The land of the free (guns)...

Eight and a half-hours in the car later, we arrived in Florence Kentucky--just outside of Cincinnati Ohio.

My kids were great in the car.  Pretty cool to be at the stage where I don't quite need to stab myself after that drive.

Anyway, they hit the pool, and I hit the local Walmart for some milk...

And a shotgun.

Well, not really, but I thought I'd let you know that, here in Kentucky aka: 'god's country', you can get a side of shotgun with your milk AND the shells are on sale right next to the portable stereos.

Wild.

It's amazing to me how different the World is a mere eight and a half hours from my front door. This challenges me to keep the wide wide (weird) World in mind when crafting stories and sermons.

'Cause people may be different everywhere but they're also the same and finding the hinge between those two realities is the key to effective communication I think.

T

kindergarden on the go...

Everywhere I go I've got this mini-kindergarden that follows me around.

Just took the wife and kids to Starbucks downtown.  I'd finished writing for the day a little earlier than expected and my wife was going a bit stir-crazy 'cause it's raining in our hometown. As a result of said rain she was also feeling a little depressed about what's coming to our neck of the woods--mainly six months of basically awful weather--so I figured a little intervention would be worth it.

She's also stressed that--having just planted a new church--we can't escape to the sun for the winter which would be her first choice given the opportunity.  Add to that my wrestling with the enormity of what we've done and the long-term implications and I figured some coffee and a scone were definitely in order.

On the way the kids didn't stop talking, laughing, singing, screaming the whole time.  And I do mean the whole time.  I looked at Niki at one point and said, "It's like I've got a kindergarden following me around wherever I go..."

And--as we spent some time over coffee--I realized that that is a good thing.

Keeps us young.  Keeps us on our toes.  Keeps us healthy.  Keeps us selfless.

Have some kids friends.

You'll be the better for it.

And the deaf-er.

T

I always end up here...

For me, this is the nexus, the point, the destiny.

In every story and every sermon I always feel myself drawn back to this place and to this hope. For me every tension and all struggle is about the urge to got 'home' to here and the issues I have with fighting the total surrender required for entrance.

It's all about home for me.

All about why we were made and who made us and what that means.

For me, Heaven is at the heart of all story.

Gonna' go there again this sunday, 10:30am at...

THE WELL

T

I'm in Cannes...

Okay, you got me, I'M not in Cannes (though I wish it were so) but my intellectual property is and if it's true that all creativity comes from within then a little (or big) piece of me is over there right now.

I've got a movie and a TV series currently being repped at MIP COM which is the biggest TV and FILM market in the World.  Everybody who's anybody in show business the World over (particularly buyers and sellers of TV series and films) is there looking to sell and be sold this week.

And--for the first time in my career as a writer/producer/director--that includes two properties with my name on 'em.

I just wanted to note this for no other reason than to publicly comment on 1) what a long road it's been to get to this point.  I used to dream of finding a way to break in to this kind of environment 2) how humbling it is to be at this stage, mostly because by now I've suffered disappointment so many times that I'm kind of numb to the process and resigned to the fact that it just is what it is, I can't control it, so I might as well just keep working and let things run their course--to say nothing of the fact that there have been countless people involved in the journey so far to whom I owe much gratitude 3) how mind-bending it is that things you think aren't connected actually are.

You also may not be in Cannes this week but I thought this might speak to you anyway:

-It takes a long time.

-You'll 'get there' after being broken and broken and broken again.

-You never know which connection or seemingly 'dead end' is going to turn out to be your big break.

Put those three into your context and keep at it friends.

T

The long (LONG) road...

Thought I'd share that with you.

You're looking at a shot of the main monitor in the finishing suite at Optix Digital Pictures in Toronto where, today, I supervised the TV version cut of THE STORM my first feature film.

Reason I thought I'd post it is because of the time stamp (date) you see at the bottom.

September 29, 2009

Today's date.

No biggie right?

Mind you, if you were aware (as I so painfully am) of the fact that I 'locked' the final version of THE STORM back in early March 2007 you'd see that date and feel the significance of it.

WE'RE TALKING TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER!!

