January « 2011 « DenaNicole.com

Archive for January, 2011

Living out loud

January 20th, 2011

So…this blog was about half written, and something happened to make me want to finish it, and also push it ahead of another blog that had been percolating for a while in my head.

See, I have a theory. In the world of nearly immediate access to information about almost anyone you care to get information about…don’t be an asshole. Everything that has transpired for the past ten years in technology makes everyone susceptible to anyone and everyone knowing their business nearly immediately. So how about this – live like you already know everyone around you will know everything about you.

This was inspired by something that happened over the summer. My twitter feed has always been public. I don’t say things I wouldn’t want anyone in my personal or professional life to read. (so all you lurkers, both on my blog and my twitter – feel free to engage-whether I know you or not) While I was in Michigan shooting the last movie, there were, to put it mildly, some problems on the set. We had problems with a couple of departments, and it wasn’t the smoothest production in the world. Did some of this end up on my twitter? Well, kind of. In very general terms, I would put stuff like “I forgot pre-pro on kids movies is 20 hour days” <—- the truth, not specific to this movie, or “Clusterfuck is one way to describe it” Now, very consciously, there was never any mention of any specifics EXCEPT in a good way. And I gave plenty of those. Pics of the teams, lauding performances, specifics came with praise. Always.

Barry Bostwick – my favorite. Great performer, and great guy

And then one day I got a call from someone. “XXX XXX on your set is made uncomfortable by your twitter” Wow. ok. So, I took it, and made it private. Now the only people who could read it were people I knew were reading it.
And I resented it.
See, here’s the thing. The person who was made uncomfortable was one of the people who was fucking up on the shoot. There was nothing specifically positive that had been said about this person. And the things that weren’t positive could have been attributed to a million factors. In fact, there were a million factors. But here was this one person…taking it personally. Why? Because this person was fucking up. And I guarantee this person knew it. So while, quite frankly, nothing I said was directed towards this person, this person had overlaid their personal awareness of poor performance on what had been said.

Teaching our lead kid actor the other important jobs on set

Which reinforces my belief. Personally and professionally – live like everyone is going to know what you’re doing and how you’re doing it at all times. Maybe people will, and maybe people won’t…but if you’re never doing anything you would be ashamed other people knew about – then you’ll never be ashamed if they do know.

So, my twitter is back to being public. People know who this blog belongs to. And I’ll continue to, while being polite and nice, say what is actually going on.

So here’s a suggestion – do your fucking job. Don’t be an asshole. Today’s life is no longer lived in private, and if your own conscious wasn’t enough to make you act right…well, maybe that will be a side benefit of the digital age. Shame.

Tags: barry bostwick, Home Run Derby, honor, kyle kirk, life, opinion, responsibility, shame, social media, twitter
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Waiter Races!

January 12th, 2011

Two photos I shot were just purchased by a travel book about unusual events around the United States. They are photos I took at a Bastille Day waiter race. What’s a waiter race? Well, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Waiters put a couple of things on a service tray – usually glasses of liquid – and run a course trying not to spill. Of course, Bastille Day, the day commemorating the storming of the Bastille and the uprising of a modern nation, makes perfect sense as a natural place to hold these. Cause, you know, revolutionaries love really fast service.

Now, those of you who know me personally know my absolute love of the absurd. Strange events, odd happenings, unique places? Count me in! Therefore, to have pictures bought by a book about just such things feels like a personal moral victory about indulging my time in seeking out such things.

To be quite frank…I don’t love the pictures. They were more of snaps I took on auto settings, rather than actual thought through photos.

This totals 7 pics that have now been bought for everything from travel guides, to art institutes, to books. Woo-hoo! Now, not that I’m looking to start shooting professionally, but it’s something that I’ve come to really enjoy, that I haven’t been doing enough of. To be honest, having been a filmmaker for as long as I have, it doesn’t shock me that photography is something that comes fairly naturally to me…I see the world in pictures…I always have. BUT…the fact that other people like them? That, I’m pleasantly surprised by. Hell, I’m always pleasantly surprised when people like films I’ve done. I suppose I need to work on my ego and hubris. Especially if I want to move up in the industry.

