What Wes Craven Taught Me about Blogging

“There’s always the fond hope that someday I’ll get to do something else, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m very good at making genre pictures, and I can express basically anything in them anyway.” – Wes Craven

Blogging landed me a contributing writer gig at an award-winning Hip-Hop magazine. It also broadened my horizons through French and Italian cuisine. It also helped me make a movie. It also put me in a position to collaborate with famous magicians. Yet, screenwriter and director Wes Craven’s perspective on being pigeonholed into horror films led me to understand that many of these gains pale in comparison to how writing a blog helped me push forward to create a little more life inside myself where there was none.

I learned how to focus on what I’m good at.

As you can tell from the Blockbuster video envelope, this photo is quite old but the machine is pretty much what I had to work with.

Committing to a long-term activity is a challenge for me sometimes.

The 30-day YouTube video series I worked on two years ago turned into a 30-video series as those initial 30 days turned into weeks and soon, two months flew by without one new upload.

I was editing the videos on an old, slow running computer that, after going through multiple repairs for other problems, started crashing while performing simple tasks.

I lost my enthusiasm and patience for the series after only eight videos into the project. It has yet to be completed. In the spring, I started a new YouTube series that was originally planned to be published in conjunction with my Mixed Bag of Tricks theme for the 2015 Blogging from A-Z Challenge. You'd think I'd know better after the "Making of" film series became more of a burden than a fun activity. Writing blog posts was the only thing that remained consistent throughout those (and other) attempts at growing my YouTube channel.

I completed the Blogging from A-Z Challenge five years in a row -- a prime example of being dedicated to finishing what I start when it involves writing. I have a few YouTube subscribers and know some people have watched videos I made but there isn't much activity on either side of the channel -- mine or the viewers. There is rarely ever a question of whether I should work on blog posts or not. It's a non-issue, as it must get done.

I feel like something is missing when it's been days since The Madlab Post was updated. Blogging has its moments of setbacks and annoyances but at the end of the day, I know I can do it. And I like it. It's fun. It gives me a chance to express viewpoints on subjects that matter to me while introducing people to films no one else would have likely told them about.

Made in Baltimore, the short film "Charlotte" directed by Angel Kristi Williams is playing Nov. 8th at the Driftless Film Festival in Wisconsin! Audiences at a film screening event I hosted in Philly were treated to the trailer during the movie previews.Blogging also helps me help filmmakers who put their blood, sweat and tears into making their dreams a reality. It's nice to be a part of that. Especially when people respond to it. People visit, read and comment on the blog posts I write here. Sometimes you agree. Sometimes the topic at hand doesn't float your boat. Either way, it helps to know that people relate to my blog posts, respond to them and spark conversations around them.

Blogging has allowed me to combine my experiences and fascination with the moviemaking process with the knack for creating things, even if the pieces being created are in written form.

I learned how to code somewhat.

Web development is not my forte but blogging expanded my knowledge in website building. I used to leave matters that had to do with the backend of a site up to other people who were well versed in that area. Then came the time when I wanted to change my header image, add sharing buttons and adjust various aspects of The Madlab Post, back when I had it hosted on Blogger. In those early days, I just used whatever options were available.

Since Blogger had templates, it was the answer to my preference for that set-it-and-forget-it type of backend management. I later became interested in third-party widgets, cool looking graphics and making adjustments to the design and layout of my blog. This led me to Blogger Buster, a website run by a woman named Amanda who writes tutorials on how to make all sorts of tweaks to your blog. I also read other tech websites and online forums where website owners in different industries discussed the ways in which they were able to get a certain result regarding the appearance or functionality of their site.

Amanda's Blogger Buster has gone through changes but this is what it looked like when I used to visit her website.From adding navigation menus and hyperlinks in blog comment signatures to resizing images and formatting posts without using a web-editor, blogging had me doing more coding than I ever thought I would. It's a benefit that has enabled me to utilize the HTML and CSS skills I’ve gained even when I’m not blogging, which helped me customize the website for my short film Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever and tweak other websites of mine.

I learned about leverage.

There was a time when I wanted to schedule an interview with a director whose feature film I heard about through the grapevine. His debut drama, about Marines getting ready for their first deployment, was gaining some buzz and I wanted to help spread the word. Except he was in California. I’ve never been to California and didn’t have the resources to just fly out there for the sole purpose of speaking with a man I never met, about a movie I had yet to watch.