And the TV edit is just being done now and we've just now signed an agreement that should see our wee film hit select theaters in the U.S and the Worldwide market on TV and DVD in time for Halloween 2010.

THREE AND A HALF YEARS LATER!!

Talk about your 'long road home...'

It's almost unbelievable in some ways.  I mean, I knew it was hard to write, produce and direct your own independent film.  I knew it was virtually impossible for that film to ever see the light of day in terms of mainstream distribution, but that said--like every other first-time filmmaker--my hope was that we could be the exception.

And we worked hard, with the realities of the shoot, with the production value, with the story, with the cut and especially with the post-production (score, special effects, sound design, color correction and mastering) to try and set ourselves up to deliver something outstanding for the segment of the market we knew our film would eventually inhabit.

Along the way we had the film set up, and it fell apart, then re-set up, and it fell apart and in the midst of that process we've kept working to build our rep, build our contacts, build our slate and get ourselves into situations where we can meet people who can point us to the right people in the hopes that they might respond to our small, first-time film.

I think a key lesson in this for me (beyond the obvious ones related to the 'doing' of the thing in the first place) has been that everything you do, and I do mean EVERYTHING, can work together to help the things you do find their way in the World.

This means that everything is connected.  Nothing is wasted.  

You have to stay positive in the face of constant doubt and rejection and keep believing that, eventually, the thing you've done will find it's place.

I'll keep you posted on how things develop but thought I'd let you know today was a satisfying day.  My hope is that you will have some satisfying days soon as you keep at it, and keep at it, and...

Keep at it.

T

Constantly humbled...

That's our set for UNSCRIPTED the TV show I'm producing this year.  Pictured is yours truly with Mr. Nigel Lythgoe of 'American Idol' and 'So You Think You Can Dance' fame.  We're on-set at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills and you can see that all it takes is three green screens, some lighting and five cameras to take you away.

Thought I'd also mention that my interview with Mr. Lythgoe wasn't my best ever.  Reason? Well, the simple truth is I geeked out a bit.  My wife and I are big fans of SYTYCD and I ended up spending more of the conversation with Mr. Lythgoe in that vein than I did exploring his life which is our typical mandate.

Part of it was due to the fact that, in the moment with him, I felt like my more biographical questions weren't exciting him enough so I began steering away a little more towards his work and part of it was because I know his show is a big hit in Canada so I knew that line of question and answer would get a response from our audience but the hard truth was I just got too personally involved--because I'm a fan--and didn't deliver my best work as a result.

Apparently Mr. Lythgoe was a bit thrown that I didn't get more biographical with him which was embarrassing to me and our team.

I must say he was a real gentleman throughout.  I do apologize to him for geeking out.  I hope our audience will love his interview and keep watching his show.

What I take from this is a lesson to keep my cool and keep growing and, like any lesson, it's eating some humble pie for me to learn it.

Also, in the other 'zone' of my career--at ye' old chuch plant--I'm very aware that my sermons are not yet at the level they once were when I was doing it week in and week out.  It's hard for me to keep doing it when I know that I could be much better but I have to remember that, 1) it's ultimately not about me and 2) you can't 'rush' the process.  Learning and growing happen over time and each 'less than perfect--in my opinion--sermon' is another rung on the way back up to a level of effectiveness that I know is possible 'cause I've been there before.

Again, it's humbling for me.

The sermon got posted today.  You can check it out for yourself to see what I mean by humbling.

Keeping at it today, in the face of it all.

Hope you're keeping at things on your end.

Humbly yours,

T

Where's my Butler?

I came home from L.A and, as usual, struggled a bit the first day or two back getting used to what my 'normal' life is like.

'Cause, lemme' tell you, L.A 'aint normal.

I have a butler there.

Well, 'we' have a butler.  He is tasked to our crew for the duration of our shoot and quite literally waits on us hand and foot from morning 'till night.

When I arrive in the morning he's got eggs how I like 'em done with toast how I like it and coffee and butter and PB&J and freshly squeezed OJ.  I don't even have to ask.

For lunch, I walk out of the studio and he's got a steaming plate of spaghetti bolognese waiting for me with fine linen and silverware and shredded parmegiano regianno.  

