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So through all this going back to school. Writing. Working within the local film community, I continued to get a steady paycheck as a manager at the local move theater. "You still work here?" - Yes. I get asked that often. And no, it doesn't make me sad. The money is too good to leave...for now. But also, what happens is the stories keep coming. It was quite easy to write two seasons of the comedy series, "Scenes from the Movies" because many of the episodes were taken from real-life interactions between employees and customers. Whether it was a woman making a Frodo doll to join her when she watched Lord of the Rings every single day, a customer blaming a bathroom incident on someone else even though it was clearly him or being asked by my boss to check out a woman's chest in the middle of the lobby - it all happened. In the years since the last season of Scenes was done in 2013, I have continued to work at the movie theater and the stories never stopped. That's why it made perfect sense to revisit the employees of our unnamed cinema for a brand new season of Scenes from the Movies. Season 3 will consist of 10 brand new episodes set to premiere later this year. We spent this past Saturday shooting the first 5 episodes at the lovely rmedia studios and will return in a few weeks to shoot the rest. Some new faces have joined the mix, along with some old ones. The fun is back. Everyone's favorite customer-hating crew is back. Scenes from the Movies is back. #ScenesfromtheMovies #webseries #webseries #ScenesfromtheMovies #writing #directing #comedy

In January of 2016, I embarked on a journey that, at the time, I believed was 10 years too late. I started graduate school. After the first week, I kept thinking that 40 is too late to do this. Why bother? 30 was the age. Honestly, that still could be true to some people. But then again, so what? Soon after starting classes, my thoughts turned to trying to remember how to write essays which I was able to remember. I don't think I would've been ready to handle graduate school at 30. I know the program wasn't available -Interactive Media - so I wouldn't even be able to take it. It was an online program. Everything was online. Yes, online schooling isn't new, but technology has made it much easier to effectively learn online, interact with students and professors and do it all while raising a family and working full-time. So, at 40 years old I re-entered college life. When I first started, it was tough. Time management skills were dusted off, even though they've proved helpful with my writing projects. And after a few weeks of classes and assignments, I realized I could do this. No problem. Like riding a bike. Yes, I'm the nerd who likes school. And now it's over. Degree obtained. Change in career path in motion. What will happen next? No idea! I assume nothing. Whatever comes next, I'm more prepared for it and confident about it, than I was 2 years ago. I tried, unsuccessfully, to continue writing stories while in school. I was able to complete one feature screenplay and a few shorts, even worked on the second Adam Parker book. But school came first. I made that commitment and I never liked not honoring it. So my future, while containing a massive job hunt, will also consist of more writing. Adam Parker: Book 2. I'm looking at you. If you're thinking about schooling or training or anything and you'e concerned about your age or your position in life, don't be. If you can do it, make it happen. Going to school and running yourself ragged at times is far better than sitting around talking about how you should go back to school. Trust me. Much better. #GraduateSchool #gradschool #interactivemedia #media

I've been talking Raiders of the Lost Ark all week. Tonight, I watch. Will you watch with me? If you've got it on Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, drop it in your machine around 8pm and press play. I'm pretty sure the movie is available on Hulu.com. If not there, I think Amazon is the site. Not Netflix. I know that. But you should own the movie already. So get your favorite movie snack and drink. Kick back in your favorite chair or spot on the couch. And let's revisit Indiana Jones when we he first began. Follow along tonight as I live-tweet the event. 8pm. Tonight. Raiders of the Lost Ark. #RaidersoftheLostArk #MovieNight #Snakes #movies

