Just got back from three weeks in NYC.  Tons of meetings, tons of fun, more than a little inspiration.  God, I love that city!  I’ve always loved it, but it has been particularly special since it became the beginning of my television writing career.  After all these years in LA, New York still holds that literary mystique.  It was there that I took a leave of absence from my Management Consulting firm to take every writing class my heart desired at NYU, there that I was mugged at the Astor Place Starbucks while typing a script about (seriously!) mugging, and there that my comedy writing professor pulled me aside and told me if I didn’t quit my job and move out to LA to write sitcoms, he would quit teaching.  (He's a bit melodramatic.) 

So it was especially flattering when that teacher asked me to speak to that same comedy writing class upon my return to NYC.  And worrisome.

Long time no write, I know.  But it’s been a whirlwind few weeks and I don’t even know where to start!  Meetings, lunches, travel, weddings, UMEC, script research, MORE family visits – with a little bit of writing mixed in there, too.  Still no definitive word on staffing, though there are a couple irons in the fire that I can’t mention yet... 

These last few weeks have been crazy.  I feel like time and I are racing; each of us trying to get to the finish line so that we can determine our outcome. My goal, get the necessary money and people to make this film happen. Time’s goal, to stop my goal from happening. Right now we’re neck and neck and I find myself looking for that thing that will give me the upper hand.

The 1st ever EFEX class has been a success. As we go into our last week, I am content with the progress we made with the students (both U of M and high school) and the efforts we’ve taken to prepare for the film.  It wasn’t as grand as I had originally desired, but I think I underestimated how hard it is to get other people to share in a vision; or more importantly, to take action to make that vision a reality.  So while the class proved to be more of a “class” and less of a “film boot camp” as I had hoped for, I still think the kids learned a great deal and gained a better understanding of cinema.

Of the TV Season that is.

I know I said I was going to be gone for a while, and that I was taking a break from anything film or TV related, however as I've been trying to watch my basketball (NBA playoffs haven't been better in close to a decade), I've been getting bombarded with all the commercials for the Season Finale of LOST, 24, GREY'S ANATOMY, THE OFFICE, ALIAS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, you name it -- so it's hard to escape.

Curiously the end of TV coincides with the beginning of the Summer Movie Season (I wonder if it was planned that way, way back when...?) I talked about the Summer Movies before, so I don't need to drag those lottery hopefuls over the coals again (except that when am I going to stop hearing about the so-called controversy about THE DA VINCI CODE - a book that could never be a satisfying movie. It would require not being faithful to Dan Brown's story to make a compelling and modern Indiana Jones type of film)

Over the weeked, I was listen to NPR and heard the Executive Producer of ALIAS (not J.J. Abrams) speak about what he likes about TV is that the creatives can do what film no longer has the ability to do (at least studio-financed projects) -- which is do character driven material that glues the audience to their seat AND gets them talking about it.