Weight Loss Redux...

I've plateaued a bit in the weight loss quest. I started at 226lbs, and now I'm 212lbs. Good. My goal is to get to 205lb, and toned. I haven't been to the gym for a week or so, and I feel a bit bloated. I'm not eating badly, but I'm not eating well, meaning that my meal plan is all wrong. I'm snacking WAY too much on Kashi bars and water, rather than eating full meals. So I'm going to get back working out four times a week, with about a 1000 crunches and 1000 pushups per day. I'm trying to see if I can get down to 205lbs in the next two weeks, and lose another pant size. It actually makes me a better writer for some reason.

Howard Suber is the MAN!

Okay, we have a professor at UCLA named Howard Suber, and he is a GOD. Pure and simple. G.O.D. He teaches a film structure class that breaks down, well, film. It's hard to explain why it's good, but it's like someone is explaining to you that you've been speaking English all of your life, but there's a secret language called English 2.0, and this language opens your world to a whole new meaning. That's what Suber does. I'm not a film guy. I'm a writer who is becoming a film guy. And Suber is explaining what I'm seeing beyond the flickering of the images and dialogue. As I listen to him, I'm writing notes and then making adjustments to my Yardies script. If I ran UCLA TFT (as though they'll ask me), I would make Howard MANDATORY for every entering screenwriter. The first class they take. And then, they can go about writing scripts.

Types of UCLA Film School Students...

Since I'm getting close to the end of my first year at UCLA, I can see that there are three types of UCLA film school students (at least in the screenwriting program). There are those who will go to film school, work on their scripts a bit after graduation, and then decide that writing isn't for them. There's also the type who will work exclusively on screenwriting, and will either sell scripts or get a job in the industry. And then there's the third type of which I belong. The third type want to sell scripts, yes, but they also are interested in every aspect of entertainment content. Yes, content. I know it sounds unromantic, but I think that the faster writers realize that they are in the content biz, the faster they'll be able to exploit their talents for mobile, Internet, gaming, etc. that goes way beyond the silver screen. In my producer classes, there's a small cadre of writers who are the third type. I have a feeling that we'll be doing business long after the first two types stop working in the industry.

Nickname for British Police...

Does anyone know a derogatory nickname for British Police beyond the stereotypical "Bobbies"? I know The Bill, but if anyone has other nicknames, particularly when it comes from the Black British community, I'd appreciate it. I need it for my Yardies script.

Deleted A Brother...

I started my Yardies script and realized I needed to delete a character. I had my protag, Biko, working with his brother Tambo. However, when I started writing, I soon realized that I was making Biko weaker by giving Tambo attributes Biko should have. At first, I did the split characters for the purpose of constant tension, Biko likes chocolate, Tambo vanilla, Biko goes up, Tambo down, etc. but it didn't work. There are other areas for Biko to have conflict without a cheap addition. So Tambo got wacked on Page One.

Disneyland on Easter Weekend...MADNESS

Brother in law brought fam to Disneyland. We decided to go too. Forty five million other people (estimate) decided to visit Disneyland too. My feet feel bad.

The Yardie Story...

The one flaw in our 434 advanced screenwriting system is that we don't get a bunch of time to flesh out our stories and characters. We only have ten weeks to complete our scripts, so that means you can sometimes find yourself a bit stuck if you haven't plot everything correctly. Last week, we read our stories in class, and luckily, we ran out of time before getting to mine. My Yardies story was okay, but not at all what I wanted it to be. And reading it would have exposed how incomplete it was. But during my journey from Northern Michigan, I had a lot of time to flesh out the story to my satisfaction. It now makes complete sense. I wanted a different type of gangster story and I think I've done that. Now, I'm going to start writing character sketches for the characters.

Marquette, Michigan...

I'm not saying that Marquette, Michigan is located at the end of the world, but you can sure see it from here. I took an overnight flight to Chicago, then a puddle jumper to Green Bay this morning, and then drove four hours to Marquette, Michigan, not Wisconsin. I spoke on writing and had a good time, but I have to get back in the car in only three hours from now, and drive back to Green Bay to get on a 6:40am flight to Chicago, which will go to San Fran, and then home to LA. So I'll be knocked out on the plane. Ahh, the life of an author.

My New Publisher...

My publisher for Money Shot non-fiction version, Thunder's Mouth, sent me an author's questionaire. I put it away and said I'd do it later. And then it became even more later. Now it's due tomorrow. You'd think that it would be short, but NOOOO, this questionaire is a BEAST. They're going to use this questionaire for their publicity, but they ask so many questions, I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for my first born child. So that's on the agenda to get done tonight.

I've fleshed out the first draft of my Yardie story, and I'll continue to mess with it over the next two days. I'm going to do a character sketch, detailing the physiology, psychology, and sociology of my characters. Also, I'm going to add the ethics of each character. It is assumed that gangsters are bad, but the reason we like The Godfather characters is because they have an ethos, family, loyalty, respect, etc. that keeps them "ethical" within their own point of view. So I need to know the ethics of my characters. That should make them more well rounded and less two dimensional.

Remember BlackCafeLit? I'm working with my fellow UCLA film school student MK Asante on it. We're shooting a pilot over the next few weeks, and I think we have a winner.

In the NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: About a month ago, I pitched a reality show that went really well, except it didn't sell. I read yesterday that Steven Spielberg is producing (with Mark Burnett) a reality show that is EXACTLY the show I pitched. I'm not talking kinda like it. Or sorta like it. EXACTLY like it. What does that tell me? One: That there are no original ideas, but just original ways of doing the same old thing. TWO: Ideas don't happen in a vaccum. And THREE: Whereas the name "Lawrence Ross" has no cache in this town, the name "Steven Spielberg" can sell damn near anything. I gots ta get me some name recognition.

Whose Story is this...

One of the most essential questions a screenwriter has to answer is: Whose story is this? That's not an easy thing to answer until you start writing the story. At UCLA, we normally write a two page treatment, and that helps to flesh out who is the protag and who's the antag. In my gangster tale, It's between the main gangster and the guy who's after him. I think I'm going to lean toward making the gangster the protagonist. I'm a fan of the anti-hero, and tend to hate films where we watch the trials and tribs of the police. So, this is going to be Biko's story.

Schedule Set...

I've got my schedule pretty much set, and it worked out PERFECTLY. Three of four classes are evening classes, all of them are spread out from Monday through Thursday, with nothing on Friday. BEAUTIFUL. Now I can work on Money Shot during the days. I couldn't pitch my first choice 434 Tim Albaugh because of a class conflict, BUT I got his protegee who seems mad cool. So we'll see how it goes. About to work on the two page treatment for Yardies, which I just can't wait to write. In the three pitch sessions I attended, it seemed like 90% of the pitches were comedies. Yikes. I like comedies, but damn, that's a lot. That said, I do want comedic elements in my gangster script. And I'm going to do my best to add them.

Classes...

Okay, for some reason, UCLA creates scheduling conflicts with a LOT of popular classes. I'm taking four classes this quarter (gotta get some bang for my $5000 bucks). They are great classes. Peter Guber on Monday. On Thursday, I have a class on the Art of Presentation with the former prez of William Morris. That's cool. Now's the problem. There's a legendary prof named Howard Suber who's teaching a class on Film Structure. It's pretty much a MUST class to take at UCLA. But the problem is that I have a 434 prof I wanted to pitch on Wednesday. UCLA scheduled the classes at the same time. So I had to make a decision, and decided to go with pitching two 434 profs on Tuesday. Now I'm actually happy with the 434 profs I pitched to on Tuesday, but I hate being limited. Anyway, I'm tired as hell. Tomorrow, I help get the showcase scripts sent out. After that, I'm going to sleep in.

Good News and Start of the Quarter...

Anita Diggs, my editor at Thunders Mouth, has agreed to keep my original title for my non-fiction black porn book. So it will be called MONEY SHOT. My agent is contacting Kensington so that we can change the name of the fiction version. That's good news to me because the non-fiction had always been called Money Shot in my brain, but Thunders Mouth didn't like it. But, with a change of heart, we're good to go.

The quarter begins tomorrow, and I start pitching 434s on Tuesday. I have a couple of production classes I'm going to take, including one with producer Peter Guber (never heard of him: go to IMDB or check out Sunday Morning Shootout on AMC). That's going to be a cool class because normally Guber's classes are restricted to those in the Producer's program only.

My 434 pitch for Yardies is very solid. The next thing is to actually write the complete story. I want a gangster script, but with really unpredictable twists.

Also this week, the scripts are due for the Screenwriting showcase. I'm helping to get them together and then deliver them to industry execs. Each one of the screenwriters in the program had to call folks in the industry to see if they'd judge our scripts, but my list was a stone cold dud. Not ONE of the people on my list would agree. I felt snakebit. So at least I can get these scripts together and delivered.

