Mother's Day Romance

This has probably been one of the busiest months of my screenwriting career. The producer working on my Christmas Bonbons script for Hallmark (he changed the title to Emma and the Chocolate Factory) asked me if I'd be willing to change it from a Christmas movie to a Mother's Day movie. GASP!

The first major changed was to bring the dead mother back to life. That was actually fun, because I was able to name her Rita in honor of Mother's Day and my mother, who has been gone now for almost 25 years. Next, I need a new B-Story having to do with a missing recipe box from Rita's mother, and it reminded me of the surprise 25th Anniversary party I had planned for my parents. A few weeks before the big day, my mom's brother and sisters had decided that Grandma Nellesen should move in with my Uncle George. They planned to divide up all the stuff from my Grandma's house between the 5 of them. Everyone was going to meet at Grandma's house at 10AM and take their things. It would be rather easy because my Grandma would take masking tape and put each person's name that she wanted something to go to on the bottom. 

That fateful day, my parents arrived at 10AM, and the house was empty. Her brother and sisters had their trailers and trucks all loaded. Sitting on the porch were 3 items for my mom: an old footlocker, a book, and something that I don't remember. My dad probably knows. My mom called me crying that afternoon when she got home. She was especially upset because she knew there were keepsakes for my brother and me. She vowed that she'd never speak to her brother and sisters again.

I got my dad on the phone and told him about the big party. He told me that I would need to cancel it. Since there were hundreds of people invited, we quickly sent out postcards and called people, telling them that my dad had planned a cruise and we had to cancel. My dad quickly booked that cruise, and I spent the next few years angry at my mom's family and trying to use up all the napkins that said Rita and Larry - 25 years! But they loved their cruise and my dad ended up going on many more after my mother passed away and paid for me to go on a cruise - which I did after I retired.

So in this script, I had the B-Story be a dispute between my mom, Rita and her sister, Catherine. I picked Catherine (the tallest one in the photo to the left) because she was always one of my favorites, and Mom said I looked the most like her. Like all Hallmark-like movies, Mother's Day Romance ends happily, and this script is special because it is about a handsome chocolatier from Ecuador named Luis Silva. My precious granddaughter married the real Luis Silva last year, and I am trying to learn Spanish to travel to Ecuador in a few years to attend their second wedding for the Ecuadorian family. Luis can't travel until his green card comes through, so I have plenty of time to get fluent.

I have some other projects, the play I wrote - Colonoscopy the Musical, that I hope our local theater group, the KR Players, will perform someday. I'm pitching a girls' soccer script tomorrow, and finishing up my book Churchill's Mum - about Keith's 5th cousin, Jennie Jerome, the mother of Winston Churchill. I had to get a new picture done for that!

I had an article written about me this month - https://canvasrebel.com/meet-sandi-jerome/

That was exciting!

Getting back to the keepsakes, I'm happy today that I don't have a lot of stuff from my grandparents. I keep downsizing houses, so not a lot of room! I try to give things to my granddaughters when I can - and I wrote this blog 

https://sandijerome.blogspot.com/2021/03/your-grandkids-dont-want-your-junk.html - about how your grandkids don't want your junk.

So a very busy month - and that was only half of it! More next month! Thanks for reading!

Early Mother's Day

 "A mother's arms are more comforting than anyone else's." - Princess Diana

Mother's Day comes early next month, normally before my blog is done, so I thought I'd write about my mother. Her birthday is in a few weeks, and my own was a few weeks ago. My earliest childhood memory was looking out my bedroom window and seeing the side of a huge feed truck. My parents owned a chicken ranch, and much of my early years were spent working. I had the job of candling eggs, which was a visual inspection of an egg as it passed in front of a bright light before entering the egg washer to find any fertilized eggs. Talk about early sex education! I was also the one to collect the eggs because I had tiny fingers and quick hands. But being only five, I didn't know much about physics,and when the feed truck pulled away, I thought the house was moving and screamed. I remember my mother hugging me and explaining that the house didn't move, the feed truck did.
This simple moment fundamentally shaped how I understand teaching and growth. I learned that true nurturing isn't about removing obstacles but providing the support and space for others to overcome them themselves. Years later, as an adult, I find myself approaching challenges with others—whether mentoring colleagues or helping friends through difficulties—with this same balanced approach: present enough to provide security, distant enough to allow growth. This single memory gave me a template for understanding care that values both protection and independence, a perspective that colors how I view relationships, education, and personal development to this day.

