Posts Tagged ‘Dark Tony’

 

You Sunk My Writing Group! – 25. September, 2007

That reference to one of my favorite “board” games only disguises the sad fact that there is no writing group this fall. No one wanted to commit. Not true. One guy (besides me) wanted to do it. But two does not a writing group make.

Maybe this is a sign that I need to accomplish these goals on my own. In my experience nothing is easy, everything is hard. I’m always being reminded that I must do things on my own. I can’t count on anyone…

Whoa! That was a quick visit by Dark Tony.

I have to write this feature script. I’m now considering a UCLA extension class; I can’t take a 434, I’m not enrolled this quarter. Maybe I’ll pull a script-in-a-month for October. Either way, I must pound this out while prepping my thesis.

Ugh.

Posted in Screenwriting

Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud – 24. August, 2007

I don’t know about the rest of you but I beat myself up terribly. I don’t know where it comes from but it’s part of what makes Dark Tony. As you may or may not know, I left my graduate program to pursue an opportunity that went off track. Although none of it was under my control or the result of my doing, I still insist on beating myself up. I could have had my MFA years ago but I don’t. That’s why I’m shooting my thesis in December.

But I recently learned that Brian May, guitarist for Queen, just received his PhD in astrophysics. He handed in his thesis 30 years late. Granted, I haven’t been a rock star in a platinum selling super group but this story made me feel better about myself. It’s been a long time since I smiled.

BTW, the title of my blog is the title of Brian May’s… pardon me, Dr. May’s dissertation.

Posted in General

Dark Tony – 18. August, 2007

Many moons ago, when I was working a Pro Tools session with my friend Lillian (BTW, as you’ll soon learn, I’m not upset with you) she informed me of a “naming game” people were playing on set. The “game” is pretty simple: add an appropriate adjective to someone’s name so that you perfectly describe a facet of their personality. On a side note, unbeknownst to me, I invented the game years prior when I started calling a friend “Mean Gene.” Anyway, I asked, “what’s my name?” “Dark Tony,” she replied.

All those playing the game said she’d hit it on the nail… and I’d have to agree with them. It’s a part of me. For example, when I heard about a reality show where kids run a town on their own for a month, I didn’t imagine a feel-good network series. I imagined something along the lines of “Eli Roth remakes LORD OF THE FLIES.”

I never see it coming but when I find myself staring down those Travis Bickle tendencies, I know I’ve become Dark Tony. Why blog about my psychological state? Because I’ve been under a long shadow and I think I know why. It happened when my September thesis shoot feel apart. This creative miscarriage brought my drive to a screeching halt. I stopped working on my thesis, I stopped working on feature projects, I just stopped working.

But I think I’m in the penumbra now. I’m feeling creativity coming back to me. I’m readjusting my focus to a December thesis shoot. I’m starting to rewrite a script I finished. I’m even starting a new script, a no-budget project I hope to make my first feature. Things are looking brighter.

And that also means I’ll be blogging more. :)

Posted in General