I have another script that I completed for the Humanitas award. We have to write a comedy pilot and the prize is an internship on a show. I wrote a pilot about funny Jesuit priests called OUR FATHERS. As a twelve year Catholic school vet, I know funny priests. Insert your own joke.

Called Lex about Money Shot. I have class three days a week, and from now on, I'm going to spend the off days working on Money Shot. With my non-fiction books, I have to feel a bit of pressure before I get interested in writing it. I have seven months before MS is due, so now I'm feeling the proper pressure.

With two books coming out around the same time, I'm thinking about how I want to promote them. I think I'm going to eshew a book tour and go with spending money on a REALLY good publicist. I find that doing a telephone tour when the book first comes out is much better than spending cash signing books. I SWEAR that book signings are overrated when it comes to promoting books, but they are a necessity.

Lastly, I have two lectures to do. I fly out to Northern Michigan University on April 12th, and then I speak at San Jose State in late April.

Lot of stuff to do...Let's rock and roll!

Ahh, to hell with it...

Changed my 434 script yet again. Free Love is something I'll have to work on this summer. It's a pretty complex story and it's a good one, but I need to hone it and I don't have enough time to do that before pitching next week. So I'm going to move on to my gangster story. That's much more developed.

A Call From Hermene...

So I get a call from Hermene Hartman, publisher of Savoy. Funny how she decided to call me all of the sudden. Out of the blue. Just out of the goodness of her heart. Long convo cut to the nitty gritty, she tells me that despite all of the evidence to the contrary, she's a responsible person, and that I would get paid...it's just that she didn't know when. Well, that took a load off! I mean, there's nothing like combining the comfort of knowing that you'll get paid, with that ambiguously vague time period of "I don't know when". Whew, that cleared everything up! Glad she called.

In the National Association of Black Journalist forum (an organization I was proudly a member of back when I was a reporter. And I think I just may pay dues again, even though I'm not a reporter now), I think I've sparked a conversation about freelance writers and contributors getting the shaft from some publications. And that is good. So what's next? If no check by Monday, I will go to phase #2 of the accountability campaign for Ms. Hartman and Savoy magazine. Maybe then, we can get a little more specific about the "when" part of when I'm getting paid.

Savoy Redux...

It's been damn near a year, and Hermene Hartman at Savoy magazine has still not paid her writers and photographers. And so where I was patient before, partly because Savoy was a black owned business, and I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, I finally decided to take further action. When I did my research on Ms. Hartman, I was astonished to find out that she was the president of ABLE, a black business organization in Chicago. ABLE has some of the most respectable black businesses in the country, and I couldn't imagine that they knew they had a president who either couldn't pay her bills, or was unwilling to pay her bills. So I emailed them and explained the situation. All sixty four of them. Along with the editors of the Chicago Sun-Times. And the Chicago Defender. And Crains Chicago business magazine. Ms. Hartman should be held accountable for not paying for work done, and we as writers should not have the burden waiting for payment.

Changing My Mind...Yet Again...

I was going to do a comedy script. There was a book that I wanted to adapt, but after doing some investigation, it appears that the book has already been optioned, so that is a no go. I had another comedy idea, but this Spring Break rest has been good for me, and I think I'm going to write another story. Back to drama.

One of the things I have to do is balance my desire for commercial success, and my need to write things that are important to me. I have something to say, and I think I'm bright enough to say it in a complex way, versus being a writer whoy pumps out some simple crap because of a check. I like checks, yes, but I also know that writers are in unique position to become immortal. The two can meet, and I have an obligation as a husband and father to make sure they meet. But I only get so many chances to write something. I better make it worth my time.

So...I will work on a piece called FREE LOVE IN UTOPIA. It's about an Iraqi war vet and his trials and tribs.

The 70s--The Best Decade for Elementary School...

Come on along and join us
Come on along
We're gonna have some fun
Come on along and join us
In a little bowl of Vegetable Soup!
*Drum Break*
It takes all kinds of vegetables,
All kinds of vegetables,
All kinds of vegetables,
To make a bowl of Vegetable Soup!

Well...

I waited to the last minute and it cost me. I tried to pick up my Jeep and then get back to campus to turn in my fellowship info (having waiting until the last minute) and couldn't make the deadline. Oh well. But back to the Jeep! Just paid $25 less on a full tank of gas. Found a parking spot easily because I didn't have a large truck bed to haul around. And it's just a plain cool Jeep. 6in lift with 33in mud tires. I was going to get rid of the mud tires, but now I'm not sure. They make a ton of noise, but I'm getting used to it. Plus, the Jeep came with a tube bass, so the music pretty much covers up the sound. They do feel like they're floating a bit though at around 60mph. I'll think about it. Still might get some all terrain tires.

Mad Hectic...

Today is going to be mad hectic. I'm supposed to pick up my Jeep today. Cool, 'cause being without your own car in LA sucks. I've been rolling the wife's Jeep Liberty, but it's all girly. Also, today is the deadline for submitting material for various fellowships and prizes for screenwriting. So of course I waited until the last minute to fill out the applications. I need to get that together and submitted by 4pm. I have to finish reading and giving notes to two classmates on their scripts. They've already given me WONDERFUL notes on mine, so I want to make sure that I read their scripts carefully. Reading scripts doesn't come naturally to me, so I have to gut it out. I'm also polishing a 30 page sitcom pilot that I'm submitting for another contest. I think I may be done there, so that's cool.

On Monday, I'm going to restart the Money Shot research. Actually, that's not true. I'm going to rethink the book proposal and replot out the chapters. The way I have it now, the book is too anthropological. I need to give it some umph. It'll come to me because I try not to force it.

On the personal front, I haven't been to the gym in a week (because of the car situation and a gang of stuff to do), but I haven't gained any weight. I'll start back this weekend. My son is really starting to get into reading, which is wonderful because that diabolically terrible school Warner Elementary tried its best to undereducate him. It's amazing what they'll try to do to little black boys. I'd always heard about bias and attitudes toward them, and of course, I was once a little black boy, so I have my own experience, but until you have a little black boy in the school system, it doesn't hit home. I'm now a paranoid when it comes to my son's education.

Changing My 434 Script...

I'm going to change the 434 script I'm going to write next quarter. I'm going to title it Project X because I like the title so much that I don't want to make it public. But this script is going to be a comedy. I'm still going to write Slaveryland, but probably during the summer. One thing I'd vowed to do was write in a different genre each quarter, so that I get the most out of my advanced screenwriting courses. Last quarter: historical drama. This quarter: comedy. Next quarter is probably going to be a gangster/thriller.

Change of Plans...

I was going to lay on my behind for two weeks, and let my brain rest, but there's been a change in plans. I'm going to do some work, and that's pretty much what I'd end up doing anyway. I'm pretty much an adult ADHD case when it comes to sitting still, so just vegging is not in my nature.

My boy MK Asante, the most together 24 year old I've EVER met, has bought a Canon HD camera, so we're about to be 'bout it bout it (by the way, why did I see Master P in Ralphs the other day? Did I mention that?). We're about to shoot a project I'd been tossing around for months called BlackCafeLit. We're going to shop it to BET (there has to be hope for that station) and see where it goes. If not BET, then we have a TON of options. So that's next week.

On the writing tip, I have a comedy pilot script that I need to write for a contest. I'm actually excited about writing this because I think I have a funny premise. But I can't really say what it is just yet.

For my 434, I'm going to write SLAVERYLAND, the project I was previously writing as a novel. It works better as a script, but I'm still trying to figure out the tone. I have two weeks to do that.

Since the contract for Money Shot (Non Fiction Version) came in, it's time to devote some time to the book. So that's another thing.

Lastly, I'm going to try to rewrite MEN OF THEIR TIMES in the next twelve weeks. I want two scripts ready to shop by June.

So that's that. But I'm still going to sleep a lot.

BTW, weight update:

I've pretty much plateaued at 211lbs, but I really expected that. I always plateau there. My diet (and I mean diet as what I eat and not a weight loss specialty) is becoming very natural. I haven't had chocolate in eons, and I'm still working out at the Wooden Center about three days a week. I'm going to add basketball games to it to get me to the 205lbs. target weight. But with a loss of 15lbs in ten weeks, the belly is no longer swelly, and the face has edges to it versus being round and fat. But I still need to kill those last six pounds. As my girl Fresh at Crunk and Disorderly likes to say (quote Diddy), at 40 years old, I need to "preserve my sexy". :-)

The Quarter finally over...

I met with Hal to get the final notes on MEN OF THEIR TIMES. He had some great ideas about how to sharpen Langston's voice, and also how to get a character that I really didn't exploit well, into the mix. He told me that I'm about 50-60% there, so I'm feeling pretty hyped. I'm going to rewrite it over the next quarter cause I want it ready to shop by the summer.

I sold my truck yesterday, and it was tough watching it go. Bought her new and she really did me well. But she also sucked at gas mileage. My Jeep will be ready next week, so for the meantime, I'll be rolling my wife's Jeep Liberty. I'll be easy to see. I'm the brotha carrying a keychain that has a rhinestone heart (can't seem to find any other key for the car other than the wifey's).

