Tag Archives: movies

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Journaling

Hiding in Amsterdam to avoid persecution of the Jews in 1942-44 could not have been the easiest of experiences.

Diary. ©iStockphoto/AndrejaD

Diary. ©iStockphoto/AndrejaD

We can know what it was like for Anne Frank and her family and four others through Anne’s record of daily events in the annex of her father’s business. They were discovered in August 1944 and taken to camps. Of the Frank family, only Otto survived. When he returned, Meip Giles, who had collected Anne’s writing and family photo albums, returned them to Frank. Learning of her intent to publish a work based on her experience after the war, Otto Frank decided to publish Anne’s writings. The book was favorably received. I read it in junior high school.

Not having been one to journal my life events, Anne Frank makes me consider the possibilities. As a sharer of my life story, I am encouraged by the fact that Anne’s experience continues to make an impact on the world long after her death. However, there was no assurance Anne’s work would have been preserved or eventually published after her death. So, encouragement might come from other benefits of journaling. Maud Purcell in The Health Benefits of Journaling on PsycheCentral.com indicates there is evidence that journaling impacts physical well-being positively. Both Purcell and C.M. Smith author of 6 Ways Journaling Will Change Your Life say it is a way to clarify what is happening in your life and how you really feel about it. Journaling provides us with insight into who we are which can assist in decision making.

Want to begin the practice of journaling regularly? Michael Hyatt has created a template to help jog thoughts in How to Become More Consistent in Your Daily Journaling.

I celebrated what would have been Anne Frank’s 85th birthday June 12, 2014, by seeing The Fault in Our Stars, based on the book by the same name. When Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), two youths who meet in a cancer support group, travel to Amsterdam to meet the author of Lancaster’s favorite book, they aren’t welcomed warmly by the author. His assistance takes them on a tour of the city including the Anne Frank Museum. Anne’s short life echoes what these two youths face; they both are likely to leave this world too early.

Whenever we leave this life, it may always feel too early. Recording our lives leaves a chance we may live on in influence in this world even after our death.

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Did you hear about the kidnapping in our nation’s capitol?

The victim was Solomon Northrup, an African American carpenter and violinist from Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1841. A prime example of human trafficking, this free-born, property owning African American, was transported to Louisiana and sold into slavery. Northrup would spend the next 12 years on plantations.

Bound. ©iStockphoto/katjawickert

Bound. ©iStockphoto/katjawickert

Northrup was eventually freed to return home to his family and tell his story.  In 2014, the film story based on Northrup’s book found box office and critical success winning the Golden Globe for Best drama and  Oscars for its producers (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas),  actress Lupita Nyong’o,  and screenwriter John Ridley proving enslavement is a strong story theme.

The blight of human enslavement and trafficking didn’t disappear in the middle 1800s. It still exists globally today in the form of forced and bonded labor, involuntary domestic servitude, child soldiers and sex trafficking.  Slavery might also be an addiction, a marital, work or organizational situation you feel you cannot leave for any reason, or even ideology if it is harmful, dissatisfying, or would be difficult to abandon. To what have you been enslaved?

Northrup accepted a short-term music job only to emerge from being drugged to find himself chained. How and when were you enslaved? Did it start as a simple trying of something that would become addictive? Was it caused by another? Was it hereditary or simply being born into a family that held a certain world view? Has true Biblical Christianity been mixed with “contemporary culture” to approve or justify something that is inhuman, immoral, or just plain wrong?

Northrup recognized excessive mourning for his children, wife, and life is unproductive. He set about to use his talents – carpentry, creativity, and musicality – for his new master’s use. He learned to hold back information that could cause him harm like the fact he can read and write. He learned to spin the truth for self-preservation. What steps did you take to remain safe? Have you held your tongue, cooperated, used your creativity?

