One again, it seems like forever since I\u2019ve blogged. The odd thing is that I\u2019ve been thinking about blogging a lot, but every time I go to do it I just seem too tired or busy to execute it. Well, I\u2019ve had a good night\u2019s sleep finally and nothing is going on right now so\u2026<\/p>\n
The new job\u2019s been great. It\u2019s long hours and the work can be a little overwhelming, but it\u2019s a lot of fun and the people are great. Yeah, yeah, I know I keep saying all that, but it\u2019s so weird for me to deal with that. Traditionally, I\u2019ve worked with companies that try to really keep this stiff business lip and that kind of environment really drains me. I feel that I\u2019m a very creative person in general and really know my stuff professionally, and the sterile environment of some companies drains me like you wouldn\u2019t believe. Those are the kinds of places where I really don\u2019t care if I\u2019m late or what people think of me there. I mean, I\u2019ll try to be professional and all, but I really have no energy to take initiative. These are usually places that hire someone like me (with 10 years of IT experience) and then never trust what they say because they either look too young to be credible, or they act like they listen to you but really have no interest in what you\u2019re saying because it boils down to money, as most IT things unfortunately do. When I\u2019m in that environment, I feel like \u201cwhy should I put forth by best effort if they won\u2019t take me seriously or care about what I\u2019m saying?\u201d It\u2019s not like that at the company I\u2019m at now. These people WANT to know what\u2019s going on and RELY on that knowledge. They actually LISTEN to what the hired professionals tell them and earnestly TRY to find ways to make it happen. The effort of the owners and board really shows too. It\u2019s not all smoke and mirrors. That\u2019s such a cool, new thing for me. Exactly how I\u2019d run a company.<\/p>\n
On the Suncoast Studios front, the photo contest that we entered into still has not been concluded in that the judges haven\u2019t announced the winners yet. I hope that comes to fruition in the next week or so because, with a little insider information I gleaned, I think that we really have a chance of winning the contest. The new production that\u2019s started is going full-force and we\u2019ve made a lot of headway. We\u2019re still in development, but we\u2019ve started some pre-production things and have actually built a couple of the main pieces we\u2019re going to use in the shoot. Set building is scheduled to begin in the next two weeks and we are going to be writing a script shortly thereafter. I would bet that you\u2019ll be hearing a lot about the shoot on the Suncoast Studios website in about a month or so.<\/p>\n
Millard\u2019s in town. He flew in Thursday morning and is doing some work for a local company. Shauna and I have him staying with us. Thursday night, to christen him back to Sarasota, I picked him up from the job he was doing and we went out to the store to grab a bunch of food. That night we made some Mexican food and he and I both wolfed down huge-assed burritos. Last night all three of us went out to Wings N Weenies and ate way too much food.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Wings N Weenies, the weirdest fucking thing happened there last night. We get there and sit down at a table and order drinks. We\u2019re talking, joking about things (you know the usual) and the one of the waitresses comes up and says \u201cHow\u2019s the movie going?\u201d, I thought I mis-heard her or something and was like \u201cWhat?\u201d. She repeats the question and I’m still not sure what she\u2019s referring to and it occurs to me at that point that maybe she think\u2019s I\u2019m someone else and that I just saw a movie at the theater next door and yada, yada\u2026 So I look at her all funny and say \u201cWhich movie?\u201d and she\u2019s like \u201cAren\u2019t you Matt?\u201d and tells me my address. I\u2019m totally confused and I look over at Millard across the table and he\u2019s looking at me like I\u2019m crazy, which is exactly how I felt right then. I look back at her with an apparently blank look and she says \u201cYou guys were making a movie a while back.\u201d Ding, ding, ding! Fucking duh! \u201cOh, it\u2019s done shooting and we\u2019re now editing.\u201d is what I tell her. I think at that point she said something else and walked away, satisfied with the answer I gave her. So, at that point I\u2019m weirded out by how the fuck she knew that and I verbalize my thoughts about it to Shauna and Millard, and Millard reminded me that that same girl delivered food to my place one night while we were set up and shooting in my living room. Ah, it all flooded back to me then and I remembered the entire incident, and the waitress\u2019s comments all made sense. Then I thought about it and realized that it was like eight months ago or so that we did that shoot and the girl remembered it, my NAME and my ADDRESS. It must have made some impression on her (hello, my ego), or she just has a really good memory (most likely the case). That stunned me for like half an hour last night. It was weird for me to be instantly recognized for something (and she hasn\u2019t actually seen the movie, just knew we were shooting it). Sure, in the inner-circle of my friends and family, they all know what Suncoast Studios is and what we\u2019re doing, but to have someone else actually come up to me like that was odd. It was odd in a good way though. After I got over the initial shock of it, I really felt good about it because I realized that I went from someone who is behind the scenes to and actual filmmaking. It was a sudden jump in (and I use this phrase SPARINGLY) \u201ccelebrity-status\u201d. I got a taste of what it must be like for other, important people in the industry. I loved it.<\/p>\n