The Upside of Writing Entertainment Magazine Articles

Not long ago, I pitched Emmy Magazine, an entertainment industry trade magazine, on the idea of writing a story about three TV actors and their moves into other areas such as writing, directing, or producing. The actors I chose were Laura Innes, Dr. Kerry Weaver from ER, Bryan Cranston, the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, and Michael Chiklis, Detective Vic Mackey from The Shield. All three of them are very nice people.

The upside of interviewing them, in addition to getting to meet them, is that I get to ask things I want to know because I'm transitioning from acting to writing myself. I also get access to them that I can't get by going through their agents or managers. For example, I talked with Bryan Cranston about the mockumentary I'm writing about the first quadriplegic mime. He thought it was a very funny concept and offered to read it when I finish writing it in December. (I'm really hoping he likes it because there is an excellent part for him in it.) The other upside is that I get to write for a prestigious trade magazine and get a blurb about myself in it, and of course, they pay me.

All I seem to do lately is write, it's a good thing I love doing it. I met twice with a terrific script consultant, Julie Marsh Nelson about "Hip-Hop Zombies". The writing is coming along very well and I hope to have the first draft done before the end of October. I want to write an excellent script that will draw big-name talent. I could probably make a cheesy version of it to release on DVD, but I wouldn't be happy with what I had created. I always strive to make everything I write the best it can possibly be.

I'm currently having my dramady pilot "Area 52" read by top script consultants, Marc and Elaine Zicree, and I will probably rewrite based on their input and start shopping it around production companies within ABC/Disney. (Because I wrote "Area 52" while in the ABC/Disney Scholarship Program, ABC/Disney has an option on it for a year so I can only show it to production companies who have a deal with ABC/Disney. I learned a lot in that program and its totally worth it.)

Having a successful writing career looks easy from the outside, but it's a very tough business. It's tough to get the job, tough doing the job, and tough to keep the job. But, it's my dream and I intend to persevere. In truth, the fact that it's tough motivates me to work that much harder.

The pilot for Comedy Central that I appeared in and creative consulted on "Special Unit" is still in play according to Bryan Cranston who directed it, but that's about as much as I know.

My acting career is also moving along fairly well. I'm going to a callback (a second audition) on Thursday for a part in a very exciting project that I will talk more about when I land the role. (notice I said when and not if).

Don't forget to mark your calendars for October 27th! Color of the Cross the feature film I co-wrote is coming to theaters. (if you look real close at this poster you'll see my name on the bottom line as co-writer ... BOOYAH!) It is the story of Jesus' last forty-eight hours and Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and several of the disciples will be played by African Americans. Please check out the trailer at colorothecross.com

Thanks for reading, that's all until next time

A Blast From the Past

My mom had her 80th birthday celebration a few weeks back. My entire family was up at her home in Reno, all except me, because, for various reasons I was unable to attend.

Anyway, one of the projects my family was doing while they were there was to separate the pictures. I thought this one was particularly poignant. I was home from hospital that day on a visit to see if my family would be able to take of me. The girl to my right is Ida, my first girlfriend. There is a long story there (which will be a chapter in my autobiography) about how having her as a girlfriend while I was in hospital kept me from having a mental block about my wheelchair being a wall between me and the opposite sex. The girl in a miniskirt is Debbie, a neighbor from across the street. That was 1972. Although I'm smiling in that picture I was in a very, very bad place. My hands had been taken away from me and all I had aspired to do for most of my life was to work in electronics. I loved building stuff.

The reason I include that picture today, is because it's a hell of a lot easier to look back after thirty-five years, than it was looking forward from that skinny fifteen-year-old perspective I had. Believe me, I never thought in a million years I'd be where I am today. So, to all of those people out there reading this who are newly quadriplegic, or know someone who is, or even those who are trapped in a position that they don't want to be in, I hope that this picture will give you some hope. There is life after a spinal cord injury, there is life after tragedy. Wow, I don't usually get into that part of my past, it's not a good place for me for the most part. I much prefer living in the present and future.

Speaking of the present, I graduated from the Disney scholarship two weeks back and pitched my "Outsiders" script, which is now called "Area 52" and it was well received but no one as yet has asked to read it. That's pretty much how Hollywood works. Lots of smiles, encouragement, compliments, and other glad handling, but no sales. If they're interested in buying your work, you'll know it because they won't glad hand you most of the time. As with everything though, there are exceptions. Michael Landon told me how terrific my audition was then hired me three hours later. Larry David went on and on about how terrific my audition was, but have you ever seen me on "Curb Your Enthusiasm?"

I am mostly occupied with writing, it's about all I do. I got feedback from a script consultant on my zombie script last week which was very helpful. Most people write in a vacuum and if you don't have input from informed outside sources your script has a strong possibility of being jam packed with holes, two dimensional characters, and an ending that comes out of nowhere. I'm sure you've seen movies that are examples of all of those and more.

