Herr Direktor... that's what they call me

No, I'm not getting egotistical here, I was really called that by one of my film compadres recently. Maybe a little background would be suitable here. I'm directing a short film with my film company, and we're now in the production phase. I'm pretty much prepared to eat, sleep, drink, breathe, and blog film production in the upcoming weeks. "Sick", the film we're shooting, was written by Jason Pettus, a writer and fellow weblogger from here in the windy city.

So this past weekend we shot most of the exterior shots up on Broadway and Melrose, where the other members of the RoxBox film company live. We also were able to procure a convenience store in the same area Saturday night, and we did some shooting there as well. Part of the film entails Beth, one of the two main charaters, picking up some stuff at the convenience store for Seth, the other main character. It was nice to be able to shoot at such an accessible location, as we've had major difficulties with locations in the past. Big shout to Broadway Discount!!

So tonight we begin rehearsal for the interiors, which make up the bulk of the film, and it should be very fun. I've never directed a rehearsal before, but am very excited to do so. Hopefully the actors will have fun with the script tonight, I want tonight to be pretty experimental, letting the actors get more comfortable with their characters and the relationship between them. Aaaah... a new experience shared by a small group sometimes tends to make it more enjoyable an adventure. I hope tonight will be one of those cases.

More to come.

My girlfriend wanted me to mention the fissure on her face... but... that's about all I can really say about it.

So anyhow, I guess I'll take a minute to talk about myself, finally. My name's Mars Sanford. The full name is Marsden, my parents weren't hippies, I've been asked many times, believe me. I live in Chicago, where I moved in April 2001 from CT. I'm 26, my parents still live out there in CT, and I decided to move out with a friend for a change of scenery.

I love it here in Chicago. Since I've lived here, I lived up north in the Rogers Park neighborhood with the friend I mentioned, down in Lakeview/Boystown in my own studio, and now I live with my girlfriend of just over a year and a half in the Bucktown neighborhood. I'm glad I lived in each, but in the same fashion, I'm glad I did move out of each so that I could see them all.

Back in Connecticut I was in a couple of bands, I rapped in each, and I've rapped at a couple of spoken word mics here in Chicago as well. As I've mentioned before, I'm involved with a film company, RoxBox Films, and we have recently incorporated ourselves as a nonprofit organization. I love writing, as a matter of fact, my girlfriend and I wrote the second short RoxBox Filmed, entitled "Schmewie Franchise Welcome Video". We have a blast all through production, and hopefully you'll be able to see them here on the web somewhat soon.

So that's a little piece about me. A long overdue introduction. Hope to post again soon.

More to Come.

So maybe I'll do this whole NaNoWriMo thing...

Yep, just as I learned about this blog thing to make me write a bit more consistently, I've also learned about a novel writing competition that takes place every year. The site is NaNoWriMo.com, and I guess a lot of people actually get fired up for this every year. Heck, it's only October 9th, I sort of am too.

So the way this whole process works is that everyone who wants to participate has an idea for the Great American Novel, and they sign up (I'm still not entirely sure what that entails...) to participate. Then, during October, all sorts of planning is done for the day Nov 1st actually rolls around. No writing though! I think the only rule besides the obvious (like no plagiarism) is that all writing that counts toward the word count of the novel has to take place during November. So once Nov 1 does arrive, all the participants begin pounding on hteir keys in an effort to get going towards the 50,00 word count that must be finished by Nov 30. That avg's to 1667 words a day, with a little less on the thirtieth.

So yeah... on to my whimsical participation... well... I've had this idea for a book about someone who learns about becoming a fan who follows a band around the country in a Dead/Phish/hippie lifestyle for quite some time now, and I think NaNo (as the cool kids call it) would be some good motivation for me. The main point of the story is that life is what you make of it. When the protagonist decides to take up the lifestyle as a means of searching for peace and happiness, he then comes to the crude realization that there is only as much peace love and happiness fueling the scene as he himself can put into it. He begins to see what he didn't see before, that there's no storybook brotherhood he'd always expected when he viewed the scene from a far, there's a bunch of grubby, self-righteous hippies who just want tickets and substances.

Soooo... I guess we'll have to see if I can actually follow along with the big boys. In the meantime, I'm going to try to add as much planning and development as I can to the blog throughout October.

Till next time... More to Come.

Oh yeah, I'm a player now, too.

I got some shares of stock in my last year of college at UConn, because I heard they were giving them out for being one of the first 700,000 visitors to their website. Who am I a proud company owner of, you ask? Well, travelzoo.com, glad ya asked!

So now, 4 years later, they've gone public. And there's been absolutely no action on the stock since the IPO. but, hey, I've got 6 shares of stock at 6.50 apiece for nothing! I'll take a free 39 dollars any day!

Eh, I'll just hold on to it and see if these troubling economic times provide a rebound to act as a springboard for my happy little shares of stock. I'm sure that's the same idea my other 699,999 shareholders (if there still are that many... my patience is probably a bit higher than many of them) are doing.

Did I tell you I make films?

Or actually movies, I guess. Some friends of mine, along with my girlfriend, started a small independent film production company here in Chi-town. Its been a lot of fun so far, and it feels good to flex my creative muscles along with another group of people toward a common goal. So, the films have been short, and getting better and better in quality as we work towards hopefully filming our first feature next year. We're actually going to be shooting three more in the upcoming month, so we should be real busy and building our skills to boot.

Want a link? I'd love to give you one, but we ain't on the web yet, hopefully soon!

So here we are again at the old Blogger dot com to update the blog.

I always think of things I want to write when I don't have time, and I never seem to think of things to write when I do. So, I figured... what the heck?! Might as well stop by during the day.

As if anyone really cared, I have these weird lumps under my arms, I hate them, and I don't know if a dermatologist would be the best place to go, but I have one, so I'm going to make an appointment. The reason I actually wrtite that here is because I always forget to call and make the appointment while at work. Well not today! I'm off to call Dr. Brown.

Until those two times when I can think of something and when I have time to write something collide, More to come!