All Quiet On the Western Job Front

Greetings All!

Follow me today on a trip to the exotic nation of Canada, on the resource rich continent of North America, as we prepare to study the hunting rituals of the white, anglo-saxon male in search of sustenance.

Though when out of his own environment, the white male can be hostile towards others of his own kind, when in his native land, we typically see a much more docile and carefree version of the species. It is normal for the parents of these creatures to support them well into the second quarter of their lives. Though a large percentage of these animals leave home for a number of years to discover the world on their own, it is not unusual for them to return home, exhausted of the weariness of the outside world. At this time, returning to the care of the parents can be difficult for the subject to adjust to and it is here that we see the first sparks of independence develop.

The diet of the white-male is a complete imbalance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates gathered from available foods around him. Though the creature is capable of finding food for himself, it is customary for his kind to perform services in exchange for the resources he needs to survive. The search for a mutual agreement in which resources will be exchanged for labour is the most extreme and cut-throat hunt the white-male will ever find himself in - and it's what we find ourselves observing today.

Our primary subject is physically smaller than most, but is educated and has had previously successful experiences in exchanging his labour for resources. Typically sticking close to home, as the thrill of returning home with a bounty each night excites him, the stomping grounds of the subject are comparatively smaller to those with a more severe hunger for the hunt.

Observing the subject for the past four months, I've found that he has at least twice been able to find a suitable partner to exchange services with, while still allowing him to accommodate his other leisure activities. In recent weeks however, he has retreated to a state of hibernation, relying on the goods he has gathered in the past to support him - this behavior was at first perceived as odd, until we began to look at the subject's leisure activities to provide an answer. And provide it did.

For several months, the subject has been learning the skills to hunt the elusive "career job". Thought to be an urban legend by both subjects and observers alike, the career is a relationship where the subject both exchanges labour for resources but ALSO practices his leisure activities. A mix of both work and play long thought unobtainable for most of the subject's life.

At the ripe age of 23, the subject is combining the relevant experiences of his last four years in the nation's capital urban centre with his passion for communication. Finding his way to a local trading post of both resources and communication, the subject began to offer his labour for free - instead asking only for experience and advice in hunting larger prey.

Coming across individuals who had been successful in finding suitable prey, the subject gained both confidence and excitement for the coming hunt. Using the tools at his disposal, as all intelligent, white males do, the subject was observed going after several career-jobs - but failed in most of his attempts to gain even an audience with his prey.

It is this environment of learning that the smaller stature of the subject becomes irrelevant and his curious nature becomes the trump card in the deadly game.

On August 22nd, 2009, the subject was observed conversing with another white male, somewhat older, who had grown tired with his current prey and was moving on towards another hunt. Though the prey the older hunter was leaving behind was enticing to our subject, the older hunter offered up rumours of another, bigger hunt farther down the road.

The subject, satisfied with his hunting for the day returned home to ponder the turn of events. Though his hoard of resources resources are quickly depleting, he knows he has only two options; to move on to smaller prey, which would guarantee a return of resources - or to stay with the hunt.

The subject has been previously observed as carefree, docile and these qualities were attributed to most of his behavior. But recently, we see these characteristics providing him avenues that would be unavailable, had he begun to pursue smaller, more easily hunted prey - a scavenger. Instead, we see the subject biding his time, learning his prey and waiting for the moment to strike.

It is evident that we are not observing a jackal or vulture in this hunt for employment - but the king of the concrete jungle himself - slow to anger, slow to act - but ferocious when he does - the lion.

Thank you for tuning into another edition - and good luck on all your own hunts!

The Watchmaker

It's already August 9th; the table read for Episode 3 is this coming Saturday and this week is all about getting that prepared.

I'll be reviewing the script tomorrow through Tuesday, getting final numbers for attendance and then getting prepared for the dinner itself later in the week. Believe it or not this is going to be a ... long week.

I've been filming a bit more for Rogers TV recently. Saw the Barrie Baycats beat Kitchener and move on to the Intercounty Baseball Semi-Finals. Also did a Celebrate the County shoot in Heritage Park. Apparently Barrie has a small Carribana festival, and a steele drum band was playing in the park. It's actually quite a nice area and depending on how the footage is edited, you might see one of the better-kept areas of Barrie. I believe it's on Saturdays at 5pm on Rogers TV, which is channels 10 and 53 on cable. Barrie OHL starts up soon too, and I think there would be something challenging about filming hockey, so I'm excited to be signing up for that. Plus, it gets me into every Barrie Colts home game this season.

