Script Finalist (again)!

A few weeks ago, I read about this cool screenplay competition: A ONE PAGE contest. Yes, tell a complete story in a single script page.

If you've worked in a screenplay format, you know there's not a lot of room for verbose language. This isn't standard prose. A single script page works out to roughly a minute of screen time.

Oh, and this isn't a hook, or an intro to a larger story. It's a complete mini-plot.

I read about the competition and became intrigued. I have several stories started... just little scenes that I want to flesh out into something bigger. Most of them are just languishing on my hard drive. But I had this one. One that I thought started out pretty funny, but the punchline to to the opening gag was in the middle of page two. So I started cutting and trimming, honing and polishing. Eventually, I got what I wanted down to a single page. (And only 2 lines of dialog).

Maybe I can post it here. I'll see if the contest promoters don't mind.

Anyway, I am one of 30 finalists. On November 12, 10 winners will be announced. Those 10 scripts will be read aloud on Nov. 21, then people will vote online for their favorite. The winning script will be made into a short film.

So, help me out here. Vote for me (but only if you like mine the best). Thank you!

UPDATE - 11/13/08: My screenplay is one of the 10 finalists!
The 10 finalists scripts will be read on Dec. 19 (pushed back from the original date).

Running into an Old Buddy

Last week, I got an email from Tom Bancroft telling me that Barry Cook would be lecturing that night at a local Art/Film School.

I had to reschedule a couple of things, but I cleared my evening and joined my old Disney pals for a drive up to Nashville to listen to him pontificate to the young ardent film students there.
Barry, as you may or may not know directed Mulan (along with Tony Bancroft). It was a fun listen to Barry tell stories of his youth and anecdotes from working on Mulan, Trail Mix-Up and Off His Rockers. But Barry wasn't all about reminiscing, he was also full of good advice for the up and coming generation. And believe it or not even after 25 years in the animation game, I got some good advice from him, too. One of the kids asked what he would say to young filmmakers to help them get a film made. He said, "Don't ask permission."

Truer words were never spoken. I didn't ask anyone to make my short film, I just did it. Now I find myself asking people if I can make another, bigger project. I think I just need to push through and make it happen. Yes, it's hard (and expensive), but people respond to initiative. I just need to get started.

No Free 'Ukulele

A few weeks ago, I entered a contest on Ukulele Underground to design a t-shirt. First prize was an 'ukulele. They have a rooster puppet that appears in their videos from time to time, so I took that as my motif. (Roosters run wild on the island of Kauai, where the videos are shot).
I was hoping to win a free 'ukulele, but I didn't make the cut. Oh well, my design is here for you to enjoy.

I have a couple other ukulele, so that's okay.

(p.s. The Hawai'ian pronunciation of 'Ukulele is OO-koo-lay-ley, not YOU-koo-ley-lee, like we usually say on the mainland. And in Hawai'ian, you don't add an "s" to make something plural.)