We also have a bunch of contests to enter. But for now, I'm laying on the couch.

re: The Pitch...

Hey all,

I had a great meeting today. The two development people I met at the production company were SUPER cool. Not fake, Hollywoody, but real folks that you could kick it with. Also, they remarked that my pitch was really good and they could see the show. That was another plus, because I remember pitching a show about two years ago, and we did almost everything wrong (I pitched it with a writing partner). In this pitch, I was clear and concise and to the point. And lastly, they said that the formatting of my reality show was spot on. That's important because it means the show makes logical sense.

The bad news is that they didn't buy the show. They made some great arguments about the subject matter being difficult to capture on screen, and pointed to a couple of shows like my show (never believe your idea is unique. It ain't.) which failed. BUT, I left the meeting feeling good, and also knowing that in order to make my show different than those shows that failed, I think I could make a few tweeks, and then pitch it some more. I just may pitch it to Tyra's production company, Bankable Productions. She's an Inglewood girl.

Anyway, a GREAT experience anyway. If you're going to get in this business, you need to make sure that you are a sunny optimist, even though the path to success is one with a decidely negative slope. As I've said before, I sit on the couch with a 100% "No" decision on any idea. If you don't go out there and see if it's any good, then you don't afford yourself the 2-5% chance of getting a "Yes".

Wish Me Luck...

On Thursday, I will be pitching a reality television show to a production company I really like. Not just because I like their show, but because I like the owner of the production company. He's not all Hollywoody and he has a genuine enthusiasm for his work that shows. I want to sell my show and I've deliberately not pitched it until I found the right company, but I think I may have found it. But hell, you never know until you actually take the meeting. There are a number of scenarios that could happen. 1. My pitch could suck. 2. My idea could suck. 3. My idea could have already been pitched and rejected. 4. It's not what they're looking for. 5. THEY LOVE IT!!! Let's hope for #5. I'm an eternal optimist, so honestly, the other four options don't matter to me. My outlook is that I already own "no", so let's go get that "yes".

Perfect Day...

1. A bag of polly seeds.
2. College Basketball on the tube.
3. A 1/4 Zankou Chicken (white)
4. Cal playing UCLA at 3pm.
5. Listening to Guru and MC Solaar 'Le Bien, Le Mal" from back in the day.
6. A frat event in a couple of hours
7. My script done.
8. Might even get a nice wine and chill with the wifey.

Life is good...

And then...

Fin

Wednesday...

I'm so close to being done, and I so need to be done. Right now, I'm on page 85 and by the end of the night, I want to be around page 100. Act III will end between 110-120. I still have to meet with my science mentor for some info on scenes, but for now, I just needs to get done.

Home Stretch for MEN OF THEIR TIMES...

The full script is due a week from next Monday, and I still have to:

1. Rewrite portions of Act II.
2. Meet with my science mentor for three science scenes
3. Write Act III.

I'm also on the Showcase committee, so I have some calls to make. AND, there's a comedy script comp that I'm entering too. Oh, and the two book contracts are in the mail. So I'm going to be a busy brotha.

Today...

I did absolutely NOTHING important...and LOVED it! I watched England beat Uruguay in a friendly, prepping me for my World Cup 2006 marathon. Turned in my Showcase ap. Went to Roger Dunn golf and bought my first new set of clubs since 1992. Decided to go big baller with Callaway Big Bertha Fusions with Nippon shafts and King Cobra woods. May not make me better, but damn I'll look good. Now I'm looking for a custom made golf bag with either the Alpha shield or simply A-PHI-A on it. If anyone knows where to get one, please holla! Decided that it was time to sell the Dodge Ram cause gas is kicking my behind. I'm going to stay in the Chrysler fam with a Jeep. Went to Louise's and ate a nice blackened salmon. Feelin' good at 211lb, about five pounds from the goal weight. Life is good, but tiring.

Notes from the 434...

I got two really good notes from fellow students in my advanced screenwriting class today. One of the most important thing in the 434 is to be open to suggestions, even when your mind my want to dismiss them. We put up our scene-o-grams on the overhead for the second time and classmates were able to dissect the structure of my script. One student pointed out that she thought that the end of my first act ended wrong. I wanted to avoid being episodic by throwing a curve ball to the audience. She made a great point that the audience, for good or bad, expected something different. Another student pointed out that I could still accomplish my curveball, but in the second act. And voila! My script is much better. Sure, I have to rewrite a few scenes, but they were right. Their suggestions make sense and I'm going to change my script accordingly. This is the reason I go to UCLA.

Ten More Pages...

I have CLASS today. Class?? I'm so damn tired right now, I could sleep all day. I took a Friday red eye to Washington DC (after HORRIBLE customer service from United Airlines. United, if you're reading this, fire the three LAX counter reps you employed for the United Flight 308 to BWI. They are EMBARRASSING, and the reason why you're in bankruptcy. Thank you.). We landed at 8am, which gave me no time to do anything but shower and change. I was at Howard all day, which was fun, and then back on the plane that evening to get back home. Got home around 11pm. And this is the SECOND time I had this scenario this week. I'm worn out.

So it's class, and then coming home for a bit of rest. Hopefully, I can write ten more pages to get to 80s, so I'll be at or close to the end of my Act II. After that, MEN OF THEIR TIMES will be all downhill.

Finishing Act II...

Twenty more pages by Monday...On a red-eye flight to Washington DC...and back..

What I'm Listening to as I write...

Prefab Sprout Moving The River lyrics

You surely are a truly gifted kid
But you're only good as
The last great thing you did
And where've you been since then
Did the schedule get you down
I hear you've got a new girlfriend
How's the wife taking it ?
If it's uphill all the way you should be used to it by now
You must know me, Father it's your son
And I know that you are proud of everything I've done
But it's the wonders I perform,
Pulling rabbits out of hats
When sometimes I'd prefer
Simply to wear them
If it's uphill all the way you should be used to it and say
My back is broad enough sir to take the strain and it's
Hello mother, it's your son and aren't you proud, of all I've done
But I'm turkey hungry, I'm chicken free, and I can't breakdance on your knee
But it's stay right there son, baby do, while I is itchin' for something new
So watch me hawkeye and understand the force of will, the sleight of hand
Movin' the river, I'm turkey hungry, I'm chicken free and I can't breakdance on your knee
Movin' the river, bucket by spoon, and do you think that they'll like me when they learn what I o
Movin' the river, money for jam, and it takes such an effort to stay where I am...

So Far, So Good...

So Far, So Good

Finish Act II by next Monday, which means I'm about fifteen pages short. Need to get to about pages 60-65: Done
Contact Howard University to make sure they have books for my Saturday signing: Done
Go to Fred Rubin's Comedy Class on Tuesday: Done
Go to the Showcase meeting on Tuesday: Done
Fly to Baltimore to speak at the Baltimore City Community College on Wednesday morning: Done
Fly back to LA on Wednesday evening: Done
Finish writing the showrunning analysis by Thursday's class: Done
Set up meeting with my science mentor for Men Of Their Times: Done
Set up a reading by MFA actors so that I can hear how my script is sounding.
Contact porn talent scout to set up time so that I can spend the day.
Contact Lexington Steele again to start doing more research
Set up interviews with porn actresses
Contact agent to see what's up with non-fiction Money Shot contract.: Done
Contact agent to see what's up with deadlines for fiction Money Shot manuscript.: Done
Fly to Washington DC on Friday to sign on Saturday
Go to Fred Rubin's class on Sunday

Weight Loss To Date:
Starting Weight Loss: 226lb
Week Seven Weight: 213lb 211lb
Goal Weight: 205lb

Back to Work...

This week:

Finish Act II by next Monday
Contact Howard University to make sure they have books for my Saturday signing
Go to Fred Rubin's Comedy Class on Tuesday
Go to the Showcase meeting on Tuesday
Fly to Baltimore to speak at the Baltimore City Community College on Wednesday morning
Fly back to LA on Wednesday evening
Finish writing the showrunning analysis by Thursday's class
Set up meeting with my science mentor for Men Of Their Times
Set up a reading by MFA actors so that I can hear how my script is sounding.
Contact porn talent scout to set up time so that I can spend the day.
Contact Lexington Steele again to start doing more research
Set up interviews with porn actresses
Contact agent to see what's up with non-fiction Money Shot contract.
Contact agent to see what's up with deadlines for fiction Money Shot manuscript.
Fly to Washington DC on Friday to sign on Saturday
Go to Fred Rubin's class on Sunday

Weight Loss To Date:
Starting Weight Loss: 226lb
Week Seven Weight: 213lb
Goal Weight: 205lb

After I kill the last eight pounds, then I begin weight training and "body sculpting". Time to get some definition.

What a SURPRISE!

