplish might not have ever happened.  This year, I’m going to aim for five, and maybe this year, I’ll get four done.  It’s about baby steps.  Change doesn’t happen in leaps in bounds, it happens in small but steady steps and if I never try, how will I make any progress?

So, make those resolutions.  Who knows, maybe you’ll do better than you thought.  Here’s a tip, re-evaluate in June and relaunch if you need to.

Anyway, everyone have a Merry Christmas and an awesome New Year. If anything, be thankful that at least we are out of the “noughties,” which was a really lame moniker.

Good Luck.

___

Yes, indeedy.  That time again.  Let’s get started.

Why do people feel the need to lower their cars?

By “people” I mean “mostly stupid boys” and by “lower” I mean “yank out the suspension of the car so that it’s dragging on the pavement.”

Today, it’s mostly an aesthetic thing.  Like wings, spoilers, and “racing stripes” it supposedly adds a level of bad-assery to your car and thus your life status/penis performance.

Originally, however, it got it got it’s start in racing.  When done properly, it’s supposed to lower the center of gravity of your vehicle, which means you can go around turns at hundreds of miles an hour without flipping in the air like a wayward Pog.

But like I said, it’s mostly a penis thing.  

What is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R? ¹

You may have never even noticed that there is a difference in the type of blank discs that you bought to burn your files and illegal downloads onto.  You just pop a disc into your computer and burn away.  For all you know that little “minus” is nothing more than a hyphen.  However, when you put in a blank DVD and it doesn’t work, you might start to notice.

Let’s take a trip back in time.  But not too far back, because realistically, how long have DVD’s been around?  In the beginning, there was no industry standard.  Companies were out there competing, hoping that their format would soon dominate the market.  Then they both caught on, and now we just have two types floating out there confusing the innocent illegal downloader.

The DVD-R/RWs were developed by Pioneer and are the most compatible with Apple computers (and obviously Pioneer products).  Technically gobbledegook speaking, “minus” discs only write on one layer of the disc and are generally the cheaper alternative.

DVD+R/RW is more of a Microsoft thing (so, HP, Dell, Sony, Phillips, etc).  The “plus” discs have slightly better storage capacity because it burns on more than one layer, though I’ve never noticed a real difference.  For the average non-geek, you probably won’t either. ² Anyway, this difference does cause the slight difference in price.

That said, I believe that comptuers and laptops and burners that are coming off the line toady are more or less compatabile with both “plus” and  ”minus” formats.   I don’t imagine it being an issue for very much longer, but if you can’t figure out why your DVD won’t burn, check the format, that might be the problem.  It might mean a trip up to Walmart for a new spool.  Don’t worry, 24 Season 1 will still be there when you get back.  

When typing, do I put one or two spaces after a sentence?

Most likely, if you didn’t learn how to type on a typewriter, you have no clue what I’m talking about.   That’s okay, I’m here to make you more worldly.

Originally, after finishing typing a sentence, you would press the spacebar twice before starting a new one.  This is because typewriters and early word processors used monospaced fonts, like “Courier,” which means all letters are the same width.  Tiny little “i’s” take up the same amount of space on the page as “m’s.”  Two spaces helped the eye determine the start of the new thought and made for an easier read.  The only people who need to worry about this these days are usually writers of some kind.  People who turn in scripts or manuscripts still type in “Courier” therefore need to still follow the two space rule.

However, most of us aren’t writing the new Harry Potter (book or movie) are we? With the popularity of proportional fonts, such as “Times New Roman,” this custom is being kicked to the curb.  The eye doesn’t need the help anymore, so all you essay and blog writers out there, keep doing what you’re probably doing anyway: use one space after typing a sentence.

FYI, if you care, I double space after my sentences.  It’s how I was taught and I can’t break the habit now.  It’s annoying to some people who read my stuff, but only Nazis notice.  

I’m bored, especially after reading this POS entry, what should I do?

Read a book.  Or go play outside.  That’s what my mother always told me.  I can’t really help you there.  Most likely you’ll ignore what I advise anyway and go look for porn on the internet. Off you go.   ____