The Logline

I wanted to share a little more about me, my process, and goals as a creative!

My background? First, I have dipped a toe in many significant parts of film and media production. Obviously, in the internet era, I have played with audio/video editing to create longform content. I have experimented in Blender and Adobe After Effects using ProductionCrate tutorials to learn the basic process of green-screening and VFX. I have played with 2D animation in Blender, Clip-Studio, and Krita. As a musician, I have extensive experience composing in Musecore and Dorico and extended my musical experimentation into Cakewalk and Cubase DAWs. And of course, I’ve been writing almost as long as I’ve been playing piano and composing, which leads to now, working on completing screenwriting projects so I have something to show agents and film companies.

What will you find in my portfolio? I plan to have at least one movie in just about every genre I enjoy watching. Action, mystery, historical, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. The only caveat being these movies will all be family friendly within the genre (family-friendly as in comfortable for all-ages, not watered-down stories). Something that drove me crazy growing up was never being able to find a movie I, as the oldest sibling, could watch with my younger sisters because every teen/adult movie glorified toxic relationships or sleeping with a man you just met, or had gratuitous humor. Good for other people who like it, but not my style.

My process? I have said it before, I am not a planner, however, I am not unstructured. I have studied and intentional exposed myself to media in my genre and comprehended the plot structures, important timing factors, and variations on the rule. Basically, I don’t often over-deliberate on writing down the plot beats, but I do typically have the beats internalized and my story categorized with a structure in mind. And I do write down beats and orders of events that I worry I’ll forget. Only recently have I begun pre-plotting, and that’s only when I think knowing the order of events perfectly in advance will be more helpful than following the creative waterfall.

Another part of my process is accepting my motivators. Every writer seems to have a room, ritual, or mantra that benefits their artistic output. I am no different. I am locationally motivated (and circumstantially food motivated). I have the most creative energy and the most output when I am anywhere but my home. Coffee shop, student union, library, etc. just anywhere that I don’t live. Obviously in places that serve food, it’s only polite to order something if I’m taking up a seat. But bringing a snack from home doesn’t impede the process. My brain just likes the novelty of writing somewhere different.

Would I prefer traditional or indie production? It all depends. Being as of now, reliant on a “responsible” career income, every expense has to be considered and more often than not, opportunities require sacrifice and extensive consideration. Legitimate opportunities should not require much sacrifice or steal money with no benefits rendered, but contrarily investments in independent production are guaranteed to require financial planning and a willingness to not have much return or even bomb completely. I am arranging a process of events that will likely involve starting out traditionally with an agent and sale of my scripts to “earn” my way into independence without unreasonable financial inconvenience.

Finally, my dream is to see my projects provide opportunities for independent or small artists, animators, film scorers, actors/voice actors, and generally just people like me who have potential but don’t have the blessing of Hollywood nepotism on their side. With the consistent development and uprising of indie production companies and indie films, I think this goal is achievable with time. For the moment, I’m playing the traditional safe game, but someday I will assemble a team of people who don’t support the classic Hollywood mold of toxic men/women, bad relationships, and families destroying each other. I would love to work with an established production company, but I want my team to be people who still need their shot.

So now you know a little more about me! I probably have a lot in common with the artists of my time, and also some differences. Come find me on social media as thelogline to stay updated on my journey!