My mother died at a younger age than I am now of cancer. My dad has had to live out his final Act without her. Yes, he remarried, traveled the world, and even got to see the Pope - but I know he misses her. As Mother's Day approaches, I think of her.  She loved animals; growing up, I was allowed to have as many pets as I wanted. After they sold the chicken ranch, my parents bought acreage and developed an avocado ranch in Escondido. Gophers are enemy #1 for avocado trees, and cats are the best defense. At times, I had dozens of cats and gave each one a name. But I had other animals: pigs, rabbits, chickens, and my main 4-H project, market sheep. I'd take them to the Del Mar Fair each year and show them. Starting at about 10, I'd have my first taste of freedom. We stayed at the fair, camping out under the racetrack in the betting area. They'd bring in army cots, and for a week, that was our dorms, and we were on our own. Our cafeteria was on the other side of the fairgrounds, past the horse stalls. 

Yes, the Del Mar Racetrack was completed in 1937 on the grounds of the Del Mar Fair, which had opened just a year earlier in 1936. The track was built by a partnership including famous celebrities of the era - most notably Bing Crosby, along with actors Pat O'Brien, Gary Cooper, Joe E. Brown, Charles S. Howard, and Oliver Hardy. When Del Mar opened on July 3, 1937, Bing Crosby was personally at the gate to greet the first fans. Crosby served as President of the Turf Club (where we'd have our auction luncheon) while his friend Pat O'Brien was Vice President. The track quickly earned nicknames like "Bing's Baby" and "Movieland's Own Track" due to its Hollywood connections. One of the most famous moments in Del Mar's history came on August 12, 1938, when the track hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti.

This race was the first nationwide broadcast of a thoroughbred race by NBC Radio. In front of a record crowd, Seabiscuit won by a nose, helping to make Del Mar a success. Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, Del Mar established itself as "the Saratoga of the West" for summer racing, featuring large purses for many stakes races.

The track has continued to attract Hollywood celebrities throughout its history. Stars like Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Betty Grable, and Mickey Rooney were among those who frequented Del Mar, and Jimmy Durante became such a regular that the track eventually named its turf course in his honor. Today, Del Mar Racetrack continues its tradition of thoroughbred racing with its famous slogan "Where the Turf Meets the Surf," a phrase from a song written by Bing Crosby. The track hosts important races like the Pacific Classic and continues to be a significant venue in American horse racing. But for that one week, in the 1960s and 70s, it was "our turf" during the fair.

When I was sixteen, I fell for a much older guy who was about 20. He was the cousin of a good friend, and some of my buddies snuck me into the boys' dorms. This older guy was a chaperone, but so was my dad. Needless to say, I got caught, making out with a guy in the boys' dorm - by my father! In a few hours, was on my way home with my mother. As she drove the car home with me sobbing all the way, she finally pulled over and hugged me. Agreements were made, and she turned the car around. I don't know how she convinced my dad to let me stay at the fair, but my mom was a "fixer." I miss her every day.

Writer for Hire - A Platypus Movie

 

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."  -- Walt Disney 

A typical storyline in a Western is that a new sheriff or sharpshooter comes to town hired to do one job, and instead, he's asked to do something different. In Quigley Down Under, Marston informs Quigley his sharpshooting skills will be used to eradicate Aboriginal Australians. In Blazing Saddles, Bart is hired as the sheriff to anger the townspeople. I love these two movies!

