But that’s not what I’m talking about. No, I’m talking about a critique I received on my TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES spec. As you might remember, I entered my spec into the Austin Teleplay competition. I received my rejection letter with the requisite “thanks for trying, better luck next time” paragraph and that was that.

So imagine my surprise when I received a brief one-page write up. This one-page write up.

Now, allow me to address some of their points.

• This was my first spec.
• I was using the pilot script for my formatting (I should have used a regular season episode).
• The dream sequence is a staple of the series (both the films and series) and I think I use it well.
• They wanted Danny to be better developed? He’s not in 4/5 of the episode. I’m taking this one as a compliment (“damn, I’m really into this spec and now I wish the show wasn’t canceled” is the exact compliment I’m taking from that. Friedman, do you hear that? You should hire me.).

I thank the AFF for the comments. They should look forward to a FRINGE or CHUCK next year… unless I get hired or into the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship.

(Fingers crossed)

… to be completely honest, I first wrote that post a long, LONG time ago.  At some point after getting those notes from the AFF (I’m still waiting for word regarding the fate of my feature), I let a friend, who’s also a TV producer (he spent a long time on a very successful but recently cancelled network show), read my TSCC spec.  Here are his notes.

And now you’ve read all the notes I’ve received on that spec, which I’m damn proud of.  As I write more TV specs, I suspect my TSCC script will disappear into some never-to-be-opened folder on my laptop.  At that point, I might post it here for people to read.  Until then, you’ll just have to speculate about a not-too-distant future where computers and robots become self-aware.

Now I’m not gonna give you my entire pitch but I will say that in order to succeed this movie has to be terrifying, funny and cool. You need to feel the character’s fear as she wakes up to find herself a lab rat forced to solve deadly puzzles. You need to laugh when her mechanical torturer spouts off (il)logical conclusions that’d be cold blooded by any human standard. You need to feel that the Portal gun is the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. If people are throwing cake at the screen, you’ve completely failed.

Since Guillermo Del Toro loves to play Portal (and Call of Duty), I wonder if he’d buy the rights? I’m guessing someone already owns the movie rights.

…

Okay, I’ve got something else on my mind. I keep beating myself up over my lack of output on this blog. For some reason I feel like I have nothing to say here. How many times can I tell you that things are slowly moving forward with my film/writing or that indie filmmaking sucks more than ever or that big Hollywood spectacles are getting dumber? I need something else that’ll help me generate more material on a regular basis, something that’s both personal but that I’m distant enough from. I think I have something, or some things, I might write about. I’ll probably be straying further from writing about my creative process/endeavors, at least until there’s something to report.

Stay tuned… and if you hate where I’m going then I guess you’re free to tune out.

Right now, I’m concentrating on writing a CHUCK spec. Everything else is back-burner. I wish it didn’t have to be but that’s kinda where things are at.

But if you’re a great creative multitasker, tell me what works for you.

Okay, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. I did manage to lock picture on my film, LAST NIGHT, but I still need to go back and tweak a few shots. And I need to finish it so I can move on to the next project. I also traveled to Europe. These are good things, but overall 2010 was a wash. Why? Well, without getting into it, things just sucked.

So how can I turn 2011 around? It took me a while but I realized it while I was about to fall asleep last night. I can’t take on anything new. No, that’s too much. I can simply look back at the things I liked in my life and reengage. This means working on my film, writing a new feature, writing those long overdue FRINGE and CHUCK specs, playing the guitar, etc.

That’s it. It’s simple but it’s a good way to get back on track (which needs to happen before I can move forward).

Okay, I didn’t write a second post last week. Why? I was flooded with work (one employee nabbed an acting gig, another says he wants to work but his actions often speak otherwise). Also, I got FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS and I was ready to write it off as “too long, too boring, etc.” but then they gave me a pet robot.

I ALWAYS WANTED A PET ROBOT!!!

