Musings of an Idiot

Movies and all that stuff

My age and look and ethnicity means that auditions are far and few in between. I consider myself lucky even if I get 3-4 auditions a year, so it was pretty frutrating only having 2 audition till Oct and then suddenly having a couple of auditions come up while I was overseas. Typical huh!!! Well I had another audition recently and it went really well, even though I didn't get the part. As an actor - the best thing is to prepare well for the audition, give it your best shot and forget all about it as soon as you walk out of the audition room. If you get a follow up call then good for you otherwise you just carry on as if nothing has happened. I've got another audition this year, so I am pretty happy that this year will end with atleast 4 chances to showcase myself to casting directors.

'Rejected' is in the freezer as it has nowhere to go right now and the script is not in a position I want it to be and the script development process is extremely slow. The best option was to put it on freeze and concentrate on the existing project and other potential projects. Off the potential projects - 'Apsara' has got some legs and it is currently in active development. The script is by Angelique - a close friend and an ex-film school mate and it is being produced by Paula Jones. The script is funny, quirky and has a visual flair and it matches up with everything I want to explore and I guess I'm lucky that the script wasn't already picked up by someone else. More on that in coming months.

The production on 'Moments' is going slower than anticipated because of the holiday season combined with the usual scheduling conflicts associated with 'no budget' movies. Instead of stressing out about it, I'm just playing it by the ear and going with the flow. All this obviosuly means that we won't finish the movie in March'10 as originally planned and it might get pushed back by a few months.

An independent writer was in constant contact with me via email wanting to see if I wanted to direct her script in 2010 with a very miniscule budget. I said no to it because I wasn't getting answers to all the questions I was asking about the project and that's never a good sign. Topped up with unclear roles and responsibilities it was a disaster waiting to happen & all this without even seeing the script itself. After a lot of thought I wrote a very detailed mail as to why I can't accept the project and the response I got made me crack up laughing and I subsequently deleted all the emails related to the project. The final email from the writer/producer goes like this
"Subject: Re:Hey AMIT, in CONFIDENCE
Morning Amarbir, thanks again for the email - much appreciated, all the best for your future endeavours:-).
Kind regards"
Amarbir is another Indian film maker based in Auckland and he is also a good friend of mine. So she obviously asked Amarbir about directing the movie as well or her next person to ask is Amarbir or maybe she confused me for Amarbir all along. I don't know and I don't care. :-)

I scored a couple of free passes to NZ Premiere of 'Morris: A Life with Bells on' - a UK indie movie. The writer/main actor was there for Q&A, so I went along last night and it turned out to be a small but funny movie. Definitely worth a watch. It definitely puts a grin on your face.

That's me for now,
Amit

Labels: Acting, Apsara, Movies, Rejected, The Moments In Between

posted by Amit @ 6:40 AM 0 Comments

Whirlwind Update

So much for trying to update things about India straight away. I was hoping to slip back into work mode in a controlled manner but the first day back at work I was made Acting Team Leader since our current team leader, Adrian, is on parental leave. It was kind of unexpected but still a pleasant surprise. It has been very busy doing my own job while also doing other stuff related to the department. One of the first things I got for being the team leader was a free pass to watch a couple of matches at Heineken Open Tennis later in the evening, by one of the managers in another department that we constantly have dealings with.

So in the evening (of Monday) I made my way to ASB Tennis Centre and as I was walking there I bumped into Andy- one of the cast members from 'FIVE', whom I hadn't seen in a while and had a quick catch up with him before proceeding to the tennis. TVNZ had a box seat, so had a great view of the proceedings from there plus has good food and good company to accompany - so it was a perfect start to the work year. In addition to that I might also get a free complimentary pass to 'Big Day Out' which is this huge annual international music gig as I helped someone out of a difficult spot - so I feel very lucky right now [the tickets to the gig are pretty expensive].


In between the return and now I have snuck a couple of movies in - 'Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona' and 'Frost/Nixon' - both of them turned out to be surprisingly good and Rebecca Hall is now my favorite actress as she played 2 very different roles in both the movies extremely well plus she is gorgeous. I have slowly unpacked my stuff and settled into my room but the house is in a state of flux with all the visitors and short term flatmates and now waiting for the new flatmates to move in.

