My conversation with an Icon...

Thought some of you (or your grandparents) might get a kick out of this one.  The show won't air for some weeks, but what's the point of showrunning your own series if you can't post some bootleg footage on your personal blog?

That's Dr. Robert Schuller, founder of 'The Crystal Cathedral' right there.  For those of you who are, perhaps, less saturated in the 'faith market', Robert Schuller is, after Billy Graham, probably the best-known, most influential TV Preacher in modern history.

He is to the faith-based market, what Stephen Spielberg is to film.

I read his biography when I was a teenager and his story of entrepreneurial spirit mixed with a spiritual motivation and the desire to make a positive impact on people living in a dark World had a HUGE impact on me, and my journey.

It was a thrill to interview him.

I hope I don't come across as starstruck (on-camera) as I felt in-person.

Enjoy.

T

need a lift?

Peep this.

T

the simplicity of it all...

No joke, one of the most important tools for the 'stay at home' filmmaker/preacher.

I'm currently listening to Nichole Nordeman's 'THIS MYSTERY' on the above FANTASTIC headphones, a Christmas gift from my Executive Producer/Business Partner and friend, the ever so lovely Mr. Tore Stautland (thanks Tore...) and, seeing as I'm fresh off John Mayer and Kanye's blogs I figured I'd post a 'thing' of my own that I'm currently thankful for.

Bose earphones.

The backstory on these is that I've wanted a pair for five years and haven't bought 'em.  I have circled the Bose store and Best Buy like an addict circling a fix, never actually closing the deal.

"Why don't you just buy 'em?"

Kinda' like my wife telling me I should just go out and BUY a friggin' flat screen TV already.

Yes, I'm a filmmaker, with an old-and-busted Toshiba 36inch tube set that just kicked the bucket (that we bought used for $150).  We tried for three or four weeks to watch the thing with no remote (the 'universal' one we bought didn't work too well--"...Sorry, this TV is SEVEN YEARS OLD, none of our codes will work...") but seeing as you can't manually switch to TSN (Canada's version of ESPN--and 'hello' to my Australian and East Asian readers...) and seeing as it's December in the NFL and seeing as both Sunday night football and Monday night football are on TSN we just couldn't have that, now could we?

So I was circling flat screens last month.

Couldn't bring myself to buy one though.

Part of the problem is that we're waiting to be renewed for 2009 on two of the TV series I produce which means any capital expenditure is strictly forbidden right now and part of it is I don't want to buy something of that magnitude unless I really LOVE it and that means a SAMSUNG 52inch Series 7 120hz model and that means I not only need a renewal but a RAISE.

'Cause the $800 Zenith at COSTCO just wouldn't cut it long-term.

So, instead of buying something just for the sake of buying it, I drove to my in-law's and 'borrowed' their ten year old 27inch SONY tube set.  Thing's so heavy, I could barely get it to the car then into our house.

Great picture and awesome sound though AND it pulled in TSN.

The point here is not consumerism.

The point is I'm turning into my GRANDPARENTS.

I was at my brother in-law's house this past weekend in Montreal wearing a sweater he gave me ten years ago.  He can't believe I still have it and wear it.  It's a great sweater, why should I replace it?  Then I looked at our 13 year old coffee grinder this morning, still happily ensconced in it's original cardboard packaging.  I thought to myself, looking at it, that Niki and I might still have that same grinder when we're as old as my grandparents.  Then I took out our 12 year old african coffee mugs and thought about the flashy new Christmas ones I didn't buy for my wife at my local Vancouver Starbucks last month and I realized...

That I'm turning into my GRANDPARENTS.

They kept everything.  Seemed  to always be content with what they had (both grandfathers were car freaks who treated their K-Car and Buick [respectively] as if they were Bentleys. Never saw nicer specimens of either...) never got rid of something that worked just 'cause they were bored with it and didn't have more than three dressy outfits.  I still remember my grandma's reaction when grandpa bought her a real fur coat.  Her one unrestrained luxury.

Seeing as grandma just turned 100 and, therefore, isn't 'out' too much, the coat has gone to my mom.  She came by in it the other day, had had it cleaned and repaired a bit, and the thing looked like a million bucks.

Just like it did on my missionary grandma.

And I'm realizing as I write this that we might all be better off to be a bit more like our Zenith-watching grandparents.

"Credit crunch?  What credit crunch?  You don't by it unless you can afford to pay cash for it."

That's what they'd say.

