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...