In my last blog, I briefly made mention of my first time seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was actually after watching the 2nd movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I remember watching it in the living room with my parents. I remember loving everything about it. When it ended, my father told me there was another one. Something called 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. What is this?! I needed to see it. We, of course, didn't watch it until a few days later. This is back in the days of video rental stores. Patience was a virtue, but I had none of it. I've since watched the movie more times than I can count. It never gets old. It never bores me. I asked two colleagues of mine to share their remembrances of seeing 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' for the first time. "I remember watching Raiders of the Lost Ark it on TV with my brothers. My heart raced as the large boulder chased Indy. I remember laughing when he shot the swordsman. This guy was bad ass with a whip and that sly smile! There were also some scary parts that scared me as young child, like the face melting. I think that’s why the movie is so memorable. There are scenes and images that stay with you and stand the test of time as this is what movie making is meant to be." - Trish Clark, producer "I'm not old enough to have been able to see Raiders in the Lost Ark in theaters. So the first time was a bootleg VHS version on a tiny Panasonic tv set (with built-in VCR); the opening with the now iconic Paramount/mountain scene was even cut off. It was at my Aunt's house, she introduced my sister I to Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and, of course, Indiana Jones. Her love for the movie (and Harrison Ford) was contagious. And I loved every single minute of it too. At five years old I might not have understood every subtlety but the action was most important than. After it was over I may have ran around the house pretending I was beating Nazis and being chased by giant boulders. " - Pat Whalen, producer #IndianaJones #RaidersoftheLostArk #MovieNight

People always ask me. "What's you favorite movie?" I always answer: "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Without hesitation. So for the first "official" week of #MovieNight, it makes sense its the archaeologist with a knack for getting into trouble. It wasn't even the first Indiana Jones movie I watched. I first saw Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom and loved it. But then I learned there was another movie. One that came out before the Thugee cult and their heart pulling ways. Once I saw it, I was hooked on everything Indiana Jones. Star Wars fans:Star Wars :: Me:Indiana Jones For those who may be too young to remember, here's a brief run down of the movie . "Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis." - imdB Wow. Aren't you hooked from that one line? Written by Lawrence Kasdan from a story by George Lucas and Phillip Kaufman. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliot, Alfred Molina. (Seriously, look at the talent behind this movie. How could you not love this movie?!) Get ready to watch or rewatch Raiders of the Lost Ark with me. Friday, November 17, 8pm. #RaidersoftheLostArk #MovieNight #IndianaJones

This week, you're going to see some focused activity on this blog and my social network. (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) Don't be alarmed. In fact, feel free to join in. I'm currently finishing up my final semester of Graduate school. I'm earning a Masters in Interactive Media from Quinnipiac University. It's been a two year journey, which has seen me shelve many writing projects in favor of essays and presentations. It culminates with my capstone project. #MovieNight is a community-based endeavor designed to bring the long-standing tradition of movie night to the social space. Basically, I talk up one movie for a whole week with blog posts and fun facts and on Friday, I watch the movie - hopefully with everyone else as we try to sync up our movie experience. As I watch the movie, I live-tweet and I welcome others to join and we share our experience of watching a movie together, from different locations on the globe. And that's it. So, this Monday, November 13th, I'll start posting about a movie of a certain man who wears a fedora and searches for the Ark of the Covenant. I'll post and share thoughts all the way up to Friday, November 17th, when I'll watch Raiders of the Lost Ark at 8pm. Please, feel free to participate. Follow along. Pop in and out all week. After it's all said and done, I'll be looking for feedback for what worked, what didn't work. What you might like to see it become in the future. If you think it's a really stupid idea. (What? No!!!) I hope you enjoy what #MovieNight could become. #IndianaJones #MovieNight #Capstone #GraduateSchool

