I guess all of you have noticed my scarce participation over the last several weeks. I didn't want to make a big deal about it due to the fact I didn't know what to expect or how events in my life were going to turn out, but now that it's over (or just beginning?), I feel compelled to share.

On June 21st, my parents and I drove from Dallas to Los Angeles in my F-150 truck. It was a 25-hour journey that could have been dreadfully long, but it wasn't. Our reason for making the trip? I was going to attend the Summer Production Workshop at USC's prestigiously renowned School of Cinema-Television. For those of you who don't know, it's where guys like George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, John Singleton, Phil Joanou, Gary Fleder, Doug Liman, Greg Araki and John Turteltaub got their education. Matt Barry (BigBear), an up-and-coming, very talented and capable filmmaker, also graduated from SC. So I'm in all sorts of good company. The course I took was an intense crash course in filmmaking. Titled "Beginning Production Sequence," it's what junior-classified film students take after 2 years of formal film school academia. 16 students filled out this class, and it was our job to do a full semester's worth of work in 6 weeks. Individually, as directors, we had to make 4 short films, collaboratively (divided into 3 crews) recreate two scenes, one from Good Will Hunting, the other from Thelma & Louise, and then lets not forget the two (insert sarcasm) incredibly fun exams. We had two days to shoot each film, two days to edit on AVID - and basically what that boils down to is a new film every weekend (figure in the 7-hour lecture day M/W/F, and that's a tough schedule!). To put it mildly, I was physically and creatively exhausted when it was all said and done.

Anyway, rewind back to the part where I'm driving to LA with my parents. I'd originally applied to USC and the film school, and was denied acceptance to both. A bummer, I know... it was a pretty tragic thing considering USC is the only place I wanted to be. The week I got my letter of denial, I wrote a letter of appeal to the university, hoping to be reconsidered (I had new grades, etc. to submit). About 2 hours outside of LA, I called my grandmother (back in Dallas) from the cell to see if we'd got any mail. She hadn't checked it. So, she went out, got it, and came back in to tell me I'd received a fairly large envelope from USC. She opened it to reveal an acceptance letter for the FALL semester 2001. Right then, my whole outlook on the trip I was making changed dramatically.

Fast forward to end of the summer course. I've completed 4 films, all of which have some aspect I'm proud of. Myself along with one other student were noted by the professors as having a great sense of style, technical prowess, and excellent ability in the area of directing. That's pretty cool coming from a guy who did the rewrite on "Brainstorm" and directed the comedy (starring Martin Scorsese), titled "Friends Like These."

Before I left, I managed to encode pretty much all of my collection (900+ cds) to mp3 format. I burned all the mp3z to data-cdr, sorted by album and composer. This allowed me to take my music with me without having to transport my invaluable money pit of cds to LA. Temp-scoring my films with the music I had was a ton of fun and gave me an edge over everyone else, seeing as how they were either using Rock or the Tijuana Brass as their source of music. Just for kicks (and for those who are interested), I've provided a list of my films and the music I used.

1) Under/current - Gone in 60 Seconds (Rabin), The Thin Red Line (Zimmer), and Outbreak (JNH).
2) Beachball - A Bug's Life (Newman), Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (Broughton), Homeward Bound 2 (Broughton), and Mouse Hunt (Silvestri).
3) [Blank] - Unbreakable (JNH) and Dune (Revell).
4) Run - Swordfish (Young/Oakenfold), Tomb Raider (Revell) and Desperate Measures (Jones).

Anyway, that's what I've been up to! It's been a lot of fun, and things are only going to get better. I'd love for you all to see the films, but I need to get them transferred and converted to a Quicktime format. Hopefully soon. I flew into Dallas on the 5th, and will be going back to LA on the 19th. Classes start on the 27th. My schedule won't be nearly as hectic and congested, which means I'll hopefully slip back into my old routine here at MM.com. If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for reading!!

Your friend,
Jeron

PS- I've given my profile a complete overhaul - new pic, all new info, etc. Check it out if you love me.

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Originally posted by Jeron:
4) Run - Tomb Raider (Revell) and Desperate Measures (Jones)

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Ahem.

And SWORDFISH (Young/Oakenfold)

Dan

BTW, the old photo looked less dangerous.