Maybe we should all be more like our grandparents.  

Do your grandparents grow their own veggies?  My wife's Nonna and Nonno do.  Do your grandparents read their Bibles more than they watch Desperate Housewives?  My Grammie and Poppa do.  Did your grandparents build a cottage with their own hands?  Is it still standing?  (yup)  When was the last time you built something with your hands?

The other point is that I don't think you should settle.

In life, as with flat screen TV's, you should do (get) the thing you know you should do.  That means you must always STRIVE for what you know is right.

(and an eye to the inner-life to make sure one is not lusting after the wrong TV is also good...)

And I'm not advocating becoming some stupid perfectionistic dick who's never satisfied, or an out of control 'artist' or a tyrannical 'super-pastor' or an impossible boss.  I'm just thinking that you shouldn't connect your happiness or satisfaction to an outside event.

You should know what's right and that should be enough.

Don't buy mugs 'cause you're lonely.  Think of your wife and hurry home.  Don't buy a Zenith 'cause you have room on your card.  Save for the Samsung.  Don't rush the scene to make your day but don't force an extra run of fussy coverage into it either.  Never (NEVER) shortchange an exegetical pass but make it so that your audience doesn't notice the work you did.

It's about humility.

Not the kind that most people think of (the 'oh I'm so meek and mild, might as well call me Mary...' kind) the kind that isn't fussy.  The kind that knows good from bad, that doesn't care about flash and pomp. The kind that rightly assesses personal value in self and others.

The kind that thinks of self (no matter how impressive your credits) as 'Just one of God's water boys...' as my Dad used to say.

The kind of humility that recognizes that we don't DESERVE anything, that everything is gift.

That K-Car?  A gift.  That ten year old coffee grinder?  Gift.  The money to pay for cable so I can watch Monday Night Football with my boys?  Gift.

Whether I watch the game on a flat screen or not is not going to change the scent wafting upwards from my son's freshly washed hair, nor improve the performance on the field, nor make my wife any more sexy after.  Plus I could afford to buy red wine for after.  Remember when $36 meant six hours (on a Saturday) life guarding?  

Gift.  Gift.  Gift.

It's Christmas season right?

Here's my vote for the simplicity of our forebears in our approach to Noel this year.

Here's to JM's blog being all about baking with his loved ones.

Here's to Kanye remembering his own line ('Cribs' vs 'Kids') from his new album.

Here's to "It's a Wonderful Life" on my simple, used, borrowed, tube TV.

Here's to a wife, some kids, and love for the Maker this Christmas.

Here's to you doing what you do with simplicity, humility, and a thankful heart.

You want some Christmas Spirit?  It's already in you, waiting...

T

Hold my hand...

We're often quick to share our victories and slow when it comes to the defeats.

The whole purpose of this blog is to be transparent about my journey as I exchange the pulpit for the screen, a journey fraught with difficulty, sorrow, challenge, triumph, excitement and joy in the hopes that said transparency might 'speak' into your life, your journey, your difficulties, sorrows, challenges, triumphs, excitements and joys.

So lemme' tell you about my pitch meeting today.

I didn't sleep well last night, as is typically the case when I've got an important meeting.  My Executive Producer picked me up and we got downtown on time--no problem.  We met with the team at the post-production facility to make sure everything was working and seamless. No problem there either.

The network bosses arrived ten minutes late (which is 'on time' in our industry) settled in, got a quick tour, and we rolled the 8-minute reel we'd assembled.  It seemed to connect with them.

Then one of the executives started with her questions.

And I knew, almost right away, that I'd failed to 'make the connection' in the way I was hoping.  

Her eyes weren't alight, she wasn't 'vibing' with me.  I could've called it there and gone home.  I didn't though.  We retired to the boardroom where I had a bunch of snazzy folios done and a cheese plate and some fruit and ice water and...

Network bosses who didn't appear to be feeling the love.

It's hard, this business of peddling dreams.

So, we saw it all the way through, talked it around, shook hands, walked down to the car and my Executive Producer hit me with it...

"Well, that went great didn't it?"  (!)

And he laughed, and I sat there for the next forty-five minutes, deeply glum and feeling like I suck, have no talent and am in the wrong business.

It took me 'till about 4:30pm today to shake it off.

Then things got worse, as staff issues reared their ugly head, and I got the first edit of the new shows we just shot in the new studio, and though they look great, there are audio problems.

Audio problems.

Sigh.  Sigh.  Siiiiigggghhhh...

