It’s the first day of Summer. And the fourth day of a Michigan heatwave. Blech.

The wife is on vacation this week which means I’m sorta-kinda-not-really on vacation too. At least in the sense that our normally strict routine is, as she would say, “all kaboozled.”

I did a quick etymology check on “kaboozled” but G–gle came up with nothing.
I may need to crack open the twelve-pound dictionary to get my answer.

Sooo … I’m taking this bit of free time to catch up on correspondence, chop away at my to-read list—which currently consists most urgently of a 1,300-page collection of letters from the typewriter of Charles Bukowski. Good stuff!

And to do a bit of workish housekeeping, like setting up my IMDb Pro page.

But on to the news!

Work continues with Ben Aliza Pictures in development on the second film I’m writing for them. This one was to be set in France but the director has fallen in love with Cortona and a few other locations around Italy, so who knows.

Either way, it should be a fun movie to make. And, though the story is still in the development phase, it is inspired by films like Before Sunrise, Lost in Translation, Midnight in Paris, About Time, and A Good Year.

Recently finished the fourth feature-length horror script I’ve written for A Twister Productions. This most recent screenplay is currently in pre-production with filming tentatively scheduled to begin this summer.

I got longlisted in a script call for filmmaker Rachel Stander, who most recently produced the movie Scrap. While my project wasn’t chosen, it was featured at Unsolicited Scripts for being among the strongest screenplays they received.

My project is listed with a number of other scripts available for option.

I also had a couple great general meetings this spring, and even queried an agent for the first time with an A24-style horror script that’s near and dear to my heart.

The logline was good enough to get a full read request.

Ultimately, it wasn’t right for that particular agent but it was nice to be considered.

Not being selected forced me to take a real look at the script. And I immediately found places where I could strengthen dialogue, trim description, etc.

I know, I know … it can take dozens of rejections before getting an acceptance but being told “no” forced me to really think hard about whether what I submitted was at the level of quality a piece needs to be to get anyone interested.

And so I’ve decided that, before I go querying any more managers or agents, I’m going to go over my top five screenplays with an even more critical eye.

After all, if what I’ve written doesn’t have a shot at being something amazing, then what’s the point?

There are already hundreds, if not thousands, of movies ranging from terrible to mediocre to almost-good being pumped out every year.

I’d rather make nothing than make crap.