As a writer, producer, director, and more often than not, the duct tape holder, I've landed some crazy opportunities that probably should have happened to someone more spontaneous.
Fellow writers will know what I mean when I say, I've had "the voice" in my head for as long as I can remember and that I write because I must. IYKYK.
I know enough about film to know when it's wrong and little by little I'm learning to craft it purposefully right. In the early 2000's I had the good fortune to be in commercial lending when the mortgage crash took out traditional banks. That landed me on a call with an A-lister's agent who was looking for private backing for a film she'd had written for herself. That call, led to another call, that led to building a really great community of passionate filmmakers and investors.
And here I am.... currently writing the beginnings of a series that I've fallen in love with and hope to find help crafting into something extraordinary.
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I am a writer, but I can't write, and I can't even think. My husband died Sunday morning....
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RIP
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@Lois Sorry to hear of the loss of your loved one but hope it's not too long before you have the will power to get on the keyboard again albeit writing through the sadness.
@Dalene All the best with your new series. What happened to you in the financial sector of the noughties (I mean the 2000 era) sounds like it would make a good story.
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So excited that you have found a love for the stories you have told. You're definitely in the right place! So many useful tools and lessons and a wealth of amazingly talented people. How far are you into writing your series?
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Hi Dalene Stuteville. Thank you for spelling duct tape correctly.
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@Lois So sorry to hear of your loss
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Lois....having lost loved ones in multiples the last few years I understand your numbness. As you probably know, time doesn't heal the wound. It just allows you to live with it. Stay strong and God bless you.
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Hi, Dalene! God bless you too...
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@Lois I'm so sorry this has happened to you. There's nothing like the feeling that the whole world should stop and grieve. Write again when you can - the words will eventually come.
@Debbie Oh that's probably true! We were mainly facilitating acquisitions for investors so my consulting company wasn't at risk thankfully. But yeah, we saw some investors lose some pretty lucrative deals because of it.
@Shane So far, I'm loving this space! As far as the series goes....You mean THIS version? We're sketching out the pilot now but personally I'm struggling with settling on a vibe / mood that I want. I signed up for the Pilot workshop coming up.
@Wendy I feel your gratitude... I also threw in a "lose" correctly spelled and used just for you.
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@Oma thank you! He does. May God bless you as well.
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Dalene Stuteville Welcome to the community, duct tape holder. :D
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My condolences to you and your family, Lois Sullivan.
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Maurice Vaughan thanks! Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being typecasted... ;)
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You might be, Dalene Stuteville. What exactly is a duct tape holder?
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Dalene Stuteville I love this post. Captures the passion for why we pursue our creative dreams AND the importance of discipline for when preparation meets opportunity. Simply perfect.
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Lois Sullivan I am so sorry for your loss.
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@Maurice it's included in the closing credits as "Special thanks to" ==> "Duct Tape Holder".
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@Richard thanks! I truly appreciate the access this site provides. Pure gold.
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Greatly appreciate your kind words, Dalene Stuteville - Have a fantastic weekend!
Oh ok, Dalene Stuteville. I thought duct tape holder meant something else.
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Sorry for your loss, Lois.
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Maurice Vaughan nope I mean duct tape in all its non-gaffer glory
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Duct tape holder is kinda what I thought it was, Dalene Stuteville. I thought duct tape holder meant someone who repairs things on set with duct tape. Basically, someone who holds things together with duct tape.
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Maurice Vaughan exactly!
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It's all about following your instincts at this stage. Glad you've found something to express your creativity. :)
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@Marcel Thanks! I read your post about being a metalhead and wondering how that contributes to writing. My business partner is a metalhead which is so not my genre' of music but I do think that music can drive creativity like CRAAZY! I wrote a really fun narrated stage performance with orchestral versions of Pink Floyd and Enya. It was not chemically induced I promise. It was the first time I ever had someone walk up and write me a check just because they enjoyed it so much. So I'm glad to hear you're starting and thinking outside the box. Don't forget it's a process so don't stop!
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Very very cool Dalene... Its so much fun finding a fully grown forrest in a place you once placed a single seed. Diligence and relationships are the fertilizer that allow us to follow these crazy winding roads of our passion.... Excited to see what you cook up! I'm actually on location typing this AD-ing a feature I sort of stumbled my way to in a similar fashion!
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@Chad oh sweet! "Stumbled into" starts a lot of my adventures for sure. Sometimes you stumble into a fully-grown forest that someone else planted. This seems like just such a place :)
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Dalene Stuteville You don't need to be under chemical influence to appreciate a great piece of music. lol It's a trope that is easily associated with the heavy metal subculture.
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@Marcel thanks for that. I feel seen :')
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Dalene Stuteville, great to hear the depth in subjects!
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Lois Sullivan, my condolences. However these events in our lives, can bring out powerful and touching stories, that can impact lives, even resurrect the voice of love ones, in a script and more. Don't forget...Think deeply!!
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Dalene Stuteville I started writing books. Then covid hit and I got the worst of it. Was bedridden for 3 months but my mind was alert and coherent. While I was in bed, a friend suggested I write a screenplay. I had studied for years and written shorts but never worked up the courage to write a feature. Wrote my first one before being able to get up out of bed and I've been hooked ever since. Like finding the one that was meant for you! Been knocking them out ever since.