Anyway, here’s something I love. Apparently Essanay Studios used to have a checklist of reasons why your script was rejected, eight of which seem to say “this sucks.”

(I’m counting reasons #2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12)

What would you add to the checklist?

PS, for the record, I stole this post from this blog (which you should be reading).

What the fuck happened?

The month didn’t get off to a good start and then, for some unknown, after Coachella everything went straight to Hell.

Time to go at it again.

What, you might be asking, is Script Frenzy? Ever heard of National Novel Writing Month? This is the same thing except with a script. And as I’ve been lagging on my writing, this is the kick in the butt I’ve been needing.

Therefore, I will have a draft of my long promised CHUCK script by the first week of May. Hey, I started late so I get to finish late.

So, let’s talk about CHUCK. I’m halfway through the second season and, well, does it ever get back to what the first season was offering?

Finish My Feature Film – My editor finished a cut and it looked pretty good. Obviously, I had notes but we are definitely on the same page and it feels fucking awesome to move forward. Now I just need him to export a QuickTime so I can obsessively watch it at home in High-Def. You’re asking how I’m gonna author & burn a Blu-ray from my Mac, right? Wrong. I’m gonna export the HD Quicktime to play on my PS3. Stu, you’re a hero.

Write Another TV Spec – I am WAY behind on CHUCK and FRINGE but I’m still determined write for one of these shows. I think I’m gonna take a day off, hook up the computer to the TV and just plow through the second seasons of both.

Get Hired to Direct – No bites yet.

Get My Web Series Up & Running – So I had three formal pitches and about a dozen “tell me what you’re working on” while waiting for the elevator and the response has been overwhelming. Most people love it and the rest get a right hook to their prudish sensibilities. No, seriously, one woman yelled out “oh God!” in reaction to one of our randier jokes. Awesome! Also, I’ve cut together some character vlogs and need to do more but I’ve also been writing the first season. Christ, this is really happening. Also, you’ll see that I no longer use the “T” word because it resulted in my getting spammed by those interested in this “T” word.

Write A Feature Script – I started an outline but got sidetracked by the web series and, well…

As for other goals I still don’t have a sport, a class, an acoustic guitar, a way to defy death, a way to invest and I’m still trying to finish GLUE but I did go to SXSW and I had a fucking blast so that counts for something, right?

Finish My Feature Film – No real progress here but I should be looking at a cut next month.

Write Another TV Spec – This too has taken a back seat but I am plowing through season 2 of CHUCK on my iPhone and the FRINGE season 1 Blu-ray on my PS3.

Get Hired to Direct – Um, yeah, this really isn’t happening either. Okay, by now you’re asking what the hell is wrong with me. You must think I’m a flake. I’m not, I just got hit with a one-two-punch of having a roller derby girl spurn my affections (lesson: never like them more than they like you) and then the most intense flu I’ve had since childhood. That ate up about 2-3 weeks of my life.

Get My Transmedia Project Up & Running – Good news here: I have 4 pitch meetings this week. I’ll be meeting with a creative/tech agency, a talent agent, a new media producer and a web focused production company. That means I have to get this pitch prepped ASAP.

Write a Feature Script – Nope, didn’t really push the bromance but I’m punching up this horror/thriller that a director, and friend, wants to take into a genre division. And it’s due the same week as my 4 pitches.

Gulp.

As for my other goals, I’m still looking for a sport, a class, a way to defy death, an acoustic guitar, a way to invest and I really gotta finish GLUE by Irvine Welsh.

That Transmedia pitch DVD worked. It opened a door and now I get to pitch to 4 web/new media executives… but they moved the pitches up by a week… to next week.

Yikes!

Also, a friend is going in to meet with a genre division about directing one of their properties and he wants to take a couple other projects in with him. He asked me for one of my scripts so now I gotta punch that up before he meets with them… next week… the same time I have to do my webseries pitch.

I’ll sleep when I’m dead, right?

Question for ya: what should I prep for a 10-minute webseries pitch? Would love some expert advice.