Old School Favorite...

While I like all of the cinematic classics, Raging Bull, The Godfather, etc. I firmly believe that you must remember where you come from. And where I come from, this man was a star. He was the first Kung Fu/rapping/comedian/action star/indie filmmaker, in the world. And watching his movies is like taking a trip through my 1970s LA childhood. Here's a clip to explain who he is, because I couldn't do him justice.

Taking the week off...

Been working for Iconoculture for almost a full year now, and I'm going to take my first vacation. Found my brain slowing down a bit over the past three weeks, and so I thought it was time. Plus, the wifey just had foot surgery on both feet, so she's down and out for about a week or so.

On the writing front, the Crips founder book may be a no go. Complications with the contract means that we might have come to an impasse. Too bad, because I think I could have done a great job with it.

THE BESTSELLERS is finally done. Now, only a polish is required, and then it's time to be sent out.

I'm overdue with my Divine Nine update. Next week will be devoted to getting it done.

Went to my martial arts class on Wednesday and have been sore for three days straight. But if I keep it up, and stick to a sensible food plan, I'll lose ten pounds this month, easy.

Right now, I'm setting up my production company for film and television projects. I've decided against the RudeBoyFilmWorks name (still have it, but not going to use it) for AfroBoHo. I just like the sound of it, plus it describes the general themes of my film and television projects.

Speaking of film and television, I have a pitch meeting with BET. We were supposed to meet today, but got our wires crossed. Looks like Monday is the day. Have to say that the BET LA office is pretty nice, and only five minutes away from me.

My TV-One documentary on black fraternities and sororities has hit a snag, but according to my advisors, it's not something that should prevent the production of the doc, as long as it's crafted right.

Didn't get a sponsorship I wanted for my Fall SKIN GAME/MONEY SHOT book tour. So that's a bummer. However, I'm going to sketch out my pub strategy. One transition is that my Money Shot publisher has been absorbed by the larger main company, Perseus. My editor was laid off, so the publicist has just gotten back to me. From my friend at Vibe, I know that galleys for Money Shot have been sent out, because he read one, but I haven't seen a thing. I received both galleys and real copies of SKIN GAME.

So look for more posts in the coming week. I'll be well rested.

My Weekus Horriblus...

Had a great July 4th and weekend. Check the bank account on that Monday, you know, just too see if checks cleared. Hey...what the hell? Why are there three maximum transactions and a BIG point of purchase transaction from some perfume shop? Ask the wife. Nothing, especially since one of the last transactions is taking place while were both in our house. Sooo,we find out that someone has taken her ATM card, and has tried to ransack our account. Four days worth. Bad start for the week. Change of bank accounts, ten days to get our money back, yada, yada, yada.

Skip to this week. Yesterday, I go outside and find the drivers side window to my Jeep smashed. Glass all over. Stereo? Gone. Smoke coming from my ears. Take the Jeep to the window place, a place I patronize because it's in the hood and I like patronizing hood businesses. Window fixed, go to stereo shop for new sounds. Alpine all ready to go, where's the iPod the tech asks? In the glove compartment, I say. No, it ain't, he says. Go back to the glove compartment, nada. Window guy stole my iPod. Cherry on shit sandwich day. Auto insurance doesn't cover stereo by the way. Renters insurance does, but high deduct.

Just another week in LA...

Writing Fatigue...

I don't know about you, but from time to time, my brain just shuts down. I call it writers fatigue, and I had it for the past couple of days. So, I decided to go to bed early, wake up late, and I feel absolutely refreshed. What's on the menu?

1. Knocked out some really good calls for the job. Have a new senior editor, and he's really sharpened my writing. Getting back to writing with a true voice. Actually made my work a bit easier.

2. Doc issues. I'll talk about that later, but I have a slight problem. But the key to remembers, filmmakers have a nice set of rights too.

3. Divine Nine update continues to trudge on.

4. Gave myself a week off from The Bestsellers, but I'm going to get at it tonight and through the weekend. The key word for my characters: choices. more choices. Also, I changed up a few things with my protagonist, making her go through a divorce while going on the book tour. That should put some pressure on her from all angles.