I have found that a Writer for Hire engagement can start with an understanding that you'll use your creative skills to adapt a book or write a screenplay from a treatment, or rewrite an existing script. The typical Writer for Hire agreement contains standard industry provisions giving full creative control to the producer while requiring the writer to comply with all directions. Under these terms, the producer owns all rights to the material in perpetuity, can make unlimited changes without writer's approval, and has no obligation to actually produce the screenplay.

This type of agreement has led to several notable disputes in the entertainment industry. Art Buchwald's case against Paramount in 1990 became a landmark example when he submitted a treatment that became the basis for Coming to America. Despite contractual similarities to his concept, the studio claimed independent development. The court ultimately ruled in Buchwald's favor, exposing problematic "Hollywood accounting" practices.

Another significant case involved David Elliot and Paul Lovett's dispute with Disney over Pirates of the Caribbean. The writers claimed the script derived from their submission but faced significant hurdles in proving ownership after signing a work-for-hire agreement. Similarly, Wes Craven's estate engaged in a prolonged battle with New Line Cinema over rights to A Nightmare on Elm Street, highlighting the challenges of termination rights under copyright law.

I have performed under five different writers' agreements, and I found one common thread: creativity is not encouraged. Even after submitting a detailed treatment and sitting through Zoom calls, taking notes and asking questions, like "Can I add new material?" and being encouraged to just that -- I ended up having to delete characters and scenes that were in my treatment.

Tip: Always write the first act and get the producer's approval before continuing! 

Fortunately, I'm from the software industry and we get requests like, "Could you move the Enter button to the left side of the screen?" Everyone agrees and we make the change. But then the users scream (or the script gets bad coverage) because nothing is where the audience or users are expecting it to be. In the technology world,  we end up having to rollback the update and put the Enter button back where it was. It does no good to remind them that THEY wanted the change. If you watch the film, The Majestic, the executives "brainstorm" and rewrite the script, "What if we gave the kid a disease? Then later, "People love dogs...always gross high, so instead of a disease, we give the kid a dog?"

But as screenwriters, we have certain rules that we've been taught; never open a movie with someone waking up - and never end it with someone saying, "It was all a dream." However, just as in the software industry, we make the changes without reminding the producer that they had encouraged us to alter the storyline and create new characters during our original meeting. But like Walt Disney said, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing," which highlights his belief in taking action over mere words. Thank goodness I'm no longer a 30-year-old warrior trying to win arguments! It is so much faster to merely keep the old version and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

This is one of the reasons why I prefer emails or texts over group Zoom meetings, or phone conferences -- where everyone wants to create a movie "by committee." The platypus's odd combination of features evokes the idea of something "created by committee."  

I've seen so many movies that are a collection of great ideas - but they don't follow the required beats, sequences, act breaks that a movie needs and the structure that we're trained to follow. This was one of the problems with Electric State, a recent Netflix offering. Some of the comments were that the film was "incoherent," with critics finding the plot muddled, the action scenes repetitive, and the characters underdeveloped - a platypus.

It might be helpful for you to obtain coverage for the treatment or previous script before starting your Writer for Hire job, or simply ask the producer exactly what changes they want made. Otherwise you might be writing a platypus screenplay that is incoherent.

In my former tech career we had a saying; "you can have it cheap, good, or fast - pick 2 out of those 3," My "brand" in screenwriting is to provide producers with all three! I have high tech skills and know Final Draft and AI software, can type as fast as I talk. I'm well-educated in screenwriting and open to changes. Change the cat to a dog -- I can handle it!

Making First Contact

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it, we go nowhere."  Carl Sagan

I'm a techno freak. I read science fiction and I watch science fiction. One of my producer friends is trying to get the option for one of my favorite science fiction books (hint, hint, Melissa!) Here's a picture of me on the opening day of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind - at Epcot.

