My Austin Comedy Fest Scorecard

 So... apparently there is a score card / rubric for screenplays at the Austin Comedy Fest.

I just got the note that my screenplay is an 86/100.

At least, that's the "Marketing" score.

There is a "Technical" and "Creative" score cards, but they are "locked" and require more money to access them.

I don't especially like that.

It seems like my submission free should entitle me to all the feedback I receive on my submission.

And, if that is not the case, then addition fees need to be made clear and stated up front.

But whatever.

86/100 is a B (in a teacher's mind), so I'm good... for now.  

 

 

MUSCLES & WINE Austin Comedy Fest Win!

Just got the following email from the Austin Comedy Festival! 

Muscles & Wine is an official selection!
Such a good feeling!
I was beginning to think I was a one-hit wonder with Personal Demons.
So gratifying that a script (especially a non-horror script) of mine is getting recognition and wining awards! 

And Austin is, from what I understand, the liberal arts epicenter of Texas.  It is, after all, home to SXSW. All I'm saying is: this is a city... a crowd... a culture that is discerning, aware and creative. It's a honor that a film fest in Austin is giving me accolades. 

This is a seriously big deal for me.

I may actually be a good writer, if I can effectively write comedy and horror (separately, of course). 

I just needed this bit of recognition to make me believe that it is all worth it and to keep trying. 

Hopefully I can keep this momentum up until something wonderful... a happy accident... a good luck streak... I don't know... happens.

 

Dear Erik D., Congratulations! Please check your inbox within the next 48 hours for a detailed acceptance email from filmfestivalcircuit.com. The email will include award nomination information for all filmmakers and screenwriters. For film submissions, it will also include file delivery instructions and our screening schedule policy. Please do not send or share any video files until you have read the acceptance email. Thank you. Mikel Fair, Film Festival Circuit, CEO Muscles & Wine Selected Project has been selected to be included in festival. You can contact Austin Comedy Film Festival by replying to this email or sending an email to austin.comedy@filmfestivalcircuit.com.

 

Inspiration Has Landed!

 And just like that I have an idea for my first stage play.

It's a combo kaiju / old spooky house / mad scientist / cosmic horror / Lovecraft-esque play full of jump scares and creature FX (that can, obviously, be modified for every theater company / playhouse that puts it on, allowing for liberal interpretations that suit each company's culture and perspective).

It is titled "Under Foot".

The exact plot details I am keeping under my hat and only sending them to my buddy Tim Scott for now. 

Stage Play

 So, back in August of 2023 my mom and I were making our second trip to New York. We go there from time-to-time to see Broadway shows, see the touristy sites and eat some good food.

I would say the main attraction that brought us back so soon after our initial trip (in March 2023) was a horror play called The Grey House by Levi Holloway.

However, the play closed before we got there.

I guess attendance wasn't great.

Which really brought me down, as it was playing at an old gothic-looking theater is literally across the street (about 40 steps) from the hotel where we usually stay (The Millennium).

I bring this up because I am currently reading this play (the next best thing before someone decided to revive it... hopefully in St. Louis or Chicago) and just remembered that Final Draft (the software I use to write screenplays) allows writers to use templates for all kinds of other writing (teleplays, stage plays, etc.).

I am thinking I need to expand my repertoire into stage play writing.

Now I just need an idea.

On the one hand, I want to do a David Kemp stage play.

A simply comedy/drama.

A bit of transgressive (realistic) escapism that only a Kemp story can provide.

Another part of me wants to write a horror stage play.

In fact, I'm heavily leaning in that direction.

Well, I am going to rack my brain.

I'm sure an idea will descend upon me... probably while I'm at the gym.

We shall see.

It's just exciting to be exploring a new genre of writing.

A week or so ago I was watching the special features on the 4K steelbook of The Dark Crystal (a Jim Henson movie that traumatized me as a kid). In it, someone (I think it might have been Henson's daughter, Lisa) said that once Jim Henson had mastered one type of puppetry, that he was anxious to move on to master something else... something that challenged him.

That was inspiring.

And as Jim Henson is one of my many role models (and certainly one of my foundational role models, having been raised a PBS kid), I feel like I need to take a page from his approach to creativity and the workmanship it entails.

So here I go... 

 

 

 

More Kindle Publishing

 So... I have not only thrown my 3rd screenplay (Invoking Henry... a love story involving ghosts and murderers) up on Kindle, but I have made a list of all of my works (short story collections, novels, screenplays, etc.) that I still need to publish on Kindle and what I have to do with them (check the manuscript for problematic material, create a cover, etc.) before I publish them.

So, I have a roadmap for publishing my entire oeuvre on Kindle.

I am extremely pleased with what I have done thus far this summer (by publishing nearly all of my screenplays on Kindle), but I cannot rest on my laurels. I want as much (or all) of my work on Kindle for (someone!) everyone to enjoy.

So... onward I go.  

"Hordes"

Well, as I said in my last post, I dreamt up a story while at the gym... then I went home and wrote it in one sitting.

Don't think I've done that since college.

It is a satirical zombie story called "Hordes".

I have sent it to my forever editor and workshop partner, Tim Scott. 

Pending his approval, I will post it here for the world to read.

I also need to start compiling all the horror (short) stories I've written since Shades of Darkness and publish that on Kindle. 

Oh also, this past weekend, I tried sketching for the first time in ages.

I was sketching a forest (just as a background) and was meticulously trying to add detail (by that I mean bark) to each tree in the picture. 

However, I got frustrated (and perhaps bored) and just drew a crude sketch of what was in my imagination that I wanted to get out. I made sure to note at the top of the page that this was a "1st attempt".  

Perhaps I will try it again before the end of summer.

Perhaps not.

We shall see.  

 

 

New Story Idea...

 Some of my best recent story ideas have come to me while I've been at the gym.

Today I was running/biking my miles when I got an idea for a zombie short story.

Haven't written a piece of zombie fiction (in short story format) since college, I believe.

I think I might dedicate tonight to that instead of Depravity.

We'll see... 

It's just nice to have a wellspring of ideas.