That stupid squirrel ran in front of my car. Went left. Right. Left. Right. Then...bump. Dead. I was returning to the local elementary school where my kids attend. My oldest forgot her flute, so I went back to get it. Thus setting in motion the untimely demise of this unnamed squirrel. I started to wonder. Why? Why are squirrels so stupid? If I'm to believe The Squirrel Syndrome, it's a metaphor on our lives. A squirrel's fatal flaw is their indecision, and if we follow suit, we end up having life run us over on its way to delivering a flute. While I appreciate the metaphor, that didn't answer my question. Then I found out that this is an epidemic that spans oceans as the population of red squirrels living in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park were being ravaged by motor vehicle accidents. So much so that a local wildlife group installed rope bridges for the squirrels. And they use them! (Science Daily) But then I think I found my answer. According to the blog, Living Alongside Wildlife, the natural predator of a squirrel is a bird of prey. Not the Klingon ships, nerds. We're talking about hawks. To avoid hawks, squirrels run in a zig-zag pattern to prevent an easy target for the bird of prey who's looking to swoop down and snatch themselves a squirrel snack. When we show up in our cars, the squirrel thinks we're a bird of prey and panics. They run in a zig zag direction, thinking they'll shake us. Some times, they escape. Some times, they don't. #life #squirrel

Everywhere I look on LinkedIN, I find messages about scams trying to get money from writers and filmmakers. I learned a long time ago to not trust any "producer" with big ideas about my projects if I just shell out a few dollars here and there. I always knew they were full of it. If I'm going to spend my money, I'm going to make sure I'm in charge of it. But there is another kind of user that is just as destructive. These are people who use up your time and energy. They want to "work together" on a project. Or they want to read your scripts, because they have "some ideas". They "know some people." That's my favorite. Ooh...people? What kind of people? These users are not malicious. They're not trying to game you. They don't even know they're users because most of the time they're driven by their own desires to be in the business. They view themselves as writers and directors. They're not seeking your money. They're looking for your drive. They want to siphon your dreams as their own, so they can be part of something. But they don't have the money, time and connections to get it done on their own. I'm coming off harsh, I know. But it's important to understand that if you want to succeed in your line of work, you need to surround yourself with people who are supportive. Not minions to do your bidding, but people who will help you if they can because they genuinely want you to succeed. You have to beware of the users who are looking to leech from your energy while providing nothing in return. These users are dangerous, because they'll build you up and when you realize there's nothing at the end of their promises and excitement, they'll disappear and you'll crash in a heap of depression. If you're not sure who around you is a user - (but I would guess you've figured it out by now) - take stock of those who are "in the business". Are they working on stuff? Are they developing projects? Have you seen productivity from them? Are they always wanting to get together for a talk? Your conversations permeate with phrases like: "if only we had money" or "wouldn't it be great if we could..." or "we just need a chance to do..." - Another favorite of mine. Find people who are productive. Find people who are working. Find these people and ask them how they do it. Shit, ask them if they need help. Because they do. They always need help. Build relationships with people who are working towards a goal and not just talking about it. #users #scams #writing #indiefilm #directing #filmmaking

All writers, at some point, come to terms with the fact that not everything they write will be seen by others. Good work included. Some pieces just don't get seen because of a variety of factors. It's tough to reconcile that in the beginning. You just finished writing this great short story, but it'll never see the light of day. Rejection after rejection flow in. You have to make the ultimate choice to move on to next story, which you've no doubt already done, but you were always talking about that older short story of yours with others, right? "Hey, I'm working on something new, but this story I just wrote is very exciting" *Crickets* Days pass. Months. Years. And you forget it. You talk about it no more. Just stare at the file in your writing folder every once in a while. It really is tough. I know, I know. You have to be persistent, but sometimes that's not enough. It's just how it is and you have to let it go and move on to the next story. Just another dilemma for a writer. #writing #story