Then, he said he’d be in New York soon for the screening of his film. That was a better bet. So, I went to New York, where I got to hang out with film and television executives, watch a handful of movies that I never knew existed, and chat with several promising directors about Tyler Perry, war in the Middle East and stereotypes of minorities portrayed in the media. While there, I also met his producer and ate calamari for the first time in my life. It wasn’t as gross as I imagined it would be. Later, I came home with new headshots, new friends and a better understanding of how the entertainment industry operates.

I learned how to enjoy the climb and not worry about results.

When developing film productions, I tend to focus on the end result. Will anything come of this? What will I gain from doing this? It’s a means to an end. There was a season years ago when I treated blogging that way too (see the lesson on sensationalism below) and I think the content suffered because of my choice to use it as a tool to get something else. Thankfully, I grew out of that phase and realized that the process of blogging is enough on its own. The opportunities, traffic, goods – monetary or otherwise, that result from blogging are icing on the cake. I already have the prize that is running a space where I get to express myself in this medium, inspire and enlighten people and hone my own voice.

The victory comes when I hit the publish button on each blog post I write. I’m not aiming to pimp out this blog for money, cars, clothes (shout out to Drake and Trey Songz!), accolades, being on the cover of magazines or landing a guest spot on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. If any of these things can be had from blogging, perhaps I’d be crazy not to welcome them but I won’t hold my breath waiting for such breakthroughs to arrive. That’s not the motivation behind why I blog. I create the kind content that I want to put out into the universe and for one reason or another, men and women in different parts of the world feel compelled to visit and read these writings. THAT is what I would call a win.

I learned about relationships.

(l-r): Le Anne from Tinsel & Tine and I at the 2014 Couch Fest Film ScreeningAround 2008, I started blogging about a scrappy shorts festival called Couch Fest, founded in Seattle by a cool man named Craig Downing. A few years later, I became one of the festival’s hundreds of hosts around the world who showed award-winning films to strangers on a single day. Another screening followed in 2014 and being involved with Couch Fest got me an interview with Tinsel & Tine, a website dedicated to food and film reviews.

The woman who runs Tinsel & Tine also attended my screening of the short films and later helped get the word out about an event I did this year for shnit CINEMAS Worldwide, an international film festival based in Switzerland with jury presidents including screenwriters Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) and Paul Haggis (Casino Royale, Million Dollar Baby).

As a member of The Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka The LAMB), I’ve appeared as a guest on the LAMBcast, an iTunes podcast featuring select groups of men and women from all over the world who share a love of film. Before that, The LAMB published a guest post I wrote about the nominees for “Best Original Song” for The Lamb Devours the Oscars, a 32-part series dissecting the 85th Academy Awards. Later that year, I was one of the presenters during The Lammys, an annual online awards event where members nominate and vote on the best movie blogs in various categories.

Once a year, a few dozen members gather for a meetup -- the most recent one took place in London. I wish I could’ve attended that one, or the previous gathering in Chicago or the one that happened in Las Vegas a few years ago during Academy Awards season. I hope to one day be able to attend and hang out with my fellow LAMBs in the flesh.

I learned about sensationalism.

Law & Order: SVU actress Mariska Hargitay had a baby and and Grey's Anatomy actress Ellen Pompeo got married. Good for them. But I don’t know how my blogging about it makes the world a better place. It doesn’t. Nobody cares and those that do need to get a life. There was a time when I thought writing about celebrities in the entertainment industry would help boost my blog traffic numbers (regardless of how relevant the topic was as it relates to my filmmaking goals). Then I would start earning tons of revenue from Adsense.

Aside from being in heavy rotation on my iTunes & Pandora playlists, this unapologetic "Nobody's Business" singer is also the leading actress in the animated movie "Home."Then a big media entity such as AOL would buy me out for six figures. Ok, now I’m kidding with that last part but wait, at what point did I go from wanting to be an Oscar winning movie director to being delusional enough to think that the celebrity “news” (à la Perez Hilton) type of path is the right one for me to follow? What the hell was I thinking?! Those blog posts didn’t gain much traction, and for good reason.

Although many other blog posts that I would consider to be more meaningful and contain more substance brought similar results, I am more proud of those pieces.

Even if there’s a chance that nobody will care anyway, I might as well write something worthwhile to share in the chance that someone stumbles upon it while perusing the interweb during their lunch hour.

I learned about what makes life worth living.

One day, I read something an author named James Altucher wrote about “push” being more important than “focus” in terms of life and success. He explained that the “the push is the ability to get up, open the curtains and push through all of the things that make you want to go back to sleep.” Altucher further simplified this by describing it as “just pushing forward to create a little more life inside yourself.” There isn’t a time that I recall when I dreaded working on a blog post. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about my feelings toward filmmaking.