Lois Sullivan So very sorry for your loss.
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Lois Sullivan I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you in this hard time. :(
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There is a story about Lucille Ball helping out on a sound stage at Desilu, helping the technicians by doing a little sweeping. So, you seem to be in good company.
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A famous story in STAR TREK the original series lore. On set during the behind schedule shoot of WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE - the second pilot - she helped by sweeping the sand-covered dolly tracks.
Condolences, Lois.
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Leonardo Ramirez I can't even imagine being bedridden for 3 months. I'm so sorry. Do you feel like you're back to 100%?
I've kicked around ideas for several books. Who knows maybe I'll take the reverse path. COVID was such a catalyst for a lot of change. We had a creative strategy consulting company when one of our business partners left just as COVID hit, intentionally putting much of our intellectual property into legal limbo for 2 years. In some ways like being professionally bedridden. (For the second time in my life I've seen money manipulate the legal system and not in a good way.) During that downtime we had to decide, if we have to start from ground zero where do we go from here. We decided to focus on this series. So I totally get that, sometimes you have to just jump in with both feet. Thanks for sharing your story! I love hearing how people found "the one" - what a perfect way to describe it.
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@David Funny story...I cast a girl for a short, period piece in a part that required her to sweep while she talked. She'd never used a broom. I literally had to teach her how to sweep. I've got mad sweeping skills.
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Dalene Stuteville Thanks so much Dalene. Creatively, I can't keep up. During that time, I also made a list of IPs that I have yet to develop but I'm slowly going down the list. Physically, I'm at about 80%. Believe it or not, what's helped me with keeping my energy up the most has been keto and intermittent fasting and of course, increased exercise. I taught martial arts for some time before that so I'm slowly working that back in. And yes, I get what you're saying about COVID being a catalyst. I love screenwriting but if I'm going to think like an entrepreneur, I need to not discard the literary means entirely and keep my net wide. Knowing what I know now, I'd do things a little differently and likely keep both avenues in the cooker but do it smartly.
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@ ELangley There's got to be a picture of Lucy in a starfleet uniform somewhere!! We'd have no ST if not for her.
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Leonardo Ramirez Oh I'm there with you. Keto is the bomb. Drinking bhb salts / ketones helps with my energy so so much. And yes, there's so much commercially available to artists if they know how to package themselves and make the right connections so it's definitely smart to keep your work in development. Being a multi-hyphenate is all about focus and selective perfectionism. Sometimes good means good enough to move on. I'd love to hear more about what you're working on. You're not too far away from Indy. Are there Stage 32 meetups down that way?
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Dalene Stuteville Same here. Would love to hear what you're doing as well. There aren't any meetups as of now but I'll send you a DM with my email address momentarily. Honored to meet you!
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Damn straight, Leonardo Ramirez. These are the voyages of Desi and Lucy's Desilu. If there's no existing photo one should be Photoshopped or Midjourneyed. Live long and prosper.
I'm certain Ms. Ball learned how to heft a mop and swing a broom as a housefrau in "I Love Lucy."
Here's another story I heard her tell: She picked up radio stations on her teeth. Dissimilar metals in a filling created a capacitor effect. Lucy thought she was going crazy.
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Leonardo Ramirez DM received! Glad to officially connect!
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And we find:
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LOL Thanks. Great find.
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@David Kleve @ELangley That's the ticket!!! Thank you David!!
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Professionally bedridden. Wow, I've never heard of that, Dalene Stuteville. I can picture a movie or series about that. Is that part of your series?
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Maurice Vaughan No, we were legally stuck in an IP dispute between partners which meant we could not grow our business the way it existed or start any new business from that IP without determining what pieces were whose; which wouldn't have been too much of an issue except that one partner wanted to act like a crazy person and just create basically a 2-year delay. There's more to it than that but for comparison to Leonardo's 3 months of being medically bedridden it was in essence like being professionally bedridden.
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Sorry to hear that, Dalene Stuteville. Looking forward to hearing more about your series as you write it.
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Dalene Stuteville, admirable how you dealt with situations, generally. I'll also recall the casting story, obviously a healthy sense of humor, to cheer someone up, as I myself had situations to deal with, businesswise and also included years of recuperation, I'm presently awaiting confirmation on an entry to a local film festival. Analyzing if an error was made on my part. "Recuperation factors". As always, collectiveness and assertiveness however, basically decides a positive outcome.
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Hi Dalene, Welcome to Stage 32! Lovely to meet you.
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@Eon I don't know about admirably but thank you! Good luck with the entry!
@Niki thank you so much!
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"Thank you for your post. What do you finance?
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Thanks for sharing Dalene,
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@Linda thanks for asking. I have investment partners primarily here in the Midwest that are interested in the entertainment industry so it really depends. I'm mainly here as we're in the process of rebuilding a production team and developing a series. Always a student of the industry.
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Welcome to the Stage 32 Community, Dalene!
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Dalene Stuteville, thanks for the reply and best wishes, you're welcome! Success also in your endeavors!. Enjoyed the post, conversations and commentaries collectively. Of course I wish everyone the best!