Sports Art Sample

Posting this primarily for Jenny's edification. Post back, Jenooshki. Life is for learning!!

Read/Listen/Watch

READ:

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

LISTEN:

Tom Carroll - A Simple Little Christmas (Original Cast Recording)
(If anyone wants to sample the three original tracks based on the same melody, email me; I'll send 'em by email ...).

WATCH:

Scrubs - Season 3 (TV DVD)

First Peek at "Privateer."

Here is a post I sent out yesterday to the Tuesday Art Group for their edification. It is a piece of artwork I painted digitally for today's Creative Session where I work ... It will become the foundation piece for visuals I create for a project I'm currently calling "Privateer" that puts the reader/viewer/player in the persona of a government official who is secretly also a poacher and smuggler of alien creatures, biological products, technologies, and such (anything that will turn a profit). His goal is to get as much as he can out of the planet he's working on while walking a delicate tightrope between Eco-Rangers, other poachers, and the planet's lone sentient species. Only later does he uncover a terrible secret that could undermine everything he is doing, both good and bad.

Feedback? It's welcome!!

If The Premise Is Smuggling ...

Here are a few ideas I've had for a novel that has to do with the world of smuggling:

#1: Bajadores – There is the cop, there is the smuggler, and then there is you: one of the Bajadores – the “rip-off crews.” The smuggler and the Federale are easy pickings for you because you make your own rules. Assault, kidnapping and extortion, it’s all one and the same. In the open world of Bajadores, you are a thief among robbers and the baddest of the bad guys. Patrolling the corridor between Rojo Gordo, Mexico, and El Phenix, Arizona, you try to make a buck any way you can. Force smugglers off the road and take their cargo? Si, mi amigo! Take down the Border Patrol and make off with their car and weapons? Muy bueno! Be sure to shake off pursuit as you make your way back to your base or hook up with your fence. Naturalmente… For the Bajadores, it’s all in a day’s work. However, payback can be swift, mi hermano, so trust no one, and watch your back!

#2: BlackBury – From modest beginnings as a tobacco smuggler in the South Ossetia district of the Georgian Republic, Nodar “Natch” Nachkebia uses his English language skills, street smarts, and dependable car to move up quickly within the organization. By successfully trafficking weapons, drugs, radioactive material, and influential refugees, he makes his way to South Africa, Amsterdam, and finally to Washington, DC, where he helps deliver the final pieces necessary for a global crime cartel to finish deploying a cell phone sized nuclear weapon code named: “Blackbury.” Only during his final few deliveries does he piece together that the cartel is really a secret faction within the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, one with clandestine backing from the Oval Office. The final mission is to smuggle the Blackbury device itself… but where, and to whom?

#3: Río Sangre – In an open world similar to GTA: San Andreas, an ambitious criminal rises within the ranks of the most notorious Mexican gangs as they use every means at their disposal to open the pipeline for illegal immigration, and trafficking in drugs, currency, and weapons. Principle gameplay is driving/racing, but there are other gameplay mechanics, too. A final, massive confrontation takes place in the sleepy Calzona border town of Río Sangre.

#4: Border Wars – In a world that’s combines a little Midnight Club 3-style vehicle customization with the open environment of Red Dead Revolver 2, a top driver within the Mexican mafia uses diverse vehicles to deliver drugs, currency, weapons, and high-tech gear to various groups across the border between the US and Mexico while staying one step ahead of the Federales, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and even rival gangs. Communications and high tech gear play a major role in his ability to stay one step ahead.

Monday P.M.: The Updates

Got a call last Saturday from Roger Robinson. He is doing well and I committed to get him some finished pitch docs by the end of today (I'd better get off the blog, hadn't I?). One is about a nonce shy of done; the other needs work.

Yesterday's recording session at Trinity Episcopal Church in Escondido netted three serviceable vocal/piano tracks to support the publishing of "A Simple Little Christmas." Many thanks to Jeff Witcher for separating them into different files and performing some cleanup duties. This week the package will be off to Eldridge Publishing.

On the way to pick up the kids this afternoon (my favorite time for business calls) I phoned Mark DeCerbo and made sure that he knew I would be sending through a finished pitch for "Love Unclassified". I'll also be sending him some loglines and synopsis paragraphs so he can see if anything else strikes sparks.