I've been writing Episode 5 lately, and have been wrestling with the idea of combining Episodes 5 and 6 together. I'm not confidant that I have enough material to actually make a 45 page script for Episode 6, but I'm sure that overlapping the plots of both would come out to longer than 45 minutes. It's actually been quite the dilemma that hasn't exactly been resolved.

Episode 5 is coming along great so far. It's the first opportunity I've had to characterize Danielle 'Lidless' Parsons as a tragic villain. I had always intended to her to be ruthless, yet sympathetic. Furthermore, the 'plot' of the show has always been about her political machinations, which are revealed in Episode 5. Though it's fun to write, there's also some critical thinking that has to go into this script that isn't exactly present in its predecessors.

Been doing some local travelling lately; was up in the Blue Mountains last weekend and managed to catch the sunrise from a particularly nice view. Was also doing some very-local sight-seeing at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, located in Oro-Medonte. I mention these because I think there's a lot of potential in showing the natural resources of this area in the show. Though there's plenty of shows filmed in and around this area, very few shows take place here. I think it would be fun to try and incorporate the Blue Mountains into the narrative of the show somehow, maybe further down the line, just to have an excuse to go out and film there.

I had intended to have August be my big month for blogging, but in full compliance with the law of economics, as a recently laid-off individual, I enjoy spending money I don't have on things I don't need. This involves a lot of unproductive days. I'll do my best to get a full eight blogs out over the next 23 days and see if I can't make that goal of having August be the most productive month for the blog.

Think that's gonna wrap things up for tonight. Hope you all had good weekends despite the return of the wet weather.

The Beautiful People (that's you!)

you're all such patient, beautiful people and so i've decided to try and win you all over with another blog entry.

the warm weather has arrived and i think it's here to stay. i couldn't be happier. i love the summer and everything associated with it.

been spending a lot of time filming. did celebrate the county today, doing the barrie baycats double header tomorrow.

tuesday or wednesday night i put on a pot of coffee at 10pm and wrote until 2am. took everything i had for episode 3 "401" and turned it into 24 pages of concrete script that i am absolutely thrilled with. i realize i'm almost a month behind on my initial deadline for "401", but I made that list before I had committed myself to work and volunteering, and honestly, I don't think it's been wasted time. I'll wrap up "401" as soon as I can, but "Nostos", "In Media Res" and the season finale will have to wait until I can make more serious advances in production of the pilot.

i've tasked someone with getting all the applications possible for grants, funding, etc.. so it looks like DBell Ink [or Dbell Productions, which is better?] has its first staff member. speaking of the production company, i'm still sticking to my deadline of having the company founded by the end of the summer. rome was not built in a day, and all great things take time. though i don't spend every waking hour working on this project, i think i've set realistic deadlines to accompany the demands of life as well as my passion for the show.

i've been concentrating a lot of effort into developing the character of Riley. She's turning into my favorite character in the show because I know where she ends up in episode 24. we may never get to episode 24, but it feels so natural for her to be at that place at the end of the series. 24 episodes is what most television programs have in one season, but i'd like to tell the entire series in 4-5 arcs spread over 24-26 episodes. i've all but decided the fates of Derek and Eddie, but it's Riley's character arc that i feel deserves the most attention.

the show had always started based on Derek's love for a character based on K.M., but the further this show goes the more I'm happy I decided Eveleigh's fate early on. i've had trouble lately finding a girl that i'd like to start a relationship with and thus people ask me what i want in a girl. as i continue to write these episodes, i realize i am shaping Riley out to very much be the kind of girl i'd like to be with. ultimately i identify with all my characters, male and female alike, and generally try to imbue them with some sense of my own moral attributes. where Eveleigh represents the superficial and obvious qualities i look for in a girl, Riley represents that partnering and true personality i'd like to connect with. similarily, i think Eddie will personify some of the qualities i'd find appealing about myself for a woman, but Derek represents the more natural, careless and negative way I carry myself with women.

i always try and make a point to recognzie when i'm too freudy and psychoanalyzing myself. this is it, and thus i'll bring this to a close. i hope you all have wonderful weekends, and i'll be talking with you soon!