Anything we want, he gets.

It's sick.

Granted we PAY through the nose for the fine catering we get at the hotel and we do so for the sake of our guests and our crew, not for us, but we do enjoy the benefits of it.

And let me say that, while I'm engrossed in the kind of intense focus it takes to shoot 11 high-quality 45min interviews non-stop, back to back, all day for three days straight, the last thing I have brain space left for is deciding what to eat or when.  My Executive Producer, our L.A producer, and our Butler take it upon themselves to just point me in the right direction and tell me what to do.

I'm that focused and fried while I'm on-set.

I never really 'got' the whole Hollywood catering thing until I got to a certain level.  I remember directing my first feature-film.  It was a small film but a real one.  The stress was intense and almost unbearable.  I remember on day 17--the worst day of the shoot--it starting to rain and, without saying a thing, sensing my grips building a 'tent' over and around me from a bunch of 'C' stands and black drape.  I didn't even have to take my eyes off the monitor or my mind out of the scene.  One minute it was raining and I was getting wet, the next I was dry.

It's that kind of 'care' that spoils so many who work at this level and the levels beyond.

You hear about a 'culture of entitlement' in Hollywood.  You hear about the same thing in really big churches.  I think that tendency--to get to the point where you 'expect' to be treated like a star--can rear it's ugly head in both contexts.

I think the thing is this.

1) To acknowledge that sometimes you, and/or the people you're working with are so focused and applying themselves so intensely that they (or you) really, truly, need to have their day to day, moment to moment needs met so that they can stay focused on the very tough task at hand.  This can be true for you and your spouse in your average everyday life.  You need to keep your antennae alert to when they truly need you to 'serve' them.

2) To be very careful that neither you, nor the people you work with get 'used' to being taken care of.  I think it's very easy to settle into being cared for.  I mean, let's face it, it's nicer to have someone bring you dinner and clean it up than it is for you to have to do all the work yourself. The problem is, you can end up with unreal expectations when you get deposited back into your ordinary life.  I think it's really important to stay humble in your ethic and expectations.

Which is tough to do.

'Course, the real problem is that we--as people--tend to selfishness and self-focus and self-absorption.  We'll tend to milk a situation for everything we can get.  Often some of the people you work with will do the same.  So long as they're not footing the bill they'll be happy for you to keep doing so to their benefit and your loss.  They, ultimately don't care whether your kids get fed or not, they just want to 'get' what they can 'get' out of the situation.

The same is true for you right?  I mean, you're not sweating whether or not their rent gets paid this month, are you?

It's this near-mutually-parasitic relationship that goes on.

The question for me, as a guy who is trying to order his life and work in show business and church planting by a faith that is essentially external to me, is 'how' do I stay righteous (doing the right thing in every situation) in my ethic and repentant (admitting my wrongdoings and asking for forgiveness and help) when I blow it, without getting walked on by the people I work with.

See, you can't assume their motives are the same as yours.  So, what do you do?  From where I sit, you do the right thing and trust God to make up the rest--meaning the shortcomings in yourself and the wrongdoings of others.

And you try to be honest.  If you're not fried and focused beyond belief you don't ask for help and if it's offered you politely decline.  If you are taxed beyond measure and there's help available you take it with thanksgiving and humility.  If you sense someone taking advantage of you or their attitude 'sliding' you call them on it, preferably sooner rather than later.

And...

You don't treat the Butler (or your spouse God forbid...) like a servant, you treat him like a peer who's giving of himself to you and for you.

Yes, he's earning an income off you, but underneath it all he's a human being who's spending the hours of his life--the most essential commodity we have really--in your service, helping you to do what you feel called to do.

You ought to be thankful for that, unattached to that, and unaffected by that.

So that when you come home and your kids are screaming and YOU are making the pancakes and the eggs and the toast and the coffee (and you're going to have to clean it up too) you don't turn to your wife--like I did--with this bemused expression on your face and ask...

"Where's my butler?"

(I was just kidding...and we got a good laugh out of it and I told her, "I've got to blog about that...")

Natch.

T