Fruitvale Station

A few weeks ago my friends, Dennis and Tif, invited me to see Fruitvale Station with them.  I already had plans, so I wasn't able to go with them. Some free time presented itself today, so I went with a couple of my cousins to watch the movie.  I remember hearing about the story when it happened, but watching this movie really raised my emotions.

When the premiered at Sundance, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to wait to see it.  It lived up to its expectations in every way, especially story and cast.  Octavia Spencer is amazing in the role, but I expected that.  The writer, Ryan Coogler, did an amazing job of making the characters relatable.  This is his first feature film, and look at what he was able to accomplish.

I don't want to say too much and ruin the movie for those who aren't familiar with the story.  Just know that our country has a problem. Our country has a problem, and part of the problem is the amount of people who are unaware that there's a problem.  Hopefully Fruitvale Station reaches enough people that   our country is exposed.  Something has to be done, y'all.  There's really nothing else to say. This story will stay with me for a while.

Way Too Real

As I stood in the shower this morning, I couldn't help but think about my brush with death yesterday. Technically, it wasn't a brush with death, but as far as my mind was concerned, it was. I'll start from the beginning...

My buddy, Joey, and I were on our way to class yesterday morning. In our typical fashion, we were completely engaged in conversation about our upcoming films.  Seriously, I have nothing else going on in my life right now, so all I have to talk about is my movie.  Luckily, even though he has more going on, he's always down to hear about my film and talk about his. I was on autopilot on our way to class as I rambled on and on about my film.

There are certain things that happen in my day to day life that I look back on and point out as "foreshadowing". Well, there were several instances on our drive when people were honking. I would ask Joey, "Are they honking at us?" They weren't, but just to give you a sense of the foreshadowing.

Okay, so we're engrossed in conversation, driving to class, going over a bridge, when we hear a train horn.  It was extremely loud and all my mind could conceive of was that this train was honking at us because it was about to hit us. There were only three things that ran through my mind in that instance. 1.) How did I not see the train? 2.) My negligence has gotten us both killed.  3.) I'm sorry, Joey.

For some reason, in the movies and on tv, they always say that your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. That wasn't the case for me.  I told you what happened.  I had time to think three things.  When I thought, "I'm sorry", I couldn't even speak it. I thought it and it was directed at Joey. It was my apology to him for killing him when he had so much to live for and look forward to.  I thought those three things and then I expected to be slammed into by a train.  Never mind that I was on a bridge and the train was passing under me.  For some reason none of that reality entered my mind.  All that happened was the insanely loud train horn, those three thoughts, and BAM!

When we were not killed on impact, or should I say, when we continued to drive over the bridge as the train continued to drive under us, I looked at Joey and we laughed about how loud and scary that train was.  I've since told several people of our near death experience and no one seems to fully understand how for a second there, I honestly thought my life was over.  When I realized we were okay, I started to cry.  I was so happy to be alive!  I know I didn't almost die.  I know I was out of harm's way, but it still scared me.

One of the things that I realized, and I'm actually really proud of this, but I wasn't afraid of dying.  I thought it was about to happen, I expected it to happen, and I wasn't scared.  Don't get me wrong, I was sad about it, but I had accepted it.  I thought about it all day yesterday, and clearly, I keep thinking about it today.  I think about what I'd leave behind. The unfinished projects. The people my death would effect.  Who would my roommate, Cody, live with? Who would she kill bugs for? Would J'Vanne, my producer, make Collectible Items?  Who would direct it? When was the last time I talked to my parents? My siblings? My extended family? My friends?  Would I go to heaven? Have I lived my life in a way that's pleasing to God? It's a lot to think about.

You've all seen The Shawshank Redemption, right?  Andy says, "Get busy living, or get busy dying."  I've always felt that way, but now I feel like it's reinforced.  Time to get double focused.  What do you guys think? What would James Franco do?  My guess is that he'd get busy living.  I woke up today feeling happy to be alive.



#WWJFD

Movie in the Cemetery....Only in Cali

Last summer, one of my friends introduced me to something super strange yet ridiculously amazing. She sent me a text asking if I wanted to go to a movie. I said yes, and I asked when. She responded with a date that was for three weeks later. Already, I was confused. Who plans to go to a movie three weeks out? So I asked what movie we were gonna see.  She said we'd watch The Exorcist. Remember when I was already confused? Watching a movie that had been out for 30 years.  And then, she said where we'd see it: in the cemetery.

Immediately I was intrigued.  A movie in the cemetery? What in the world was this going to be like. I'll tell you what it was going to be like: AMAZING!

