I am Malcom X
Greek friend Rachel sent this link to Bryan last week, adding that he should watch this video first thing in the morning, every morning, to get inspired.
Day 1 of the DVD Studio Pro class was great! We covered a lot of ground and I somehow managed to keep it interesting and fun (speaking for myself of course). The classroom setup is comfortable and hi-tech -- we have 10 G5 iMacs and a couple of Macbook Pros, all of them fast as hell. I was feeling nervous about teaching before the class, but now I feel like I can handle this stuff alright.
I spent a lot of time hanging out at the Driskol Hotel this past weekend during the Austin Film Festival. The Driskol is ground zero for socializing with new as well as old friends. Yehudi Mercado, a high school buddy of mine who created the Dear Pillow website, has a new script called Buffalo Speedway that made it into the top three finalists in the Final Draft Screenplay competition out in LA. As a result, he is now fielding tons of phone calls from agents and producers that are dying to sell and produce his script. Back in Houston where we grew up, Yehudi wrote a play called A Wok on the Wild Side about an asian kid who is reluctant to take over the family Chinese restuarant. The play closes with the Lou Reed song Take a Walk on the Wild Side, played live on stage by yours trully on drums, Marc Ballentine on bass, and a saxophone player who's name escapes me right now (that was a long time ago). The play was funny and creative and definately forshadows Yehudi's marketable talents.
It has been an inspiring week overall. Hopefully it will motivate me to get off my ass and finish Wetback. Although finding time to write might be difficult due to the fact that we're finishing Midnight Kiss this month and next. We're diving into the online first thing when I get back on Thursday. Fun!