One of my favorite movies is Contact, a 1997 film with Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, who makes first contact with aliens. Although I love science fiction, I've only written three screenplays that have elements of science fiction. Last Woman is more of a thriller with grounded science fiction.  It is about a young female scientist who suffers from a consuming fear of being alone due to a harrowing assault she endured in college.  When she tests a new device developed by her technology company, a strong electromagnetic pulse transports her to a world free of people and fears. But… she discovers that every time she does -- she grows further and further away from her reality and closer to the man who torments her. Another one of my scripts, Technically Soccer, is about a women's soccer team coached by a droid. Another script, Runaway Cricket  (in production at BlackOrb Studios,) is about a runaway girl befriending an alien. The first two are grounded sci-fi. Is Runaway Cricket grounded? 

What is "grounded sci-fi" and how does this set it apart from other types of science fiction? To really understand grounded sci-fi, it helps to first think about the broader sci-fi genre. Science fiction, at its core, imagines how the future might look based on speculations about technology, science, society and more. It asks "what if?" questions and creatively explores the possibilities. This could mean far-future worlds, alien life, time travel, alternate histories, and other mind-bending concepts.

But grounded sci-fi is a specific approach within this genre. The key word here is "grounded." This type of sci-fi tries to keep at least one foot firmly planted in reality. While it still speculates and imagines future possibilities, it aims to do so in a way that feels authentic and plausible based on what we currently know. Here are some key features that distinguish grounded sci-fi:

 1. Realistic science and technology: In Technically Soccer, droids already exist like AI-Me, (pronounced Amy,) which stands for Artificial Intelligence for Maximizing Efficiencies. Grounded sci-fi usually tries to base its speculative elements on real, cutting-edge science and engineering. The futuristic technologies feel like logical progressions from today's capabilities rather than pure magic or hand-waving. There's an emphasis on scientific accuracy and showing how these advancements might realistically function. 

 2. Relatable settings and characters: The worlds of grounded sci-fi tend to resemble our own, just with added layers of futuristic elements. The societies, cultures, and challenges faced by characters parallel contemporary issues in thought-provoking ways. Basically, despite the sci-fi trappings, this world still feels connected to and shaped by the one we know. Both of my "grounded" scripts take place in the present time and in ordinary settings; a house, an office building, and a soccer field. Runaway Cricket takes place in a small town that could be anywhere - on Earth. It is sort of a modern-day E.T., and if you believe in aliens...

 3. Exploration of near-future scenarios: Rather than leaping centuries or millennia ahead, grounded sci-fi often focuses on the near future, anywhere from a few years to a few decades away. It imagines the impact of emerging technologies, social trends, political changes, environmental challenges, etc., within a timeframe we can still reasonably wrap our minds around. I think the science behind Last Woman exists. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic energy that can disrupt or damage electronic equipment. The physics behind EMPs starts with a rapid acceleration of charged particles, which creates an intense electromagnetic field. This field induces electrical currents in nearby conductors - similar to how a changing magnetic field creates electricity in a generator, but far more intense and sudden. The current military significance of EMPs comes from their ability to disable electronic systems. This is one of the small storylines in my script. When the electromagnetic wave hits electronic equipment, it can induce voltage spikes that exceed what the components are designed to handle. This can burn out semiconductors, damage integrated circuits, and corrupt stored data. Could it make someone appear to "disappear?"

 4. Emphasis on plausibility and consequences: Grounded sci-fi doesn't just focus on the "wow" factor of futuristic concepts. It deeply considers the ripple effects, unintended consequences, and socio-economic implications of these advancements. It aims to tell believable stories of how technology intersects with human experiences, both good and bad. I explore this both in Technically Soccer and Last Woman.

Some well-known examples of grounded sci-fi include:

 - "The Martian" by Andy Weir: A realistic tale of an astronaut stranded on Mars, using real science to solve problems.