Blogging makes me want to get up and open those curtains, to meet what comes of whatever journey I find myself on from day to day. In that respect, I think I went from being an aspiring movie director who also blogs to becoming a blogger who works on films in various capacities. Conventional wisdom (or was it Mark Cuban?) states that if you want to know what someone cares about, pay attention to how they spend their time. If there is truth to this, then I suppose I must care more about blogging on the subject of movies and how they’re made, and writing screenplays, than I do about making films of my own.

Wes Craven on the set of slasher film "Scream."Wes Craven never set out to be known as the king of a genre that thrives on gore and terror. Using these movies, however, he played the cards Hollywood dealt him in a way that still managed to explore aspects of humanity that were are often ignored; subject matter he believed people were unwilling to confront.

Just as Craven found an upside to the limitations he encountered in his career, I’d like to use blogging as a vehicle to connect people with the kind of stories, artists, movers and shakers in film that fall under the radar, yet, have the power to impact lives in a positive manner if given the chance to do so.

When I studied filmmaking in school, most of the feedback I received from peers was that the stories in my projects were solid but there is room for improvement on the technical side. Outside of working on other people’s films over the years, I’ve written, shot, directed, produced and occasionally edited a few projects including one documentary, a one-minute comedy and a short buddy drama. During this time, I noticed a common, yet familiar, thread out in the real world -- people were drawn to the story structure more than the visuals. Add to that the numerous film festival rejections that came my way, financial burdens of making movies and no prospects on the horizon; I started to wonder if I was climbing up the wrong ladder.

During long breaks between film productions, I’ve also taken on opportunities to publish content for several websites and media companies. The difference between these two paths is going after a film career put me in debt whereas choosing to write articles put food on the table. Although that ship sailed some time ago and I have yet to pick up new freelance gigs, I’ve learned that my filmmaking approach just isn’t working. I’m just not the best at making films. I’ve also started to come to terms with the fact that I may be good enough to be better at writing screenplays, and blogging, than many others trying to build something helpful in the jungle of niche topics. I’m ok with that.

Wes Craven died of brain cancer just weeks after his 76th birthday in August 2015. RIPToday, I think there is no better way to acknowledge Día de los Muertos aka Day of the Dead – a Latin American holiday of mourning and remembrance; people celebrate the circle of life by honoring the deceased -- than by paying tribute to Wes Craven, a man with an English literature and psychology background who upgraded the horror film genre by way of social commentary throughout his body of work.

*This post was inspired by the evolution of James Altucher through games of chess. 

How do YOU celebrate the life of deceased loved ones?

What is YOUR favorite Wes Craven film?

Authenticity: The Story Behind My Military Homecoming Movie

To me, authenticity means refraining from trying to be something you’re not. It’s about understanding the parameters that you have to work with when taking action toward realizing your goals and/or interests.

(-r): Actor Mark Johnson, Director Nicole Ayers and Actor Rodney Benson goes over a scene in the screenplay for the short film "Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever."In many ways, making the short film drama “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” was a continuous exercise in being true to who I was, what I had and how it was going to find an audience.

Writing the Movie

Knowing my production budget was going to be small, I wrote a screenplay revolving around a story that could have just as easily been shot on a home video camera – if necessary – given what was accessible to me. Although this movie was shot in HD, the story lends itself to a type of on-the-fly recording style that provides some flexibility during production.

The Synopsis:

A U.S. Army Officer enlists the help of his friends to make an audition tape for a Reality TV contest, until a wedding proposal dilemma shakes up their reunion. 

It was simple enough to not require any special effects, elaborate sequences or other fancy schmancy components that would be difficult to pull off with the budget, material resources and level of expertise available to me.

Making the Movie

During pre-production in the fall 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast, causing me to cancel meetings with actors and then improvise the casting process by using online messaging services and iPhone videos for auditions. When production began, the reality nature of this movie allowed us to use any mistakes that occurred to our advantage, if needed. The screenplay was designed for cast and crew to continue shooting without worrying too much about multiple setups and camera angles.

I’m not the best cinematographer in the world. I don’t have the resources to hire the best Director of Photography (DP) in the world. So, I focused my time, money, energy and resources on areas that would help carry the story:

• Casting
• Sound
• Editing

Writing a cameraman into the script came in handy since the actor I chose for this role also happens to moonlight as a photographer. 

(-r): Actor/Cameraman Torian Holt shooting a scene featuring actress Lyssa Roberts and actor Mark Johnson for the movie "Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever."So, I let him shoot most of the scenes – in character!

Hiring a tech savvy guy to pretend to be someone behind the camera is one thing. Designating him as the actual on-set camera operator, however, later proved to not only be a way around my lack of DP resources but also the best way to stay true to the story.