And so here I sit with the wife, having drowned some sorrow in pralines and cream ice cream with a starbucks oat fudge bar split in two and some egg nog with a wee touch 'o rum in it and the Bears are playing the Saints and we keep reminding ourselves that we need to "Keep Moving Forward..."

We toasted to that.

Keep Moving Forward.

'Cause not every pitch, not ever sermon, not every idea, not every relationship is going to be a slam dunk.

But those who keep at it and keep at it and keep it generally turn out okay.

Here's hopin'...

T

ps: plus COREY FELDMAN is the feature guest on my show this Sunday night and THAT'S pretty cool regardless of how crappy my pitch was...

After effects...

There I am, on-set, filling in the slate, getting ready to shoot take "Only God knows the number we're on..." last week.

It was exhausting.

I try to not be too much of a whiner when it comes to workload etc.  I remember hitting the level where everyone was tired all of the time because they were hustling their butts off trying to find a way to 'make it' in this crazy industry and I just realized that I should stop commenting on my fatigue level.

So I just say, "I'm well..." when I'm alright and "I believe I shall be well..." when things are looking bleak.

Then you have a day like yesterday, where your philosophy/faith butts up against the requirements of your body.  

I got home Sunday, chilled with the family Monday, then yesterday I was supposed to go right back to work.  So we did breakfast, did our coffee, then I came downstairs and tried to start working.  I got through my email and crashed.  Seriously.  I had to stop, walk upstairs and lay down on the couch.  I fell immediately asleep for an hour or so.  

I did that three times yesterday.

Just couldn't go on any longer.

Strange to feel that kind of weakness.  Like at the end of a battle or something.

And that's what the last two weeks have been like for me.  Principally, the issue was shifting our studios.  See, for the past year on the main show I produce we've been shooting at a fabulous mainstream studio in the heart of downtown Vancouver.  It's a pro place full of pro people and pro gear.  You basically walk in, they've already got our set in place, we get the hosts dressed and made up and off we go.

Simple.

And expensive.

Yes we had a great deal.  Yes, the team there were a wonderful bunch (and we do miss them...) but, at the end of the day [as my EP loves to say] we just couldn't afford it.

We had known for some time that a cash crunch was going to hit us later this year and we'd been exploring various options all year long, trying to find the best way through it.  Eventually, my EP and I had a sit down at his office (while our wives and kids hung out upstairs) where we crunched the 'actuals' budget in real time and I did my best to estimate the 'moving forward' budget and we realized that we had to act NOW.

Here's where it gets miraculous (or strange--depending on your worldview...)

So, I get home that night, and while Niki and I are sitting on the couch watching CNN and she's surfing Facebook, I'm on Craigslist looking for office space rentals.  I find like ten of 'em that look like they might work.  Email all ten.

Next day.  I get one response.  The guy sounds nice and his space, in the perfect location, is still available.  BOOM, I book a flight, fly in and out in the same day--see the space and spend the evening working on a mock trailer with my Vancouver editor.

Oh yeah, on the way to the space, I walk through the neighborhood where it looks like we're going to live for the first few months of 2009, just checking it out on-foot to make sure it's 'suitable for the wife', and it turns out to be as awesome as we'd hoped.  

So, I get downtown, to the prospective space.  Meet the owner.  Walk into the space.  Look at it for ten seconds.  Tell him we'll take it.  "What just like that?"  Yeah, just like that.  "But how can you be so sure so quickly?"

When you know, you know.

(and that's near miraculous, finding the 'perfect space' just like that, with one call...)

Fast forward to last week.

I arrive on the Saturday.  Sunday the race begins.  Turning an empty space, with walls in all the wrong places, into a space we can actually use.  Then I find out our set (from the studio) won't fit.  Actually, I find that out AS the movers arrive (I'd been worrying about it all week though). They call me downstairs to see for myself and I'm standing there, in the rain, with a thousand other things [like figuring out how to shoot this...] going on at once all around me, and I have to improvise.

Think, Todd.

So I ask the movers if they can keep the set in storage for a day or so.  They say sure.  I tell my guys to bring in everything that will fit.  They do.  I talk with my associate producer (the brilliant Karl Richter) about the issue, we spitball some solutions, I keep working on getting the space set.  That night he calls me.  

"Yo', it's done."  What do you mean 'done'?  And he proceeds to explain that our Toronto-based Production Designer is going to have one of his west coast guys go to the mover's, take the set apart, pack it, deliver it then rebuild it in our space.