Yesterday's grant seminar was kind of useless. The instructor was well-informed and made a solid effort to reach out to us, but the substance of the presentation was lacking. What was supposed to be a three-hour seminar on how to apply for Barrie Arts Council Grants turned into a two-hour course on how to write a pitch and a one-hour networking event. Though informative, I just didn't take anything out of the seminar.

I don't know which way I'm going to branch out here. There's some Barrie stuff that's been on my mind for a while - so I think I'd like to take the opportunity to talk about some of that.

Barrie has been petetioning to annex several thousand acres of land from the township of Innisfil. Here's some background between the two. Several years ago, Barrie Raceway came upon an opportunity to put slot machines in its establishment, but the Barrie Agricultural Society decided they didn't want gambling in their city (you know, because they weren't already gambling on horses to begin with). Innisfil then built their own raceway and put slot machines in them - the whole thing has been a great success. That money doesn't go solely to the township of Innisfil, it's distributed through the entire county of Simcoe, of which Barrie and Orillia are independent municipalities of. Barrie WILL claim the slots as their own. Furthermore, taxes of current Innisfil residents will go up significantly if their land is annexed by Barrie.

Barrie's a great city. There's little crime, there's nothing you 'need' to go to Toronto for (except work) and it's generally friendly enough. But when I grew up, Barrie had 30, 000 residents and Bayfield Street was the economic centre of the city. 20 years and 120, 000 residents later, the city hasn't changed much. Bayfield street is still a mess, Mapleview Drive(formerly Molson Park Drive) is even worse, the downtown has been under construction for the last four years and isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Park Place (formlerly Molson Park) was once a lucious green park which was as pleasant to be in as it was to look at driving by. Now access is restricted and it looks like a land transplant from Afghanistan. It's a fucking desert. What an eye sore.

The fact that Barrie's only jobs are based on public service, retail and construction is just sad. Where are the businesses, Barrie? Why force the people to go to the jobs, instead of bringing the jobs to the people, like a REGULAR CITY? It doesn't help that the education centre of Barrie is a college. We stand alone as one of Canada's largest cities without a university. Simcoe University sounds awesome if you ask me. Universities bring minds. Colleges bring lazy people who want to stay at home. I know that sounds callous, but the fact is, Laurentian at Georgian is not a university, it's university courses at a college. It's designed FOR people who want to stay in Barrie - it's a community college. That's the purpose. Establishing a university would bring great minds to Barrie, who will start great things in Barrie.

To bring this back to film, I pose this question; do you seriously think I could film Soundtrack in this city? I want to. There are parts I perhaps could. But nothing from my production company will be coming from any Barrie busineses. There's nothing alluring about filming here in Barrie besides convenience for myself. The fact is, the resources and people for this job are in Toronto, and I have to go to them.

So why should Barrie get more land, when it's been proven that it hasn't had a spectacular track-record using it in the past? I'm not saying Barrie shouldn't get the land - I'm just saying I'd like to see the land used a little bit more appropriately this time around. Building cheap houses side-by-side and strip-malls everywhere is not the way to do this. Set some cheap land aside for some businesses or industry to come in, get some preliminary plans for a university. Do what I say! roar.

The Lizife

Been keeping busy. Been writing too! Managed to squeeze out the entire rescue of Detective Nathan Davis from a moving transport truck. The way it's written shouldn't be too expensive. I hope not anyway. I had always envisioned it to be the most expensive scene in the entire series, but as I was writing it I realized there's only.. five expensive/dangerous shots that I think can be accomplsihed using tricks of the eye. The way I look at it is George Lucas made the Death Star blow up in 1977, so the least I can do in 2009 is make two trucks look like they're driving real fast.

Rogers is fun. Developing a patience for D.S., and I'm not exactly patient. I just accept the role between directon and camerawork and try to shrug it off. Live television is a little bit different I suppose, a lot more stressful for the production room. I'd really like to get an opportunity to shadow directing before Daytime is out. I'd really like to get a try at trying to communicate what I want from the camera crew. I'm sure if I ever got to do it I'd have R. on audio, then J., C. and M. on camera so they'd all be pro by now, which means they'd all be good at catching what I say.

