| Blog no. 2 -- Characters. |
[24 Dec 2008|07:25am] |
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Hey homestars. Hope this finds you all well and done with your Christmas shopping. I know I’m not…whoops. Since I’ve blogged last, there have been some definite shiftings within the TLS team, which I will certainly let you know about in time, once we’re all settled again. Don’t worry, nothing bad; we’re just re-examining the project and all of our involvement in it, and making some decisions that are only going to make it better. It’s still big on our list, and you can expect some pretty rockin’ things to be happening once 2009 appears on our calendars. So I figured maybe it was a good time to introduce you to the characters of this story, because really, they are what it’s about. True Love Sucks is about eight people—four of them like a certain type of music, and four of them a different type—whose lives get super intertwined when two of them figure out they sorta like each other. So here’s who you can expect to meet once the film comes out: THE EMOS MIKEY is a girl. Don’t make any reference to her having a guy’s name or she’ll punch you in the face. Well, she’s actually probably too shy for that. Mikey is our heroine, a twenty-year old lover of Sylvia Plath and Gerard Way. She’s quiet and independent, usually reserved but incredibly smart and witty. Mikey lives with Elisha, who is sort of her best friend, although they don’t really click like they used to; she also dated Brett for quite a while, but that ended badly. Since then, Mikey doesn’t talk much and goes along with what everyone else around her decides. She craves someone to value and love her, but doesn’t have much faith that anyone ever will. BRETT is your typical type-A badass with language, aggression, and control problems. Everybody thinks Brett needs to cool it; Brett thinks everybody else just doesn’t get it. He was a lot happier at the beginning of his relationship with Mikey, but since it sort of crumbled he just manages to talk about the bands he likes and bosses Frank around. He still keeps a close eye on Mikey, but only sees what he chooses to. ELISHA is hot, and she knows it, and she makes sure that everyone knows that she knows it. Elisha joined up with Mikey and her friends a few years ago and has made a mark on the scene ever since. With a platinum blonde bob and all kinds of boyfriends, she’s hard to miss. Unfortunately for her, it seems like she’s garnering the attention of every guy except the one she really wants…but she’s determined to make sure that changes. FRANK mostly likes to hang out and talk music theory or read comic books while everyone else parties. The most level-headed of the group, Frank often comes off as weird until you realize that he usually knows exactly what he’s talking about. A soft-spoken pacifist, Frank is incredibly loyal and sincere, and much more aware of things than his friends realize. THE INDIES EMERSON is our Romeo, but much less intense than that role implies and much more unaware of his good looks and charm. Kind of nerdy, sort of idealistic, and very kind and down-to-earth, Emerson has a lot of love to give, and he’s been living for a while in hopes of finding somebody to give it to. In the meantime he likes to hang out with his friends, look out for his little sister, and play guitar. He won’t beat you over the head with his music taste, but what he likes is pretty obvious in the way he doesn’t know anything about anything else. What’s really great about Emerson is his ability to look past shortcomings that most others get hung up on. STEVE has made himself the comedic relief in his group of friends. Tensions can run high between his best friends and roommates Emerson and Justin, and Steve acts as the balm between two conflicting personalities. He comes off most of the time as an aloof goofball, but like Frank, Steve is a lot smarter and much more aware than he lets on. He’s also really into finding new ways to pick up girls, starting bands, and board games. Steve is the guy that everyone wants as their best friend. JUSTIN is a music elitist. He will argue which bands are superior to which other ones for hours. Justin and Emerson used to be best buddies until Justin and Annie started dating, and some disagreements over his treatment of her caused not only the two of them to break up, but marked the end of the band the four friends had together as well. Things between Justin and Annie remain terse, and Emerson seems to have never forgiven him, which only makes Justin react with more hostility to his environment. And he’s not real fond of people who dress in black all the time. ANNIE is organic and vintage. She’s Emerson’s sister and the youngest of the four at nineteen. Practical and honest, Annie is very understanding, fun-loving, and primarily hangs out with her brother and his friends. She loves listening to and making music like they do, but she gets lost on the comic books and roommate fights, and she sort of gets tired of being the only girl in the group. But Annie’s good-natured and has a killer talent for shopping at thrift stores. So, there. That sort of describes the eight people that this story is about. Obviously there’s a lot more to them than that, but that should do for now. Hope you’re all having a fantastic holiday and getting a break from the ordinary grind. We wish you all kinds of blessings for the season and the new year. :)
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[27 Nov 2008|06:49pm] |
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So, we haven't blogged since August. NOT OKAY. It may come as a surprise, but all the people on the TLS team have lives outside of TLS (whaaaat?) and those lives have been super busy lately. But never fear, this little movie is always at the forefront of our minds, and we're going to start being more proactive about keeping you all, our dear friends, up to date.