Last night, my beautiful and wonderful wife, surprised me with a birthday party for my 40th! It literally blew me away. All of my close frat, friends, and family were there as we celebrated at Tangerine in West Hollywood. I'm still recovering from the many glasses of champagne and Makers Mark & Water, so forgive me for the brevity. Below are pictures from the party...
My wife April and I...
My frat brothers Sean Carter, Robert Lyons, Me, and Ray Dennis
My mother and I cheesin'
My oldest friend Tony Jordan
My film school compadre M.K. Asante, one of my oldest friends and best friend of April, Karen Simi, and April.
My best friend and best man in my wedding, Rob Lyons and Me.


MORE PHOTOS LATER as they get sent to me.

Back from Purdue...

I have had the pleasure of meeting some great people on this current tour. Renee Thomas, director of the Black Cultural Center at Purdue (if you're ever in the area, stop in. It will blow your mind.) was simply sweet as can be. And the BGLO members I met were eager, and looked like they want to move their organizations forward. It was a great time.

Back at home. My 40th birthday is about to come up on February 20th, and I'm feeling pretty good. The ole diet is just rolling along (thanks Zankou Chicken!) and I've just about gotten rid of my lecture tour gut.

My agent called and said that Kensington wants to buy my fiction novel called Money Shot. That's cool. So they would be publishing the fiction version, while I would be writing the non-fiction version for Thunder's Mouth. Now I have to change the non-fiction title from Money Shot to something else. I'm up for suggestions.

Oh, and I finally got in touch with the porn talent agency guy. So we're a go for interviews, and day in the life, yada, yada.

My Act II is ROLLING. It is so rich that it's sort of like eating cheesecake. You eat it in small bites, rather than large ones. That's how I'm writing. One page, then stop. Another page, then stop. Just let it flow naturally and don't try to do too much.

The annual UCLA showcase is about to happen too. Last year, after I was admitted, I went to the showcase to hear screenplays by current students. It was really cool, even though I didn't know anyone. Your script gets read by industry folks who then pick about three or four for the showcase. Then, actors read your script. Cool. I'm going to enter MEN OF THEIR TIMES.

Right now, I'm going to kick back and catch up on the last episode of 24, watch the Arsenal vs. Liverpool match I missed, and then see who Dick Cheney shot today.

ACT II: The Groove...

I'm about to start Act II of MEN OF THEIR TIMES and baby, I'm in the GROOVE. The writing groove. Ya know how Michael Jordan said that when he was in the groove, the basket became large? Well, the pages become smaller for me. I'm rolling, and it feels good (especially since I'm in West Lafayette, IN where it is 29 degrees). Act II is due on February 27, and I think I'll hit that mark with ease. So watch that progress bar. It's about to rock and roll.

Back From MD...

I'm not normally affected by jetlag, but I think the time difference really helped me. My clock has been all f#$%ked up, but going to the East Coast seemed to get me back on track. It's midnight right now, and if I go to bed at 2am versus 4:30am, then it will be back to normal.

My gig at Salisbury was fun, and my Alpha brothers were GREAT! Sometimes I wish others knew how great it is to meet fraternity brothers who really are good peeps. The brothers on the Maryland Eastern Shore are those types of brothers.

I was able to do a LOT of work on MEN OF THEIR TIMES. Tightened up the dialogue, added a couple of scenes, and I'm close to the end of the first act. I'll probably cut out a scene to keep the first act around Page 35. But it's really beginning to get nice and tight.

This weekend, I have to get going on my showrunning class. Because of speaking gigs, I've missed the last two classes, and I have a project due with a partner. We're doing an analysis of the Sci-Fi Channel. Next week, I miss both Hal's 434 and Fred's comedy class while speaking at Purdue.

We've got a Chuckie Cheese party on Sunday for the Munchkin, so that should be fun.

Diet still rolling along. Still hard to eat well on the road. But I didn't mess up. The belly is about ten pounds from being gone, and although I initially said I'd go down to 190lb, that was straight laughs. I'll get down to 205lbs and be happy. So that means I need to lose another 11lbs, and then I'm set.

Time to Breathe...

I was pretty much burnt last week, and after talking to a lot of my fellow students, we're all kind of burnt. Some are planning spring break trips to Paris, others to Mexico. The Ross Fam? I don't know yet. I wouldn't mind going back to London, and if we can get a nice package, maybe we'll do it. But I don't think that would be exciting for Langston. We might go skiing, but the season may be over by then. So I don't know. But I think we need a break.

My annual Black History Month lecture tour began last week, and I fly out tomorrow morning for more. I speak at Salisbury in Maryland on the 9th, and then at Purdue on Valentine Day. A late add has me going back out to Baltimore on February 22nd. Lastly, I'm supposed to sign books at an event at Howard University on February 25th. So it's busy, busy, busy.

As for writing, I've going to put down the computer for a day and let my mind rest. But I'm getting more and more confident in my ability to recognize and utilize screenplay structure. That was important, because I didn't have it before I got into the program. With that structure starting to become second nature, I can feel my brain starting to demand better writing. Until now, I've been writing okay dialogue, but it's mainly there to fit the skeleton of my script. But the confidence in my structure means that I can now REALLY look at my characters and how I want them to interact. So this week will be spent thinking about Langston and Latimer.

I'm still waiting on my porn book contract from my lit agent. In the last message, he said that he's still negotiating with them. I was too tired to ask what the negotiations were about, and in reality, I really don't care. He's the agent and it's his job to look out for me. I let him do his job. Micromanaging stuff like that would get on his nerve and would eventually get on my nerves. The contract will come when it comes.

My frat brother is going to take snaps for the book, and that's cool because he's a great professional photographer. I have a particular look I want, and I know he can do it.

Diet is still going well. Just too lazy to post the latest data. But right now, I'm at 215-217lbs.

Tough Week...

This has been a tough week. The Houston Exxon lecture went GREAT and the people were absolutely fabulous. If you're ever in Houston and you hear that the Texas Southern University Jazz Ensemble is playing, GO! They played before I spoke and I could have listened to them all afternoon.

As for my work, Men Of Their Times is coming along, but I'm running smack into a scene where I need to talk about science. I don't have a science mentor yet, because of something that needs to be resolved, but that's finally holding me back from finishing my Act I. Today and tomorrow, I'm going to try to work around it.

For the comedy class, I'm still trying to finish my premise. I've changed it SO many times because it wasn't organic. But I think I have one ready. This week, we're to write a four page characters meeting scene, along with a minor character breakdown. I've started, but not finished it.

The brain was a bit tired this week, and I need a rest. It gets no better next week as I have to travel again, so that means I'll be tired. But it's gut check time.

Nothing Worse...

There's nothing worse than feeling sick, particularly with a sore throat. Add to that, having to speak with that sore throat. And then, add to that, travel, then you have my predicament. I woke up this morning feeling bad, and it hasn't gotten better. Right now, I'm in Houston and I'll be speaking about African American fraternal organizations in about six hours. What you do is simply gut it out. There's nothing else you can do. I remember being so sick at one event that I threw up before the lecture and then threw up after it. But I pride myself on being a professional, so my hosts didn't know a thing. Health is one of the wild cards when you lecture, and right now, I've pulled a joker.

Crunch Time...

It's 5am in the morning, and I'm doing a final check of my Houston Black History Month speech. I wrote it months ago, and I just want to make sure that it comes out nice. Normally, I speak about forty minutes, but they want a twenty minute speech on AA fraternalism and civic orgs, so I want to make sure that I get in as much information as possible.

The next few days are going to be mad hectic. Hal wants us to finish our first acts by Monday. So I have about ten pages to write for Men Of Their Times. In my comedy class, I have to write a character breakdown for a minor character, and then a four to five page scene where two character meet. For this class, I've revamped my premise twice, but I think I'm closer to getting it straight. And in my showrunning class, I'm working with a partner to write an analysis of a cable channel. On the porn front, I've got to get on the ball. I need to schedule more interviews beginning next week.

It is weird, but when I get a lot of writing work, my mind tends to focus sharply. I think it comes from when I owned a catering service and I have to be on my feet for 72 hours straight. At the end of the 72 hours, you collapse, but while you're working, you get things done and done right. Right now, I'm on the clock. Let's see how well I can do.

Beginning of Week Four...

Now we're at the beginning of UCLA Winter Quarter Week Four. And I'm at page 20 of a 110 page script. That means I'm a bit behind. Logically, if I'm doing ten pages per week, I should be at the end of Act I. But I'm still going back and forth over the first twenty pages, doing small rewrites of my scenes. This week will be a slight challenge as I have to fly to Houston for a Black History Month gig. It's going to basically take out two days, so I think I'll try to write some new pages after 434 tomorrow and get to the end of Act I by the middle of the week.