Still nothing in the mail from CAA (re: Alan Cummings and the Salsa Celtica project). Hope springs eternal; perhaps I'll be chalking it up to agency inefficiency. Smile!!

More as it happens.

This week's Read/Listen/View Has Been ...

READ:

Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian Or The Evening Redness in the West
Wayne Barlow - EXPEDITION

LISTEN:

Trees (Dane Conover) - Sleep Convention (Wikipedia mention)
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
Soundtrack - Cowboy Bebop

VIEW:

Good Morning Vietnam (1987) - Directed by Barry Levinson
Enterprise - Season 3 (TV DVD)

Yesterday's Meetings Went Well ...

The Susan Miller phone call will result in pitches being sent and Mark DeCerbo and I hit it off really well last night at the Center City Cafe in Escondido. If everything goes well, and there's no reason it won't, he and I will end up collaborating on music for standalone songs, original theater, and as part of media pitches.

Oh, and this morning I got a follow up phone call from an assistant at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and he is finally sending out the nondisclosure paperwork for me to sign so they can review my Salsa Celtica pitch materials and forward them along for Alan Cumming to peruse.

Yum...

All in all, not bad a bad set of updates. Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration...

Today's Activities Are Go!!!

This morning at 6am (whilst walking the dog and nabbing the newspaper at the bottom of the driveway) I gave a call to Susan Miller, the contact person in New York for two very cool entities: Bolder Media for Boys and Girls and Mixed Media Group. After explaining m'self to Susan (videogame artist, blah blah, writer / story teller, blah blah, etc.) we had a terrific chat about the state of publishing for the childrens market and translation of such stories into viable television and film properties. Extremely interested in new books, Miller will be receiving several pitches in the next few weeks, most noticably Sy, Sy, The Super Guy, and The Littlest Nanobot ...

Tonight at 7pm I will be sitting down with Mark DeCerbo, he of the band Four Eyes (and longstanding member of local classic rock band Rockola ... ). Mark saw that I had placed Four Eyes' new CD, Sweet on the Vine, on my blog and when he saw all the other stuff I was doing, he wanted to arrange a chat session. Chatting is always good, especially with someone as talented and successful as DeCerbo. More as it unfolds. Oh, BTW: my son is a huge fan of Sweet on the Vine (esp. the track called "Green Glass Girls...). He wants me to ask DeCerbo if he is a fan of his other favorite group: Abba. What an ice breaker that will be ... ;-)

I lost the auction, (but still have this cool art thumbnail)

But my wife would have killed me if I'd won it ... the winner paid $152.50.

The experience got me to thinking about a story where a teenage pulp fiction fan finds an issue of a pulp magazine that isn't part of that hero's catalog -- a lost issue. He dismisses it until he discovers that half of it was written by his favorite author prior to his death, then finished by another author. Purchasing the issue teleports the youth into the actual adventure, now brought forward in time. Taking on the personna of the action hero, he must complete the story as it should have been completed in order to fulfill the author's last wish.

And I was the one who said I wouldn't have any more new project posts until I've finished something... boo hoo on me.

High Bidder on Doc Savage's Final Pulp Adventure

Well ... anyone who really knows me knows I am a huuuuuge fan of pulp action hero Doc Savage. Last Saturday I signed up to display some of my Doc Savage memorabilia in the children's case at the Escondido Public Library. Because I wanted to see if there was anything I could quickly add that would give the display some extra oomph, I went trolling on Ebay yesterday and saw that a copy of the final original pulp Doc Savage magazine ever published was on sale, so I put a bid in.

I've known about the story, called "Up From Earth's Center," for many years (it is reprinted as a part of an omnibus edition published by Bantam in the '70s). Phillip Jose Farmer also described it in his homage to Doc's adventures. To make a long story short, Doc and his aides travel deep into the earth to attempt to snuff out the source of all evil, but what they find there is more than they ever bargained for. Dodging death many times and discovering that scientific gadgets are no match against these otherworldly opponents, Doc and his men fight their way back out and seal the cave entrance forever ...

... and, after 181 fantastic adventures, that's how it all ends.

The cover of the magazine is reprinted at the top of this post. Check out the auction at the following link. Wish me luck!!