The crash course in production sound I had by watching YouTube videos about product reviews, tutorials and unboxing of audio equipment became helpful along with useful tips offered by a sound guy who was unable to work on the project.

Production lasted from mid-November to early December, complete with weather delays (we were shooting outdoors), scheduling conflicts and unexpected re-shoots after a days’ worth of footage was rendered unusable. Yet, we managed to get everything “in-the-can” as they say, and with the help of a producer, I quickly started interviewing potential editors for the movie. Then, one of my producers – a U.S. military veteran – lost his home in a fire on New Year’s Day 2013. This terrible disaster changed the course of our post-production schedule and was the first event in what quickly became a devastating year for one of the most vital people involved in making the movie.

So, I scrambled to find an editor and post-production funds in an attempt to move this project forward; eventually going through multiple rough cuts before completing a final cut of the movie in the summer, thanks to technical assistance from a director friend, supplemented by the expertise of my longtime editor buddy at ESPN.

The World Premiere

(l-r): Wardrobe stylist Elisa Wiah, Director Nicole Ayers, Assistant Director Aleywa Taylor and Cameraman Torian Holt attend the World Premiere screening of "Abyss" The Greatest Proposal Ever" in New York. Photo by DweleOye.When NewFilmmakers NY selected “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” to screen at the Anthology Archives Theater in January as part of their 2014 Winter Series, the time had come to develop promotional materials for this project.

My initial and overcomplicated approach to coming up with movie poster ideas included analyzing the key art of mainstream feature films, which was an unsuccessful task.

So, I went back to the basics of what this movie is about, and using a production still, designed an 11x17 poster resembling a large Polaroid photo. Building the main design concept around this one picture worked out well because it lends itself to a “less is more” vibe while still delivering on the story’s message, with regards to viewer interest.

“It’s simple, well stated, and genuinely makes me curious about the movie. I love the tagline at the top. Made me break out into a great big smile!” – Herman Turnip

When printing standard postcard sized flyers became costly, I added different tag lines to still photographs from the movie and used them to promote the World Premiere screening in New York. This practice continued to be useful long after the premiere; I no longer needed to make large print runs of 500-1,000 copies of the same flyer since a variety of digital photos could be printed out in small batches at (or near) many retail stores like Walgreens and CVS.

My ticket for the evening's film screenings.What Next? Uniting an Audience Around the Movie

Inspired by street papers and homelessness awareness advocate Noah Rattler’s 1,800 mile walk and his annual Sleepout Saturday events in Houston, TX, I pursued potential partnerships with a few non-profit organizations that help homeless people, including veterans, find housing and employment.

Several conversations later, little to no progress came out of my efforts with the organizations I approached. As such, the hope for an adult literacy initiative I wanted to launch using the movie, quickly fizzled. I became anxious about what the next steps for my movie would be, while considering whether to do an online streaming/VOD release or continue trying to play at film festivals.

In the spring, I realized that the answer of where to go from here was right in front of me for months on end. Remembering all the positive remarks that my producer made, on several occasions, about how the Red Cross came to his aid after the blaze that caused a major setback for him – and for the movie -- I partnered with them to continue helping people in similar situations.

Filmmaker Nicole Ayers fundraising for the Red Cross with "Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever." Photo by Cameron Avant.Now, as I tour area restaurants where sneak preview edition DVDs of “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” are made available for sale, I’ve trimmed my sales and product materials down to include only the essential items necessary to get the job done – move product.

I designed the DVD packaging to be lightweight because it was cost-effective and this non-traditional presentation would help guide audience expectations to be in alignment with what they’re getting – a short film, minus featurettes, audio commentaries and related extras that typically comes with feature length fare; and for a good cause.

Each “stop” on my tour calls for a lot of walking, hauling of supplies, campaigning and handling of packages; so I tapped into my early days of participating in art exhibitions at galleries and artist competitions, for inspiration. Seeking mobility, I created a single DIY style poster with bold text that conveyed all of the information necessary, while also doubling as my product display. 

At the suggestion and request of people who have either already supported my Red Cross Fundraiser or want an alternative to traveling to one of my tour stops, the sneak preview edition DVD of “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” is also available to order online, exclusively from yours truly.

By looking inward at what directly had an impact on me and/or those that I work with, the purpose of this movie became clearer and thus, gaining an audience comes naturally as a byproduct of the main endeavor.

From the time I began writing the script to now, all of the headway up to this point was made possible by working within the structures that were already in line with my capabilities and goals.

