As you can see I've not been super inspired to write this month. It's been really hard seeing the days and weeks go by without work showing up. So far this year I've had one day of paid work (last weekend)... A little scary. People are having a rough time all around. The low-budget independent film world is suffering quite heavily form the economical crisis. 3 out 4 jobs on craigslist are for unpaid positions. Some postings are flat out ridiculous. People asking for the world for nothing in return. What to do now? I've been pondering on this for a while. Answers come and go. Right now the urgency is in feeling productive and creative. If I'm not going to get paid for working, I might as well do something that'll satisfy my need for creation. So in the coming weeks I'll be collaborating on a couple little projects with unemployed friends of mine. It'll give us an opportunity to not only do something productive but also work together on a stress free no strings attached project, which should be refreshing. 
I'm very excited about it. The first project will involve me stepping back in front of the camera, something I haven't done in years. It should be interesting. I look forward to channeling all this energy into a character. Then later I'll jump back behind the camera to create something that'll most likely be shot in the desert. Aside from that I'm always thinking of pushing my photography in different directions. I played with water the other day as you can see on the left. I also spent a couple hours downtown capturing the evening scene. It's a time of many reflections, and while applying for jobs on a daily basis I can only go with the flow and be as productive as I can.
Wow, so it's already February! I have no idea where January went. I have nothing to show for it. All I did was spend my time looking for work, going to a few interviews and bitching to my other unemployed peers how damn hard it is to find a gig these days. Oh, sorry, I did win at poker last week. $40! And another $50 I'd won in Vegas a few days before. So I almost made it to a 100 bucks. That's my revenue for the month. An all time record. And guess what, rent is due today...
Anyway, as I mentioned above I was in Vegas about ten days ago. Not to party or drink myself to oblivion, but for a job. Unpaid. To help a friend. But everything was taken care of so I thought a couple days away from LA and my computer wouldn't kill me. It turned out to be a really fun time. I actually got a little taste of VIP treatment. Without going into too many details on how and why, my friend and I ended up getting a lift from Jay Leno. We flew there and back on a private jet, and had a limo to take us from and to the airport. Not too bad. We weren't working for Jay but he had a show in Vegas so it worked out well.
We stayed at the Palms where we had a room comped and were put on the lists to all the clubs in the city. So we took advantage of that and checked out the clubs at the Palms. The following day we shot a show at the Playboy comedy club. It felt really good being in Vegas for a productive purpose and made for a very different experience. And I came back with that extra fifty in my pocket. For the first time I wasn't leaving sin city broke and hungover. On the way back we talked movies and Jay voiced his deep "hatred" for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Needless to say we had some good laughs. After being dropped off at NBC, I hopped in my well dented truck and made my way back home to my job quest. It was a short parenthesis in this month of "cruel disillusions" (for dramatic purpose).
But it has been a rough month work wise. I'm at a point where I would take on an internship if it were at the right place. But even that's hard to come by. I applied for a couple and nothing. So basically I can't even work for free. What the hell! January is notoriously slow though. The threat of a sag strike might also be to blame, as well the economy probably. But it feels different for some reason. Maybe it also has something to do with me. I have high expectations for this year so my patience is probably lesser than it would normally be.
So I'll just go on and scour job listings. Something will pop up sooner or later. I took advantage of my free time to go see "The Dark Knight" on IMAX today and was blown away. Films like this inspire me so much that I walk out of there pumped and ready to move on to great things. It's so energizing. I also have to mention "Frozen River" which I saw yesterday. Really well written, structured and put together. It takes you on an interesting ride. You never know what the characters are going to do. I knew nothing about it and was pleasantly surprised.
Posts
As you can see I've not been super inspired to write this month. It's been really hard seeing the days and weeks go by without work showing up. So far this year I've had one day of paid work (last weekend)... A little scary. People are having a rough time all around. The low-budget independent film world is suffering quite heavily form the economical crisis. 3 out 4 jobs on craigslist are for unpaid positions. Some postings are flat out ridiculous. People asking for the world for nothing in return. What to do now? I've been pondering on this for a while. Answers come and go. Right now the urgency is in feeling productive and creative. If I'm not going to get paid for working, I might as well do something that'll satisfy my need for creation. So in the coming weeks I'll be collaborating on a couple little projects with unemployed friends of mine. It'll give us an opportunity to not only do something productive but also work together on a stress free no strings attached project, which should be refreshing. 
I'm very excited about it. The first project will involve me stepping back in front of the camera, something I haven't done in years. It should be interesting. I look forward to channeling all this energy into a character. Then later I'll jump back behind the camera to create something that'll most likely be shot in the desert. Aside from that I'm always thinking of pushing my photography in different directions. I played with water the other day as you can see on the left. I also spent a couple hours downtown capturing the evening scene. It's a time of many reflections, and while applying for jobs on a daily basis I can only go with the flow and be as productive as I can.