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Originally posted by Jeron:
For those of you who don't know, it's where guys like George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, John Singleton, Phil Joanou, Gary Fleder, Doug Liman, Greg Araki and John Turteltaub got their education.

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I second that ahem.

Now I know I haven't directed anything as spectacular as Higher Learning, Kiss The Girls, Cool Runnings or the The Doom Generation yet, but my diploma's just as good as theirs.

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Originally posted by Big Bear:
Now I know I haven't directed anything as spectacular as Higher Learning, Kiss The Girls, Cool Runnings or The Doom Generation yet, but my diploma's just as good as theirs.

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Haha Matt, point made, you big goofyhead. Gee whiz, sorry I didn't include you - I had no intention of leaving you out. If I can follow in your footsteps and do your kind of quality work, I'll be a happy guy.

And yeah Dan, I forgot about Swordfish! Special thanks to you for providing the cd. Corrections have been made.

Anymore "ahems," anyone? Submit now or forever hold your peace!

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Originally posted by PeterK:
(Marian's no numnut)

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Jeron needs to look dangerous. After all, he's in LA LA land now. He's going to become "one of them."

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Originally posted by PeterK:
And as for the other two numnuts in this thread (Marian's no numnut), well, your profiles stink too.

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True - I admit I have not filled out my profile..... maybe in the future...

(And Richard, Scorsese can't act - but he tries!)

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Originally posted by PeterK:
And as for the other two numnuts in this thread (Marian's no numnut), well, your profiles stink too.

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Peter, if I had written this, you would have deleted it. Kindly kiss my ass.

And I just sent a few updates to my profile. So there.

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Originally posted by PeterK:
You want a good greeting? Listen to JJH's words of wisdom.

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Originally posted by PeterK:
You want a good greeting? Listen to JJH's words of wisdom.

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So giving a forced shout out to the webmaster constitutes a 'good greeting', huh.

You want a good greeting? Check out my brand new profile... awww yeeaaah.

Just gotta add, I had no idea until I heard Jeron's greeting that there was a silent competition going on between people's profiles. Now that I know, I will not rest one minute until PeterK himself declares me King Of The Winter Carnival.

Congradulations on everything. If you're exhausted but still have a positive attitude, you must be doing something right.

I hope to be joining you shortly... about two years from now.

Congrats again,

James
NP - Legend (Goldsmith)

Oh, and I sure hope your truck is a crew cab...

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Originally posted by PeterK:
Listen to JJH's words of wisdom.

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you want to be known, but not quite like that...

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Originally posted by JJH:
Just don't make anything like Plan 9 From Outer Space dood.

you want to be known, but not quite like that...

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Well, you've been bugging me the past 2 years to put you in my films, on the condition that I allow you to strut across the frame in your birthday suit. Will this attract the kind of crowd I'm looking for?

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Originally posted by Jeron:
Well, you've been bugging me the past 2 years to put you in my films, on the condition that I allow you to strut across the frame in your birthday suit. Will this attract the kind of crowd I'm looking for?

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Well, if that doesn't, the picture in your member profile surely will.

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Originally posted by Rich Douglas:
Drop me a line if you ever need my help, want my demo, details on the films I've scored, etc, etc. Good Luck!

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Thanks, Rich. I've kept you in mind and will continue to do so - I appreciate any help I can get.

As for you, Mr. Big Bear... Expect a phone call from me some time soon... lol.

Oh, and BigBear, love that greeting, man! Now I wish I could have some sort of greeting in order to unshabby-up (?) my entirely uninteresting profile. Now how's that for a shamelessly unnecessary plug?

And Jeron, I hope you do manage to get your films online. I'd really love to see them.

Jeron is a great talent. He is an ever greater guy and friend.

You've got a bright future in Tinseltown. Keep up the great job...and did you get my message? Let me know what's up.

Joe

P.S. Congrats on finishing the film class and have fun...you damn Trojan you...(I will always be a Bruin fan...so sue me...)

Anyway, good luck Jeron...maybe you can make another movie about astronomy or astrophysics when you get going (CONTACT 2~!)

Mike, I'd love nothing more than to make a sequel to Contact. That idea has been spinning around in my head for a very long time.

Jeron