I have started walking to work and back and it feels good. Lance, Dan and me have had a few games of tennis and I seem to have forgotten how to play since I am playing bad - hopefully it'll come back to me sooner rather than later. My 1 week trial at a local gym starts next week - I think I'll try and stick to the gym as much as I can to shed off the extra weight I put on during the India trip. One of my old friends, Barbara, is in the country for a short while,so caught up with her yesterday and traded stories and views since she has been working in China for the past 6 months or so and is planning on a trip through South East Asia during her 2 month break.

The acting classes start soon and I am trying to get back into the flow of things there. On the movie front - Simon Ward is on board to work as writing partner for 'Rejected' and we'll start working on that from next week. There will be some radical changes to the script - mainly brought about by my indian influence on the trip this time around. It should be heaps of fun.

Tomorrow i'll be going fishing with Lance's parents, Lance, Max and some of his friends. It'll be an interesting experience since I've never ever fished before. And I'll try and buy a scanner to scan the polaroid snaps from the trip. And i'll sneak in the update about India within the next month or so. :-)

That's me for now.
Amit

Labels: Rejected, Tennis, TVNZ

posted by Amit @ 6:34 PM 0 Comments

The Move

The house looks like a war zone right now with all the stuff in various states of packing for the imminent move later this week and surprisingly enough I am looking forward to the move. I hate moving because it always costs more money than you plan for and it also puts your rhythm and schedules off-track for a good 2-3 weeks. Lance found us some new flatmates - a french/thai couple (Naam & Yanik) and a kiwi girl (Lydia)- it'll be an international flat for sure.

Serena has dropped out of writing REJECTED because of time constraints and her own priorities, so I'll be doing the next draft myself (atleast for now). It is a weird feeling because our collaboration was very fruitful and creative but at the same time I guess I'll have more control of the characters and the storylines now that the structure is in place and I can see the product as a whole. Interesting process to go through nonetheless.

Entourage is back with it's fifth season and it rocks. When finances permit there are a few TV series I would like to own: Entourage; Seinfeld; Arrested Development - atleast these are the ones I would pay money to own full sets.

Well that's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

Labels: New Zealand, Rejected, TV Series

posted by Amit @ 8:29 AM 0 Comments

Clarity and confusion

In a bid to curb the rising power bill I donated both the oil heaters off and they weren't great anyway as they wouldn't heat the room because of the high ceilings. And on monday I went and bought myself a magnetic woolen underlay and it is so comfy to sleep in. I'll get to know in a month or so if it is any beneficial. I'll let you know how it goes then.

I made a decision that if within a year nothing significant happens with my film making career and I am not able to raise any funding for the next movie then I'll give up film making. It has been an incredibly hard decision but I am looking at the ground realities and I can't make another self-financed movie and get everyone to work for nothing - not on my third movie, no way. I'll give it a solid shot to try and raise money for the movie but if nothing eventuates then I'll have to hang up those boots. I have never had things easy and I have always had to fight for even the smallest opportunity to prove that I am capable of achieving things as well as others, so I am aware all this is again part of the pattern where I am still fighting for some sort of support and recognition. Am I feeling angry about where things are at - very much so and the challenge for me is to try and focus those energies into this coming year to make the next movie possible.

No feedback has come back yet on the script but Serena has started working on the revisions and hopefully by the time the feedback hits we would be in a position to start off work on second draft.

I don't know if I mentioned it but a finnish independent distributor has picked up FIVE for DVD distribution in Finland. I have sit and write down the dialog list, so that they can translate it into finnish and put it in as subtitles. That's the task for this weekend.

That's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

P.S - If you have any advice for me i am happy to hear it and if you have any brilliant fund raising ideas that are feasible then I am all ears as well. Feel free to drop me a line.

Labels: Five, Random, Rejected

posted by Amit @ 7:21 PM 0 Comments

Time

Time is a funny thing - sometimes it flies past as if it was running late and at other times it just goes so slow that you wonder how the hell you managed to have so many thought processes and done so many things and still not have spent too much time on it. It is a fact that brain slows the internal time down in moments of extreme crisis (like in a car accident), so that it gets more time to react to the situation. But what if there is no crisis, does that mean you are going mad? More importantly, am I going mad?

Here is an interesting article as to why 'Flight of the Conchords' had to make their TV series with HBO to achieve what they've achieved. NZ has a tall poppy syndrome and the sad thing is that sometimes people in power can be extremely short sighted and ignore local talent completely. It is all a leadership issue and sometimes it is not about following the 'norm' but about taking calculated risks and taking responsibility for them.