Black History Month is always a dual edge sword for me as I enjoy lecturing on The Divine Nine, but the travel is a killer. When you've traveled to over 300 colleges in six years, you tend to lose your appetite for security checkpoints, tight seats, rental cars, and hotel rooms. I always laugh when wannabe or soontobe authors get excited about the "author's tour". If I could do my tour from my couch, I would. But then again, I do enjoy meeting the different people at the various campuses. If you've ever met me, you know that I'm a people person. So I can't complain too much. I'm only doing about three lectures this year when I normally do about ten. But I simply don't have the time.

Tomorrow, my son and best friend go to their first Cub Scout meeting. That should be fun because he really wants to get a flashlight and go camping. Just as long as I don't have to wear those khaki shorts to meetings, I'll be cool.



Starting Weight: 226lbs.
Start of Week Four Weight: 217lbs.
Goal Weight: 190lbs.

Britain and Television...

When I was around thirteen years old, back in the days with seven channels, and midnight meant that the station went to test patterns, I used to watch thousands of hours of PBS. It was different, and it seemed like my own private world. And I actually liked the programming. And one of the things I liked was the British programming. It started with a little sitcom called "Butterflies". It was a rather ordinary comedy about a bored housewife who was on the verge of having an affair, but never does. Loved it. From there, it was Up Pompeii!, Are you being served? Chef! (a personal favorite), Monty Python's FC, and thousands more. After that, I started liking British culture in general, and now I've been a Manchester United fan for the past fifteen years. Why am I talking about this?

My new show is on AMC, and it's called Hustle. Hustle stars Adrien Lester, and is about a group of grifters. I've always been an Adrien Lester fan, (although in America, he's most famous for Primary Colors). If you get a chance, check it out. Hustle is a show that I'd like to emulate when I start balling as a big writer/producer.

Stepin Fetchit Friday...

Yesterday at UCLA, I had the pleasure of attending a book signing/panel celebrating Mel Watkins new book, The Life and Times of Stepin Fetchit. This is significant for me because I'd written a Stepin Fetchit book proposal a few years back. My agent began shopping it just at the time when Watkins' proposal had sold. So that was that. But Mel Watkins is a very good writer, particularly when it comes to black humor, so I'm not mad at him.

Stepin Fetchit, for those who don't know, was the character played by Lincoln Perry. Lincoln Perry had started in vaudeville around the turn of the century, and then was signed by the major studios in the 20s to play what has been termed, derogatory roles. Normally, his character would shuffle into frame, mumble his lines, and act as lazy as white folks thought black folks were. Soon, while playing with people like Will Rogers (the first black/white buddy films), Fetchit was making millions. He was also the first black actor to get first billing.

For years in the black community, the worst thing one could say about a performer was that he was a "Modern Day Stepin Fetchit", meaning that his character embarassed the race. But what makes Fetchit interesting is that he was more complex than what appeared on the screen. He wrote columns for black newspapers like the Chicago Defender, talking about discrimination in Hollywood. He appeared in black cast movies where instead of being a derogatory character, he was simply a comic character. His timing was impeccable, and it's hard not to laugh at a person who obviously is a talented clown.

In the years following his death in the 70s, there's been efforts to rehabilitate his image. Before he died, he received a Lifetime achievement award from the NAACP, and folks will probably do retrospectives on him. However to me, he still presents a problem, particularly as a black screenwriter. My question is this: Is Stepin Fetchit a legitimate part of the African American comedy linage, from Fetchit, Foxx, Cosby, Pryor, Murphy, etc. and therefore a legitimate character, or is he still a derogatory character? And if he's a legitimate character, what are the nuances that divide him from being a derogatory character? I hate the movie Soul Plane because it plays into every derogatory stereotype ever made for African Americans. But Soul Plane is very close to what Stepin Fetchit played. Is Soul Plane legitimate?

Conscious African American screenwriters try to adhere to the doctor's oath of "Do No Harm" to their community. And so writing modern characters that harkens back to Steppin Fetchit are fraught with danger and complexity.



Starting Weight: 226lbs.
Ending Weight Week Three: 217lbs.
Goal Weight: 190lbs.

My weird sleeping patterns messed with my eating schedule, so I was certain that there would be a drop off in weight loss. But last night, I got to bed at one am, so I'm back on track. Regardless, I was still able to get to the Wooden Center three times last week, so my cardio is on track. The goal this week is to sleep right, eat right, and then get in three workouts. If I can do that, I think I can get to either 214 or 215lbs.

Late Night Writing...

My clock is all off. This is the fifth straight day that I've stayed up until 4am to write. I write my best during this time, but it's terrible for the body clock. I'm getting home from school around 5pm, exhausted and sleepy. So I take a short nap and WHAM, I'm up until the early morn watching VH1 We are the 80s. But, I'm gradually rolling pages for MEN OF THEIR TIMES. And, I solved a problem that had been bugging me. At the end of Act I, I want Langston and Latimer to have a huge argument about race, and for some reason, I couldn't figure out what was going to be the issue. But it was right in front of me. Now, the end of Act I will have a great emotional end. Now, back to Depeche Mode.

The 434 Experience...

434 is UCLA's advanced screenwriting class, and we pretty much have to take it each quarter. In 434, we write a script a quarter. Good practice. But it is also a place where you will feel the thrill writing good scenes, and the despair of writing bad ones. Basically, you spend a week working on your script, and then you bring it in for critique. Even the most confident writer can leave a 434 feeling raw and unconfident after a session where either your classmates or teacher doesn't get what you're writing.

Today in Hal's, it was pretty rough. Folks are going over their Scene-O-Grams (get Hal's book for further info, but basically it is the event at the end of every ten pages in an Act, plus the inciting events, exposition, etc.). One of the things I like about the Scene-O-Gram is that it's basically a schematic for your script. One can get loosey-goosey with where things are going if you don't have a roadmap, and the Scene-O-Gram keeps you focused on the various points within your script that are important. But the other thing a Scene-O-Gram can do is point out where your characters are flat, one dimensional, or the story is too linear.

So as we roll through our second week, each student has to take their Scene-O-Gram up to the overhead and hear real criticism, notes, comment, and "I just don't know what the fuck you were trying to do" comments. Some of the comments are REALLY good, because I think most students in this program want to read the best script you can write. I know I don't want to write crap, and since I'm not a singular genius, I'm open to as many good ideas as possible. But it can be tough to take, especially as you stand there and listen. However, it's good preparation for the real Hollywood. In real Hollywood, and not film school, producers, marketing folks, etc. all have two cents to add to your script, and not all of it you'll like. But at least film school is a safe place to learn.

The Goals This Week...

Kobe went for 81 last night, so that's inspired me to go for the gold this week. Get EVERYTHING done that I need to get done. Ten pages for MEN OF THEIR TIMES. Buy the Creative Directory for my Showrunning class. Get a fast start on Fred's new assignment. That's UCLA.

For the porn project: Contact the talent scout and schedule a time to follow him around. Contact my main subject for the book. Finally find the transcriber for my interviews. Go back over the proposed Table of Contents and tweak it. Set up my contacts list because I'm always bad doing that. I tend to have business cards and things all around, instead of having them put in a file.

For the diet: More of the same. Work out at least three times this week, mainly on the days I have school. Eat six meals a day. Avoid carbs and sugar. Drink eight glasses of water. Add 50 crunches per hour to the regime. The one big problem is getting to bed by midnight, because I love writing at night. So I may amend that to getting to bed by 2am.



Starting Weight: 226lbs.
Start of Week Three Weight: 218lbs.
Goal Weight: 190lbs.

This Week...

The last class I'm taking is a show running class being taught by Paul Nagel from the William Morris Agency. In short, we're learning how to create and package a show for a television network/s. At UCLA, there are relatively few television classes, so this class was filled with MFA students, a few law students, and a couple of MBA students. Showrunning is where the cash is, so the students follow the money. Since this is a producers program, most of the screenwriters were worried getting in, but there were enough spots. So with that, my schedule is done. Three classes, sixteen units.

This week was pretty much a waste, writing wise. Okay, not a complete waste, but I didn't write as much as I meant too. I'm almost done with Fred's comedy assignment, but still need to work on Hal's Scene-O-Gram. I'll do that later tonight.

In the coming days, I'm going to be meeting with my Sloan science professor (more on that later next week), so that I can start thinking about the science scenes for MEN OF THEIR TIMES.



BTW:
Starting Weight: 226lb.
Beginning of Week Two: 221lb.
End of Week Two: 218lb.
Target Weight: 190lb.

Amazing what eating well and moving will do for a body. LOL

Only One Page Done...

Okay, so I only wrote one page yesterday, played a lot of Call to Duty (thought I would retire it, but I got to the Russian sector), and then started work on Fred's comedy assignment. And then I slept for a few hours. Never did contact the porn talent scout. So sue me. Sometimes, it be's like dat. Got class tonight, and then it's back to the grindstone. I still have to do Hal's Screen-O-Gram, but I'm dedicating all day Friday to it.