So, that's enough for me for today. Thank you all for reading and following my career. As for all of the other projects I have, other scripts, my autobiography, and others, they are all coming along well. Until next time ...

Things Are Picking Up

I haven't added anything new here in a while because I've been so busy writing. The good news is, I have a veritable cornucopia of new projects I'm anxious to talk about.

Before I tell you about all my new projects, I've got to tell you about a performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" I saw a few nights back at the Ricardo Montalban Theater. It starred Ted Neely and many other stars from the original movie. It also starred Ben Vareen, and, in a very cool bit of casting, Jack Black as King Herod. I would say he stole the show except the other performances were so extraordinary that everyone stole the show. I ran into Jack Black out front, we spoke for a moment and he was nice enough to pose with me for this picture. (double-click the picture to view a larger version)

First, an update regarding "The Outsiders," my TV pilot about an alien from outer space who comes to earth and becomes immediately famous only to lose it all to a second Antonio Banderas of aliens who turns him into yesterday's news. It is all but done. I'm very happy with it, and I will be pitching it to ABC and promoting myself to them as a writer during the last week of August. If they turn it down, I will take it to the other networks including FX.

"Hip-Hop Zombies" has its own website now (hip-hopzombies.com, see the link on the right) and soon there will be a trailer for it up there as well as a promotional poster. It's moving along quite well when it's done I think it will be a movie that several types of people will enjoy. In addition to zombies, it is laugh out loud funny and has strong characters and strong relationships.

Keep an eye out for the movie I wrote, "Color Of The Cross," it's coming out in theaters October 13th. "Color Of The Cross" (see link on the right) is the story of Holy Thursday, the day before Jesus was crucified. He knew he was going to die the next day so it was important to him to say goodbye to his friends and his mother. The real twist in this story is that Jesus, Mary, and several of the disciples will be played by African American actors and the story is written to include the prejudice that was prevalent in those days and rarely talked about.

I have also embarked on three new projects I'm anxious to talk about. I'm resurrecting a script I wrote years ago called "In Their Own World," a futuristic story about a team of Space explorers who land on a planet inhabited only by people with Down syndrome. It's a touching, romantic tale, that if all goes right will be part of a trilogy of science fiction short films called "Strange Matter" that will be available on DVD. There will definitely be lots of notice here when that comes out.

I'm in the process of writing my memoirs titled, "Don't Make Me Get Out Of This Chair". Like me, my memoirs will be jam packed with irony, touching moments, and above all biting wit. Some of the chapter titles include; "A Husband and His Money are Soon Parted," "Oops! Or Was It Destiny?" and "God Bless Quadriphiles."

My third new project is an untitled half-hour comedy/drama written by and starring me about my life. I've been fortunate to have an adventurous life and I will be dramatizing, or should I say comedy-tizing various moments of my life with the goal of making people laugh so hard milk squirts out their nose.

Writing by the Light of My Fireplace

Well, not really. Especially since my apartment doesn't have a fireplace and the temperature will be in the hundreds today. But it's a nice image anyway.

But, that's about all I've been doing is writing. Industry-wise anyway. I have been doing a few normal things like shopping for clothes, getting new glasses, and getting my teeth fixed, but nobody wants to read about how many cavities I have or the new bifocals I am trying to get used to.

I have been meeting with my new mentor at ABC/Disney, Fernando A. Torres who is helping me get my script "The Outsiders" in shape to pitch to the ABC development executives at the end of August. Development executives are the people who make decisions about what new pilots to buy with the goal of turning them into a series. The best of all worlds would be that "The Outsiders" is picked up as a TV series. The more likely outcome is that it will be a terrific writing sample I can use to get a staff writing job on a show.

When I'm not working on "The Outsiders," I am writing my feature film, "Hip-Hop Zombies," a very tongue-in-cheek horror flick that is a cross between Napoleon Dynamite, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Airplane. I'm hoping to have it completed in the next few months and my involvement with it will probably be as a writer/producer.

Also, during the last few weeks I have been busy with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. They're the people who give out the Emmy Awards. I have been a member of the TV Academy for nine years and have voted in the Emmys every year. It is a great honor that I don't take lightly. I especially enjoy judging on the Blue Ribbon panel that narrows the top vote-getters to the final five who receive the nomination. It is a terrific feeling sitting with other industry professionals to judge our fellow performers' work and its measure of excellence which is the standard of the Academy of Television Arts and Science. In the next few weeks I'll be viewing performances in two categories by the five nominees to vote for the ones I'd consider Emmy worthy.

Thought you might be interested to see a picture of me a few years back with my horse Teardrop. Actually she was not my horse, but my dad made deal with her owner who kept her on our property, that if I fed her and cleaned up after her, I could ride her and treat her like she was my own. And since the owner rarely came to see her, I was the only owner she ever knew. (trivia: I named an episode of "Without A Trace" I wrote as a spec script after her). I was just reminiscing with my sister last night about how we were blessed with terrific childhoods that I think back on often.