Disappointment, Minus the Disappointment
So I didn't get into the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab. But I'm not disappointed. Not in the slightest. I'd kind of resigned myself to the inevitability I wouldn't get in based strictly on how low my odds were, and with their jenky announcement process (giving the chosen few only about four weeks to prep and make the big move to LA), not to mention my desire to work on my own project (with friends, of course) and this whole situation with my dad (more on that in a sec), I'd kind of unofficially decided I wouldn't want to do it anyway. Yes, the opportunity was huge, but there was always next year.
In any case, they gave me great coverage on Consequences. It was very insightful; I agreed with the majority of their points. And it was incredibly supportive! I don't want to get into a gloating mode or anything (he says moments before gloating), but they flocked my script in with Brick and Cruel Intentions, in terms of heightened high school/college angst. I haven't seen the latter yet, but I love the former, and am honored to be even thought of in the same vain as those two. The last line of the notes is especially complimentary: "While this particular piece of material is likely not a choice for the Film Independent Labs, the writer is one to watch, and clearly has a talent for storytelling." Thanks, anonymous reader.
One little nitpicking thing I have, and I had this on another script I received coverage on a year or so ago, is how they summarize. They get the basic story correct, but there are details here and there that are just absolutely wrong. I understand that they're trying to condense the plot and make it clear to someone who'll likely not take a gander at the script, but it just comes off as the reader missing some of the points entirely. And they called my script a drama! It's a black comedy! How is that not obvious?
Ahem...anyway, so that's over with. It's not really a "back to the drawing board" scenario, but I will look over Consequences again in the near the future. Things right now are still hectic, though. Dad may not have dementia after all; he may have some kind of encephalopathy that's causing all his symptoms and is something that is treatable, so yay, hope and such, goody goody gumdrops. Right now, though, he still needs to be taken care of until this is all sorted out and offically diagnosed. I'd like to think this will happen as quick as, well, everything else has happened, but I don't know. Then there's Scavengers, the web series I'm writing with Zack. That's making progress--we're going to write episode 3 on Sunday. So, yeah. Endeth life update.