We just pulled Langston out of Warner Elementary and put him back in his old Catholic school. Warner was so cold and distant, it's going to make a great template for a script one day. The stories I could tell and will tell. It'll be a very dark movie. Beware of 10 out 10 school credentials. That's a nice fascade, but the inside could be rotten as a fish sold on Monday. Two days back at his Catholic school and my son is 1000% more happy. Saw all of his old friends and it was like coming home. He'll be there for the next eight years, just like I was.

February 2006 Best-Selling Books

The Divine Nine is back on the Essence magazine bestseller's list. Not bad for a six year old book!

Essence Magazine
February 2006 Best-Selling Books

Paperback
1. The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson (African American Images, $12.95)
2. The Willie Lynch Letter by Kashif Malik Hassan-El (Lushena Books, $3.95)
3. The Pact by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt (Penguin Group, $14)
4. Chess For Success by Maurice Ashley (Broadway Books, $14)
5. Reallionaire by Farrah Gray (HCI, $12.95)
6. Keeping Black Boys out of Special Education by Jawanza Kunjufu (African American Images, $15.95)
7. The Divine Nine by Lawrence C. Ross Jr. (Dafina Books, $17)
8. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press, $13.95)
9. Letting Go of Stuff: Powerful Secrets to Simplify Your Life by Darren L. Johnson (Inside Out Learning, $12.95)
10. Cooking With Grease by Donna Brazile (Simon & Schuster, $13)

What's On Tap Today?

Today, there are no classes, so it's writing and getting stuff done. I'm going to contact a porn talent scout I met in Vegas and see if I can hang out with him as he goes on the look out for new talent. Also, I need to get back in contact with my main subject in order to see what's happening with his business. That's on the porn end.

On the writing end, I want to write freely for about ten pages on MEN OF THEIR TIMES. I'm not going to worry about if it's right, I can go back over it later and either delete it or rewrite it. I just to see where my character is going.

Yesterday, I had my comedy class with Fred Rubin, and it's quickly becoming my favorite class. We're going over a lot of stuff as it relates to character development, specifically to comedy, but it's working for dramatic work to. Again, Groundlings co-founder Phyliss Katz came in and worked us through some improv, and I just might take her Improv writing course. She was really good.

As for assignments, I need to do Hal's Screen-O-Gram, which helps you plot out your script. That will take time. Then, I need to go over the premise for my comedy script, and then do a character breakdown for my two main characters. Should be a piece of cake. I've been up since 6:30am, so I think I'll start work about 9am.

On Notes From Fellow Students...

In our 434 class, we read each others work and then give notes on what we think is strong or weak with either the story, the script, the dialogue, or the characters. It is the students responsibility to take what they find valuable and discard what is not. I say responsibility because you have to leave your comfort area, that rest area inside of the brain that tells writers that everything they write is made of pure gold, and be willing to listen to criticisms and shock, BETTER ideas for your story/script.

Yesterday, I took all of the notes my fellow students (and Hal) gave me, and sat them on my coffee table. Then I went through them. Some stuff, I didn't agree with, but there was one thing that did strike a nerve. In MEN OF THEIR TIMES, Langston Hughes is 25 years old. One of my fellow students told me to remember that if he's that young, then he would be a bit more immature and irrational than the iconic Hughes that we know now. I had to keep that in mind as I wrote him, so that his actions wouldn't simply be Hughes as perfect debater to his opposite, the scientist Latimer. That was a EUREKA moment for my script, and it made me go back through the story to add logical flaws for a still developing Hughes. This will change the story to a certain degree, but that's good. It'll mean that the characters will be more well rounded around a more well rounded plot.

The other thing I'd worried about was the use of flashbacks in my script. This is a period piece, and it has to use them. However I want to be judicious with them. Too many flashbacks and you get a CBS movie of the week during Black History Month. So I'm going to have to get creative with using the present to explain the past.

Top 'o the Week To Ya!

Happy MLK Day! A great man, and we should never forget how he created a non-violent social revolution at a time when oppressed peoples around the world were picking up guns. He saved America society.

Now, today. First day of Hal's 434 and man, it was great. We all brought the stories to our scripts and you could see the difference between what we were doing in 431 (intro to screenwriting) and 434 (advanced). The stories were much more developed, more well thoughtout, and made SENSE. In 431, I thought a lot of our stories made overall sense, but when you got into them, some kind of fell apart. That's not to say they couldn't be saved, but they were sort of immature, including my own first story. But in 434, the stories were GOOD. Interesting, different, and adventurous. And I could see them as fillms.

So now it's on to Hal's Screen-O-Gram. Tomorrow is Fred's comedy class.



Weight Loss Update:
Start of Week Two:
Starting weight: 226lbs.
Today's weight: 221lbs.
Target weight: 190lbs.

Back at the gym tomorrow.

Double Consciousness...

On Double Consciousness

by W. E. B. DuBois

After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,--a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,--an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. ...

Excerpted from the chapter "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" in his book The Souls of Black Folk.
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One of the dilemmas of being an African American screenwriting film student is figuring out what you want to write. Now why is that different than any other film student of any race you ask? Well, I think it's different because I think there's an expectation that you will concentrate your writing on African American subjects. That's pretty natural. I am African American and I do have a ton of script ideas that are African American themed. But...

Screenwriting is a business. No, kill that. Screenwriting is BIG business. And while there are those who will like to sing KUMBAYA and say that only the story and script counts, I learned in Terry Press' class (Director of Marketing at Dreamworks) that while that counts, so do a bunch of other more practical issues.

African American films don't sell internationally, so they don't get bought often. When I met with an agent friend at Paradigm, he told me the same thing, but also said that if I brought an African American script to him, he would be able to send it to about two companies versus twenty five. When I talked to my friends at William Morris and Endeavor, they said exactly the same thing. So what is a brother to do? Do you turn your back on writing African American subjects? Of course not. But I have to be smart.

When writing my books, I thought that since I was a published author, I would have the freedom to write outside of the African American genre. Easier said than done. It's a Catch 22 situation. You get published time after time because you've built a loyal African American readership. So to your publisher (and agent) the idea of blazing new trails outside of the African American is not that appetizing. So you write on African American topics. Is that bad? No. Is it limiting. Yes.

My interests are not all African American specific interests. My ideas are not all centered around African American life. That doesn't make me any less African American as the writer who only writes African American scripts. So why the hell am I talking about this?

At UCLA, there are going to be scripts that I write that will have African American themes, and others that won't. For example, my Sloan script is an African American period piece. However, the scenes I'm working on for Fred Rubin's Comedy Class will be for a predominately white themed script. When I eventually bring both scripts to agents this Spring, I want to be able to demonstrate that I can not only write for the African American audience, but the broader audience. That's a part of the double consciousness that African Americans have to think about, whether they write scripts or work on Wall Street.

Gotta Get Back To Brazil...

When writing my second book in 2001, The Ways of Black Folks, I had a chance to stay two weeks in Brazil. It was absolutely great. I stayed a bit in Sao Paulo, which I loved, and also Rio, which was great. While in Sao Paulo, I had a chance to go to a place nicknamed, The Bronx. There, all of the shops paid tribute to African Americans by naming themselves "Black Power" and then the title. It was great, and I miss the friends I met there, including my boy Kibe (on the left). I think I may take the family down there during our summer, and their winter, when the rates are low and the beef and beer is cheap!

Change of Title...

I love good titles, and I think I'm pretty good at creating them. My books: The Divine Nine, The Ways of Black Folks, Friends With Benefits, have done me well. But the title of my Sloan script was bugging me. I'd originally named it LATIMER, after the protagonist Lewis Latimer, but that was pretty lame. Langston Hughes is as central to the story as Latimer, so I needed something better. Something that spoke to both. And I think I found it. MEN OF THEIR TIMES speaks to story I'm writing and now I can roll.

If you look to the right, you'll see that the progress bar is back. It was pretty dead and gone because the previous progress bar started asking for money. Natch. So I found some new code and voila! As you can see, I'm twelve pages in. We write a script a quarter (ten weeks), which means I'm right on schedule. I have no room for brain farts, and since I don't believe in writers block, I think I'll be okay. I may just divide my time between new material and rewrites.

Money Shot work is allocated to the weekends, and that's for interviews only. I won't start writing Money Shot until June, so that way I'll be concentrating on writing scripts during school.

Done Pitching...

I'm done pitching, and now all I need to do is make sure I get into a producer's class on showrunning, and then I'm set. I finished the first assignment for my comedy class, run by Fred Rubin, and I can tell this is going to be fun. Yesterday, we did improv with Phyliss Katz, co-founder of the Groundlings troupe, and it was a blast. I haven't done ANY sort of improv since I was in a play at Cal nearly twenty years ago.

Other than that, nothing much happened today. I need to send in a few lecture contracts and then try to settle my final schedule. Since UCLA waits forever to let you know when you're admitted to the program, I had scheduled a few lectures for Black History Month and the Spring.