Rogers has a section about proposing a show, and although I think it's a little early to be thinking Soundtrack right now, I wouldn't mind proposing a show. I think it'd be interesting to have a show completely about local talent. Local bands, poets, artists, singers, theatre troupes, comedy acts could fill the half-hour segment, and it would contain only the same costs of operating the studio on volunteer work. I should talk to someone about it. I know it seems a little obnoxious, but I do have a Bachelors of Arts in Mass Communication and I'm trying hard to make a good impression on the staff there. I feel like I've come a far way in these past few weeks. If anything I've realized just how much more there is to know. Which is why I think I should start with something small. Get some experience behind me. I'm going to write yup a business model this week, and submit it sometime after.

I feel I must at least make a public statement that Soundtrack is not, I repeat, NOT on hiatus or the backburner in ANY way. Soundtrack is a destination I will arrive at, at exactly when I expect myself too. I told P.L. on March 26th, 2009, I wanted to be casting one year from then. I believe I can still meet that goal. Here is my attempt at an original moment of zen for your pleasure.




The path is long and has many turns, but it is always right in front of you.




I don't know if I'll get a chance to mention this before I go, but I'm attending a seminar at City Hall this week on how to receive arts funding! Barrie's fortunate enough to have a great MPP, Aileen Carroll, who sits as the provincial government's Minister of Culture, so this is a great town to live in to be an aspiring artist. I use the term loosely by the way, that's just the government's definition of me.

So hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the weather, and you'll be hearing from me soon!

Collingwood

May 17 2009

So I'm currently in Collingwood at my friend E.B.'s chalet. The group of them had wanted to see Star Trek again, but I've already seen it twice and that's enough. So I'm staying here, taking some time off drinking for the weekend and blogging some thoughts about television and life.

I started spreading the word about the third dinner. Camp-out at Dustin's, tents, fire, smores the whole shabang. But unfortunately I haven't been making the progress I'd like to on Episode 3. What I should try and remember is that I had this problem with Episode 2, and I was honestly happier and more satisfied with Episode 2 than 1. I'll make an effort on Tuesday to put some solid ideas on paper and finish the skeleton and first draft of Episode 3 before moving on to a more refined version.

In the news; Barrie Mediagate 2009 seems to be winding down. I've read most of the responses to my editorial, and I have one only rebuttal; learn the difference between internships and volunteering before you make it the cornerstone of your argument. I haven't been compelled to write any counter-arguments to the Examiner because I simply feel like no one has given me something worth responding to outside debating semantics. The blog is certainly a better place to hold these debates.

The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission released a notice this past week that it would not seek to implement whats being called the "1-for-1" rule. This rule essentially seeks to correct the bidding wars for foreign programmes by Canadian stations. The CRTC claims that over three quarters of a billion dollars is spent each year by Canadian networks on purchasing foreign shows. What the 1-for-1 rule would essentially impose is for every dollar Canadian networks spend on purchasing American productions, they spend a dollar on purchasing Canadian productions. This is excellent news for me and it comes at a perfect time.

Next week American networks begin screening the slate of Fall television pilots for purchase by domestic and foreign networks. I'm sure this means there's some very lucky people watching some very rudimentary television pilots very soon, but it also means it's too soon for the CRTC to be implementing a new rule such as this. It would give Canadian networks a little over a week to reconsider their scheduling, production and budgets - which I'm sure isn't enough time. The CRTC in their infinite wisdom have decided to instead reschedule the 1-for-1 rule to be implemented in 2010 rather than the coming 2009 season. This gives me both time and hope to continue working on the series for a Fall 2010 debut. That also means this time next year I should be coming off the tail end of putting in a hell of a lot of work into the pilot - which makes me think I should get on to some of the more important aspects of pre-production. All in good time.

Rogers is going fine. Nothing really new to report there. Getting the hang of camera operation; starting to feel a little bit more comfortable behind the camera and being at the studio in general. R.M., the Director of Volunteer Services for Rogers Barrie couldn't have been more sincere when saying how respectful employees of the studio would be towards us volunteers. With competence comes confidence, but I couldn't have done either without the instruction and support of the Rogers program.

Not sure what else there is to say lately. Been having a good weekend, still one more night of fun drinking times to go! Then back to the 9-5 life. Hope everyone is well and having a great weekend. Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you all again soon.

