Tom O'Connor's Blog, page 2

Say Yes to Everything – Part 2

We soldier on in the face of difficult times, bad news, rejections and set-backs. The pandemic has cost us friends, family, time and money. The current cultural climate has also cost us friends and family etc. too, and makes every interaction with a stranger potentially unpleasant (at best) and it sometimes feels like the bullsh#t never stops. I know. These are tricky and often disheartening times. But we have to keep at it. We have to keep reaching out and moving forward as best we can. Basically, we have to keep trying.

And so we do. And what does that look like? For me it looks like this: Still writing every day. Still exercising (almost) every day. Still finding time to meditate every day, even if it is just for 10 minutes, and doing what seems to be the hardest thing these days: maintaining hope. Not just for myself but for everyone. I have to think/believe that these dark and difficult times are a transitional period between eras and that something new and better will come out the other side. It isn’t a certainty, but it is a hope, and it is a hope that takes work.

I say all that to say this: sometimes there is some light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel and lately I’ve had a few bits of good news that have raised my spirits, renewed my hope and moved me in directions that are both new and exciting and also familiar and exciting.

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In the realm of the new and exciting, I can now officially add “Visual Artist” to my meandering multi-hyphenated “career.” A panel from my long-running (since January 2009) weekly photo project “Another LA Cartoon” was accepted as part of a group show by Shoebox Arts here in Los Angeles. This was, and still is, very exciting and I was thrilled to be one of the 30 artists chosen out of over 800 entries. Since these are still covid-times, the “opening” was a virtual zoom meeting where I got to meet the curators and the other talented artists included in the show. Even though I didn’t win the juried competition, it was awesome to see that they also used my piece as the ‘header image’ for the Facebook “event.” …oh, and if you’re not already following my LA Cartoon, you can click on the image in the lefthand side bar right now.

I’ve considered myself a visual artist since my ’80s days of making “Xerox Art” band flyers, zines, graffiti, and posters. While my particular aesthetic might not have mass appeal, it is something I have worked on and take seriously. I’ve continued a daily practice of creating digital images as a way to engage the parts of my brain that don’t see much action in the writing process. My LA Cartoon project is just one of many “visual” side projects I’m constantly at-work on. I also plunder the Public Domain for images that I can re-imagine and remix into new graphic designs that I post (daily) on my semi-anonymous (but not really) Instagram feed, some of which I turn into T-shirts and more for sale. A good example of this is the header image for this very post. It didn’t say “Planet OConnor” when I found it. lol. I also create surrealist/Dadaist videos, usually accompanied by my own surrealist soundscapes. I’ve even been commissioned to design everything from book covers and beer labels to wedding invitations and theater posters. …but this was the first time I’ve ever submitted my work to a gallery, so you can imagine how exciting (and admittedly unexpected) it was to get chosen to be part of the show. I’m hoping this will lead to more interest in my visual work.

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In an epic example of my own less-than-optimum luck, just a month before the pandemic lockdown, I did rack up a major (for me) and completely unexpected “win.” I signed with a commercial & theatrical agent. In all my years (decades actually) of improv, punk rock bands, one-man shows, assorted stage & on-camera video work, and recently, podcast VO character work, I never pursued “acting” as a vocation, never had a “headshot” taken, never went on an audition. Much like my daily visual arts practice, performing has always been something I’ve done for the joy of doing it, and not something I expected would lead to paying work. But a weird thing happens when you spend a few decades doing something for the thrill of doing it: you build up a skillset and a bit of a “body of work” that just might get noticed, and that is what happened. So now, I am getting up to speed on things like headshots, and “actor reels” and all the other aspects of trying to be a proactive, hustling actor. Yes, this “writer” is now also available to the industry for commercials, character parts and whatever else might come along. Again: I don’t know that I have “mass appeal” but I’m certain I can fit into some specific parts. If you’re a director looking for someone like me, then I’m your guy.

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The other good news is of a more familiar type: I’m going to be teaching Improv again this Summer! A theater on the Westside has invited me to teach two one-week sessions in July. We’re still working out all the details (covid-related complications, of course) but the classes are officially booked and I can’t wait to be teaching again. This will hopefully lead to a lot more teaching by next Fall.