I didn’t shoot a lot last year, in fact there are things I did that I didn’t take a single shot of. Mackinac Island – not a single picture. Frankenmuth – the first time I went there, not a single one. Toronto – yup, again, zero pictures. I’m not even sure if I shot anything of Napa or Phoenix when I was there. I am going to actually go through the 700 pictures I did get in the past 8 months, and get back to putting them up regularly.

Down for Life – theatrical premiere

January 10th, 2011

In the theme of 2011 being incredibly different from 2010 – we’re starting out January with a bang. This weekend, a film I co-produced has it’s theatrical premiere. So if you’re in Texas, go to the opening weekend… seriously. Opening weekend is make or break for theatrical indie films. Not bullshit “Fox Searchlight” indie films that have a 15 million dollar P&A budget, but real indie films. Seriously. The opening weekend often determines if it goes wider at all, or stays in theaters. For those of you interested in how some of this stuff actually works – films like this raise a limited P&A budget, and determine a release plan. This release plan often includes the measured ability to “platform” or take it theatrical to more markets then it starts out in. However, this comes with a caveat. The platforming usually won’t happen if the film doesn’t make certain dollar amount per screen averages in the places it first opens in. So you, as a consumer of film, have a direct effect on the success of this kind of indie film. When you see something in your hometown that is being released by a non-major, if you are thinking about seeing it, go opening weekend. It’s the best way to directly support indie film – by raising the opening weekend per screen average.

Down For Life - Texas theatrical opening

Now, there is a ton more to say about this film. Anybody who knew me during the time I was running the theatrical division of the company that produced the film knows that that time changed my life, my view of Hollywood, and is what made me the producer I am today…committed to dealing with the industry with integrity, compassion, and honesty. At the end of the day…I’m proud of the story that came through in the film. The writer, the fabulous Trina Calderon, has a beautiful, true, real voice and I can honestly say it is a career highlight of mine to have found her, worked countless drafts with her, and forced her first film into existence.

So, I hope if you’re around where it is playing, you’ll go see it, and comment to let me know what you think.

New Year – get it together!

January 6th, 2011

2010 – where to start? Last year was a time of big change for me. Personally, professionally, emotionally, and intellectually. To say it was a difficult year would be an understatement. I buried one friend, and one acquaintance. I broke off a 3 year relationship. My business was sued and went all the way to trial. I fell in love and promptly had my trust horribly betrayed. I voluntarily moved out of the home I had lived in the longest in my entire life. I gave up my dogs. I spent half the year in the depressing wasteland known as suburban Detroit. I produced a film which was a constant battle on set and off every day. I watched as close friends went through divorces, lost parents, and lost jobs. I left 2010 feeling buffeted about by life in general.

Now this isn’t a feeling I’m comfortable with. I am not a victim of circumstance. I created a magical life which I (in general) love from a place of nothing. I take pride in the fact that my life is how I’ve decided to make it. So I was left wondering what I am supposed to be learning from the past year. I mean, for the love of God, people don’t have years like that for nothing…right?

But as I look back, I realize I also let the year affect me in ways I shouldn’t have. I practically stopped writing. I almost entirely stopped shooting pictures. I fell out of touch with some people who are very important to me. I stopped trying to grow my business, and just maintained. I can’t come up with a single new challenge I gave myself and took on. For the love of God, I didn’t even leave the country once last year. And none of that is “me”.

So, my 2011 is going to be about a year of rebuilding. Of putting my life back together in a new, better form than it has ever been. Because THAT, my friends, is what I do and who I am. I figure out solutions. I live with a smile on my face, embracing challenges and asking life “what else ya got for me?” That is the person I see in the mirror, not a person who just drifts through, taking what is handed. I self-identify as a risk taker, challenge seeker, problem solver, and joyful, joyful person. New home, new relationship, new ways of doing business. By the end of 2011, I expect my life will look nearly unrecognizable from where it is now.

Archive for January, 2011

Waiter Races!

Down for Life – theatrical premiere

New Year – get it together!

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