- "Minority Report" by Philip Kindred  Dick: A world where "precrime" police use psychics to arrest people before they commit crimes.

The book option that I'd like Melissa to get is similar to Minority Report. One of my favorite movies, is The Martian with Matt Damon, and I started a "Mars-like garden" in my backyard. 

But movies like "Star Wars," are superhero stories, far-future tales, and fantasy-leaning sci-fi wouldn't qualify as "grounded" because they tend to prioritize imagination and drama over realism. The picture above is outside Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot. That is my favorite franchise of movies. 

 Getting back to Contact - the book vs. the movie, there are five differences I found;

 1. Ellie's childhood and relationship with her father: I write a lot of father/daughter scripts because for the past almost thirty years, I've been close to my father after my mother died. In the book, Ellie's father dies when she is quite young, fueling her interest in science and the stars as a way to feel connected to him. Her childhood, relationship with her father, and early passion for astronomy are explored in much more depth. In contrast, the movie begins with Ellie already grown up. It shows some flashbacks to her as a girl with her father, establishing their bond and her curiosity about the universe. However, this backstory is condensed compared to the book. The film focuses more on Ellie as an adult and her present-day journey.

 2. The nature and motivations of the alien message: The book goes into great scientific and philosophical detail about the alien message, its layers of meaning, and what it suggests about the nature and intentions of the senders. Decoding the message is a major plot point that reveals fascinating insights about the aliens. We don't have the luxury to write a 5-hour movie - unless your last name is Lucus or Coppola. Although a limited series is opening up in this area. The movie streamlines the philosophical, not delving as deeply into the message's complexity. The film is more focused on Ellie's quest to understand and respond to the message rather than its intricate content. The aliens' motivations are left more mysterious and open-ended.

 3. Ellie's romantic relationships: In the book, Ellie has a few romantic partners, including her longtime boyfriend Ken der Heer. Her relationships are realistically complex, influencing her emotions and personal journey throughout the story. Actors cost a lot of money, So the movie reduces this, making Palmer Joss Ellie's primary love interest. Palmer is a Christian philosopher, allowing the film to further highlight the faith vs. science themes. The on-again/off-again nature of their movie romance drives character development and provides conflict that isn't as important in a book.

 4. Ellie's role and the machine: Ellie is part of a large team building the machine in the book based on the alien instructions. She is not the sole passenger, with several international travelers taking the journey alongside her. Compare this to the movie where Ellie is the sole American representative and ends up making the voyage by herself due to sabotage and accidents. Having her go alone heightens the drama and keeps the focus on her individual experience when meeting the aliens.

 5. The meeting with the aliens: The book's alien meeting is an incredibly vivid, almost psychedelic journey through time, space and other dimensions. Ellie has lengthy, enigmatic interactions with the aliens who take on familiar forms from her mind. But In the film, the alien encounter is briefer and less abstract. The aliens appear as fuzzy, incorporeal versions of her deceased father. The dialog is more concise and less philosophical compared to the book. 

 But the best line in the movie isn't even in the book; "The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space." Carl Sagan wrote this, but he also wrote the first draft of the screenplay. 

 Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan began working on the movie, Contact in 1979. They wrote a film treatment over 100 pages long and set up the project at Warner Bros. with Peter Guber and Lynda Obst as producers. Nothing happened, so Sagan published Contact as a novel. In 1981, Simon & Schuster gave Sagan a $2 million advance on the novel. At the time, the advance was the largest ever made for a book that had not yet been written. Guess what? The film reentered development in 1989. With Zemeckis as director, filming ran from September 1996 to February 1997. Carl never saw the movie, he died in 1996. 

 Writing a book after the movie is something I'm very familiar with. Last year, I wrote Mama Dallas and Augie (published by Little Studio Publishing. It is based on two screenplays, one of them that I wrote; Augie. I'm hoping to write the third one, which would be the early years of Mama Dallas (Concetta) in Italy.

If we can dream…hey, that is the title of next month's blog!

