I Learn Something New Every Day

Reflections On The Spiritual Discipline Of Putting Up A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

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The beginning of the holiday season is very personal to each of us. For some, it may be the day after Thanksgiving. For others, it may be the first time It’s a Wonderful Life or Elf or Die Hard airs.  (I’ll admit, I don’t get that last one, but that’s probably just me.)

For me, it’s really quite simple:

Attuned

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I’d like to think it’s a mark of success for The San Antonio Stage Script Study Group that so many of our meetings leave me thinking of things I wish I’d thought to say in the moment.

And it’s safe to say that the ideas inspired by our most recent meeting are very me. Continue reading →

Making A #goodjob Great

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When Nikki signed on to host a show on #goodjobtexas, I had a feeling there would be much more to #youngandfresh once we really got into it.  One of Nikki’s gifts is the ability to look past the present moment of a project and see its future potential.

And there’s a LOT of potential in this one. Continue reading →

‘Fast’ Friends

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Since the end of PDP‘s last regular acting classes, we’ve had a lot of people asking when Nikki would be teaching again.  And while it may be a cliché to say their interest was overwhelming, we really were overwhelmed to find out how much those classes really meant to people.  So we looked for the kind of “limited-engagement events” I’d mentioned in that post.

The first of those events came in the summer, as Nikki led a summer acting camp at The Rose Theatre Company.  And parents and kids alike responded really well to Movie Magic.  So when the opportunity for another workshop… well, arose, it made great sense to return to the theater. Continue reading →

One Night In August… In September…

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Since The San Antonio Stage Script Study Group opened its “Page to Stage” series (with the ironically titled Closure), we’ve enjoyed great meals, great discussions, and the kind of behind-the-curtain insights you don’t always recognize when you’re in the audience.

And that held true with our latest meeting. Continue reading →

The Magnolia Chronicles, Days 4-6: Wrap Stars

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Were I to put a lesson to the production of Magnolia, it would have to be that patience, persistence, and preparation ultimately pay off.  (Were I to put a lesson to my blogging, it might be that I rely a little too heavily on alliteration – but that’s a post for another day…)

Over six weeks, we’d had to make occasional adjustments for locations, actor availability, and especially the weather.  We’d faced drought one week, deluge the next.  But Nikki and Chadd had brought a great team together, so we were able to keep moving forward, knowing that as long as we kept doing our work, it would still come together.

And in our last weekend of principal photography, it really did come together. Continue reading →

The Magnolia Chronicles, Days 2 & 3: Our Time In The Adjustment Bureau

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It pretty effectively goes without saying that filmmaking, especially independent filmmaking, is a process of adjustments.  The unexpected will happen; there’s no way around that.  And while I’m not entirely convinced it’s possible to expect the unexpected – if you could, it wouldn’t really be unexpected, would it? – it’s still possible to prepare for it, to be ready to make the necessary adjustments to get the shot.

Over the last few days of production, Magnolia has been an object lesson in how to be ready. Continue reading →

The Magnolia Chronicles, Day 1: Matters Of Degrees

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My first experience as a PrimaDonna production assistant (a PDPA, if you will) was on Dating Danielle, almost exactly 5 years ago this weekend.  I have a lot of great memories of those 48 hours, but one of the greatest has to be the spirit that developed between cast and crew, as we all bonded while shooting on one of the hottest days of the year.

August is funny that way… Continue reading →

Hurtado In Wonderland

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It’s been something of an arc in this blog (if blogs can be said to have arcs) that I really haven’t seen as much of San Antonio as I should have by my age.  That’s pretty much all on me – in my younger years I wasn’t as interested in getting out and meeting people and experiencing the world.  It took a little time, and some much-valued inspiration from friends, but I did ultimately choose the path of engagement.  And I’d like to think I’m better off for it.

All of which should tag this post as #MakingUpForLostTime. Continue reading →