As we pulled up to the cemetery, the amount of people walking there, carrying blankets and picnic stuff is insane. So many people! And the line to get in - forget about it. It wrapped worst than amusement park rides.  The line was incredibly long, and it just kept getting longer. We didn't have to wait in that line though, because we parked inside the cemetery.  We picked our spot on the grass and I just stood there in awe as the people continued to migrate in and set up camp.

We proceeded to unpack our picnic and enjoy our dinner while a DJ played music.  A movie in the cemetery is amongst one of the craziest phenomenons I've experienced.  While there, I vowed to share the experience with anyone who'd let me. Today was that day.

Three weeks ago I sent an email to my local friends and told them that Taxi Driver was playing tonight and asked if they wanted to go.  A few people expressed interest and bought their tickets.  I was nervous that they wouldn't have the same experience that I did and that they wouldn't be as impressed.  But I quickly learned that everyone has the same reaction the first time they go. No amount of description an prepare you for an amazing evening of bonding with 2,500 other people. Everyone is just outside having a great time. The mood is collectively chill, and once the movie starts - silence.  Everyone is so respectful, which makes for a great movie going experience.

They only play the movies during the summer, from May-September. So far this is the only time I've gone this year. I'm hoping to get to at least one more. If you're curious about it, you should check it out. www.cinespia.org

If you're asking yourself why I wasn't working, the answer is simple. I stayed up til 4:30am working. I finished the website for my next film, Collectible Items. You should check it out: www.CollectibleItemsTheMovie.com. And when I finished that, I thought it would be a good idea to work on my website: www.edrei.com. When I finished that, I finally went to bed.

After a week of interviews and two website designs, I figured I could take a break and relax with friends. In keeping in the spirit of James Franco, I'll get a lot of work done tomorrow. I've been saying that I need to edit my director's reel. That sounds like a job for tomorrow!

#WWJFD

A Glimpse of My Future

Remember the other day when  I told you that I put out a post for a producer? Did I tell you that I got a lot of hits? Well, I did. And they weren't just shots in the dark; there are some severely qualified people out there, and today I interviewed some of them.

J'Vanne, my producer, and I spent hours sorting through the resumes and IMDB pages that were sent to us. We compiled a list of: yes, no and maybe. Needless to say, as we sorted through the list, the people in the maybe pile quickly found themselves in the no pile. I was freaking out yesterday because I had no idea where I was going to hold the meetings with the potential producers, and figured that I would just wind up at a coffee shop or cafe or something. Just as I was giving up on life, not really giving up on life, but feeling lost about where to meet people, I got a call from my Director of Photography, Gonzalo. You know, I'm not even sure why he called. But long story short, the call ended with him saying that if I needed to have any meetings, that I could use his office space at his studio.  Now, I will shamelessly plug his studio:

It is a green screen studio, but also has standing sets, or you can rent the space and build your own sets. It's called Glix Studios and is extremely affordable and located close to you!

http://www.glixstudios.com

I showed up this morning and had the first interview. The woman was amazing. All the while, I sat at the conference room table thinking that I could get use to this. I'm my own boss. I'm hiring someone to work for me and help advance my career. It was an amazing feeling. And at the end of the day, I didn't want to go home. I sat there thinking that I have so much work to do, that maybe I could just stay there and get some stuff done. I mean, I'm not insane or anything, so I came home. One of the people that I interviewed says she has access to a castle.  I want a castle. What my movie needs is a castle. She told me I can come check it out tomorrow. I think I might do that!

I have a full day of interviews lined up again for tomorrow and Friday. I feel like a kid on the first day of school. I'm super giddy and ready to go back again tomorrow. I can't wait to see who else I'll meet and what kind of experience they can bring to the table.

As usual, I'll ask myself, What Would James Franco Do?

#WWJFD

Set Life

Today I helped crew on my buddy's set. He's filming a Showtime-esq pilot called "Life's a Pitch", about the underbelly of the music industry. And guess what. He got Jason Richter (Jesse, from "Free Willy") as the lead! My job today was to be Production Manager.

I climbed into bed last night at 10:30, thinking that I would get a solid seven hours of sleep and be the biggest asset on set today. At 11:30, I rolled over and looked at my clock thinking that if I just got six hours of sleep, I could at least be a fully functioning member of the set. I guess that's around the time I drifted off, because the next thing I remember was waking up at 4:55 - a full 42 minutes before my alarm clock was scheduled to go off. Needless to say, I was sad. I maybe might have benefited from that almost hour of missed sleep. As Production Manager, my first job of the day was to pick up the coffee at 6am and be on set at 6:30 with breakfast set up. So I did that.