No More New Posts -- Just Updates Until Something Is Finished!!

I've posted enough stuff in progress. Now it's time to finish projects and find home for them. Look for the updates on the following projects in this space:

A Simple Little Christmas
Joseph's Christmas Journey
Cold Fusion: The Salsa Celtica Story
Sy, Sy, The Super Guy
Zelinsky's Calling
The Littlest Nanobot
The SHREDventurers
Tommy Crossroads ...

... and a few others that I refuse to post, not because they aren't cool, but because I don't want to be pigeonholed as someone who just blogs but never finishes anything ....

Read on, MacDuff!!!

The SHREDventurers (vidgame / stories)

This posting is about The Shredventurers, a videogame design and set of stories that involves four teenage kids from different parts of the world, four mystery stories, magic, and action sports.

From l. to r. above, the kids are Nandor (Romania), Miri Miri (New Zealand), Bomani (Nigeria), and Alexa (Mexico). They have spats and make-ups, show off their powers at the drop of a hat, and love nothing more than to shred on their own or during various competitions. The look of the kids was developed by veteran comic book artist Roger Robinson.

I developed the idea for this story around an action sports game that is based on snowboarders who have magic powers. I have a complete 50-page videogame design document (for anyone in the vidgame industry that has a snowboarding engine but lacks cool content).

But because it's hard to sell anyone on the idea of making a videogame these days without a license behind it, I am writing four stories, each from the perspective of one of the Shredventuring kids that can then appear together in a single hard cover book or paperback.

Look for more information in this blogosphere!!

Linked In Update

Dudes ... I used to avoid the periodic Linked In notices I'd get from friends and others like the plague because I didn't understand how cool a tool it is to find people and to stay connected ... Now I don't quite know what I would do without it.

Anyone wishing to extend their network should check out www.linkedin.com. My own link is: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/996/1a8

Thanks for reading ...

The Littlest Nanobot

Thanks to Ellis Goodson, this sketch will now form the visual glue for a new character and series, "The Littlest Nanobot..." Look for more information in this space soon ...

This week's Read/Listen/View Has Been ...

READ:

JK Rowlings - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian Or The Evening Redness in the West
Periodical - Daily Variety

LISTEN:

Webber & Rice - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Mark DeCerbo & Four Eyes - Sweet on the Vine

VIEW:

Thin Red Line (1998) - Directed by Terrence Malick
WonderFalls (TV DVD)
Enterprise - Season 3 (TV DVD)
Little Einsteins (TV Flash Animation; New Release)

An Answer from Scottish Screen (about Salsa Celtica)

Here is what the lovely and talented Belle Doyle, she of Scottish Screen, had to say in response to an introductory email from me (progress is measured daily):

Hi Tom

Thanks for letting us know about your project – it sounds really interesting. At the moment, Scottish Screen is changing its system of funding and dealing with applications, and this information won’t be available until the end of April. Normally, though, for overseas projects, the main way of tapping into Scottish funding is to involve a Scottish co-producer, and we can give you contact details of producers. Producers’ contact details and credits are also available on www.filmbang.com, the production guide to Scotland.

We have a system of local film offices here in Scotland, and will be able to help you find suitable locations. Glasgow Film Office (www.glasgowfilm.com) also have funds for people wishing to film in Glasgow. Edinburgh’s film office can be found at www.edinfilm.com. Both of them have lots of useful information about filming in the cities, and also hold databases of crew and facilities.

I have passed your e-mail to Claire Chapman, who is head of production here. Her direct e-mail is claire.chapman@scottishscreen.com. Please get back in touch with me if you have any queries about locations in Scotland.

Belle

Belle Doyle
Locations Dept Manager
Scottish Screen
249 West George St
Glasgow G2 4QE

Progress ... :-)

There is no "bad progress," just progress or failure to make progress. Even negative progress is still progress of sorts. You can quote me.

Here's the latest:

1. Last night I got a return call from Tracy Brennan, the agent for Alan Cumming. He played Nightcrawler in the X2 movie, but he is also an accomplished stage actor, writer, director, and producer ... so much talent for a young guy ... The upshot is that I pitched the Salsa Celtica pitch to her as a project she might pitch over to him. He could simply be an "Angel" on the project, assisting at critical times, especially during the scripting of the story, but he might also sign on to act and/or direct once it is greenlit at a studio ... So, her assistant is sending me a packet of forms to sign that limits any liabilities. I'll keep you posted on this one.