 

Waste of Time

 

“You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library” Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

I wasn't born with raw talent - for anything! But I acquired talent over the years. I was shy and stuttered, but I eventually became a public speaker and once spoke at the same conference as First Lady Barbara Bush. We were both in the speaker's lounge, and I wanted to talk to her, but when those big guys with guns started toward me, I hurried back to my own couch area. I'm shy and afraid of everything. I'm like the Gorginites in Small Soldiers; my greatest ability is to run and hide.  In addition, my mother said that I was so uncoordinated as a kid that I could trip over a bobby pin in a shag carpet, but I became a certified yoga teacher. I believe in attacking things with everything that I've got to succeed. I went to college to get a degree in International Agriculture with a goal to teach the world how to grow food. Lots of things diverted my path, but I ended up changing to agribusiness, then business, and finally accounting and computer science. How I got from designing accounting software to screenwriting is for another blog; this one is about education and screenwriting. Do you need a formal education to be a successful screenwriter?

If you have talent, raw talent, and a great idea, run out and buy a book on screenwriting and learn screenwriting software. My first book was by Cynthia Whitcomb, who I'll talk about in another blog, and I have probably read a dozen or more over the years. Of course, my favorite is written by my manager, Alexia Melocchi, An Insider's Secret: Mastering the Hollywood Path and after reading that, I decided I needed representation, but I'll cover that in another blog. This blog is about whether or not an education is important if you want to be a screenwriter. So, even though I was a highly educated CPA and computer programmer when I took off this path, I wanted to learn screenwriting from the best - and I did.

I found out that UCLA had an online screenwriting program.  Jack Sowards (above left,) who wrote Star Trek – Wrath of Kahn and Jim Schmerer (center,) who wrote for some of the most popular series of the 1970s and ’80s, including MacGyver, CHiPs, Vega$, Fantasy Island and Starsky & Hutch, were my instructors.  I met a friend online, Dana Biscotti Myskowski (right,) and when we graduated from the Advanced Program and attended our graduation ceremony at UCLA, Jim and Jack took Dana and me out to dinner.  These two wonderful gentlemen told Dana and me that we were the best writers in the class which gave us both a lot of encouragement to continue. I had acquired talent with education.

I think UCLA is the best, and I have the t-shirt to confirm that. UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television combines theory and practice, with students learning both writing and production. I'm with a lofty group;  Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants), and David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man) all studied here.

Of course, the USC School of Cinematic Arts is considered the premier institution for screenwriting - by some. Their Writing for Screen & Television program has produced writers like John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood), George Lucas, and Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Scandal). The program emphasizes both craft and industry connections, with many students getting represented by major agencies before graduation.

When I won the Native American Media Alliance Fellowship, my instructor, Matt Black (Umma with Sandra Oh), was also a lecturer at AFI Conservatory, which offers an intensive two-year screenwriting program. While smaller than some other programs, it's produced by writers like David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot). The program is known for its mentor-based approach and small class sizes. Matt was a huge fan of David Lynch and even has an ear tattoo on his arm in honor of Lynch's Blue Velvet. It is a movie I hate.

NYU Tisch School of the Arts has a renowned dramatic writing program that covers both screenwriting and playwriting. Notable alumni include Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Tony Kushner (Lincoln, Angels in America), and Donald Glover. The New York location gives students unique access to both film and theater industries.

Columbia University's Film MFA program has a strong emphasis on dramatic writing fundamentals. Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan), and Simon Kinberg (X-Men franchise) are among its graduates.

Interestingly enough, one of my two favorite screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network, Newsroom, American President), was actually a theater acting major at Syracuse University before turning to writing - but I think he drips with raw talent. But my best is Chuck Lorre, who dropped out of Suny to pursue a career in songwriting and got his break when he co-wrote the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown. Chuck jumped right into TV and is the best TV writer of all time, and I'm sure his investment banker agrees. Lorre eventually received an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gave a keynote address at a graduation ceremony. I hope he paid his library fines first!