That means more blogging. Probably mostly by me, but hopefully the guys will pick up a keyboard and talk to you as well.
I figure it's probably a good idea to introduce you to the team. We're growing all the time, but for now, your TLS posse is made up of these fine fellows (and one lady):
ME. Mary Kate Wiles. Blonde, tiny, pale, silly. I go to USC, I'll graduate in May with a degree in both Theatre and English Lit. I wrote this movie, and I'm producing in the sense that the guys tell me what they're thinking and I go, "okay, that sounds good"; and I'm also playing Mikey when we shoot next summer. Yeah, yeah, I know. Wrote myself a part. If you want a lead in a movie, go write it. Right now I spend a lot of time writing papers and being in shows at school. (www.myspace.com/mkwiles is where you can find probably more info than you want about me.)
ALEX GARCIA. Resident rockstar and Director/Producer. Alex graduated from USC not too long ago and now has a totally baller job at a movie distribution company. He even got a promotion already cause they like him so much. Alex is super tall and intimidating, which means he's gonna keep everybody in line when he makes this movie. Once you get to know him you realize he's just a big softie and is super super funny--he did a lot of improv at USC. He's also the nicest and smartest guy you'll know. (www.alexgarciaonline.com will give you a better idea of his baller-status.)
CASS TRUMBO. Co-writer and good looks of the team. Currently attending the University of Arkansas, Cass and I went to high school together and he gets grants to write screenplays. So he helped me write mine and most anything that's funny in this movie comes out of his brain. He's also tall, blonde, and single, and I think he would want me to mention that. (you can read some of his cerebral ramblings over at www.difficilior.blogspot.com.)
BEN COX. Editor, and brainy-guy-with-glasses of the team. Ben is from Springfield, Missouri and currently attends Chapman University as a grad student studying film. He and I ran into each other four years ago outside a relient K concert, and then when we realized who the other one was a couple years later, we became good buds. He also can edit better than anybody you know, and just won a national competition making a trailer for a book, which I was in. Basically Ben is the shiz. He's been reading this script from the beginnings, and he always knows what he's talking about. (go be friends with him over at www.myspace.com/benihana14.)
TOM BANKS. Swoopy-haired cinematographer. Tom is going to be our Director of Photography, and he and I met doing a little movie about a year ago called Ridiculously Emo. He just graduated from Chapman and now lives in Hollywood, but he's currently tearing it up in New Orleans working on another feature. This guy is a genius with a camera, and also super super nice. (check out his work at www.banksfilm.com and then peel your jaw off the floor.)
TREVOR NELSON. Good-natured humor provider. Trevor is a producer for us, helping us round out ideas, working on gathering bands, getting money, and designing our website. Trevor is pretty darn funny, and when you get him an Alex together, you know it's gonna be trouble...meaning shooting is going to be REALLY fun. They've produced a lot of films together and they're all rockin'. He also works for Night Visions Entertainment, and I'm still not exactly sure what he does...but he's good at it. He has a blog and I'd link you to it, but it's all about sports. Come on, Trevs. We're talking movies.
SCOTT BROWN. Producer extraordinaire. Scott knows how to play this game, and he knows exactly what he's talking about. He keeps us all in line. He's a pretty brilliant screenwriter and has done lots of projects with Trevor and Alex. His current facebook picture also shows that he has an affinity for lolcats, which I share.
JON SOMEBODY. Dang it. I haven't actually met Jon yet but Alex just brought him on recently, and I hear he's a pretty cool dude. He writes scripts as well, in fact is represented by some pretty big people to do it, and he's gonna help us with some decision making stuff.