BTW, the diet is going a-okay. Went to the gym twice this week, missed this morning, and I'll go two more times. I'm eating about six meals per day, with an hour of cardio. Very little carbs. White meat only. No sugar, but fruit okay. Plenty of water. NO CHOCOLATE.



Starting weight as of January 9th: 226lb
Today: 224lb.
Goal: 190lb.

I've Been Tagged with a Meme...

All right, my boy Dave at Man Bytes Hollywood has tagged me with a meme. So I'll answer it right now and then tag a few other folks.

ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:

My earliest memory is sitting in the backseat of my parent's car at the Century Drive In (now torn down, the bastards!) in Inglewood. We watched James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, and a young Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (to become Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington in Welcome Back, Kotter) in Claudine. It was 1974, and I remember this because my mom put up a blanket to block our view when Jones and Carroll had a love scene.

TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:

Sofia: Sat in that jail, I sat in that jail til I felt like I's bout to rot to death. I know what it like to wanna go somewhere and cain't. I know what it like to wanna sing... and have it beat out 'ya. I want to thank you, Miss Celie, fo evrything you done for me. I 'members that day in the store with Miss Millie - I's feelin' real down. I's feelin' mighty low. And when I seed you - I knowd they is a God. I knowd they is a God. : The Color Purple

Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.: Full Metal Jacket

Just have to throw this one in: "Shut up Donnie!": The Big Lebowski

THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:

Work in an advertising agency
Teach History in High School
Create a non-profit

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:

Caterer
Internet businessman
Magazine editor
Newspaper reporter

THREE (3) book authors I like:

Walter Mosely
Langston Hughes
Martin Gilbert

TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: I'm going to write another version of the classic
The Big Sea by Langston Hughes.

ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:

Charles Fuller: A Soldier's Story. He is constantly asked to rewrite other people's material, but I can't get his stuff made. It's a crime.

THREE (3) people I’m tagging to answer this meme next:
I've got to figure out how to put html tags in the body of a message first.

Pitching is fun...

I pitched my script yesterday, and it was fun as hell. In our advanced screenwriting classes, better known as 434s, writers, directors, and producers, all get a chance to pitch their script to the professor. So about thirty of us pile into a room built for twenty, and listen as folks pitch their ideas for scripts. It takes about two and a half hours to finish, but it's cool because you get to hear about some really good script ideas. I have to say that those of us writing scripts for the Sloan have some wonderful ideas. We've all weaved science into our scripts, and it comes organically. It should be a good competition.

But pitching is fun for me. When pitching, the person needs to have a clear idea of what their story is, and then tell it in a way where people can grasp the story. But having said that, you don't have to be, in the infamous words of Tom Cruise, glib. It's more important to be concise. I learned the lesson about two years ago when a friend and I pitched to a producer at Endemol. We had a reality show that they were interested in. We talked, and talked, and talked too much. Never again, I thought, as we left.

But the key to pitching, lecturing, or anything else that requires one to speak in front of crowds is to realize that it isn't life or death. If you flop, no one is going to recommend your immediate execution. You just try again. It's the same way I approach film school and my scripts. A lot of what I write will be crap. Well intentioned crap, but crap none the less. What I understand is that if you work hard on that crap, filet out the good parts and work from there, and then start writing something that's good, then you are WAY ahead of someone who believes that everything they write is already gold.

School, Working Out, and No More Chocolate...

Today is the first day of the quarter. I have to pitch Latimer to two advanced screenwriting teachers today, and hopefully it'll go well. I'm pretty confident in the material, so it shouldn't be a problem, however you never know. I just need to be concise. The start of school means that I have to reluctantly put my copy of "Call To Duty" in mothballs for a while.

I got up this morning at 6:30am and worked out at the Wooden Center. The goal is to lose about forty pounds this year and get in shape. Too many headaches, body aches, and general lumpiness. I had the wife take front, side and back picture (sort of like the 360 degree mirror they use in What Not To Wear) and boy was it revealing. It's amazing what your brain will tell you look like, and what you ACTUALLY look like. So I have a nice program set up. One of my saving graces is that I lose weight pretty rapidly when I actually change my diet and exercise. I've done it before, but writing and lecturing tends to throw a monkey wrench into my plans. Now I have no excuse. So it is four times a week at the gym, watching The Big Lebowski on the iPod (the best damn gym invention ever).

BTW, Final Draft is f*ing up. Every so often, it won't recognize my serial number, so I have to keep my disk in the computer to save my work. That's a real drag.

Day Three at the Porn Convention and Back Home...

Day Three at the AVN, and I've finished my interviews. I decided to skip the award show on Sunday because I don't think it will really help my book, and also I needed to get back for school. The porn heavy hitters came out today, Jenna Jamison and Tera Patrick (pictured) and it was like Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz had decided to show up. The whole convention tilted toward them and it was nothing but camera flashes for about an hour.

On the black porn front, I met a guy who runs a porn operation out of Chicago, which is VERY unusual, since about 95% of porn is based in the San Fernando Valley. I've got to figure out how I'm going to cover him.

So it was a good three days of research. And now, I need to forget about it. I need to get my brain back to screenwriting. I'll start working on the porn research on the weekends. But for now, it's lay on my ass time while watching Sunday NFL football.

Day Two at the Porn Convention...

The interviews just continue to get better. The porn industry tends to be dominated by white men, a lot of whom couldn't get jobs in other industries, (felons, uneducated, etc.), and yet I'm finding a LOT of college grads among my black subjects. I did about eight interviews today (about thirty minutes each) and I'm really glad I chose this topic for my fourth book. There's nothing like peeling back what you think you know about people and then showing who they really are. But this weekend is just the beginning. I have six months of research before I start writing.

BTW, the folks who kind of creep me out are not the people in the biz, but the fans. The fans in porn are like fans in sports, or entertainment, etc., but there's something weird about a guy wanting to put his face in a porn star's silicone breasts, and then have his buddy take a picture. Where do you show that picture? To the fam at Thanksgiving? On the coffee table next to the kids? But then again, I may be too much uptight. One of my subjects said I had to loosen up a bit. Easy for her to say. She was wearing a thong and pasties.

Day One at the Porn Convention...

Ladies and gentlemen, I just attended day one of the Adult Video News convention, and it literally overwhelms the senses. There's porn for EVERY taste, fetish, or kinky idea one might have. Plastic breasts and bubble asses are everywhere, as this is a flesh market, and the bigger the better. But there's a funny thing about porn. It's not that titilating and all of this flesh becomes a bit of white noise. If you really want to learn about who these people are, you have to ignore what they are showing and focus on their faces. That's where the truth is.

I don't have time to go into it right now, but I got about five good interviews from African American porn actresses, and I think I'll be able to get a bunch more throughout this week. Very interesting stories and why I like this topic, these people are not who you think they are. Very complex and not all sob stories. So now, it's uploading photos and interviews to the computer. I have a full day tomorrow.

UCLA: The Second Quarter...

One of the beautiful things about UCLA film school is that it has classes which literally make me hyped when I read the descriptions. I actually have to hold myself back so that I'm not taking too many. This quarter, I'm taking three classes. I'm taking my obligatory 434 advanced screenwriting class. We begin pitching next week and since I have to write my Sloan script, LATIMER, in the class anyway, it's pretty much well thought out. I was able to roll about ten pages of script by the way. Next, I was accepted into a television comedy course being taught by Fred Rubin. One of the things that surprised me about UCLA is that there doesn't appear to be a lot of television classes. This class is about writing comedy scenes, and since I have a comedy show I've already sketched out, I'm interested in what makes a scene work. Then, I have a class on showrunning, which allows me to understand how to sell my next Nielsen winner. I think I'm one of those rare writers who actually LOVES the business side of things. Maybe because I've actually run businesses? That'll be enough work with the book manuscript due in September.

Big Ups!

Big Ups to my boy Dave at Man Bytes Hollywood! For the past week, good ole blogger wasn't letting a brother post to his own blog, AND user comments weren't posting. Double plus ungood. But upon his genius recommendation, I've changed templates, and voila, things are kopastetic again. I've also decided that I'm going to liven the blog up a bit with some pictures.

So it's January 2nd, and I've eaten too much gumbo. To wash it down, I decided to treat myself with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The good ole diet begins on January 9th, first day of school for the quarter, so I figure I should get in all of the bad stuff right now.

In a couple of days, I go back to the land of adult make believe, Las Vegas, as I begin work on my next book, Money Shot. From Jan. 5th to the 8th, the Adult Video News magazine will be holding its annual convention and award show. For me, this is a WONDERFUL opportunity to conduct interviews in one place. My deadline for the book is September, and with school, I don't have a ton of time to waste. So among the silicone, nakedness, heavy makeup, and buzzing toys, will be a guy with a digital recorder hoping to get great stories from the folks on the outside of polite society. Ya gotta love it!