So, how would I answer the question about education? Obviously, for some - it isn't necessary, but if you have the time and money and, like me, a quart low on raw talent, go for it. If you're young, spending some time at college can help you grow and make lifelong connections that I didn't have. If you're not in LA, then an online class or fellowship will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. The answer to that question is in your head – did you wake up this morning with an idea so amazing that you must get it on paper? Buy a couple books, read a couple scripts and buy Final Draft or get the free version of FadeIn and start writing! 

If you want to build a career, get Alexia's book, learn about Hollywood and move out there. If you like going to school, pick UCLA (just kidding) or check out your local college and see if they have a screenwriting program. What I don't recommend is getting an MFA and learning creative writing. Screenwriting is creative, but it is mostly writing about life and is about people speaking and reacting through action. I'm not sure learning about Shakespeare and 14th century poets is the way to get good at screenwriting. But when it comes to writing, that quote in Good Will Hunting is right - and that script won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for best screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.  Like Matt Damon's line, "education might be a terrible waste of money."

Nobody Knows

 

I finished a TV pilot this month with an old friend, Mark, and we entered it into SeriesFest to see if we could get some bites - or bliss. It is a pretty interesting story. Mark and his wife, Arlene, moved to Mexico to find their bliss. In this picture (left) is our cousin, John, Mark and his wife, Arlene. Our TV pilot is based on Mark's comedy book Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak. I got the coverage on it back this month, and it is fantastic!

"The writer has created an absolutely fantastic premise. The concept of Americans (from Portland) moving to Mexico to realize some idealized dream that is far from ideal is great and will provide endless setups for future episodes. I could see this done as a single-camera or multicamera show, though the format is very much a single-camera show. It's a concept that also has wide audience appeal, especially depending on how much you dig into cultural discussions and commentary.  I also love your three main characters, Charlie, Marty, and Adele. The dynamic between Charlie and Marty feels reminiscent of ALL IN THE FAMILY, though with completely different archetypes that fit contemporary audiences. They each have a very distinct personality with its own quirks, positives, and negatives. You do introduce a few locals into the pilot, but it would be great to see them even more so we get a sense of the regulars within this world that our central family will be interacting with from week to week."

Getting back to Mark, decades ago, we found that we liked to write and were both going to the Willamette Writers Conference that summer. We agreed to meet in the big tent for lunch. When Keith and I walked in, I said, "Isn't that your cousin, John, sitting next to Mark?" Yup, in Portland, a town of 2 million+, the only two people we knew - were friends with each other!  Mark and I stayed in touch over the next few decades, and it was Mark who told us when Cousin John died this year. John was an LA lawyer who moved to Portland to find his bliss and write plays. That is also Mark's bliss, writing plays, although he's quite the accomplished comedian and has written for shows like Leno. But his book has been on my Kindle all these years and has been my "go-to" book when I'm feeling sad - which has happened a few times this year. After I read it again this fall, I knew it could be a TV pilot and convinced Mark to take a leap of faith with me. He gave me the option on it and agreed to co-write the pilot.  

I changed "Mark and Arlene" to Marty and Adele - fictitious characters and then merely told Mark's story. He and Arlene have moved to San Miguel de Allende three times! They are now back in Portland. I made a fictitious city, too, to protect the huge expat community in San Miguel "where if you swing an artist, you'll hit a writer and if that writer ducks, you'll hit a jazz musician." In addition, the locals speak Spanish with the speed of a particle accelerator.
So that is what I've been knee-deep in this past month. Here's the Nobody Knows Pitch Deck.

Now, I'm starting on a horror movie, writing it with a famous artist, Guy Vasilovich, based on Edgar Allan Poe's last living relative, titled Last Poe —more on that next month!

A Hallmark Christmas

This month, my best friend, Laura (right,) visited me for a week. There aren't that many people who knew me as my mother's daughter, so we talked a lot about our mothers. 