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Meanwhile, the writing continues, as does the hustling. I’m now querying every animation company in Ireland asking to pitch my “Ogre Stone” script (remember that one?) and I am also, of course, writing on a couple of new projects as well. Basically, I am hoping this post of good news doesn’t read like the brag-y “curated life” posts people put on Facebook and Instagram etc. There is always a lot of work and a pile of rejection(s) to go along with whatever good stuff happens, and I’m no exception to that rule.

Keep at it, everyone!

Say Yes To Everything

You never know where or how one creative project will lead to another. A few years ago a writer friend of mine asked me to direct her hilarious script “Airplane! LIVE” for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. It was a blast and we also got nominated for “Best Original Comedy” in the festival. We didn’t win, but it is “always an honor to be nominated.” So now that has led to this:

Chrisi has launched a new project – a scripted comedy podcast called MADISON ON THE AIR where she re-works classic “radio dramas” from the 30s, 40s and 50s to include a modern character who definitely has a different “take” on the world than the detectives, cowboys and other radio archetypes she encounters. It is fun and funny. It is also nice to be a small part of someone else’s big creative project. I record my lines (remotely, of course) and forward them along to her. Then her creative crew works their magic, editing together the other voice actors, sound effects, music and all the rest.

Chrisi is also an inspiration. She definitely believes in the concept of “Don’t sit around waiting for someone to include you in their ‘project,’ make your own magic!”

Listen. Enjoy. Subscribe. Tell your friends.

I told you I was back at it.

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In spite of the resurgence of the pandemic, which is both a national tragedy and a national disgrace, the creative wheels continue to turn and this week has already brought an few unexpected doses of good news.

FIRST

As the image above tips off, all three of the scripts I submitted to this year’s Final Draft screenwriting competition have made it through to the Quarter-finals. Two features and a sitcom pilot. This means that for 2020, I went eight-for-eight with my script submissions. ALL of them placed somewhere in every competition I entered. As I tell writers all the time, even established writers much more successful than I am, the legit contests are one of the very very few places you can get a real evaluation of your scripts at a low cost. Let’s face it, your friends are going to be too nice, and those “script reading” services can cost hundreds of dollars. But a $25-$40 “entry fee” is a small investment in a script you believe in and think might be “good enough” to put out into the world. True, great, sellable scripts get rejected by contests all the time, but if you submit a script to 3 or 4 competitions, if it really is as great as you think it is, it is going to eventually ‘pop’ in competition.

Now the anticipation builds while I wait for them to announce the Semi-finalists. lol.

SECOND

I received an email yesterday from an editor at the Los Angeles Times. They are putting together a book of “Greatest Hits” from their LA Affairs column and they want to include my 2012 submission in the collection. That, plain and simple, is pretty thrilling.

Good news of any sort has been in short supply this year – for me, for everyone I know, and probably for you too. So I am both thrilled and grateful for these bits of blue sky.

Stay Strong & Stay Safe Everyone.

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What Happens Next?

This seems like a good day to post an update. It is impossible to ignore a world on fire and a country in the midst of an existential crisis, but what can we do after we’ve kept ourselves reliably informed and voted? We have to do the best we can.

I’ve been lucky to have the welcome distraction of work lately. A lot of my former go-to clients and collaborators have finally geared up for the WFH world and/or finally figured out for themselves that this ‘new normal’ is going to be around for a while and, if they want to stay in business, they have to adjust. In some ways, the transition hasn’t meant much of a change for me. For years I have often found myself working from home for extended stretches of time. Even when I was doing a ton of script adapting for Anime shows, I mostly worked from home. I only went “in” to the production company once a month or so with a portable hard drive to load in new episodes, then I would go home, do my work and email in the new scripts as I completed them, along with my invoices for payment. Companies would either then mail me a check or do a direct deposit. …and now that everyone has a dropbox or google drive account, the monthly trip to load up the hard drive is a thing of the past. So basically I’m saying I was already prepared for this mode of work, much more prepared than most of the companies who hire me.

