A shared reality: my mother was a professional singer before I was born (I'm the product of the a fling of two jazz musicians). She would sing in the house all the time. Your memories of your dad talk-singing poked my heart. Mom did that. Dad was absent.
I first had the dream-urge to write screenplays after reading an article of an outsider who ended up writing screenplays for Star Trek the Next Generation. It was another layer to my uneaten writer sandwich. I've got a lot of regret for not choosing that path when I was young. I bought Final Draft with gift money at the beginning of the pandemic...now it's a peering shadow in my mind now saying "You bought it, are you going to learn how to use it?"
This slapped me in the face: "At what feels like the end of the world, do I have it in me to make expensive, time-consuming art for art’s sake?" Uh, yeah. I think this A LOT.
I have a hand-written quote from the illustrator Christoph Niemann taped to my refrigerator: "It's about showing up and getting started and then something happens or it doesn't. All that matters is enabling the chance for something to happen."
The future we were taught to expect and plan for isn't the future we're getting. Maybe the most radical thing we can do as creators is keep showing up in the midst of the the chaos of our collective metationa.
We need new stories now more than ever.
ps, I ordered your book. I'm sure I'll see myself reflected in the pages.
Glad to know of the similarities, and your experience with screenwriting aspirations. You're reminding me that at one point I was given a cracked version of Final Draft, and also bought the McKee book. Well put. Thanks for commenting.
Wow! So cool. And I didn’t even know Geena Davis had a film festival! Awesome too! Don’t write a whole screenplay. Just find someone good at treatments to help you or do a convincing verbal pitch to someone who knows someone. But yes, it may never get made.
I co-produced a film at age 35 that got into big film festivals. Slut or Nut: the Diary of a Rape Trial, then Amazon bought it and called it Diary of a Rape Trial. My friend and I did an indiegogo to fund it so it did break even.
It’s not too hard to learn how to make a treatment and there are many free ones and free scripts online.
And I’m sure with your large audience you could do a successful kickstarter for a film, though that in itself is A LOT of work, prob more work than writing and making the film.
Yes. It is exactly what keeps me from ever wanting to make another film. Each film is really like running an entire business. It’s easier I think to open a brick and mortar coffee shop or boutique than it is to make a film, especially a narrative film.
Maybe you can find a film student who wants to take on the project. Such students actually exist. The Facebook group “Looking for a fixer/producer Canada edition” is a good place to find these types of people. There is prob an NYC version of that group as well.
I wish I had hard cash resources and connections to offer. Because at the end of the day, that’s what moves things forward, or so it seems. But what I can offer is a hearty nodding of my head and the “ouch” of recognition.
It makes me think about Liz Gilbert’s idea that stories have souls and they’re looking for a vessel to bring them to life. I kept seeing these kind of “story butterflies” in my mind as I read through all the ways you have been weaving in and out of the story of song. I heard things like “For a world begging for permission to sing...” or “Open yer yap and ...” and my final “story butterfly” was from Broadway Melody of 1938 where a young, dangly Buddy Ebsen dances and croons to “You Gotta Sing Before Breakfast.” This feels like a universal permission we’re looking for—to sing, to be, without shame.
All I can say is, yes, and I hope this will come into the world.
I loved reading this adventure and concept! My dad also sang all the time… At the waitress in the restaurant, at the attendant at the gas station, at any birthday party big time, it was a thing in our house. I think that’s why at our wedding we had so many opportunities for people to sing with us. The hills are alive…! I would love to watch a movie about you, singing or not singing, or being afraid or getting courage to sing! Go Sari go!!
I read your article this morning and loved the part where you wondered why we should be embarrassed about singing earnestly in public. I'm sitting on my porch and the mailman just walked by singing Fast Car by Tracy Chapman as he went from house to house delivering the mail. It was a lovely bit of entertainment, and I thought of you.
A shared reality: my mother was a professional singer before I was born (I'm the product of the a fling of two jazz musicians). She would sing in the house all the time. Your memories of your dad talk-singing poked my heart. Mom did that. Dad was absent.
