Lovely actors Diarra Kilpatrick and Wynter Daggs will be performing in my play “How Gravity Works” tonight as part of “The Car Plays” at the Off-Center Festival (Segerstrom Center for the Arts)!
Allow me to show off the poster for “The Crazy Story” which was given to me by the screenwriter (and poster designer), 10-year old Estefanni. I had the privilege of mentoring her thru the Young Storytellers Foundation — where I get to school aspiring writers in the basic tools of dramatic structure (this is the screenplay format, this is what “protagonist” and “antagonist” means, this is called a “dénouement,” etc) and then let their creativity run wild.
Esteffani’s script was an epic about Fiona Lee, an orphan who was stolen from her hapless parents (The Duke and Duchess of the town of Willow) and raised in an orphanage in the nearby less reputable Busy Town, where she has to deal with her orphan rival Elizabeth. But one day Fiona and Elizabeth find a magic door that transports them to Willow, where they decide to become friends and embark on a quest to find Fiona’s real parents. Luckily they meet a young boy who runs his family’s shop and has good teeth, and he gives Fiona his family’s talking Magic Rock who drops clues that eventually lead the kids to the Duke and Duchess’ palace. But now they have to find a way to sneak past the guards and the maids…
I won’t give away the exciting conclusion but there’s tickle rays, matching birthmarks and, of course, fart powder. Oh, and the moral at the end after Fiona discovers her royal roots: she asks the Magic Rock why it helped her, and it says because even though she was special, Fiona always treated everyone else with respect.
I love this story and I can’t claim any creative input on it. Really, once she got going I only encouraged her to keep thinking if she got stuck on a plot point, and made sure she finished it on time. I gotta admit I get more out of these mentor gigs than I bet the young writers do. Watching the ease at which kids throw these amazing unfiltered stories out, create worlds and express themselves is inspiring — and humbling.
For me, readings are a favorite part of the process in writing a new play. Yesterday was the first reading of my play-in-progress “Tombolo,” where I got to hear talented actors bring life to the characters and get feedback from smart folk about what parts of the story are working and not. The brave actors had to deal with speaking Italian, German, and pronouncing “Huachuca” and did an amazing job with a challenging monster of a story. It’s cool to get a play out of your head, even of it isn’t done, and take it for test run. Now it’s back to the lab!
Update: my short story A Hapless Soul will be published in the upcoming issue of the anthology series Digital Webbing Presents… available on Comixology for digital download to your iPad/iPhone/Android/old dusty laptop soon!
I’ll post as soon as I know when the new issue is out.
Occupying L.A.
Nothing like a stupid, senseless, unjust execution to snap you back to reality. As I packed up my studio at VCCA I caught up on the news of Troy Davis’ murder by the state of Georgia, and got ready to emerge out of the little oasis where I’ve been protected from most of the world.
I feel a little crazy after 2 weeks writing my ass off — and I’m already looking forward to continuing the work that I accomplished here. I can’t wait to get back to L.A., but I’m wondering who to talk to about adding more hours in a day so I can keep this creative groove going.
It’s been an amazing privilege to have this much time to devote to my play and other projects, and an experience I won’t soon forget. Gonna say goodbye to some of the very cool peeps I met here, then I’m coming back at ya, real world…
Some serious Animal Planet Channel shit went down in my studio this morning when my good friend Floyd the Moth was attacked and killed by a local spider. It was so unexpected and shocking that all I could do was take pictures with my phone. Floyd and I had spent many hours together — he was there clinging to my desk lamp when I finished a draft of my play — so I feel a little empty now that he’s gone. Hakuna matata, Floyd.
Week one at VCCA complete! Hard to believe it’s been 7 days already. The work on my new play is going pretty well so far. When I got here I was halfway thru a rewrite of act one - I finished that, and hope to finish the first draft of act two by tomorrow.
I usually despise and avoid nature at all costs, but other than the scare stories about rabid raccoons and brain-eating amoebas (I’ll try to post a picture explaining that one later), being out here in the sticks hasn’t been too bad.
I’ve even bonded with a horse that hangs out by the fence near the path I walk to get to the studios. And by bonded, I mean I will stop and look at him and he will walk over and stick his big head over the fence to sniff me and I will sometimes pet his head until I get annoyed by all the flies and walk away.
My head is always filled with the play. The characters wake me up in the morning. I crawl out of my dorm room, grab some food and lots of coffee and walk to the studio. When I need a break from myself I’ll go bother a visual artist in one of their studios and ask them dumb questions about their art. When my fingers give out from all the typing, I go swim in the pool, or catch a ride to the nearby college to use the gym over there. I’m feeling very lucky and privileged, so I made a donation to charity: water the other day, which is the kind of thing I should do more often even when I’m not livin’ the good life.
7 more days…
Came across this bad-ass campy film poster while doing research for the play I’m currently working on. I watched the movie, set in World War II Italy — it’s surprisingly good given how pulp-schlock the poster is (at least the American version of the poster). The characters are sympathetic, layered; the film is a neo-realist look at the ways people (from a Black GI, to Italian petty thieves, to displaced women) had to survive in a country decimated by war. Fellini wrote the screenplay, one of his earliest film creds.
VCCA living: the view from my studio, a writer’s bungalow (right) and artist studios behind it.
My new ongoing action comic Protege is now online, featuring cool art by Juan Romera. This is a project I’ve been working on for a while, and I’m glad to finally be getting it out into the world.
Protege is set in the world of high-tech espionage, shadowy operatives and international assassins — and while the series starts off in a typical action-adventure vein, expect some twists that will take the characters in offbeat directions.
The first four pages are up now, and new pages will be added to the site weekly. Please enjoy the ride…
Where I will be in September, writing my ass off.
Meet Elijah Sixkiller. Page one of a western, written by me with art by Marcello Abreu.
In the works: I’ve been having a blast working on a couple comic book projects. One of them is a 9-page western titled A Hapless Soul, which features a blind, crazed Buffalo Soldier (as all good westerns should). Words by me and amazing art by Marcello Abreu.