I’m also thrilled that so many of my creative friends are rising to the occasion and, in spite of all the obstacles, they continue to work and try new things. My friend Chrisi, who wrote the hilarious play “Airplane LIVE” that I directed, is now branching out to scripted podcast comedy/mayhem based on old radio dramas, and she has asked me to do several voices. Of course I love doing voiceover work and of course I already have the mics, equipment and know-how to do it all remotely. So much know-how in fact, that it is a continuous source of embarrassment that I still haven’t launched my own podcast – in spite of already spending years laying the groundwork for it. My continuing struggle to find meaning in ‘comedy’ given the current state of the country/world has made it difficult for me to commit the time, energy and brain bandwidth necessary for doing such things while wildfires burn, a pandemic rages and chaos reigns. …but we all want and need to “get back to work” whatever that “work” might be, right?

So I’m back at it.

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In the meantime, I know I’m writing these blog posts for small audience of friends, fans and well-wishers but I also feel like I’ve been shirking some responsibility to the people who’ve always supported and encouraged me. In a weirdly-related note: When I opened up wordpress today to write this post, I noticed that, according to my ‘stats’ page, for the past 10 days, my site has been visited every day by people from China. I’m not sure how ominous that is, but it definitely feels weird and unrelated to comedy or writing.

I don’t know what kind of country we are all going to wake up in tomorrow. I hope the better angels of our nature (both national and individual) win out, and we can start to come together, clean up the wreckage and move forward together. I hope. Oh man, do I hope.

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Like everyone else who believes their doctors and not wha...

Like everyone else who believes their doctors and not what they read on the internet, I’m still more-or-less hunkered down at home, servicing my remaining freelance clients remotely and trying, in between bouts of incredulity and despair, to remain positive enough to make constructive use of this time.

I don’t always succeed. I’m just saying I’m trying.

The Fall is the season when a lot of writing contests start making their announcements. A few weeks ago I updated to the screenwriting page here a mention that both of the scripts (a comedy feature and a sitcom pilot) I submitted to the Page International Screenwriting Contest made it to the Quarter-Finals, which I consider a “win” given how big a contest that is. Likewise, this week I was notified that the script I submitted (a sitcom pilot) to the Austin Film Fest & Screenwriting competition made it to “Second-Rounder” status, which is pretty much their equivalent of a quarter-final berth. This also keeps my streak alive in that every script I’ve ever submitted to Austin has at least made it that far. I think I’ve had six or seven “second-rounders.”

It is a small bit of personal good news in the vast ocean of bad news that we’re all living through. It would feel pretty stupid to try to make a big deal out of any of it while 200,000+ Americans have died (so far) from a deadly pandemic and many more are bound to follow. It is hard to justify sitting down and typing and trying to be “funny” for hours a day while the world is both literally and figuratively on fire. The words I manage to generate mostly seem lifeless, sub-par, and frivolous, like worrying about any kind of “creative output” is equal parts foolish and selfish. Every writer and “creative” friend I know is going through the same thing right now.

Having the time (and money) to sit and type is, admittedly, in a lot of ways a luxury and privilege… but it is also an earned privilege. Earned how? Earned by thousands of hours of writing for free, and working and performing for free, all in an effort to learn and get better. Earned by driving the same car for 20 years which, in Los Angeles, is probably considered a misdemeanor at least. Earned by helping every friend who has ever requested a “read” or some other help without hesitation or expectation.

It is also how I cope with my own feelings of anxiety and fear, and the things I don’t normally post about here on my little “hey, look at me!” website. The crisis we’re living through, and have been living through for the past four years has changed us all, and it will change the nature of our work. I hope we can all get to a point where we can look back on this chaos and carnage from a safe future vantage point. When we start to process it all, I’m sure new artistic movements will arise, the same way my beloved Dada-ists arose after the unspeakable horrors of World War One. In my darker moments though, I’m not sure how or when or even if we’ll get to that future point of safety. But I’m hoping we all do.

Stay Safe. Stay Hopeful.

Like everyone else who believes their doctors and not...

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Like everyone else who believes their doctors and not what they read on the internet, I’m still more-or-less hunkered down at home, servicing my remaining freelance clients remotely and trying, in between bouts of incredulity and despair, to remain positive enough to make constructive use of this time.

I don’t always succeed. I’m just saying I’m trying.

