Sunday, June 28, 2009

ME THE VAGRANT

It's been a while since I've blogged. Thankfully, it wasn't because of laziness. There was a time when I was infected with this terrible life sapping condition but I took serious doses of discipline and was cured. My absence in blogging is due to the result of being really busy and living. Currently, I'm balancing quite a few projects.

Those of you who know me are aware of how important I believe a positive mental attitude is in bringing about your desires. The magic ingredient is without a doubt, optimism. No matter what, optimism is always a faith which leads to success. No matter how bad things are, if you remain optimistic, it is inevitable that that which you think about, you'll bring about.

I made a concentrated effort this year to focus more on my acting and writing career. Of course, show business is plagued with more challenges because unfortunately, the less confident believe that the end result is based upon luck. I'm living proof that this isn't the case.

You’ve often heard that if your ship doesn't come in, you should go out and swim to it. My belief goes one step further. I say that if your ship doesn't come in...build one!

I can tell you from experience that you will feel overwhelmingly empowered when you become master of your own destiny.

Persistence is the other ingredient that failure and procrastination cannot cope with. With persistence, I have managed to do the so-called impossible... get a distribution deal before the movie is actually shot. It's important that you never abandon your dream. If you do, you're basically forfeiting your dream. Yes, it's taking me a very long time to get my movie projects to come to fruition, however slowly but surely, they're that much closer to becoming a reality.

I also landed a role in a wonderful independent movie which, as yet, is untitled. I got to play a vagrant and enjoyed every minute of it.

There I was on location, lying on the streets of Astoria, NY under the blistering sun, wrapped up in the latest bum fashions, with a mouthful of cold Campbell's Chunky Vegetable soup ready to barf on cue. Ahh, the glamour of moviemaking.

I even got to perform my own stunt. They gave me a pair of kneepads to fall to the ground, and completely pass out as the cops try to take me away. There really is nothing like getting a round of applause from the crew as well as the onlookers who had gathered to watch us on location. It's a strange feeling to be applauded for playing a drunk and barfing convincingly.

My utmost respect to the crew... particularly the wardrobe and makeup department. Thank you Ariel. Thank you Lucia. :-)

I'm also in the running to rewrite another screenplay for Lionsgate. It's a horror/adventure movie.

The other screenplay adaptation I rewrote for one of Frank Sinatra's closest friends and inner circle, Set ‘em up, Joe, is now in the hands of Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks' wife, as well as one of the producers involved with The French Connection. He now produces movies on HBO.

I'm still working on what is perhaps my most monumental project which involves raising money for charity as well called, Not Until She Sings. I'll expound on this a little bit more later on.

Anyway, here we are halfway through the year and although we're in a recession it's important not to use it as an excuse to prevent you from chasing your wants and desires. Use whatever method you can to turn your disadvantages into advantages. It's the cliché of turning your lemons into lemonade.

You can do that or you can just continue to believe that life sucks and then proceed sucking on your lemons. :-)