ANGUS FLETCHER. Handsome big name producer and professor. Angus is a professor here at USC, and while he's only been here a couple years, he's already turned the theatre department on his head. He got a super big grant from Panavision to direct and shoot the film he wrote, SERE, last year, which Alex and Trevor and Scott and Jon all worked on. While not being a hands-on part of the process, Angus is like our daddy and makes sure we're doing everything right. He's giving me pointers on the script and us pointers on development.
...cool.
So there you have the team, as it is now. That's a lot of names to put with faces you don't know, I imagine, so I won't start telling anecdotes about everybody just yet. But I WILL tell you that we're going to be more active in blogging, getting to know all of you guys who are interested, and getting you more involved in the process. As of right now those of us who live in LA proper (like me, Alex, Trevor, Scott) are meeting pretty frequently. Cass and I are doing some major revisions on the script and it's going to be locked down, better than ever, by Christmas.
And that's all I'm gonna tell you for now, cause I don't want to spoil all the fun.
Oh yeah, and happy thanksgiving. :)
Peace and sucky love-
MK
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| in your facebooks, joinin your groups |
[25 Aug 2008|02:10pm] |
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Hey friends and neighbors.
I promise you an actual update this time...sorry it's been a while. But before I get to the juice, please PLEASE PLEASE go join the facebook group we made for TLS (if you haven't already) here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31180097111
260 members already, we're pretty stoked.
So, update.
Well, the word is getting out, and we couldn't be more excited. Alex and I continue to week on a bi-weekly basis or so, and last meeting I met Trevor, who's doing some great work for us both with bands and with filmmaking grants. We're working really hard to get that funding underway. Our team is really coming together (including Mack, who's coming out all the way from NYC to hang with us next summer!), and I'm really stoked with the talent that's coming forward to work on this project.
I went to Warped Tour's last date the other day here in LA and had the great pleasure of talking to (and bugging) Chris from TWLOHA (www.twloha.com) again, which was such a blessing because we are definitely still on their map. I walked up to him and he recognized me immediately as "the girl with the script" even though I'd only met him once before, way back in June. We were a little frustrated because he hadn't responded to our emails, but he provided a satisfactory excuse (internet and everything sucks while you're on tour) and said he would definitely get back to us soon. It would be the biggest blessing in the world to have them on board, so keep your fingers crossed. Plus I just love them and what they're doing, so definitely go support by buying a shirt or something. They're really making a difference.
What else? We're getting some baller locations lined up and some sweet tunes for the soundtrack. I can't divulge just yet, but know that the big concert scene is going to ROCK.
So, I guess that's all for now. Stay tuned for more updates and keep the love going.
-MK
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| NEW MYSPACE! |
[18 Aug 2008|10:57am] |
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Hey all-
Miles Fortune revamped our myspace, hooray! Go check it out and friend us:
www.myspace.com/truelovesucksthemovie
And in case you need a refresher, here's our basic info:
SO, HERE'S THE DEAL.
I know you're all like, "What the heck is this TLS business?" Well, sit back, and let us tell you.
True Love Sucks is a movie that we're working on. We're super stoked about it, and we hope you will be too.
What it is is basically a story about an indie boy, Emerson, and an emo girl, Mikey, who meet at a rock show and fall in love...and the complications that ensue. The original idea was a Romeo and Juliet adaptation, and it is very much that, but there's so much more involved. Prejudice, self-worth, depression, love, social standards, and eyeliner and skinny jeans are just some of the topics the characters of the film have to deal with. It's not just a Shakespeare adaptation, it's a story of life.
TLS is going to be shooting summer of 2009, and we wanna keep you all informed as the movie comes to life. If you're into film production and you want to be a part, we'd love to have you on board. If you're a band and you want to contribute to the soundtrack, you'd make our day. If you're an actor and are interested in auditioning, we really hope you come out. And if you're just somebody who likes music and good movies, well, heck, we do too.
Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for exciting updates about True Love Sucks!!
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Yay, thanks so much, guys! More actual production updates coming soon!
Much love-
MK
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| myspace! |
[23 Jul 2008|10:39am] |
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Yo yo yo, it's me again.
Everybody head over to our bright and shiny new myspace and friend us!
myspace.com/truelovesucksthemovie
Yay. You're awesome.
Thanks-
MK
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| New graphics! |
[21 Jul 2008|07:20pm] |
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Hey all--
I just want to give a BIG BIG BIG! thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.8) elinorjane for making us a new banner and some rockin' icons!!