5. Waiting to do the book on the former Crips member. Slight issue with the contract, but those things happen. Still looking forward to working with him.

Graduation Pix...

Just realized I never posted a pix of graduation. Here you go:

Getting stuff done...

Finished sending out permissions for Divine Nine doc.
Almost done with proposal for Skin Game/Money Shot book tour.
I have Icono work to do before noon tomorrow, and then a ton of stuff for the upcoming week.
Ben has sent me notes for THE BESTSELLERS, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I'll start reading them tomorrow and then make changes either tomorrow night or Monday morning.

Feeling pretty relaxed. Might go skating around UCLA on Monday morning.

Kajukenbo...

Next week, I'm going to join my son and start taking Kajukenbo lessons. For those of you not in the know, Kajukenbo is a mixture of karate, judo/jujitsu, kenpo and Kung Fu/Chinese Boxing. One, I like the diversion. And two, I can use it to get in shape. But three, I've got to make sure I don't get f*ed up. This is real deal martial arts, and broken jaws affects my speaking engagements, so I'm getting the best head gear possible.

On the writing front, I'm close to finishing the Divine Nine update; we're about two weeks away from finishing THE BESTSELLERS, and in a sec, I'll start work on the Batman book. But this week, I've got a lot of Iconoculture to do. I'm going to try to knock it out tomorrow, so I can cruise into the 4th.

Publishers Weekly Review of Money Shot

Money Shot: Wild Days and Lonely Nights Inside the Black Porn Industry
Lawrence C. Ross Jr. Thunder's Mouth, $15.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-56025-913-8

In this intriguing account, Ross offers closeups on the lives and dreams of black porn actors. Combining interviews with personal observations and some theoretical gloss, Ross travels to the San Fernando Valley (center of the porn industry), an Adult Entertainment Expo in Vegas and a swinger's party in Oakland. The African-American niche commands about 10% of the multibillion-dollar porn market, and performers with names like Lexington Steele, Sinnamon Love and Sledge Hammer discuss their schemes to carve out a piece of it (as with the mainstream movie business, many actors hope to produce and direct). Ross gets good interviews and his straightforward prose suits the material: “Just like hog butchers who use every part of the pig 'from the rooter to the tooter,' porn exploits every part of the body to make a profit.” The most graphic and disturbing episode is that of a female performer who prides herself on not doing anal (“I think I'm too cute for that”) but then allows herself to be beaten and humiliated in a scene by white men. There are many subgenres, writes Ross, but “white men overtly degrading black women are some of the most popular.” (Oct.)

Sluggish...

Week one of the old lifestyle change went horribly average. Gained about four pounds, and did not an iota of exercise. Been feeling sluggish all the way around. I've really got to watch that because not being in school means not walking around campus. And that means less exercise each day. SOOOOOO... I've just got to take my ass to the gym at 7am. Do one hour of Lifecycle. After July 4th, I don't have any eating holidays until Thanksgiving, so I have a real chance to drop weight. May even experiment with going veggie for the rest of the summer.

On the writing front, need to finish the Divine Nine update and start the Crips book. Finished the sixth draft of The Bestsellers, and now Ben is reading it. Hopefully it's cool because I think I've done all I can with it. Still needs to be cleaned up, but yikes, I'm at my wits end with it.

Stepping back...

Okay, I made the changes in the first act, and I love them. This is rewrite #5 for THE BESTSELLERS, and man, I really do like my first act. But this second act, you know, where the magic happens, is really fucking with me. So what to do? Plough ahead and hope things work out? Be satisfied with what I have and just hope it works out in the end? Nope, I'm just going to relax. I'm going to spend all night writing Icono articles, and take my mind off of the script. After that, I'm going to think about my characters. I'll listen to music that I think would be appropriate for the film. But most importantly, I'll think about one question: What is the script really about. And by Monday, I will send Ben a script that I like. I'm close, but it's not there yet. I'll get it there.

The Bestsellers...