I first had the dream-urge to write screenplays after reading an article of an outsider who ended up writing screenplays for Star Trek the Next Generation. It was another layer to my uneaten writer sandwich. I've got a lot of regret for not choosing that path when I was young. I bought Final Draft with gift money at the beginning of the pandemic...now it's a peering shadow in my mind now saying "You bought it, are you going to learn how to use it?"
This slapped me in the face: "At what feels like the end of the world, do I have it in me to make expensive, time-consuming art for art’s sake?" Uh, yeah. I think this A LOT.
I have a hand-written quote from the illustrator Christoph Niemann taped to my refrigerator: "It's about showing up and getting started and then something happens or it doesn't. All that matters is enabling the chance for something to happen."
The future we were taught to expect and plan for isn't the future we're getting. Maybe the most radical thing we can do as creators is keep showing up in the midst of the the chaos of our collective metationa.
We need new stories now more than ever.
ps, I ordered your book. I'm sure I'll see myself reflected in the pages.
Glad to know of the similarities, and your experience with screenwriting aspirations. You're reminding me that at one point I was given a cracked version of Final Draft, and also bought the McKee book. Well put. Thanks for commenting.
Wow! So cool. And I didn’t even know Geena Davis had a film festival! Awesome too! Don’t write a whole screenplay. Just find someone good at treatments to help you or do a convincing verbal pitch to someone who knows someone. But yes, it may never get made.
I co-produced a film at age 35 that got into big film festivals. Slut or Nut: the Diary of a Rape Trial, then Amazon bought it and called it Diary of a Rape Trial. My friend and I did an indiegogo to fund it so it did break even.
It’s not too hard to learn how to make a treatment and there are many free ones and free scripts online.
Follow your heart! And your creative inspiration!
Or write the screenplay for fun!
Wow! Thanks for the encouragement and for sharing your experience with this!
And I’m sure with your large audience you could do a successful kickstarter for a film, though that in itself is A LOT of work, prob more work than writing and making the film.
Yeah, just the idea of fundraising makes me want to run in the other direction.
Yes. It is exactly what keeps me from ever wanting to make another film. Each film is really like running an entire business. It’s easier I think to open a brick and mortar coffee shop or boutique than it is to make a film, especially a narrative film.
Maybe you can find a film student who wants to take on the project. Such students actually exist. The Facebook group “Looking for a fixer/producer Canada edition” is a good place to find these types of people. There is prob an NYC version of that group as well.
I wish I had hard cash resources and connections to offer. Because at the end of the day, that’s what moves things forward, or so it seems. But what I can offer is a hearty nodding of my head and the “ouch” of recognition.
It makes me think about Liz Gilbert’s idea that stories have souls and they’re looking for a vessel to bring them to life. I kept seeing these kind of “story butterflies” in my mind as I read through all the ways you have been weaving in and out of the story of song. I heard things like “For a world begging for permission to sing...” or “Open yer yap and ...” and my final “story butterfly” was from Broadway Melody of 1938 where a young, dangly Buddy Ebsen dances and croons to “You Gotta Sing Before Breakfast.” This feels like a universal permission we’re looking for—to sing, to be, without shame.
All I can say is, yes, and I hope this will come into the world.
Thank you, Amanda. 💕
I loved reading this adventure and concept! My dad also sang all the time… At the waitress in the restaurant, at the attendant at the gas station, at any birthday party big time, it was a thing in our house. I think that’s why at our wedding we had so many opportunities for people to sing with us. The hills are alive…! I would love to watch a movie about you, singing or not singing, or being afraid or getting courage to sing! Go Sari go!!
Awww, thank you, Hopi. I always appreciate your encouragement and support. And thanks for letting me know your Dad did that. <3
I read your article this morning and loved the part where you wondered why we should be embarrassed about singing earnestly in public. I'm sitting on my porch and the mailman just walked by singing Fast Car by Tracy Chapman as he went from house to house delivering the mail. It was a lovely bit of entertainment, and I thought of you.