2. I am rewriting Zelinsky's Calling (again).

3. In two weeks I will be recording the music that I wrote for my church's '05 Christmas musical play. Called "A Simple Little Christmas," it employs a simple, catchy melody for three song variations sung progressively through the play, as well as a Wayward Chorus and a Nice Choir ... The Wayward Chorus sings knock-offs of Christmas Carols, the kind you hear on various TV and radio ads:

“GOD REST YE, CHRISTMAS CUSTOMERS” (WAYWARD-STYLE)
(sung to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen")

God rest ye, Christmas customers,
Let nothing you dismay,
Take care of all your gift giving,
By shopping on Ebay;
Just check Fed Ex or UPS,
And it is on its way …
Thank goodness for shopping on Ebay.
Load up the sleigh!
You can start to order next year’s gifts today …

4. More progress tomorrow!

Making Contacts for Various Pitches ...

There is no "bad progress," just progress of failure to make progress. You can quote me.

Here's the latest.

Last night I got a return call from Tracy Brennan, the agent for Alan Cumming. He played Nightcrawler in the X2 movie, but he is also an accomplished stage actor, writer, director, and producer ... so much talent for a young guy ... The upshot is that I pitched the Salsa Celtica pitch as something she might slip over to him. He could simply be an "Angel" on the project, assisting at critical times, especially during the scripting of the story, but he might also sign on to act and/or direct once it is greenlit at a studio ... So, her assistant is sending me forms to sign that limits any liabilities.

I am rewriting Zelinsky's Calling again.

In two weeks I will be recording the music that I wrote for my church's '05 Christmas musical play. Called "A Simple Little Christmas," it employs a simple, catchy melody for three song variations sung progressively through the play, as well as a Wayward Chorus and a Nice Choir ... The Wayward Chorus sings knock-offs of Christmas Carols, the kind you hear on various TV and radio ads:

“GOD REST YE, CHRISTMAS CUSTOMERS” (WAYWARD-WISE)
(sung to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen")

God rest ye, Christmas customers,
Let nothing you dismay,
Take care of all your gift giving,
By shopping on Ebay;
Just check Fed Ex or UPS,
And it is on its way …
Thank goodness for shopping on Ebay.
Load up the sleigh!
You can start to order next year’s gifts today …

More progress tomorrow!

Current Creative Activities

Not necessarily in order of priority:

1. Trying to see if Alan Cumming will be an "angel" for the Cold Fusion: Salsa Celtica project (if anyone out there knows him, I'm looking for him).
2. Writing the pitch and script for "Tommy Crossroads," the five minute movie that I will direct this summer.
3. Finishing a piece of digital art for the Rockstar Creative Session later this month.
4. Recording a demo CD of the music from "A Simple Little Christmas" on Sunday, April 23rd (so the play can be submitted to Eldridge Publishing the next day.
   
5. Continuing work on completing this year's Christmas play: "Joseph's Christmas Journey," a musical retelling of Joseph's life up to the birth of Jesus.

More to come (as if that's not enough).

Cold Fusion: Salsa Celtica Story

This is a pitch about the true origins of the preeminent Scottish Salsa band, Salsa Celtica (see photo above). I've already submitted it to Julia Chasman (a producer with RubberTreePlant Productions), to Sean Gorman (a producer with The Hatchery), and to Jerome Watson (Platinum Studios). Their comments follow the pitch ...


COLD FUSION: THE SALSA CELTICA STORY

This is the true story of a charismatic group of musicians with a passion for Latin music among the Celtic bands of Scotland, and the physical and spiritual journey they must take before they can truly believe in their own unique brand of musical expression.

In the pre-dawn hour, Toby and his musician friends wait on the tarmac in Havana; their plane is late. Slightly hung over, he counts the challenges they all face as they return to Scotland: no lead singer, gig cancellations, money problems … you name it.