Our day started off rather smoothly. We were shooting on a street, so the staging area was in a parking lot a block away. It quickly became apparent that one of my jobs was going to be chauffeuring people back and forth to the bathroom. The place that the producer made an arrangement with didn't open until 10am, and when it did open...let's just say we found somewhere else to go. Part of my job was to problem solve, so...I shuttled people to a Jack in the Box around the corner.

Not only was I a bathroom taxi service, but I was also an ice machine. We had two ice chests: one at both camps. I don't know why, but the ice was melting faster than any ice I'd ever seen. It was magic melting ice. So I was back and forth to the 711 to buy bags of ice.

After lunch, the 2nd Assistant Director, Make-up and I had a treat. There was a guy riding up and down the street in a motorized recliner. That's right. He took an easy chair and put wheels and a motor on it. This guy was cruising down the street and Dennis yells out, "Hey man, can I take a picture?" The guy says, "Is there a sandwich in it for me?" Dennis told him that we didn't have any sandwiches, but we had other snacks. This guy took a sharp right turn and bee-lined it straight for us. He parked in front of our craft services table and asked what we had. We rattled off the list of snacks and he said, "give me a muffin, apple and granola bar." So we did. And then we proceeded to snap a paparazzi amount of photos.

Apparently this guy makes his on couch cars, and makes a new one every year. The model we were so fortunate to see was the 2013 edition. He said that the 2014 edition would blow our minds. I must admit...I'm a little curious. Check out his website: http://www.couchcar.com

Today was super long, but there is nothing like being on set. It's fun, Fun, FUN!!! Now, after my 15 hour work day, I'm doing homework for class tomorrow. A filmmaker's work is never done. But hey, What Would James Franco Do?





#WWJFD

Apartment Hunting, Producer Hunting and 24 - Oh My!

I have a list of things to do: practice my pitch, build my website, polish my ripomatic and finalize my business plan. Guess how much of that I did yesterday and today.

roommate and I have been searching for a house since March. Apparently, so has everyone else in southern Cali, because we looked and came up with nothing. Or we looked and someone beat us to it. Yesterday, we had some hits, so I went to check out four places. The entire time I was looking at potential homes, I was thinking, "I need to work on my pitch, ripo, website and biz plan." When I finally returned home, I had a text from my producing partner saying she was ready to Skype.

My producing partner and I made the decision that we need someone with feature experience to help us out on our film. So I wrote up a blurb and posted it on some sites, and we got an amazing response! However, that meant our workload was enhanced. And then there we were, sorting through emails of resumes and finding ourselves in the best situation possible. We spent several hours on Skype and we finally settled on some incredibly qualified people to meet with us next week for an interview.

Last night, I found myself sitting in living room, in my chair, after a hard day's work, having accomplished so much, but nothing on my list. It was after midnight. There was only one thing to do: watch 24. I didn't watch it when it was on television, and my buddy, Miguel, swears by this show, so I started to watch it. It was episode 24 of season 1 that hooked me. Now, if I have 45 minutes of down time, I like to fill it with a little Jack Bauer.

Anyway, I'm on my way to making a movie! Today I bought the domain name for the film, so be sure to check us out at www.collectibleitemsthemovie.com. It's not up yet, but I'll keep you posted. As you see, it's on my list of things to do.

Here's to having an even more productive tomorrow than I did yesterday or today. After all, what would James Franco do?

#WWJFD

Not So Pitch Perfect

Okay, so it is now time for me to start working on my pitch for my film. If you're wondering what a pitch is, it's a quick spiel about my movie and what I plan to have happen, and all that jazz. Well, I wrote it up and when I was going over it, I realized that it was not nearly as good as I want it to be.

I know that they're certain points that I need to hit when pitching:

Introduction
Logline
Protagonist Introduction
Production

I thought that it would be a piece of cake, seeing as how I'm a natural orator and all, but no. That Protagonist Intro part was hard! Who would have known that summarizing 99 pages into 3 paragraphs would be so difficult? I was told that it should be about five minutes long.

I practiced it and let's just say that underwhelmed is an understatement. That sucker needs work! And as I'm reading over it, looking for ways to make it better, I get a text from my friend, Joey. He later took a screenshot of our conversation and sent it to me, and that's what you're about to read. He's blue...

If he can talk to himself for ten minutes, then I've got more work to do. Time to get back to it! I have meetings lined up for next week. Practice makes perfect, and there's not such thing as being too prepared!

#WWJFD