Just like that.

And that's how it went down.

The set came in, got rebuilt, and ended up looking great.

Thanks Jer.  Thanks Karl.

But that's just one of the several dozen crises I had to deal with all week.  Never mind that I had to re-shoot my stand up sequences for 14 of the shows we shot in L.A over the course of two days and never mind that the two days following I had to direct 100 segments for 25 new episodes of the main show I produce and never mind that we were shooting it film style and switching to shooting it ALL in HD (can you say 'render time'?) and introducing two new assistant editors into the mix and a new DP and new shooters...

See, a film set and a TV studio are two different beasts.

To borrow 'preacher speak', a TV set is like a Church building.  It's there, it works, it looks good and does exactly what you need it to do.  You just show up and do your thing.  A film set is like a Church Plant except worse.  You bring everything you're going to need with you, you set it up in a blank space, turning it into the kind of space you're going to need, then when you're done you tear it all down again.

It's crazy.

And you can imagine the things that can go wrong.  Everything you can imagine does, in fact, go wrong, and then some, and as the guy in charge you've got to make sure that the train keeps rolling 'cause not doing it is not an option.

So you push through and you get it done, then you come home and you crash and you feel silly and 'weak' for crashing.

I guess the only SFS 'applicability-oriented' thing I've got to say is:

If you want to do something difficult with your life, remember that it is going to be difficult. Remember to leverage your relationships in such a way that they're going to help you do that difficult thing.  Don't expect your life to be 'normal', 'cause it won't be.  Push yourself as hard as you can when it counts, then listen to your body when you're done, in case you need to take a nap.

'Cause you don't want to push so hard that you push yourself right over the edge.

T

New shizz...

Sittin' in my (our) new studio (it's super tiny and humble), with my Editor to my left and one of my hosts to my right. The set you see is right in front of me.

Four days ago this was a big empty room.

I've been shooting for four days straight at this point.  I'm so burnt that this morning, I was scarfing down an egg sandwich while catching the last few minutes of 'Jerry Maguire' and my wife called.

I was so moved (and so sleep deprived) that I started sobbing--uncontrollably.  I had to tell Niki to give me five minutes and call me back.

That's the cost of show biz-ness my man.

Missing your wife to the point that you dang near lose yo' mind...

I'll post a detailed retrospective in the next couple days.

Peace,

T

Living life in ten-minute increments...

So this is the building that houses our new studio.  You're looking at the corner of Richards and Smithe in downtown Vancouver.  The neighborhood we're in is called 'Yaletown' and is considered one of the best urban neighborhoods anywhere.  The location is totally central to everything and will be a five minute bike ride downhill from our new house.  Pretty neat.

As is always the case, however, nothing is ever easy and our space required a lot of work (that's still ongoing) to get it ready to shoot.  The above shot has our contractor (Stephen--the man--Goldman on the left) arguing with our director (Karl--THE KARL--Richter on the right) while I (in the background) field one of the hundred phone calls I got that day, putting out some fire, working some magic, doing whatever it takes to keep things rolling so that we'd have somewhere to shoot.

Then the crew arrived and we began working to set up for the first round of shooting.  The white wall on your left was one of seven walls that had to be removed.  The black walls are the white walls you see in the second shot. Since the contractor wasn't going to be able to remove them until Thursday morning, we just had to find a way to shoot around them on Wednesday.

And here's the end result.  Me, on-set, having just wrapped the first day.  I'll try to post a little web video for you here so you can see what the real 'end result' looks like.

The thing to realize in all this is the crazy level of madness that we're living through right now. My Executive Producer called me this morning to ask how it was going and my response was, "Well, it's varying degrees of mass mayhem and planet-wide panic..."  Then he freaked out a bit 'cause for me to say it that way means it must be really bad.  I told him to calm down 'cause though it's certainly crazy here, it's a controlled crazy.  Like running a military campaign.

I like that analogy.  If you don't keep moving forward you die.

And that's relevant for you.  

If you don't keep moving forward you die.

So no matter how hard it gets for you today, try to do your best to just keep moving from moment to moment.  I've seriously been living in ten-minute increments this week.  From one ten-minute segment to the next.  Not thinking too far ahead, just focusing on the immediate task at hand, doing what it takes to survive long enough to get to the next ten minutes.

If you do that, almost no matter how hectic the scenario, you'll probably end up being alright.

Take it from me, I'm livin' through it right now.

T