I watched 'Eagle V/s Shark' based on the brilliance of 'Flight of the Conchords' and it turned out to be a disappointing watch. I didn't find it all that funny plus it really hurt the movie that one of the main protagonists of the movie was a complete arsehole and an unlikeable character. The only high point of the movie is the brilliance of Loren Horsley who gives the movie it's humanity and charm.

I have mailed off the first draft of 'REJECTED' to a select few people to hear their thoughts and feedback and it surely is a nerve-wracking experience. The idea is to remain open to everything and then filter the feedback to work on the next draft. I also have to start thinking about funding opportunities and how to raise money to make this movie.

Also as a blast from the past here is a recipe that I created while experimenting. It is called HONEY PEPPER CHICKEN

The chicken has a sweeteness to it when you put it in your mouth but then has a slight bite to it as you savour it. Very yummy.

Well that's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

Labels: Food, New Zealand, Random, Rejected

posted by Amit @ 6:16 PM 0 Comments

Completely random

Labels: Movies, Random, Rejected, TV Series

posted by Amit @ 11:53 PM 0 Comments

7 Periods with Mr. Gormsby

Seven Periods with Mr. Gormsby is one of the best kiwi TV series that I have seen in a long long time. It is politically incorrect and very very funny. I am surprised that a gem of a TV series like this never got a 3rd season and worse still the second season DVD hasn't been released yet.

On the other hand I wasn't too sold on Weeds - an american TV series that has completed 3 seasons and has been commissioned for a 4th season. It is marketed as a dark comedy but the comedy element is pretty subdued. Currently I am watching 'Flight of the Conchords' which is proving to be pretty funny. Quirky funny, especially if you know what NZ culture is like.

You know that there is nothing good on at the movies when you don't even think twice before watching complete crap like 'Don't mess with the Zohan'. I flatly refuse to see 'The Happening' because I think M. Night Shyamalan pretty much lost touch with the audience when he made 'Signs' and everything he has made after that has been pretty bad in terms of story. The Dark Knight's release date has been pushed back in NZ by a week and it is pretty annoying.

One of my favorite songs nowadays is 'I Know, I know' by Tegan and Sara. You can check out the song here. I am now back upto 85% of my normal level and it feels good to be almost normal again. Serena and me made small amount of progress on REJECTED but it is already looking better as I went back and fixed some story threads to bring a cohesiveness to the story. I got stuck writing the ending of the movie and it so happened that Serena had an idea on how to bring it to a conclusion, so she is writing the ending. Overall I am thrilled beyond words with the team work that we have been able to achieve in writing this script - no conflict, no egos, just pure creative instincts, listening and responding combined with lots of fun.

Well lots of paperwork and tasks that have piled up over the past few weeks and it is time to get through them and sort them out. But first of all is paperwork, which is the task for this weekend.

Till later,
Amit

Labels: Movies, Random, Rejected, TV Series

posted by Amit @ 10:12 PM 0 Comments

Movies Galore and general update

Well I think I am almost at the end of my flu sickness that plagued me for the better part of a whole week - another couple of days and I think I'll recover from that (fingers crossed). There seems to be this bug going around because a lot of people seem to be coming down with it, especially at work, so naturally I am glad that I am almost through with it. One of the best home made remedies for chest congestion (as suggested by my sis) is to drink hot milk with turmeric and black pepper added into it. Don't forget to sweeten your milk by using sugar but using Manuka honey is even better.

I have watched a few movies over the week but never had the energy to update or write anything about them. '21' [Average and the only real highlight was Kevin Spacey chewing up scenery] ; 'Dan in Real Life' [Good with some real lovely performances, especially from Steve Carell]; 'Joshua' [Awesome performance by Sam Rockwell and the kid who plays Joshua]; 'Hostel 2' [Pretty brutal to watch and sick to the core] and now I am really waiting for 'The Incredible Hulk'. In between all these movies I also finished off the second season of 30 Rock and it was awesome. It is great to see a show that keeps gaining momentum as it goes plus it is pure comic genius.

The script for REJECTED is back with me and I think I'll take it easy this week before I get onto the last stretch of the first draft. I am currently streamlining the earlier part of the script to accommodate for the many developments that have happened with the story as it progressed. It looks like the script will be about 120 pages odd at this stage as it is sitting at 98 pages right now. I still don't know how it will come to it's natural conclusion but at least I know what the end of the movie is now. The river will form it's own path I guess.