This week, I'm going to finish the sixth rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. The idea is to send it to my boy Ben on Wednesday for more notes. After that, I'm going to do something I heard Al Pacino talk about on Larry King. He would have actors read his script and tape it, so he could visualize the film. That's what I'm going to do. Listen for the flaws in dialogue, description, and format. After that, I'll clean up everything, send it to my professor Tim, Ben, and a couple of other people to get a verdict. If they give the okay, then I'm going to send it to two agents who want to read it. I'll let you know what they say.

Weight Loss...for real....

All right, now that school is done, I have no more excuses. Time to get my ass in shape. So I'm going back to the whole change the diet and exercise. Watched Celebrity Fit Club, didn't really follow it this year, and besides deciding that I would kick Dustin Diamond's ass if I were on his team, I looked at Warren G and realized that his pre-weight loss weight and height are approx to me. I'm 6'1 and rolling 222lbs. Only dif is that Warren is two inches taller. So...

I'm going to start on Monday. The goal: lose 32lbs in 90 days, just like Celebrity Fit Club. That will get me to 190lbs, which I haven't seen in nearly a decade. So here we go again: My target weight loss for the next weigh in: 5 lbs.

Ah...

Ah, the cap and gown have been worn. The speeches have been given. The pictures taken. The food and drink eaten (damn good chocolate chip cookies TFT!). And now, I'm done, chilling on my couch, listening to Amy Winehouse's Rehab for the tenth time, and thinking of chilling tomorrow as I split time between watching 24 Hours of LeMans and the US Fucking Too Fucking (Sorry David)Hard Open. I'm done, and boy is my brain happy. Now, I have a ton of writing to get to beginning next week, but suddenly, I have a lot of time.

Today is Graduation Day....

So it's finally here. Graduation day. I can really say that I had a wonderful time at the UCLA film school, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Okay, maybe for a five picture deal, but that's pretty self-evident. Now, I will drink a lot and try not to bake in the sun.

One down...

Showcase was last night, and I had a great time. It was nice to see my friend David Whelan get read on stage. Like all of my friends, he's a really cool and funny guy. As for the program itself, it wasn't as tight as I remembered it in the past. One, we had a nice turnout, but the place wasn't full, and I seem to remember it being full the past two years. There were some glitches with the video presentations. None of this was big, but they're things that I noticed. Anyway, a great time was had by all. Oh, and I got to talk to Felicia Henderson, the sister who exec prod. and wrote for Soul Food and a bunch of other shows. She's mad cool and has the career I'd like to emulate. I'm going to interview her for The Divine Nine update and hopefully get a word of advice about moving forward.

Speaking of that, I'm working on my paper right now. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I'll be done. After that, the only thing I have left to do is turn in a signature form, pick up my cap and gown, and wait for graduation on Friday.

My weekend will consist of me lying on my ass, watching high speed cars drive around in the 24 Hours of LeMans. Because you know that in my alternative life, I'm an international race car driver who speaks French, appears in movies for five minute cameos that are acclaimed as brilliant, all the while being the most lauded humanitarian in the world.

Or I'm just a writer with another deadline over the horizon.

Wow...

I hope I'm not turning into those once a week bloggers! I've got to start picking it up. So this week...

We were getting the winning and honorable mention scripts to our judges, and I forgot to include the thank you letter. It was right there on my computer desktop, but I forgot to include it. That is a major faux pas, and I'm pissed that I made it. This contest producer job really took way too much of my time, and the last thing I need is an unenjoyable Showcase because I have to deal with angry judges. So I'll call them all on Monday and hopefully they'll be understanding.

This Friday, I took a quick trip to the Berkeley (I was there and back by noon) where I completed a nice order of HoodieTees. We're now going to be in Rasputin's and a bunch of other stores in the Bay. The guy who owns the store is MAD COOL, and I appreciated the order.

As for writing, I'm doing Icono stuff tonight. I have a twenty pager due this week, and I'm going to try to get it done tomorrow. I have the Showcase on Monday night. On Friday, I graduate.

I'm going to continue working on THE BESTSELLERS this week, and hopefully get it tight for a final rewrite during the week of the 17th.

I'm still finishing my DIVINE NINE update, so the faster I do that, the more time I'll have by the end of June.