A-Channel, Rogers and Community Media

Stardate, May 14th, 10:24pm:

Captain's log. I've been involved in volunteer efforts with Rogers Television for the past week or so. It's a terrific program. Really, I can't say enough about how great this experience is. One week ago I'd never stepped behind a camera, now I can somewhat operate one. That's a good skill to have when you're trying to get in to television production.

I was published by the Barrie Examiner in a Letter to the Editor in response to a similar letter first published by Peggy Hebden, Station Manager of A-Channel. You can find the link to that here; http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1564892 ; but since this was an edited copy, I'd like to attach a copy of the full version I had e-mailed to editor Bob Burton, but was told it would only fit if it was half its size(that's what she said).

The economic crisis has taken its toll on many industries, media included. The most recent Letter to the Editor from A-Channel Station Chief, Peggy Hebden, although informed, reeks of bias from a network that has failed to meet the needs of its community.

Local media serves one of two purposes. It either acts as a companion to mainstream media, or as an alternative. The simple question in determining A-Channel's worth to the community comes in identifying which of these two services the network is providing to Barrie and its surrounding area.

As this is an editorial, I'm going to save myself a lot of words and jump straight to the conclusion that A-Channel is a companion to mainstream media. The stories A-Channel has been reporting on are nothing short of the same headlines reported on national and local broadcasts coming out of most major cities. The bulk of its non-news programming is imported from larger networks unable to accommodate them in their scheduling. Its efforts to reach out to the community are becoming substantially insignificant.

A-Channel stands alone in the Barrie area as one of the only media outlets which does not co-ordinate a volunteer program to educate local youth in media production. It stands alone as one of the hardest networks to reach for comment, as evidenced by several personal attempts to receive network feedback for a paper based on the value of local media. Throughout the years, its programming has become more and more distant from the community it serves.

So what alternative is A-Channel providing the residents of Simcoe County? Its news programming mirrors that of national networks. It's non-news programming mirrors that of national networks. Though A-Channel, formerly The NewVR has provided an alternative in the past, its growing reach into York Region and national headlines have left us with nothing more than an expensive sister-station to national networks.

Hebden pleads in her final paragraph for the support of its audience during these tough economic times. I have only one response; No Peggy, we need YOUR support. A shift to more community-based broadcasting and providing an alternative to the mainstream networks we can find anywhere else is what we both need - or A-Channel will simply become increasingly unnecessary, and obsolete.

There have been rebuttals by A-Channel high-ups, including evening news anchor Lance Chilton and while I'm going to avoid an all-out Barrie Examiner editorial war, I'd like to defend my position here.

When I first started watching A-Channel it was known as CKVR and provided local news to Barrie and the surrounding area. Somewhere between CKVR and A-Channel, we lost that same local station. For one, the news isn't about Barrie and surrounding area anymore. It's occasionally about Barrie, and more often about the '905 Belt' and the municipalities south of Simcoe. I can't remember the last time I saw a locally-produced program on their primetime lineup.

As the former employee of what I'll leave to be an unnamed public-service, I'll tell you personally that A-Channel is one of the most difficult media outlets to get in contact with regarding issues important to Barrie's citizens. Furthermore, as a communications student at Carleton this past year, the cutbacks to A-Channel earlier this year inspired me to write a paper about the importance of community media and the need for networks like the former New VR to exist. After several attempts to reach the network for comment, I received no word back. The conclusion I reached at the end of the paper is A-Channel no longer fit the criteria for community media. If A-Channel is unwilling to help itself, why should we pay the bill via bailout funds to assist it?

I opened this entry with a paragraph on my experiences with Rogers for a reason; that is that there is a difference between an intern and a volunteer. This is for you, Mr. Lance Chilton; A volunteer comes in whenever he or she wants to, and participates only as much or as little as they wish. They decide their own level of involvement, commitment and create their own schedule that works around them. An intern is the equivilant of an unpaid employment position, with set hours and menial duties.

I'm going to at least send a link to the Barrie Examiner, Bob Burton, to this blog, as I feel that in this digital age we don't need to continue this bickering through a newspaper. For those who've come here through the Examiner, thank you for taking an interest in community media, and I hope you realize how little A-Channel fits that profile. Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned for updates on
Soundtrack.