The Fall is the season when a lot of writing contests start making their announcements. A few weeks ago I updated to the screenwriting page here a mention that both of the scripts (a comedy feature and a sitcom pilot) I submitted to the Page International Screenwriting Contest made it to the Quarter-Finals, which I consider a “win” given how big a contest that is. Likewise, this week I was notified that the script I submitted (a sitcom pilot) to the Austin Film Fest & Screenwriting competition made it to “Second-Rounder” status, which is pretty much their equivalent of a quarter-final berth. This also keeps my streak alive in that every script I’ve ever submitted to Austin has at least made it that far. I think I’ve had six or seven “second-rounders.”

It is a small bit of personal good news in the vast ocean of bad news that we’re all living through. It would feel pretty stupid to try to make a big deal out of any of it while 200,000+ Americans have died (so far) from a deadly pandemic and many more are bound to follow. It is hard to justify sitting down and typing and trying to be “funny” for hours a day while the world is both literally and figuratively on fire. The words I manage to generate mostly seem lifeless, sub-par, and frivolous, like worrying about any kind of “creative output” is equal parts foolish and selfish. Every writer and “creative” friend I know is going through the same thing right now.

Having the time (and money) to sit and type is, admittedly, in a lot of ways a luxury and privilege… but it is also an earned privilege. Earned how? Earned by thousands of hours of writing for free, and working and performing for free, all in an effort to learn and get better. Earned by driving the same car for 20 years which, in Los Angeles, is probably considered a misdemeanor at least. Earned by helping every friend who has ever requested a “read” or some other help without hesitation or expectation.

It is also how I cope with my own feelings of anxiety and fear, and the things I don’t normally post about here on my little “hey, look at me!” website. The crisis we’re living through, and have been living through for the past four years has changed us all, and it will change the nature of our work. I hope we can all get to a point where we can look back on this chaos and carnage from a safe future vantage point. When we start to process it all, I’m sure new artistic movements will arise, the same way my beloved Dada-ists arose after the unspeakable horrors of World War One. In my darker moments though, I’m not sure how or when or even if we’ll get to that future point of safety. But I’m hoping we all do.

Stay Safe. Stay Hopeful.

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Still Alive. Hope You Are Too.

From one Summer to the next. Nearly a year has passed since my last post. Even though returning visitors will notice that a lot has changed on the rest of my website here and I’ve definitely been busy, there just hasn’t been anything worth writing about when compared to the current state of the world.

As I type this on an evening where there are still curfews in severalAmerican cities and a pandemic is still claiming the lives of far too many people every day, I realize there isn’t much I canadd to the discussion of a still-unfolding nationalhorror show that even The Simpsons predicted 20 years ago. [image error]All this bad news and chaos has, more than anything else could have, really put a spotlight on the inequities in our current system and it has stripped away whatever thin veneer people were still using to pretend they were doing OK. Now the truth is out. People everywhere are struggling, and have been for a long, long time. That kind of insecurity breeds fear and clears the stage for enterprising sociopaths to set the fires of Hate burning. The current inferno we’re neck-deep in was as predictable as it is heartbreaking. The hope I’m clinging to is that this will be a real turning point in America. The times are extraordinary and the stakes, at least in my lifetime, have never been higher. …and I honestly don’t know at this point if the good guys will win or not, but it can’t stop any of us from trying.  When this veil of horror is finally lifted, we better be ready with some new perspectives.

Be safe everyone. Do whatever it takes to remain hopeful. Take care of each other, and keep working.

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Summer Update.

As I continue to take my guitar and my protest song around town (and the state) I have been deep in what I’m calling my “First Drafts Summer.”

I don’t know about your writing process, but I very often get mired in the ‘notes’ stage [image error]where I keep gathering more and more information and ideas, then stashing them in too many different spots: a Scrivener file, in various folders on one of my three computers, in the ‘Google Keep’ app of more than one email address,  in the ‘EverNote’ app on my phone, on scraps of paper scattered around my home… you get the idea. So many notes in so many places (all for the same project) that just organizing those is a process all by itself. A classic example: I have discovered I have 120,000 words of ‘notes’ for a novel that, when completed would probably only be about 80,000 words.

To that end, I spent a good part of the spring organizing notes & info on several projects and have spent most of this summer launching re-writes and “official” first drafts. So far I have managed to finish one new half-hour spec pilot that has needed a page one rewrite for at least 2 years, I have started drafting a long-delayed short film script and, finally and at long last, an official ‘1st draft’ of that novel with the 120k-worth of notes.