UPCOMING SUMMER WRITING PROJECTS (in no particular order):

1. Ghostwriting a memoir about a founding Crip gang member
2. Working on a rewrite of SECRETS & LIVES
3. Finishing SLAVERYLAND
4. Working on the TV-ONE doc development deal stuff
5. Finishing new sports book proposal
6. Start a new script.
7. Keep working on THE DREADED DETECTIVE

No grad school means more time for everything. So no worries about overwork. Except for the doc and Secrets & Lives, and the gang book, I'm under no pressing deadlines. So I'm as relaxed as I've been in two years.

Hopefully, I'll post mid week.

The Home Stretch...

I have two Icono calls this week, and a twenty page paper at the end of the week. It's my last paper I'll ever write in school. On June 7th, the school is having an award breakfast, and I'll be there. I have to fly up to the Bay Area to deliver some HoodieTees to a store up there. I'm going through THE BESTSELLERS for another rewrite via the notes I received from Ben, and I'm finishing the Divine Nine update. We have the Screenwriters Showcase on the 11th, and then graduation on the 15th. After that, I will chill for about two weeks, doing nothing. I will reacquaint myself with my golf clubs, which have stared at me for two years. Vacation for at least one whole week.

Time to declutter...

We've lived in this apartment for just under two years, and boy can you start collecting stuff. But now, it's starting to get on my nerve. So I'm going to starting working to declutter. Goodwill donations, tossing other things, etc. are on the agenda.

Finished my rewrite...

I finished part one of my rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. I started at page one and completely tore it apart. What's funny is that it SO doesn't resemble the first draft I wrote in my 434. When I read that draft, it's almost like I was trying to not make the script work. I had reality show elements, gimmicks like chaining the two protags together, yada yada. All of that was completely unnecessary to the story I wanted to tell, which was two women who learn and grow while on the road.

I've been writing full time since 1995, and I've always been able to recognize a piece of writing that was valuable. Whether it is a magazine article, or a book idea, or something else, I recognize that this is the script that will accomplish post film school goal number one: get representation. Yes, I think this script should be produced, but who knows if someone is interested in my spec. That said, like my boy in Layer Cake says, create a plan and stick to it. My plan is to send this script out on June 18th to two of my contacts. We'll see their reaction.

In the meantime, I'm going to let my brain rest for about a week. Then, I will go back through the second and third acts and clean up formatting, dialogue, mistakes, typos, etc. Then I'll let me brain relax again and then tackle it again.

In the meantime, tonight I'm writing my observation articles for Iconoculture, completing a brief article on Mixed Martial Arts and inner city youth for Icono, and then prepping for a late week advisory call.

Also, I'm completing a very nice sized order for HoodieTees.com. A Berkeley t-shirt store has ordered a bunch of t-shirts and the owner is mad cool. A few more like his and I may be able to fund a film project or two during the summer.

Lastly, I'm going to start my next book proposal, and then complete Divine Nine update. I have a very special and famous person doing the forward to my update, and I can't tell you how grateful I am. She's just the best.

I'm just starting to plot out my fall book tour. It'll be a mix of Divine Nine lectures, Money Shot lectures, and regular book signings. With Skin Game and Money Shot coming out a month a part, I may just wait until October to start my tour. I have our cool Iconosphere convention in Miami, so I have to schedule around that, but with school done, I will have a lot more time.

Ah man...

Michael Jordan used to say that when he was in a rhythm, the basket looked huge and he couldn't miss. Well, I ain't Michael Jordan, but I am in a complete flow with my rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. For the first time in two years, I know that my script is reading like a film. I'm not hitting plot points just for the hell of plot points, because I know my characters, and the character objectives and actions are driving the story. No other script I've written has flowed like this. I'm on page 62, and I'm quite sure that this script will come in around 110 pages. The last two scripts, I was gutting my scripts TOO much, and losing a lot. I think 110 is the right length.

I think working on the never ending Showcase rested my brain, and allowed the characters to introduce themselves to subconscious. I had enough time to hear their voices, figure out how they'd interact, and why they were in this universe in the first place. So when I sat down to write them, I could look at my first draft and understand where things went to hell.

I'm betting that I get to the end of the second act tonight, and not because I have to, but because I feel like it. And that's a great feeling.

About twenty days til graduation.