New Website!!

JuliaCamara.com just published! This site will stay up for a few months longer, but I have transferred the blog over.

Plans for 2009

- Self-publish short story book
- Make new website to showcase all my many talents
- Finish Civil Unrest script
- Self-distribute "Reduced to Dust" (Eight years is long enough)
- Blog more


Things I have finished

- First time I don't have to worry about resolutions to lose weight
- Completed first draft of Soul Escape with Rebekah Del Rio
- Quit one of my day jobs
- Read several books (where did I find the time?)

End of the Year

This has been a rocky year for not only for me, but for most people I know. I just wanted to take a moment and wish all of us better things to come in 2009. I think I'm due. :)

"Disfigured" Review

A producer/ director just passed on "Disfigured." Very positive reaction, though.


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"Thanks very much for sending the script of Disfigured. I really enjoyed the story, and thought you did a great job of addressing and dramatizing the "tyranny of beauty" issue that's so prevalent in today's society. To be honest though we are just not the right company to do justice to your script. We are primarily looking for projects I would direct myself, and I feel Disfigured would work best under the stewardship of a female director who will be better able to elicit from the cast the layers of unspoken subtext that the subject requires. I really wish you the best though in finding the right company to take on this project because I think it's a terrific thriller and certainly one I would enjoy watching on the big screen."

Box Office Flops

Interesting article from Forbes.com listing the biggest flops of the year and stating big names don't always mean big bucks. Nothing new here, but what caught my eye was the fact that some of these "flops" made over 30 Million dollars. I think the problem is over-inflated budgets!


If any of these movies had cost 10 to 15 Million dollars, 30 Million would have been a decent profit margin. But considering most movie stars demand that amount for their salaries alone, not sure how the studios are going to fix this situation. The irony of it all is that is no shortage of young struggling actors who would do anything for a part and would work for scale. Oh, Hollywood, land of irony.

Read the forbes.com article on This Year's Superstar Flops.

Climate Changing Conference

I attended this conference last month and blogged about it here. I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to write anything new here, but don't want to neglect this blog either, so, in the mean time, read my latest Changing Climate conference blog entry and get some useful tips for being green and helping the environment.

Another blog

I posted a blog about the Women in Film Entertainment Forum. I have been working for Touch Light Media for a few months now and highly recommend our blog!

"Bridesmaids" review

Good review from a producer!

"I just finished reading 'Here Comes the Bridesmaids' and could not put it down.
Julie Camara wrote a sweet, fun and engaging script. What I enjoyed most about the script is how clearly set-up each character was.
Amanda's radio job was perfect. It played as the 'narrative of the story'--which I found to be creative and necessary.
The race to the altar was hilarious, one thing after another after another, which in the end showed that love does conquer all!"

The Duchess

I went to an early screening at WIF. Amazing visuals, sets and costumes. Who doesn’t love a good period piece? Keira Knightly gives a very powerful performance as the title character. The movie has gotten a lot of press around the fact that princess Diana was related to the Duchess. There are some definite parallels between theirs lives.

I like seeing strong women on screen. There’s a very dysfunctional female friendship in the movie and some really powerful moments. I’m curious to see how it does in the box office and how it does come Oscar time. I have to say Keira Knightly has own me over. I don’t think she was ever given a part that was somewhat risky and edgy like this.

I got to meet the author of the book the film was based and the Q&A was fascinating. This movie would have been so different if they had gotten some of the actresses they had approached... And we also left with a goody bag full or make-up and other swag!

Big Bear Film Festival

Tim and were lucky to get passes from a producer I know and we couldn’t miss the opportunity. I love Big Bear because it reminds me of a mountain town I used to go to in Brazil with my family when I was a kid.

And to be able to see some films while I’m there was the icing on the cake. We went on friday night and stayed at this cute little cabins. We were quickly homesick and feeling isolated when we discovered there’s no internet connection accept in the office, but we survived.

Saturday morning I went to the screenwiting panel and got some really great information and met some agents.

Then we rushed to catch a batch of student shorts. We were impressed with the quality overall, but two films stuck out:
Smoke, an AFI short about a couple of teenagers who are car thieves, which actually won for best student short.

Fatherland, a black and white World War II piece in German and subtitled, from Chapman University.

Then in the afternoon, we saw another batch of shorts. Three that we loved were:

Struck, a very cute story about a man who's impaled with an arrow on his way to work. The winner for best short.

No. 6, starring Ron Perlman, in Tim's words: It played like a feature.

The Winged Man, I'm a little biased with this one since I know the producer, and got a chance to talk to the director, but this one was written by Jose Rivera, the story of a young woman who claims she was impregnated by an angel.

They also all stared known actors and had amazing cinematography.

We finished the evening by going to the wrap party and the awards ceremony. We had a chance to try some of the local food and beer at the party, so we had to swing by the Mountain Brewery and buy some to take home.

Branching out

It's been a while since I blogged. The main reason being my trip to Brazil was a great opportunity to slow down and take a good long look at my career path. This past year was really great. I met a lot of great producers and made some progress with my screenplays. I also spent a lot of time waiting for answers from people and have felt that I have little control over my own destiny by being just the writer.


I decided it was time to educate myself about the film finance scene and start taking steps to set up my own projects and become the master of my own destiny.

Wow, that come out way more intense than I expected...

I'm now sticking my toes in the water and seeing if this is indeed for me. I just attended a film financing seminar organized by California Lawyers for Arts and have another one schedule for mid-September.

I must say I have neglected my writing, which I hate doing, specially when I have a really cool idea to work on...

Quote of the day!

"Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world."
– Tom Clancy