Finally Not Tired

I think I've finally discovered the trick to not being tired all day (besides giving up sugar). The last two nights I've gone to bed around 9:30 and got up around 7:00 or whenever Joey decided to wake me up. I've felt great the past two days. I even came home from cleaning two big houses yesterday and cleaned our entire place.

We are still waiting to hear if we are pre-approved for a house. What was supposed to take "24 hours at the most," is going on two weeks. I had to write up a profit and loss statement and send it to our guy last night. Hopefully this will push the decision to yes from the underwriter. Being self-employed has a ton of perks, but trying to buy a house isn't one of them. Too much paperwork!

I have a meeting tonight with my new director about a short comedy I'm writing to be shot in September. It's so hard to write now that Joey doesn't nap anymore. (I'm hiding upstairs in the hallway writing this while he jumps around downstairs.) I used to love his two hour naps. I could clean up the house quick, then sit and write for a solid hour or more. Not anymore. I may have to start getting up at the crack of dawn to get anything done. Especially since someone else just mentioned me working on writing a feature film with him.

Speaking of films, I got to watch a rough cut of my film yesterday. It was so good! Rough...but good. I can't wait to see it when it's all done. I'm going over the the dp's house this weekend or next week to help him with some stuff. Thanks to the lead actor I have the music for the soundtrack.

Today Joey has OT and his psychologist coming. After that I'm taking him to Vanessa's for a playdate. With the kids, we don't get together and talk as much as we used to, so I'm looking forward to it!

Officially a Filmmaker

I was too beat last night from filming all day (then going to a birthday party) to write anything. Today was our last day of filming at the Bamba Bistro. I loved directing much more than I thought I would. I was pretty sure I only wanted to stick to writing the scripts and not anything else. But thanks to the actors and crew I had a blast both days, and can't wait to do it again. Which will be sometime in September (as assistant director) for a film I'm writing now.

The best part was my husband was there both days. Today my dad and his wife came to be extras, along with my husband. I was also an extra in the first shot of the restaurant. And one fun fact: on a close up of a phone call the main actor takes from a doctor, I called him from my phone and he programmed his phone to read "Dr. Miles" calling. (Please address me as such in the future) Pictures from the film are on Facebook.

Now I have two days worth of a messy house to clean up. The yuckiest part is the crock pot full of inedible cream of broccoli soup my husband made last night. It was a new recipe and came out horrible for some reason. Thank God for Mark's Pizzeria!

Too Late to Back Out Now

After a very long day of still feeling crappy with a sinus infection, cleaning three houses, grocery shopping, playing with Joey for hours, putting him to bed, cutting Mike's hair and getting everything organized for tomorrow, I'm finally ready to sit. Tomorrow is the first day of filming on my movie The Drug Dealer. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. Part of me just wants it all to be over and suddenly be Monday. I don't want anything to go wrong like actors not showing up, the restaurant giving us a problem...I'm sure there are a million other things that can happen. Mike worked so hard after work today to make a fantastic meatloaf dinner. Plus he's making a special crock-pot chili for the crew and actors tomorrow. I'm so afraid I'm not going to have enough food for everyone, but Mike says I have too much. I hope so.

Hopefully I can persuade my Still Photographer friend to take a bunch of pictures with my camera so I can post them.

I think the worst part about tomorrow will be not seeing Joey all day. He's going to his cousin's birthday party without us.

Now it's time for dvr'd Nurse Jackie, then early to bed.

I Should Be Moving

I have a million and one things to do before the filming of my movie this weekend. And here I sit. But I have a good excuse: a butt-kicking sinus infection. One of the worst I've had.

My in-laws, God bless them, just picked Joey up and took him to their house to play with his cousins, then out for dinner. They said they'll bring him home around 7:30 (!). It's only 3:00 right now. I have hours to myself to get everything done for Saturday. Or...I can sleep.

So, how is a girl who has struggled to get her writing "out there" directing her own movie in two days? This past January my writing friend and I made a pact to take any writing opportunities that came our way. We agreed to pursue any small connection we might have in order to further our careers and make friends in the industry. The first thing I did was answer an ad on Craigslist for a writer in a sketch comedy group. The group only lasted a few months, but out of that I wrote seven decent comedy sketches.

When I joined the group, I invited a Director Guy that I had met a year previously at a screenwriting workshop. He had written a short screenplay and was also interested in directing. (Make those connections!) After a few weeks of comedy meetings, this guy invited my girlfriend (the one I made the pact with) to his house to give him feedback on his script. We gave him our ideas and it turned out he wanted us to write it for him. We did, and the film, Thanksgiving, was shot in April '09.

I joined Rochester Movie Makers in February and have met some wonderfully talented people. In March I entered a ten-page script into a screenwriting competition. I was reluctant to enter it, but glad I did when I placed second. That is the film being shot this weekend. I've had a ball sitting in on auditions, read-throughs, rehearsals and everything else involved in making a movie. I have the opportunity, because of Rochester Movie Makers (RMM), to learn anything I'm interested in about film making. I'm directing my film, The Drug Dealer, but I'm really still learning and watching over Director Guy's shoulder (who is my director of photography (dp) for this film).

A few weeks ago I was contacted by another member of RMM who said I was recommended to him to write a script for a film he wants to shoot in August. New Film Dude and I met at Spot coffee one night and I gave him about twenty film ideas. We picked one and brainstormed on it. I've written the first draft and am waiting for my film to finish being shot before rewriting it. He said I could be as much a part of making the movie as I'd like. At first I thought I'd just write it and maybe help out in some small way. But he asked if I'd be assistant director (ad) and I agreed.

All this because I made a pact to say Yes.