Though it could mean his life, Northrup risked telling his story to a white carpenter hired by his master and found a sympathetic ear. The carpenter got word to Northrup’s family who sent help. Northrup was freed in 1853. What risks – physical, emotional, legal, spiritual – did you take to obtain your freedom? What turned the enslavement tables to give you back your freedom?

Back home Northrup told his story. He became active in the abolitionist movement and lectured on his experience and against slavery. As with some true stories, there wasn’t a clear, fairy tale ending. Legal charges against Northrup’s perpetrators went nowhere. By 1857, Northrup had “disappeared” from the face of the earth. The date and manner of his death and place of burial is unknown. But Northrup’s tale stands more than 150 years later as an affront to human trafficking and enslavement. What will you have to risk to tell your story to help others alive today and in future generations?

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Let’s get our Mojo working

What can get our creative juices flowing and tone up our resolve to keep pounding away at those computer keyboards better than waving the possibility of dollars for our efforts before our faces. Come on, let’s get our mojo working. And by mojo I mean Box Office Mojo.

Computer keyboard with dollar signs. ©iStockphoto.com/firebrandphotography

Computer keyboard with dollar signs. ©iStockphoto.com/firebrandphotography

How is life story doing at the box office? Let’s take a look at the financial returns for the five life narrative films nominated for Academy Awards. How can we do that? We’re going to search at Box Office Mojo. (Numbers from February 2, 2014)

12 years a Slave: Solomon Northrup, a free black man living in New York, is kidnapped in 1841 and spends 12 years as a slave in Louisiana

Fox Searchlight distributor. This film had a limited release on October 18, 2013, earning $923,715. Wide release was on November 18 with earnings of $6,675. 731. Total earnings worldwide are $96,408,000 with $45,808,000 domestic (47.5%) and $50,000,000 foreign (52.5%) over 108 days in release. Production budget not listed.

Captain Phillips: Captain Richard Phillips’ cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates

Sony/Columbia distributor. Captain Phillips opened on October 10, 2013, earning $25,718,314 in 3,020 theaters. As of February 3, 2014, it has earned $217,060,934 worldwide, with $106,547,000 domestic (49.1%) and $110,513,934 foreign (50.9%)  in 115 days of release. Production budget was $55 million.

Dallas Buyers Club:  Ron Woodroof, when diagnosed with HIV, expands the 30 days doctors have given him to live by seeking out alternative medicines, smuggling them into Texas and distributing them to others illegally

Distributed by Focus Features. The film was released limited (9 theaters) on November 1, 2013, earning $260,865 and wide (666 theaters) on November 22, 2013, earning $2,687,157. In 94 days of release the film’s lifetime gross is $22,542,486 domestic (100%). Production budget not listed.

Philomena: Philomena Lee searches fifty years for the son she was forced as a young woman to give up for adoption

Weinstein Company distributor. The film opened limited (4 theaters) on November 22, 2013, earning $128,435 and wide (835 theaters) on November 27, 2013, earning $3,676,001. The worldwide gross is $69,475,425 with $27,342,000 (39.4%) domestic and $42,133,426 (60.6%) foreign. Production budget not listed.

The Wolf of Wall Street: Wall Street stockbroker Jordan Belfort rises high, then plummets

Paramount distributor. The film opened in 2,537 theaters on December 25, 2013, earning $18,361,578. Total lifetime grosses are $226,377,000 with $104,077,000 domestic (46%) and $122,300,000 (54%). Production budget was $100 million.

It’s hard to tell what ballpark balance figures are, especially on the films where production budgets aren’t listed. But often more information can be found in articles like How the Producers of ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ ‘Wold of Wall Street’ and ‘Fruitvale Station’ Got the Films Off the Ground. From this article we discover that Dallas Buyer’s Club was made for under $5 million. And despite using more than 100 locations, Wolf came in on time and on budget. The New York Times article The International Fate of ’12 years:’ Steve McQueen’s Film Is a Bos-Office test Case indicated the budget for 12 days a Slave was around $20 million.

