So, Who Am I?
I started out thinking my whole identity was being a writer. I wrote from the time I could hold a pencil, and my mother sent out my poems to magazines, starting the long tradition of rejection in my life. I studied fine art in high school and my first year of college, switching schools and majors to writing at Boston University, under the tutelage of several published, moderately famous writers. My post college years were spent writing short stories, novels, songs, and singing in very unpolished band in Boston. I spent several years working staff jobs in advertising, and then moved into publishing. My sister suggested I move into medical publishing, as it paid better. And so I did.
Fiction Writing to Screenwriting to Communications Writing
I also kept writing fiction, and then moved into screenwriting. I took courses at The New School and immersed myself in the screenwriting scene, attending conferences and participating in workshops. I had placed highly in national competitions when I started to see that wasn’t getting me anywhere, and by then I was divorced with a small kid to feed. So I worked at medical communications….where I learned event planning! When my kid got a little older, I went back to school at NYU and got a certificate in film directing, making my own little shorts. I have three full screenplays that are currently out in the netherworlds of “development,” that brilliant catch-all phrase for “nobody knows what’s going on with it.”
Filmmaking
As part of my filmmaking foray over the last ten years, I have learned to frame shots, edit film, and all the producing elements, including putting together a crew and a budget. I have worked on some indie films in Connecticut as a location scout, and worked on the crew of a film with Tim Allen and Jenna Elfman that may someday actually be released. (And yes, you will find me on imdb.com)
I became part of the growing film community in Connecticut as it paved the way for the ubiquitous state tax credits programs to encourage filmmaking in the state. The law was passed in 2006, and we had to show Hollywood—and the NY indie scene—that we knew what we were doing. I was a member of “Hollywood East” Task Force to the State Speaker of the House, and came to know a great deal about how funding for independent film works. I have a great many friends and colleagues in the filmmaking industry, including directors, producers, production people, and the people who get the funding together. I also began developing education for people in the state who were interested getting into the film business, or learning more about it. I created workshops and recruited speakers for two of the best-known film festivals in the state.
And then, there are the writers. Ultimately, my main interest is in the creative side of filmmaking. All the rest is just a means to an end.
Fine Arts
I got back to my early roots in fine art in the summer of 2009 when I managed a friend’s art gallery in upstate New York. This was a successful gallery that already had a clientele and a following, and I learned a great deal, not only about marketing art, but about painting in general, as I asked the artists to tell me about their work. And that got me thinking about art in general, and the many talented people I have managed to bring into my personal enclave.
Full Circle
I’m all about learning more every day. So as I go looking for new things to learn, I plan to share then. I’m also asking some of the very talented people I’ve come to know to share their extensive knowledge with us in guest blogs.
Because I believe that creativity needs a nurturing place to keep growing. That’s why I created The Arts Enclave, so people can talk about what works and what doesn’t and how life decisions about art can sometimes play out.
I hope you will learn things from the upcoming posts that will inspire and encourage your own personal journey in the arts!
