No real reason for the Vera Farmiga picture. I just felt like putting it here.
Even though I'm thrilled about the fact that Modern Persecution is getting attention (I have made the finals at almost every contest I've entered -- the latest being the Southern California Screenplay Competition -- still waiting for a #1 win), I'm far more excited about this new script. This is because Modern Persecution is about Elizabeth Packard; Consumed is about me (tee hee hee). Well, it's about a fictional me and a fictional Vera Farmiga. I hope she doesn't mind. Like Dark Corner, the protagonist is a version of me and that's fun. Writing is so freeing because I can take my ideas about dramatic events that I could only imagine and make them happen.
And if you believe in the astral plane-Sethian-Jungian cosmic consciousness stuff, then my writing a script makes it happen (in a sense). At times, writing is a struggle. Lately, it's 100% high - better than any drug or meditation designed to take me to an altered state. If I never get a script produced, this high is my intrinsic reward. I saw Kerry Ehrin in a tweet mention something to a struggling writer about commercial success, advising him to just follow his heart with his writing. That's really all we can do! Therein is the satisfaction. At least for me, that's where it is. If commercial success comes our way, then that's icing on the cake. I just don't think that grasping at success will ever result in the happiness and peace we crave. I think we've got to enjoy the work, love the work, and then, maybe, that success will come. Having said that, I know there are some people who approach life more aggressively; I'm not sure if aggressive people have a better success rate than I, but I'm not going against my nature. I'm going to write, put myself out there online via contests and Twitter, but I'm not going to do headstands outside the doors of producers and agents.
So, here is some more fun. My imaginary cast list for my characters:
1. Charli Wingfield - a "me" type in her twenties -- this has got to be an unknown
2. Marina Jones - a film star who has boundary issues -- Vera Farmiga (of course - could it be anyone else?)
3. "Keith" -- the sexy bodyguard -- Matthew St. Patrick (okay, he's probably a bit old for the role, but I can't forget "Keith" in Six Feet Under; he's perfect.
4. Sam - the boy next door fiancé who has a dark side - Ryan Reynolds
5. Mom - Charli's mom - Diane Lane
6. Maddie - twelve year old "niece" - should be an unknown
7. John - too handsome movie star type based on John Hamm - how 'bout John Hamm?