Saturday, April 24, 2010

▌STW ▌The Story Department's Best of the Web Roundup, 4/25

The Story Department has rounded up some story bits that will MAKE YOU BETTER!


3 years apart...

Browse through to see what suits you, but peep this piece of juicy on starting a revolution in storytelling. I'm prolly attracted to it after seeing Death At A Funeral.... I don't feel compelled to share anything bad or good about the flick itself, so I'll abstain from saying anything at all, except show you picture and beg and plead this: People of melanin and all you latent writers, you--CREATE THE CINEMA! GET ME WOKE!

This comes from Julie Gray at JustEffingEntertainMe.com (she betta PREACH!):
Don’t even try to go there and deny that a terrible fog of mediocrity is hanging over Hollywood. And it’s choking the art form of cinema to death. The worst part is that the mediocrity is self-generated because I tell you right now that I see some great scripts and really fresh ideas come from aspiring writers from all over the world. But these scripts don’t make it into the right hands. There is an industry around keeping them out and unfortunately that industry is in part fueled by the millions of scripts that pour into Hollywood each day that were written hastily by dabblers and pretenders who haven’t bothered to learn a goddamn thing about the industry they flippantly think will pay them loads of money.

And while we're on the subject of PIMPS and SCREENWRITING...

I present...

SCRIPT P.I.M.P. or SCRIPT Pipeline Into Motion Pictures.

Script P.I.M.P. is looking for submissions now. Deadline is May 1.



▌PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ▌Hard Out Here For A Screenwriter

It has always been kinda hard out there in HWD for the lowly 'scribe.' 

Writers might very well be at the poverty rung of the glitz'n'glam scale if we were discussing whose greenbacks are most sure. And according to Variety, that's only getting worse.
As studio-produced flicks decrease, the mechanics of filmmaking are creating the opportunity for greater exploitation of new writers and writers with new ideas. A writer may write for a studio "on-spec" [def: a script shopped or sold on the open market, as opposed to one commissioned by a production company" Variety Slanguage Dictionary] and not get a money-backed commitment (that is, get PAAAAAAAAIIIIIID!) until the studio is satisfied with the re-write, singular. 

However, writers are re-writing their lives away with no check in sight for several drafts.

If ya ask meeeeee...
sounds like all the more reason to go INDIE! Write, produce, go broke, and shoot the thing your danged self.

Check the full article over at Variety.com, but first, here are a couple of money shots:

"For writers who have sold a script or landed an assignment, studios have gone from making deals that included a traditional first draft, two sets of revisions and a polish to what are called "one-step" deals. It's essentially payment for that first draft, with fees for additional work left to be determined.
In a landscape of waning producing deals and fewer pictures in the pipeline, writers say it's become especially difficult to insist on getting paid for rewrites -- even if they end up doing more than a dozen drafts. Their fear: not getting a next assignment."

Thursday, April 22, 2010

▌EPIPHANY ▌Where You've Seen Wyatt Cenac Before #latebuddy



YO!
EVERY TIME I SEE WYATT CENAC ON THE DAILY SHOW I GET SUPER FRUSTRATED TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE I'VE SEEN THIS DUDE BEFORE!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tea America
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party


Now I have my answer, and it makes sense since (haha) Jon Stewart loves comedy writers. And why wouldn't he? So this is where you've seen this guy before...

Medicine for Melancholy is one. This was a 2008 SXSW feature with Cenac as lead character "Micah." 



You've heard his punchy comedic-isms behind King of the Hill as early as 2004.
And he's been on The Daily Show since 2008.
Superfab.
Now I can relax a bit.
Good.

▌STW ▌Idris Elba Gets Candid w/ New York Times | Shadow & Act


I'm always happy to talk about Idris. :D Always.
Anywho!
Very recently Idris Elba (aka DJ DRIIS!) had a fireside chat with the New York Times as he revs up for the hallaballoo surrounding The Losers, opening in theaters tomorrow.
Read S&A's money shots, and then read the article in full over at NYT. In the meantime, just...idk...drool.

▌STW ▌ Janelle Monáe's 'ArchAndroid' Album Cover is Here! | Vibe



OOH! Look what I fount [sic] while Searching The Web!

JM--She SINGS Hot Fiyah! Must shout out the art happening here on Janelle Monáe's soon-to-drop album, The 'ArchAndroid.

Here are my two cents and I'm done: LOVE it! Feels like it's serving a dual purpose, too. JM is dollbaby adorable--none can deny. Furthermore, does she not evoke Sheba, Makeda, Candace Pharoahnic Queendom all in the same breath? I'm reading a two-in-one jab--and again--I. LOVE. IT.

Read into and on about these crazy lovely visuals over at Vibe Magazine:  Janelle Monáe's 'ArchAndroid' Album Cover is Here! | Vibe


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

▌CELEBRATION OF LIFE ▌ Dorothy I. Height (March 24, 1912 - April 20, 2010)



Civil Rights pioneer and heroine Dorothy Irene Height has died. Dr. Height was the Chair and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women headquartered in Washington, DC, but her accomplishments begin early in the 20th Century, spilling over until now, and exceeding her through her ongoing work and legacy. Dr. Height was 98. See a more comprehensive snapshot of her life here.

▌CELEBRATION OF LIFE ▌ GURU (July 17, 1966 - April 19, 2010)

 (GURU, left)

GURU of Gang Starr passed last night, April 19th, after a long battle with cancer. The artist was 43 years old. Check this letter from GURU to his fans and supporters, republished by AllHipHop.com.


Monday, April 19, 2010

▌SCREENINGS ▌Get Earthy and Jazzy Around the DMV Tonight

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (whoo hoo!) and it brings us the fast approaching Earth Day. Celebrate both tonight and all week with these festivities y mas going down about and around the DMV.

Monday, April 19
Busboys and Poets
6:00P
Free and open to the Public
With Earth Day approaching, Busboys and Poets at 14th and V streets is offering a screening of the award-winning documentary Tapped, a look into the unregulated and environmentally harmful bottled-water industry from the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car? [I {HEART} THEM!] and I.O.U.S.A. The event begins at 6.


Monday, April 19
Mary Pickford Theater
7:00P
Free and open to the public

Dexter Gordon's film 'Round Midnight will be shown for free at the Library of Congress. Last Friday Gordon's mishc and films became a collection of the Library of Congress. Gordon's wife will be in attendance for Q&A following the screening.



Thursday, April 22
Pure Lounge
DMV International Film Festival Presents: The Greenhouse Effect Music Showcase
8:00P - 2:00A
$10 before midnight
$15 after

Celebrate Earth Day, quench your thirst for DMV music, and get excited for the upcoming First Annual DMV International Film Festival all at once this Thursday at Pure Lounge. Support international cinema coming to the DMV!

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