First cuts of Split Ends and Duets (oh the heartbreak)

dmaymay — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:30:33 +0000

2/3/08

Story meeting with Lynda Heys.

Met with my great friend, Lynda Heys today. Her career is about to explode so I really appreciate her taking the time to meet with me. We had pancakes with her two precious sons Sunday morning and went to a music class with them. Then we layed out my cards/outline on the coffee table and she indulged me while I played out the story for her. Right a way she could see some of the holes and missteps. She felt the Pepper story wasn’t working as a ghost. This made my heart drop as Pepper was one of the first characters I dreamt about and spent time with when starting this story. Even before my main character, Lovely. However, because I 100 % trust Lynda, I listened to what she had to say. It took me a couple of days, but I realized she was right and that my original incantation of Pepper might be for another movie. (And I really didn’t want to call Lyz and tell her about it either.) Lynda also gave some suggestions to rearrange some of the scenes to better fit the second act. Truly, Lynda has a talent for screenwriting. She was able to remember the details of the story that took me a good 30 minutes to explain. I was amazed at the concentration level Lynda can maintain. I was losing track of storylines and she was correcting them. Amazing. She is so talented. So now with rearranging the scenes, there is a HUGE BIG FAT HOLE in the middle of the story that needs to be fixed. That means more writing!

(Hey y'all. Sorry I' not around more. This movie prep thing is taking all of my time. -We shoot in July!)