Toby looks back on a younger version of himself playing at local wedding receptions. In those days he imagined that some day, trumpet in hand, he would be with a top Latin band. Scorned by his band mates and spurned by his family, Toby forms his own Latin band; a particularly hard drinking, chain smoking lot. Toby’s group endures taunts from the regular bands, but it is some of their people who begin asking him if they can sit in on a Latin set after they’ve finished their own gigs. Afterward, at late night drinking sessions, everyone figures out clever ways for their fiddles, whistles, banjos, and even bagpipes to work with Latin beats. The result is something totally unique: Salsa Celtica.

Salsa Celtica sets off on a musical odyssey throughout Scotland. Sometimes Toby has to apologize to the band for the places they play. And to get gigs, he frequently has to convince the band to mix traditional songs into their Latin repertoire. Nobody complains; they’re having fun. At first their Spanish singing is less than comprehensible, but with increasing regularity they are invited back to the houses of Hispanic devotees for late night Spanish lessons and even sometimes steamy tutoring from the group’s ardent female fans. But Toby senses the band is still missing something important: a real passion for the material that goes beyond just pronouncing the right words and playing the music correctly. Toby also anguishes over the band’s need for a bona fide lead singer. Many try out – dark-eyed, curvaceous Latinas and strikingly angular hombres – but not one has what it takes. The appearance of an legitimate Salsa singer from Argentina raises everyone’s hopes, but he lasts a practice and one gig before vanishing – as much a victim of the strange fusion of Latin and Celtic traditions as the hard living Scots who play it.

After a couple of devastating cancellations, Toby considers disbanding the group. Before he can act, however, he stumbles across an ad publicizing Cuban timbales. Inspired to journey to the birthplace of Salsa music, (and to take a break from touring), everyone digs up the cash to book flights to Havana. As obvious to the locals as a herd of Highland cattle, the group and its Celtic instruments find much favor when they are invited to play. For the first time, real Latin masters take the group’s members under their wings and the results are invigorating. Swapping single malts for local rum, they ditch their inhibitions and are taken to places the uninitiated never see: they are asked to join in religious bembe gatherings and to worship at Afro Cuban orichas. The results are viscerally invigorating.

As he counts off his challenges at the airport just prior to departure, Toby realizes that he has undergone a spiritual awakening, and that he no longer has to apologize to anyone for playing the music he loves. Havana? Scotland? Alaska? It doesn’t matter. He’s found his home. However, finding the perfect lead singer will help it to feel even more comfy.

Comments from Julia Chasman:

I did read your pitch, which I think is nicely presented and a good story.

The only real advice I can give you, if this is to be a dramatic, narrative feature -- roles played by actors working from a script, not a documentary -- is to write the screenplay, and then see if you can put a package together.

Are you the director? You will need as much "packaging" as possible to convince people to give you money for your project.

Unless you have other finished screenplays to show as samples, I don't think anyone will give you money to write it. Maybe you are thinking of involving another writer? If so, I would put that element, along with any others you can, together now.

The story is fine -- but it's a long journey from a pitch like this to a feature film, and those are the first steps I would take if I were you.

I hope this is helpful. Best of luck with the project.

Sincerely,

Julia Chasman RubberTreePlant

Comments from Jerome Watson:

Thanks for your patience. I’ve read your pitch for Cold Fusion: The Salsa Celtica Story. I think it would be a very good Film, however I’m not sure it would make a great comic.

Screenwriter Earl Stanly Gardner once said when advising perspective screenwriters: "When in doubt have two guys bust through the door with guns blazing." That quote kind of applies here. There may not be enough conflict to move a comic book story along. As an Indie film however, or a 30 minute short, it could be dynamite depending on the emotional transformation of character. Also, that way the juxtaposition of the “Kilt-Clad Scotts playing to locals in a Cuban bar can have the effect I believe you desire.

Not that you need violence as Gardner’s quote might suggest, but more conflict to induce the growth of the character.

In summation, though I do find this an interesting suggestion for a screenplay, I’m not sure if this is right for Platinum. Thanks again for you patience (I know you have a ton of it) and good luck on the film. As always feel free to call me if you have any questions.

Jerome Andre Watson Platinum Studios

Comments from The Hatchery's Sean Gorman were delivered by phone. In essence, he said the pitch was good, but that The Hatchery could no longer option a pitch and a bylined article. He recommended I write and submit a full script, which is in progress even as we speak.