Check 'em out--she's amazing!
Alright, peace-
MK
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| Let's begin. |
[17 Jul 2008|01:46pm] |
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Hello all, Mary Kate here.
If you've friended us, yay! That makes us happy and we're so stoked to get to know you. If not, please do. We looooove new friends.
If you've just stumbled over here and have no idea what any of this sucky business is, well, let me tell you the story.
Many months ago, while rehearsing for a show in March of 2007, I was hanging out in the wings with my buddy Zack, and we started talking about music. I'm pretty sure I was wearing one of my hand-painted band shirts, and he started talking smack about the band branded across said shirt.
"You're an emo girl," he said. "We're mortal enemies."
"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Emo's amazing."
"Emo is dead. Indie rules."
"Come on. Indie sucks."
"See what I said? We can't be friends."
"I guess not. Too bad for you."
"We should be, like, a music Romeo and Juliet. We hate each other's music but we're secretly IN LOVE."
And right then and there, I was struck by lightning. BAM.
"Right, Zack. Right."
Wait a second, I thought. That's a baller idea. Why doesn't somebody do that? That would make such a rad movie!
The idea haunted me. I started telling people about it, going, "Hey guys, wouldn't this be a great movie?" They all laughed and agreed. Indie and Emo, how funny. But nobody seemed to be writing this damn movie.
So by Christmas, I'd had enough. I couldn't take it anymore. I started writing. And on January 8, I gave birth to the first draft of TRUE LOVE SUCKS. It was sixty pages long and absolute shite. Terrible. Awful. Atrocious.
I thought it was really good at the time, though, and proud of my accomplishment, I decided to play the "Let's Switch Screenplays And Tear Each Other's Apart!" game with my good friend Donald Cassius Trumbonius (better known as Cass Trumbo). He was living in Rome and I was living in London at the time, so by way of European snail mail, we exchanged stories and critiques. His was much better than mine, much longer, and I realized I had signed up to reckon with a force.
Cass gave me some "notes"--about seven handwritten pages, actually, and they were more like ideas for storylines than notes. I ate them up. I took them to heart, reconstructed my crap piece by piece, and by April I had a brand new, shiny 120-page draft, that was actually pretty good. Draft followed more notes from Cass, labored discussions (that sometimes escalated into fistfights) over coffee tables in both London and Rome about what to do with these characters we'd created, and more and more subsequent writing.
Three months and eight drafts later, TRUE LOVE SUCKS has finished the writing stage and moved into the production stage. Romeo and Juliet are now Emerson and Mikey. Emerson likes indie music. Mikey likes emo music. Their friends hate each other, but they--well, you know.
And that's where you meet me. I guess I've kind of introduced myself already, but I'm Mary Kate, the writer/executive producer/actress for this film. That's right, I'm playing Mikey. After months and months laboring over this thing, this crazy thing that I never thought I'd do, and all of the me that I've put into it, I hope it's okay with you that I step into her shoes. They're the same size as mine.
I'm just part of the production team that's getting this ball rolling. The illustrious Alex Garcia (SERE, It's a Wonderful Death) has stepped in to be my Exec Producer (I mean, I am too, but I really just give all the ideas and he does all the work) and Director. He's basically amazing. We've got Tom Banks (Ridiculously Emo) on DP and Ben Cox associate producing and editing. Angus Fletcher (SERE) is sort of babysitting us and a lot, A LOT of people have given feedback and support.
If you had told me two years ago that I'd write a feature-length screenplay, I would have laughed really loud in your face. I don't consider myself a writer at all--well, I guess I do now--but with the help of some friends we've created something that we think is pretty darn good and we hope you will like as well.
So stay tuned for all sorts of updates on how production is going, and ways you can get involved, if you'd like. We're not planning to shoot till next summer, so there's a lot of time in between, but a lot of work that needs to be done. This is the biggest project of my life this far, and I'd love to have you along for the ride.
Oh, and a disclaimer: This movie isn't about labeling people. When you have two groups of anything labels pop up really fast. It's about music, yes, but it's more about relationships and self-worth and love and everything in between. So please don't get your panties in a wad about me calling something "emo". Anything can be anything, and for the purposes of this fictional story, I've had to use some labels. It happens. We love everybody.
Alright, friends. Peace, love, and muzak-
MK
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