Stay at the keyboard, everyone.

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…well, probably not this kind.

Another Year in Orbit and Having My Say.

The year is almost over. It was a long & tricky one for nearly everyone I know. My year certainly didn’t go according to anything even vaguely resembling a “plan.”

Like a lot of (American) people, I’ve been troubled by our current political situation. The constant stream of bad news and shady “leadership” has made it difficult to be “creative.” When Democracy itself is hanging in the balance, it is tough to free the mind, climb to that creative place and try to be “funny” or “dramatic” or anything else. The news has been that bad, and constant. Like everyone else, this time around I felt like just voting, signing online petitions and posting angry tweets wasn’t going to be nearly enough to make a difference and, equally important: make me feel like I was doing all I could to effect change.

So what do you do? A couple of things:

If you’re an old punk rocker and wannabe Billy Bragg -esque troubadour, you plug your guitar back in and take your outrage to the people. For the first time in about 15 years.
If you’re a professional writer, you offer your services, for free, to anyone who is running against the current administration and needs your skills.

I spent the past year doing both.

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This former punk rocker started playing his guitar in front of audiences again (for the first time in probably a decade and a half,) because I am once again feeling the need to be active and have my say in the world. [image error]So I wrote an anti-trump song and loaded it with all the humor and bile I could. Then I posted it on youtube under the slightly assumed name of “Tom Patrick” (two death threats so far) and started playing anywhere that would have me.  It was weird playing guitar in front of people again – and without having a ‘band’ to hide behind either. Since anger doesn’t really sell all by itself, the song is a Bob Dylan-y “talking blues” that saved me from the embarrassment of trying (and likely failing) to sing on-key, and it gave me the room to vamp, improvise and connect with the audience. I’ve done a million improv comedy shows, I’ve done stand-up, I’ve done theater… but nothing makes a person (me anyway) feel more exposed, exhilarated and terrified than making noise with guitars in public. [image error]Adding music is always a good way to connect with an audience in a way that is different from stand-up or ‘essay reading’ etc. Music carries an energy all its own that people can tune in to… even a simple, “borrowed” G-C-D chord progression helps to carry your message.

I also mentioned that I spent the year volunteering my writing skills. It took some doing, but I got connected with the Dems on a National level and through that connection spent most of the past year helping Blue candidates for state offices in very Red states with their websites, “meet the candidate” videos and even a few stump speeches. I had done some of this kind of thing back in Boston, but that was a long time ago. Working with candidates was actually very exciting and I learned a lot in the process. I wouldn’t run for office myself in a million years, but I now know I am an effective political/media writer.

[image error]Of course, doing all this writing work and these shows for free means it was a challenging year cash-wise, but really, for a “creative” what year isn’t challenging? Doing the right thing is always worth it. I slept better knowing that I was doing all I could and using whatever skills I possess to get involved and try to do my best for the country.

…and sometimes, amazingly fun stuff happens. Like the show on November 3rd, just a few days before the election. Sometimes you arrive at a gig assuming you’ll just be playing guitar in a half-empty 60 seat theater with a funny ol’ tuba player, but when you get there you find it is a sold-out 60 seat theater AND you’re told that another guy will be sitting in and playing your song too. No big deal, just Laurence Juber – lead guitarist in Paul McCartney’s band, and former lead guitarist in Wings. That’s all. That is a pretty intense and intimidating situation for an old 1-4-5 punk rocker who hasn’t played any chords in public for a decade and a half, but Mr. Juber could not have been nicer and kinder. Obviously, he is used to playing with lefties. lol. If you want to see how that particular show went, click here.

Changes are coming in 2019. Hopefully that will be good news for America.

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Me, Laurence Juber and Mark Beltzman

 

 

Airplane Live! Update.

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After a fun and successful (and sold out!) run in the Hollywood Fringe Festival, it was a bit of icing on the cake for Airplane LIVE to be nominated in the “Best Comedy” category. We didn’t win, but Top 5 out of well over 300 shows is still pretty good and a tribute to the outstanding cast and to Chrisi’s great, original script.

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