grants, outlines, . . . preproduction

 i’m thinking something like this for the premiere. too severe?

i’m thinking ahead, even though today, i simply created an abstract of my proposal for a CEL (Community of Engaged Learners) Grant for a development officer to read over. s/he will advise me before i draft the fuller document (which i’ve already begun, but i’ll wait to get feedback before going too far). i need funding, mostly for travel, lodging, food, and stipends for those i can persuade to come along to help out (student interns, my filmmaker friend Brad Jones of Genuine Magic fame, and Mike, who will help with the shoot). in this economy, i can’t be tempted to dump my expenses on a credit card (that’s for skin care serums and tinctures, and for boots. obviously). so but anyhow, if i don’t think ahead, at least in part, i can’t be in it in the moment. it’s a performance awareness thing.

today, i also began a little outline of the documentary’s first 15-20 minutes (mostly backstory on my subject). i *never* outline but usually begin with an image, or, in the case of my first documentary, a sound (a track from JEM, “they,” way back when it was sort of obscure). i am trying new (old) methods, and we’ll see how i do w/ these constraints (constraints can be liberating, but i almost always hold them in contempt, and i have not figured out why that is).

i think i’m doing a lot of this so that i’ll have a documentary that will be more widely seen (as in, festivals), and because i want to show M (M Dot Strange, my subject) that i’m working and know what i’m doing; i’ll try to have some of the film developed when i go to shoot him filming/working and me interviewing him, later in August 2008. even a little trailer will be nice. should i post that here? i kind of don’t want to go YouTube, as that’s M’s territory. but then, maybe that’s all the more reason to go YouTube with a trailer, build initial interest, just as he did with his film We Are the Strange.

anyhow, so i’m actually doing it now. it’s happening.

granted …

i’m not a big fan of grant writing, but i need some funds for the traveling i’ll be doing for the new film. a colleague recently sent along some information on a Utah Humanities Council grant, and i’ll be applying. how i wish i could avoid this, but this is the way (step inside).

i will also be contacting several sources on my campus, head of programs and organizations who helped fund my first documentary, proposition 1984.

if you have ideas for funding options (or hey, contribute!), feel free to leave the info in a comment. thanks.

i’m like . . . professional

i see from my hits that i’ve had a few visits today. thanks for reading here. maybe my new project will be of some interest to you . . . so i’m starting work on my new film, i’m like . . . professional (a documentary on str8nime filmmaker, M Dot Strange; str8nime = strange + 8 bit + anime). i’m no longer simply thinking about it or planning or hoping for funding (all of which are generative processes, but you know what i mean). for now, i’ll post this link to the things i’ve written about the new film at my other blog, and you can catch up, if you care to do so. so, here (but take note: this link works in complicated ways; some posts are much more obviously about the new film while others vector out in many different directions — and well, that’s pretty much how i work, so get used to it

also, if you scroll down, you’ll see some very obvious posts about M and his work and my plans.

thanks for reading.