HeyChristine.com

Tuesday, January 2nd

Back in the District...

I got up around 9 this morning and took a really nice, long, hot shower. It felt like I hadn't showered in a very long time. It's great to run around and see old friends, but nothing beats the comforts of home. I took my time. My brother was home this morning, so we went to get Taco Bell at one of the malls nearby... except that it was NO LONGER THERE. The Man upstairs CLEARLY does not want me to have Taco Bell.

Later, he dropped me off at Walter's office and I spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon there. Walter was busy with work, so I ended up chattin' it up with John, his high school buddy, for awhile. John was also in town visiting.

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But about John...

John has been living in L.A. for the past 15 years and knew SO MUCH about film production. I was overwhelmingly impressed. I know nothing about that stuff and proceeded to ask him tons of questions, namely because of the doors that may open for me as a result of HeyChristine.com. I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two about proper script writing and the film industry in general.

My first question for John was, "What, pray tell, is the difference between a producer, an executive producer, a director, and a writer, and given the above, what does that make me with respect to HeyChristine.com?" I thought I was just the Producer and perhaps the Host!

John spent the next hour giving me a lesson on Screenplay 101. It was an unexpected bonus that was very much appreciated. He told me to get two books, one called "Screenplay" by Syd Field and another called the "Screenwriter's Bible" which he says that everyone in the industry must read. I'm going to try to pick them up in San Francisco on my way back to Taipei.

I also need to get a software called "Final Draft" which standardizes screenplay formatting (I think that's what it does) , get my work copyrighted which I'll have to ask Mike about, and finally, to register with the Writer's Guild (which I guess is the 'union' of writers) and oh my God, which one? Ugh. He also taught me a term that I never heard before - treatment - which is basically the initial outline of a screenplay. He's written three himself. John is one very articulate person and I much enjoyed listening to him talk. I was his Little Pupil that day.

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But about Walter...

Walter was cracking me up the whole time because he kept wanting to use his computer but John needed to show me samples of screenplay formats on the net. Walter shhhhh!! Please be quiet!! LOL. Poor Walter. I do miss hanging out with that boy. John had to go, so then Walter and I took off for, well, Staples.

Every time I come to see him, he takes me to either Hechinger's, Home Depot, and now Staples, and then takes me to get a cup of coffee before dropping me off back home. That ding dong. IN SPITE of the way he abuses me, I'm quite proud of my boy Walter. His company (it's humble beginnings which I experienced first-hand) was recently listed in INC. Magazine's top 500 fastest-growing private companies in America in 2000. Click on Walter's ear to see more photos.

Later that night, I met up with Lisa and Alex for dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby. My brother and his lawyer joined us as well. The restaurant was quite charming, and it was interesting to listen to Lisa talk about what happened at her company, PlanetGov.com.

But about me...

Later I went to Lisa's place to show her what I know about HTML and then came back home and plugged away at this site. I also needed to update some information on the ORIENTED site, which I was not able to work on at all until now (12/23 - 1/2). It's been painful.

YESTERDAY | THE NEXT DAY