I just got an email, not terribly noteworthy in and of itself but as you know, it's the contents of the letter that count. 

Caught Grindhouse last night.  I'm not going to talk about the film because I don't want to spoil it for anybody but I will say this.  It was bloody, gory, gross, sexy and all around fucking awesome.  Sure some people are finding Tarantino's section a bit talky but lets be honest, you play to your strengths.

I laughed out loud, clapped and yelled at the screen, tell me the last time a movie made you want to do that.  Also nice to see some favorite actors who don't get enough screen time up there.  Guys like Micheal Biehn and Michael Parks. 

It gives me hope.  Hope it does huge box office this weekend and shows the suits that it doesn't always have to make sense to make money but it sure does have to be fun.

Like the song says, "What a difference a day makes."

So, back from ten days in Winnipeg, what a great way to end my Winter.  There's just something about the Praries that's so, so, desolate.  It might be that everything looks the same in every direction, I don't know.  Still, I got some writing done and it looks like my wife is up for one of the films coming to Toronto (regardless of the aftermath of the strike).  So things are looking up.  If the weather breaks and the wind picks up, I am literally going to fly my kite.

It's a funny thing this business of writing, if the highs weren't so high, the lows wouldn't be so low.

The man above is perched on a rather precarious ice wall.  Guess what, so are you...

This is the last of Andrew's articles from the Banff Television Festival.  Due to the nature of this page, the articles are posted with the most recent being the first or top story.  If you want to read this in cronological order, you need to go to the bottom of the page and start with the first posted article.  I have immensely enjoyed these articles and hope that Andrew can make it out to join me in Toronto for the film festival here this summer.  I'm sure we could get into all kinds of trouble.

T Plus 6

Sometime during Breakfast,  Bob pointed out that as the week progressed, so did the amount of time we allowed for sleeping in;  on Sunday we were up at eight, while here we are on Friday eating breakfast at one thirty in the afternoon.  Hurriedly eating, as we watch bus after bus drive past the windows, coming from the Banff springs on their way to the Lake Louise excursion; we have until two to catch the last one.  There's nothing like rushing a bacon, cheese and mushroom omelet to get you in the mood for a hike several hundred feet above sea level.

T Plus 5

Another sleep in day, this time due to a lack of pitches for the projects Bob and I have, but Bobs idea of sleeping in is insanely nine O'clock; still earlier than what I consider early to be getting up at. Fareed and Keith though, still have some pitching to do today, so the four of us made our way back to the Springs Hotel. It allows us the time to run into a few people that we find interesting, some we're hoping to work with in the
future...just talk right now. An added bonus, it's the day of the Great Canadian Barbecue, and individuals are already playing dressup, from the boots all the way to the hats. I'm from the country myself, living on a
farm with cows, I don't think I've ever dressed like that.

T Plus 4

I slept in, I really slept in; I mean I really, really slept in today. It was noon before I reached the shower. I remember two groups leaving, each checking to see if I would wake; I questioned their sanity of waking so early, before rolling over again. Recommended, one watch, which is the first thing I purchased upon leaving the motel, a fifty-seven dollar watch with two alarms on it...and it glows in the dark.

T Plus 3

I messed up, I dropped the ball, I, on a cosmic scale took a dash to the credibility today. I had a noon appointment with the Discovery channel over Fareed's documentary; my appointment with the Aboriginal Channel had gone well, built on the energy of that and the excitement of getting to a James Burrows interview, I forgot of my obligation to Fareed. It's not an excuse, as I'll admit, it was unprofessional while at the same time a let down to a friend. And worse, apparently the pitch went as well as apple pie on blueberry Tuesday; Fareed informed us that the representative not only turned us down but also took the time out to insult the product itself.

The untold or maybe unsaid fact of most Canadian writers involved in the film industry today is that they have a day job to keep them afloat while they wait for the next gig.  Most do shift work in menial jobs usually in the service industries, a lucky few work contract to contract in the Film and TV industry proper.  And even fewer of us (the really stupid ones) work in a wholly other career.

T Plus 2

Monday, begins with a much welcomed sleep in, but with every unanticipated sleep in comes the obligatory rush to get ready.  Not an easy task with four guys and one shower.  Unfortunately, we missed the supplied breakfast, but like all low budget filmmakers we adapted... roast beef sandwich.

T Plus 1

Last nights bar hopping was a successful endeavor, no one became inebriated but Fareed was spanked in public, by the lead player in a group of nomadic stagette practitioners. 

A drink and a floor show.

T Minus 1 day

The first leg of the trip, sorry to say, was uneventful; after four hours we arrived at Robert Fuggers' parents home.  Most filmmakers already have a story in their head of what they would shoot, given the chance, in a place they visit a lot,  Robert is no exception. 

We welcome Andrew Genaille to Sabot.  Andrew is a Native Writer / Filmmaker currently based in British Columbia.  He'll be writing about his current trip to the Banff TV Convention.  This is Andrew's second trip to Canadian TV's wildest week.

Banff  T minus 2 days.

(not that that's a bad thing)

Every so often I get email flyers for the McKee story seminars, okay to be honest it's more than so often, it's a pretty regular thing.  Now I haven't got anything against Robert's class.  Hell I took it.  Forked out the huge coin and went.  Did it make any difference in the way I write?  Not really.  Has it landed me a huge three picture deal in Hollywood?  Not exactly (but I'll get to that).  Did it help in any way?  Yes.

Well it's about a month since I posted last.  There is a reason (which I will get to).  Actually there are a couple of reasons (which I may or may not get to).

Well, I finally submitted my second draft of my new manuscript to my Agent and the other members of the group.  I didn't expect rave reviews because I wasn't very happy with what I'd come up with.   For some reason, this particular story was kicking my ass.  Our initial critique session was about two weeks after submission, we covered six scripts over a period of about five hours.

While I realize that I owe a great deal to Vancouver and the members of it's film community, I was also eager to get back to Toronto, and business more or less as usual.

Well I finally broke down and bought one of these Palm Pilots, and seeing as I'm sitting at 39,000 feet with little else to do, why don't we tackle the Agent, Manager, Producer thing.