Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Better Late Than Never?

With the holidays in full swing and the fact that I'm no longer a student, I figured that it's time to update this blog with some of the latest happenings in the Kingdom of Phil.

First things first, I've officially graduated with a Master's Degree in Fine Arts from USC's School of the Cinematic Arts. I can't believe I'll never step into a classroom ever again...unless I ever make my long-gestating high school flick which I will in the next year or two I swear to Lyra's golden alethiometer. It's a great feeling, knowing you'll never have to write a paper about interactive media, Sunset Boulevard, or Hamlet ever again.

With graduation comes the next great chapter in my life I'll title "Making My First Feature Before 30." The great lesson I've learned from all my 3.5 years at George Lucas's old school is that I know how to actually make a movie from getting the money to make it to getting it seen by folks other than my immediate family. I come out of school with a tremendous amount of confidence tempered with some wisdom and realistic expectations. I'm not in this game to make a buck but to make great movies, so I'm relatively prepared for a destitute, poverty-line approaching life...at least for the next 2-3 years.

So, I've been focusing on the project that was to have been shot last summer but wasn't...my passion project if you will which is The Longhorns. I'm aiming to get a draft done in the next month, with rewrites constantly, and then off to get the money to make it. Whether this is a one-year journey (not likely) or a two-year one (more likely), I'm gonna make this movie.

PG