I had the most amazing fish recently - The Fishmonger opened up a branch in Birkenhead and I tried their New Orleans Blackened version as well as Mediterranean rub version. Both of them were yummy but I prefer the Mediterranean rub better. The thing I liked about it was that they are not deep fried like most of the fish and chips outlets do it, rather it is cooked on a hot plate which makes it a healthier eating option as far as a takeaway is concerned.

Well that's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

Labels: Food, Movies, Rejected, TV Series

posted by Amit @ 9:48 PM 1 Comments

Celtx

I have been using this free script writing software called CELTX recently and it is proving to be such a handy tool. I usually use Final Draft but recently switched to Celtx because it is free and it is available for use on portable drives. The biggest difference I found between Final Draft and Celtx is that it is much easier to write scenes in Celtx because of it's intuitive nature. The only drawback I can see at this point is it's limited support for other script writing softwares. You can read about Celtx and download it from HERE.

It has been a busy week and the next couple of weeks are equally busy,so I haven't had the chance to update anything. I pulled my calf muscle while playing tennis on tuesday evening and since then I have been taking it slow with running. The shoulder pain is a lot better and it comes and goes. This year has been terrible for me in terms of physical ailments - hamstring injury, back pain, neck pain, calf muscle injury..what next? It's like I am falling apart. :-)

The upside of things is that work on REJECTED is progressing at a good pace and we are just at the end of Act-2 of the movie, so needless to say I am pretty excited. Once the first draft is finished I will start thinking of how to get the movie into production either later this year or early next year.

I watched the entire first season of 30 Rock and it was an awesome watch.I am glad that it is coming back for a third season. It is hard to find intelligent comedy series and the only other examples I can think of is Arrested Development, Seinfeld and The Office. I've heard good things about 'Freaks and Geeks' and I plan on checking it out when I get the chance.

That's me for now.
Till later,
Amit

Labels: Rejected, Script, TV Series

posted by Amit @ 10:25 PM 0 Comments

Rejection

The word "rejection" was first used in 1415. The original meaning was "to throw" or "to throw back". [Courtesy: Wikipedia ] On that note here is an interesting link about Rejection and also on ways to building resilience to rejection.

The work on REJECTED is progressing at a good pace for the past 2 weeks. Serena and me had a bit of a hiatus on the script through April as it was a busy time for both of us but the work has started back in earnest and now we are half way through the script. It has been an interesting process so far as we don't really know where the story is going - maybe a vague idea but no storylines set in concrete. And the way the script is shaping up has been a pleasent surprise as it is flowing well and at this point I can't see any flab in the story and both of us are making a conscious effort not to put in any filler material into the script. I have set the initial deadline of end of July to have the script ready and I am hoping that we will hit the deadline. Will keep you posted on it as work progresses.

The trailer for 'THE DARK KNIGHT' is fantastic. And after you have seen that check out the Jokerized version of the trailer here. This is going to be the movie for the american summer season (besides 'Tropic Thunder'). I saw 'Lars and the Real Girl' couple of nights back and it was a sweet little movie - it was probably a bit too long- maybe by 20 minutes odd - mainly because you kind of figure out what is going to happen. But it is still worth watching just to see Ryan Gosling's terrific performance as Lars.

Thats me for now.
Till later,
Amit

Labels: Movies, Rejected, Script

posted by Amit @ 9:34 AM 0 Comments

Behind the Mask

Movies filmed as mocumentary don't work for most attempts because of the nature of what they are but it somehow works brilliantly for 'Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon' and the movie works well as a good slasher film as well. The lead actor is a compelling watch and really sells the idea that he is going to become the next horror legend. It is definitely a good watch if you are into horror flicks and have been disillusioned by the predictability of most horror flicks. This flick is innovative and will definitely keep you entertained.

Whats happening in terms of projects at my end? Well 'Ghost Scream' is still in script development and the next draft looks like it will take some time to take shape. I am still waiting to see the first draft of 'Trollied' - which will come in sometime within the next 2 months. And in the meantime I have started work on 'Rejected' - a script I am developing with Serena, one of my acting classmates. And I am also developing a short film script with another acting classmate but that's not something that I will be directing or taking part in production - mainly because it is a short film. I might be helping out with post production on a short film but can only confirm it when I know for sure. So a quiet but busy time - if that makes any sense.

Here is the first scene from REJECTED - please don't read if you are easily offended by foul language.




Till later,
Amit

Labels: Movies, Rejected, Script

posted by Amit @ 7:29 PM 0 Comments