My mother loved Christmas – every inch of our home was decorated. She made a magical bonbon – and I'm often asked for the recipe. One problem – I don't have it. My mom never wrote it down before she died unexpectedly, and we lost more that day than her secret ingredients.

As kids, I admired Laura's mother; she was a professional woman and they lived in an immaculate house. When I asked why their sewing machine was in the master bedroom when they had both a family room and a rarely used living room, Laura laughed. Appearances were important in her family and nobody touched their formal living room. In our home, the sewing machine was on the dining room table because we ate in the kitchen. For my family, everything was about functionality. Eating was number one; my mother was an amazing cook - in fact, my maiden name was Cook. Mom's dining room and kitchen looked like a Hallmark movie set during a bonbon contest.

Last month, we welcomed a dashing young man, Luis, from Ecuador into our family when my scientist granddaughter, Vrinda Jerome, became Vrinda Silva. He loves to cook! While up in Jacksonville for the wedding, I watched a marathon batch of Christmas movies. A few months ago I had finished writing my Hallmark-like movie, Christmas Bonbons, which is being shopped by the same Hijacked producer Autumn Bailey (On a Wing and a Prayer with Dennis Quaid.) Hijacked was an adaptation from a true book about the heroes of flight 705. Christmas Bonbons was my first Hallmark structured movie. I loved writing it. The 9-acts and Hallmark "rules" are like catnip to a former programmer like me that loves structures.  For those of you considering a career writing Hallmark Christmas Movies, here's the most common format;

Act 1 -  Setup. The heroine has a happy life, but something is missing.

Act 2 -  Inciting incident. She has to travel somewhere; maybe home for the holidays or a  project for work. Often is is snowing when she gets there.

Act 3. Meet Cute. She arrives - and by chance, she encounters the romantic interest, who can be her long-lost first love or involved in her work project. But it can also be a family friend, or the friendly town vet, or even a guy that sells Christmas trees.

Act 4. Debate - as her situation gets more challenging and that frustrating romantic interest is always just there, resulting in many more encounters where the guy makes himself useful, and sometimes frustrates her and she wants to leave, but she has to finish something first.

Act 5. Almost kiss -  they begin to enjoy spending time together. This is also where they touch accidentally, or look into each other's eyes - and then,  one of them says awkwardly, "I should go..." something isn't right about them being together as they almost kiss.

Act 6. Fun and games. They finally get over that reason why things are awkward, find themselves in a snow ball fight, or trying to decorate a tree, or make cookies, and get interrupted right before their lips meet. Sometimes there is a town contest for the best decoration of some sort and they compete.

Act 7. BUT - something is wrong; he said/she said - misunderstandings, rumours, and she thinks she should go back home because she's afraid - or he doesn't seem to feel the same way about her..

Act 8. Finally – one of them, has the courage to tell the other how they really feel thanks the classic mentor who often is wearing a Santa Hat. Feelings are real, they are falling in love! She maybe decides to move back home, or he's going to move to where she lives. A new life is beginning. Their life together matters.

Act 9. They live happy ever after and the whole family (or town) joins them around the Christmas tree for a group picture or singing a Christmas carole.

There are also some of the Hallmark traits and rules;

1. No words like crazy, hate, NO profanity

2. Christmas in almost every scene

3. NO religion

4. Must decorate a Christmas tree

5. Theme uplifting

6. Make Christmas food like cookies

7. No sex scenes

8. Few displays of affection

9. One snowball fight

10. One kiss at the end

11. Must have a happy ending.

I'm not sure my Christmas Bonbons is a perfect script yet, I probably have some rewrites it its future, but I also and I haven't given up trying to recreate that bonbon recipe of my mom's. The difference between a writer and a professional writer is that a professional never gives up. I'd write more this month, but today I'm getting down my Christmas decorations from the attic. I love Christmas.