My 2006 Schedule:

As I looked over what I have to get done in the next year, I realized that I have to do something I really hate doing. I have to create a schedule. The problem is not having enough time to do everything, but I just need to get a bit more disciplined. I have grad school with at least two scripts to write, a book to write, and then a documentary project. I can't "luxuriate" anymore by getting started with my day at 10am. And, I need to get in shape. The belly is getting swelly (as my six year old likes to say) as a result of a ton of travel and bad meals (and king sized snicker bars). So that means 6am wake ups and everyday workouts. The goal is to lose about thirty lbs. between now and 2007. I'll feel better, which means that I will concentrate better. And that means I will write better.

I've been writing a few scenes for my Sloan script. The script, tentatively named LATIMER, is about the African American inventor Lewis Latimer. It's starting well. I will begin work on MONEY SHOT, a name by the way the publisher wants to change, after the New Year's. My first task is to go to the Adult Video News Award in Las Vegas this January. For three days, I will be interviewing every black porn star, business person, etc. in the industry. My plan is to do all of my interviews and research between January-June, and write the book during the summer.

Annie Hall...

As I've stated, I have to work at learning the language of film. I've never been a huge film buff. So I'm watching movies. And one of the movies I'm watching is Annie Hall. A great movie, it is also instructive in one great precept when it comes to scenes. The idea is: Get in late and leave early. Annie Hall does it great and I think I'll watch it over and over to make sure my own scenes are this tight.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa!

Tomorrow, I'm shopping all day, so I wanted to make sure I said Happy Holidays to everyone before I forgot!

Back From Vegas...

Hey y'all,

Just spent three days in Las Vegas to watch Cal wax BYU. A good time was had by all, but the old school Tropacana had no internet access, so I'm just now answering any posts. Check ya later!

Nine Months...

2006 is going to be the Year of Writing for me. I talked to my new editor, Anita Diggs, and my next book has a September deadline. That's nine months, kids. Oh well, JGTSD.

Finalist for Sloan Foundation...

It is official. I'm one of ten screenwriters at UCLA who's a finalist for the Sloan Foundation script contest. So that means a few changes. I have to write this script for my advanced screenwriting class next quarter. So I need to get cracking with my research. The script is due in April and there's a $10,000 prize.

Act One...

So for our advanced screenwriting course in the winter, we have to pitch. For one professor, he wants ten pages of your script instead of the verbal pitch. Fine. So I went over my ten pages with a fine tooth comb and discovered something. I like working on my script in ten page chunks. My Act One needed work because as one of my classmates correctly noted, it was too long. So I started cutting. Anyway, the effects of the flu are starting to wane, and now I can concentrate on working on it. Our classes begin on January 9th, so I have time get my Act One tight.

This Week...

Well, the Ross family is down for the count with the flu. And it hit us all at once. Where it came from, I have no idea. Maybe it was from the airports or hotels? Anyway, the wife is knocked out, I'm delirious, and my son was so sick that he crawled up into our bed. If you know my son, who is damn near hyper, that tells you something. What else could happen this month? Death, flu, maybe locusts? But for all that, things are looking up.

1. My agent sold my non-fiction version of Money Shot on Monday. Not a lot of money for the advance, but it is a go. Plus, my agent was able to get a nicely sized kicker put into the contract if I reach a very obtainable number of books sold. That was nice. I sort of felt like I was an athlete who had to run for X amount of yards for a bonus! And for the first time in three books, I have a new publishing house and new editor. That's both exciting and scary. The tricky bit will be writing it while in school. But then again, I wrote my first book while working full time. JGTSD* is my mantra.

2. Grades are in for two classes, Hal and Richard: A's in both. I just turned in my final for my film marketing class. I'll find that one out later.

3. Met with the agent from Paradigm and had a GREAT meeting. He was REALLY cool, and I told him I'd send him my script this Spring. Next quarter, we write our full script in our advanced screenwriting course. I'm going to take the script I was writing in Hal's course, the agent liked the idea and even noted that he'd been reminded of my script's main character the day before, and then finish and polish it. My goal in Hal's course was to learn the fundamentals and not try to get cute with my writing before I knew what the hell I was doing. As I've been rewriting, I've gained more confidence that I know where I'm taking my script. But that's just Act I. I have Act II and Act III to write. Before I start writing those, I'm going to re-read Hal's book about those Acts.

4. BTW, we have to pitch our scripts to our perspective professors. That shouldn't be a problem for me since I talk alot, but I need to be precise about what I'm saying, and not rambling. So I've got to practice.

5. I'm still waiting on word for the Sloan, but I'm going to start work on my research anyway. My story is based in the 1920s and I need to do some research on Flushing, Queens and Harlem before starting the script. If I'm going to do a period piece, I want to see a photo of what a particular area looks like. I need to know what was in the neighborhood and what wasn't. I like accuracy.

6. UCLA MFA writer, MK Asante and UCLA MFA producer Ben Haaz (who is a dynamo) and I are working on a documentary proposal for next summer. We just got good news and it had nothing to do with Geico. We were looking at two directors for our project and we've just begun talking to them. One is a heavy hitter with NFL films and the other has won two Academy Awards. Ben and MK know them both and we found out that the NFL guy is interested in our project. Ben is contacting the Oscar winner during the break. It's a great project about sports and race.

Okay, time for Thera-ful and some chicken soup (I made it homemade. Remember, I can burn)


*Just get the shit done

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your condolenses, both public and private. We had a beautiful memorial service for my father in law, and it was a testiment to his life that folks came from far and wide to attend. We got back this afternoon and it feels good to be back in my own house. After eight days in a Castro Valley Holiday Inn (that was being renovated CONSTANTLY!!), it seems like we haven't been home in weeks.

But December means royalites, and I had a royalties check waiting for me when I got home. That was cool and provides a nice Xmas for all. I'm still waiting on decisions for Money Shot, both fiction and non-fiction versions. Either would be nice.

For UCLA, I missed the last class of the quarter, but the professors were super cool about it. My intro to screenwriting class ended with the professor deciding to give everyone credit. Aces! With my marketing class, Terry decided that we all did so well on our midterms that we'll simply have to answer a few questions for our final. Aces again! And for my 431 with Hal, we got notes back. Each time I get notes about my Act One, it continues to be answers to questions I can't see. I'm not skilled enough to recognize problems in my scripts, at least not yet. I continue to have problems with on the nose dialogue. I think I can work on that. My goal for my 431 script was to learn. Again, this is a form that I'm not familiar with, so I felt it a bit arrogant to think I could start running before walking. So right now, after one quarter, I feel that I'm standing up straight and learning to balance myself. I can walk pretty cool and but still a bit unsure. I'm going to take this winter break to work on the notes for my Act One, plus I'm going to send it to some friends for additional notes. After that, I'll keep rewriting it.

We start our advanced screenwriting course on January 4, and we have to pitch it to our professors. I have a story I'd like to write, so I think I'm going to do something different than what I did this first quarter. But at the end of this year, I want three complete scripts.

Still haven't heard about the Sloan, so if my story has been accepted.

On December 13th, I have a coffee meeting with an agent from Paradigm. As an alum from Loyola High, there are numerous connections with Hollywood, and some have been very gracious about meeting with me. I'm not bringing any writing samples because they aren't ready, but we're just going to talk about what I should do to grow my career in Hollywood. When a script is ready, then I'll schedule a second meeting. As part of a second contact, another Loyola alum who's a CAA agent has asked to see my script when it is ready. I will vet that script FULLY before I send it out.

But for now, it is rest on my oh so sweet couch. Tomorrow, Cal plays Kansas in basketball and then Loyola goes against Esperanza for the CIF Division One Championship. I'll be there watching them win at the Home Depot Center.

Bad News...

My father in law passed in his sleep last night, and so we're heading to Oakland. He was truly a great man, and I'll miss him like a best friend.

re: Hal's Class...

Yesterday, I wanted to test out an alternative opening for my script. I have an opening scene that I'm pretty sure works (1b), but I wanted to see if I made my main character really vulgar, would it work. I think I confused my poor classmates. The idea was to make my main character vulgar, a bit blase about his subject, and a little above the frey. But it didn't go over well. Oh well, that's why you try it out in a workshop. But from that convo, I knew that I had to make his antagonist this vulgar character as a direct contrast to my hero. So those lines will be heard in Act Two. I'm going to send Hal opening 1b to make sure it works. Our first acts are due next week, so I'm not going to chance it. But I'm pretty sure that this first act will work.

What I'm noticing in our workshop is that there are quite a few scripts I don't get, but it seems like most of the other students get. Not that it is bad or good either way, but I'm wondering if each workshop will be like that? We get along pretty well, but I can see that our interests are widely varied.

Anyway, back to writing. I'm going to polish up my first act over the next few days. I want it nice and shiny by Friday.

Full Metal Jacket...

I went to see Jarhead this weekend. Hated it. But it made me remember how much I LOVE Full Metal Jacket. Here's what I tell my six year old, which is paraphrased from FMJ.

"Son, all I've ever asked of you is that you obey my orders as you would the word of God."

Classic.