Each step of the way, I found my footing when I thought about the project and how to best utilize its own distinct attributes when making decisions.

I invite those of you who enjoy buddy flicks or relationship dramas to watch “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” and take it, or leave it, for what it is. Either way, I find satisfaction in knowing that it is possible to reach goals while giving back and helping to save lives at the same time – by promoting nothing more, and nothing less, than exactly what I have to offer. That is as real as it gets.

Comic book illustrator Travis Nichols recently asked “What does authenticity mean to you?” This post serves as my response to that question.

If you enjoyed reading about these (mis)adventures in movie making, I would appreciate it if you order a DVD of my short film “ABYSS: THE GREATEST PROPOSAL EVER.” 

Deniz’s Soft Spot for Welsh Actors and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’

Moosehead Lager. J.J. BurkeAny illustrated dictionary showing examples of what it means to live life to the fullest, would be best to include a photo of Deniz Bevan at The Girdle of Melian and Simple Scarf. She frequently volunteers, travels and uses her skills and talents to help community-based initiatives while working as a freelance writer.

Deniz, who ate pide with salad and rice pudding for lunch every day for an entire year while living in Turkey, is one of my Mighty Minion Bureau assets that I got to know a little better while interrogating debriefing her on what it’s like to be a bourbon-flavored snowballs lover who reads “LORD OF THE RINGS” every year. Here, she dishes on Canadian beer, the key ingredients for best-selling homemade lip-gloss, the impact that cats have on her work and the tastiest way to get tipsy during holiday celebrations.

Who is the sexiest actor you’ve ever seen in a movie?

This is going back a ways, but Ioan Gruffudd in “SOLOMON AND GAENOR” always sticks in my mind as the ultimate in ooh-la-la!

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a freelance copy writer?

Lately I’ve been doing more copy editing and beta reading, but even with that I’d say the biggest challenge is always to juggle work and social media promotion. It helps me to designate certain times throughout the week for social media, and to avoid it (if possible!) at all other times.

What inspired the title behind your novel, THE FACE OF A LION?

The scene that inspired the book was the image that came to me of a boy, Austin, and a cat walking towards Ephesus, from Kusadasi, Turkey. As they walk, the sea comes up behind them, and I knew that meant they were travelling back in time and that somehow it was the cat’s doing. The cat isn’t really a cat either, but takes that form in order to befriend Austin. When the cat is angry, he can appear almost lion-like in his fierceness.

Of course, it was also a slight nod to Aslan, the lion in “THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.”

What are the best Canadian beers/brewers? – Are there any we should avoid like the plague? 

I’d say go with any and all craft beers or Canadian-owned beers, like Moosehead, and avoid those that have been bought out by multinational corporations!

Deniz Bevan's cat modeling one of her knitted hats.How old are your cats, what breed/gender are they and where did you get them from?

Aww, kitties! They’re 9 and 10, regular “domestic” (i.e. “whatever!”) breeds. We did get them from a pet store, I have to admit, but I desperately wanted kittens and the SPCA had only adult cats at the time! They were a bargain at 15 and 20 dollars :-)

What garments do you enjoy knitting most – scarves, hats or socks?

Scarves, definitely! And blankets! If I can memorise the pattern and knit it over a long term without having to constantly count stitches, I’m happy. Though I do have an adorable pattern for a ruffled baby hat that I’ve given to every expecting mother I know!

If you brought a piñata to a New Year’s Eve party, what would it be filled with?

Mm, chocolate... Let’s say liquor-filled chocolates, in honour of New Year’s Eve!

Deniz Bevan preparing to setup her wares at a craft fair.Do you have any tips for artisans who want to sell their wares at craft fairs or other events?

One thing I learned at the last craft fair I attended is that it helps to have a small pile of minimally priced items. In my case it was homemade lip gloss in cute glass jars, for 25 cents each. More people commented on that than on the knitting!

Do you have a recipe for homemade lip gloss that you can share with us? 

It was my sister-in-law who taught me how to make it – Vaseline, a tiny drop of food colouring, and a couple of drops of whatever flavour you’d like (vanilla, mint, etc.). You can heat up the Vaseline in the microwave a bit to make the ingredients easier to stir. Next time I make it, I’d like to try something more organic. Maybe cocoa butter. Mmm...

Check out Deniz's A-to-Z Challenge photos!

Also, get up to date on my previous Mighty Minion Bureau feature about Dale's Movie Theater Nightmare, where he causes us to wake up and smell the bacon!

If you're looking for my most recent #atozchallenge, post, read Kill Your Babies! A Lesson from Kevin Smith, and stay tuned for what I have in store for Letter L.