Day 18: Twins?

I think I'm having twins. Fraternal twins that is, as the second creation isn't even a play, it's a short film. Because I need another project right now, just like a new mother needs a second mouth to feed and diaper to change.

I went to an Industry Power Play networking event tonight that included the reading of a handful of short plays and screenplay excerpts. One of the women who runs it, Alex, had invited me to bring a script to be read. It sounded like a great opportunity to have some of my writing read and heard outside of my playwriting class. So even though I really didn't need to add another event to this crazy week (and because it was only a block from where I was rehearsing with Kat for our performance on Wednesday), I accepted her invitation. Since the Frank scenes really require Frank, er, I mean Robert (the actor I wrote them for) to pull them off, I decided to bring in a different piece called Spirit Dust. It's a piece set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, where a young girl is trying to unlock the secrets of her family's past.

It was very warmly received by the score or so of people present, which made me very happy. While listening to the reading, I realized how very visual the piece is, as most of the pivot points of the drama occur in the stage directions rather than in the dialogue. It made me wonder if Spirit Dust is more of a film piece than a stage piece. I know almost nothing about writing for film, but the one thing I've heard is that film is so visually driven that you should generally be able to follow the plot with the sound off. I think that might apply to this piece.

I mentioned this to a few people after the reading, including Alex. She said she thought it could be "very beautiful" and that she would be happy to film it for me. She has access to all the necessary equipment (for free) and would also be interested in directing it. Since I could likely find actors looking to build their portfolios to work for little/no cost, and since I have a very talented boyfriend who would be delighted to provide the sound effects and music score, I could get this short film made for the minimal cost of some props and costumes. That seems like entirely too good an opportunity to pass up.

My obsessive brain wants to immediately start posting ads for actors and looking up whether or not I could get the rights to a Woodie Guthrie song for the score, but I must focus on the more immediate tasks at hand: my singing performance on Wednesday and the performance of one of my short Frank plays this weekend. For those of you who've been following Frank and are worried about him, he's doing ok. He's actually kind of a busy fellow at the moment, being in two places at once (he's at the beginning of the play as I'm writing it, but the scene that is performing this weekend takes place several months later). I think the time traveling is good for keeping his spirits up.

I really should go to bed now, but I'm so wired after this evening that it's difficult to do so. I must try, so off I sign.