I'm guilty of this as the next person. "That movie is garbage!" I've said it. I'll keep saying it. It's only for effect. I'm just being ostentatious for no reason if to make people react. Kind of the point. But is a movie ever really garbage? No. Why? Because... "One man's trash is another man's treasure." This idiom is as classic as it is male chauvinistic. It's about the subjective. And the subjective is all about art. I love the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But I cannot stand the 4 minute "Raindrops Are Falling On My Head" montage. Some people don't mind it. That's fine. I realize it was made in the 1970s, so it's not surprising the song is featured so much. I don't even have issue with the song itself. I just don't like it in the movie. I'm not the biggest of Star Wars fans. Yes, I like some of the original trilogy. But I stop watching Return of the Jedi after they rescue Han. To me, it's over. Granted, I'm in the minority amongst people my age and older for Star Wars is canon. And good for them. It's a great franchise. Now, come talk Indiana Jones with me and you'll see where my allegiances lie. There's a current, ongoing "discussion" with some friends of mine about which Indiana Jones movie is best. In fact, the only ranking of the movies I will agree is correct is: 1, 3, 2, 4. But there are some who believe Last Crusade is best or even Temple of Doom and while I love those movies, they are not better than the classic Raiders. But again. It's all subjective. And everyone is right. We all experience those movies, every movie, different from each other. As it should be. We're being told a story. You may like it. You may think it's just okay. You may hate it. But we're all right in our opinion. The only final piece I'll add is that you actually have to watch the movie or the TV show in order for you to deem it garbage. I get if you watch the trailer and say, "It's not for me. I probably won't like it." Fair enough. But if you claim a movie is terrible and you've never seen it, that's the definition of being uninformed. Don't be uninformed.

#4thofjuly #IndependenceDay

Editor's Note: I wrote this last week for my Project Planning class, for which I'm taking as I earn a Master's Degree in Interactive Media. Thought I'd share. I've always been a procrastinator. This goes way back to elementary school. I specifically remember my very first time. For sixth grade, I had Mr. Maguire. He was a big, burly man who wore a big mustache and loved jokes. He was an army veteran who fought in The Korean Conflict and when he spoke about how he left the army, he would always say that he got injured. "How'd you get injured, Mr. Maguire?" "I fell on my knee." "Which one?" "Not my left knee or my right knee, but my heinie." Oh yeah, sixth graders loved that joke. Mr. Maguire assigned us a U.S. State to cover. We had to do a 4-5 page report on the state. I had Alaska and I did nothing for a month. The night before came around and I panicked. Suddenly, I'm scrambling. "Why'd I wait so long?!" was repeated often. I wrote the report for most of the night. Handed it in on-time and then began to worry about it until I was handed the report back to me the following week. A+ That A+ gave me the permission to procrastinate for the rest of my life. I was proud of that grade, because I pulled it out of nowhere. Every time I had an assignment in Middle School or High School, even college - I'd procrastinate and think back to that report on Alaska. It was a badge of honor. That grade also was an indication of the type of student I turned out to be: The Straight-A kind. I became a perfectionist, not because of my parents lording over me, making sure I did well in everything. Honestly, a lot of the work felt easy. The math was easy. The facts were easy. But also, I was able to understand exactly what the teachers were looking for and satisfy their needs. This week's reading brought to light the two reasons why I procrastinated: 1. I was bored with the material, because once I knew it, I stupidly wanted to move on. 2. I was afraid of failure. I didn't want my perfect grades to be ruined. It was only after school, when I woke up and realized that procrastinating wasn't a good thing. (I'm such a great student, that it took me years to figure this out. Real slick.) Putting together productions for short films and web series, you have to plan ahead. It's imperative. So I was able to break the history of procrastination with organization and pre-production skills. I probably could've continued my procrastinating ways, but I cared too much about the final product to let that happen. And I didn't allow my perfectionist ways to intercede in my productions. The arts are so subjective that you'll never make everyone love your story. Ever. No matter how universally heralded it may become, someone won't like it. Once I understood that, I was able to rid myself of procrastination. It may crop up every now and then, but I recognize it just as fast and I move on and get the work done. Side Note: For all those perfectionists out there, I find that having children was also a great way to break my ways of making sure everything was perfect. Maybe it's just my kids, but it's a losing battle when it comes to trying to be perfect. I just try to keep up with those little human tornadoes. #procrastination #writing #filmmaking #indiefilm #nutmeginstitute #gradschool