In the end, what these numbers tell us as writers is that life story is making a profit in the hands of Hollywood in the U.S. and often even better in foreign markets globally. Maybe this is one reason hollywood elite show up at the Golden Globes in great numbers.

Come on, let’s get our mojo working today!

 

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Paranormal Tweets

Leaving an appointment on Sunset Boulevard about 5:30PM on October 18, 2011, I noticed long lines of people in multiple directions at the ArcLight, predominantly Hispanic. While Hispanics are 16% of the population, they are more likely to attend movies than any other ethnic group. They represented 28 percent of movie-goers in 2008 according to Pamela McClintock in her Hollywood Reporter article on January 26, 2011, The Hispanic Effect. McClintock indicates Hispanics are particularly drawn to “thrillers or horror pics with spiritual, demonic or Catholic themes.” Films McClintock cited as successful among Hispanics included The Rite, Black Swan, and Paramount’s Case 39.

Lines forming at the ArcLight.

Lines forming at the ArcLight.

The crowd was the result of Paramount Pictures September 29 launch of its first “Tweet To See It First!” campaign. The studio invited Paranormal Activity fans worldwide to tweet to determine which 20 cities worldwide would see Paranormal Activity 3 on October 18 three days before the film’s official release. The tweet read, “Dying to see Paranormal Activity 3?! Tweet To See It First! Bring it to your city!” A link directed Twitter followers to the Paranormal Activity 3 official website to “Discover how the activity began” and to tweet to vote for their city then watch the voting progress.

Green wrist bands identify those granted admittance to the first showing at the ArcLight.

Green wrist bands identify those granted admittance to the first showing at the ArcLight.

“Tweet To See It First!” follows Paramount’s successful use of Twitter to guerilla market Paranormal Activity, the horror/mystery film that used documentary style similar to the equally successful film, The Blair Witch Project. While Blair Witch drew buzz through a website that created a hoax as horrifying as Welles’ War of the Worlds to garner $250 million at the box office according to Chris Connelly, Paramount used Twitter to build an audience for Oren Peli’s low budget horror film made reportedly for $15,000. In the Twitter campaign for Paranormal Activity, Paramount asked people to “DEMAND IT” on a website. As word spread and tweets increased, Paramount promised a wide release of the film if demands reached a million. The film rose to one million demands overnight according to C. Robert Cargill. Paranormal Activity went on to gross nearly $200 million worldwide making it one of the most profitable films ever made. Following this success, Paramount created Insurge, a new division to distribute micro-budget films with a budget less than $100,000.

Through social networking, media “word-of-mouth” recommendations can be delivered quickly and to large groups through Facebook messages or Twitter tweets. They have the potential to spread exponentially in the form of reposts and retweets. This is particularly valuable since friends and followers potentially have the similar interests and likes.

Paranormal Activity 3 first showing at the ArcLight, LA.

Paranormal Activity 3 first showing at the ArcLight, LA.

And the numbers associated with social networking are potentially staggering. According to Frank Rose in The Art of Immersion: How the digital generation is remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the way we tell stories, Facebook had over 500 million users around the globe in July 2010. Twitter, launched July 15, 2006, now has 100 million active users and daily tweets of 230 million according to Tina Iaongo Hoover.

Paranormal Activity 3 merchandise was distributed via roller skates.

Paranormal Activity 3 merchandise was distributed via roller skates.

“Tweet To See It First” voting ended October 13. Winning cities announced on October 14 included Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, Fresno, New York, Orlando, Dallas, Chicago, Austin, Miami in the U.S. as well as cities abroad including Vancouver and Toronto, Canada; Melbourne, VIC Australia, Ciudad de Panama, Panama; Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico; Tel Aviv, Israel; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and London and Sheffield UK. Fans in these cities could RSVP to see the movie free at 10PM on October 18.

Time draws closer for the showing as the sun sets on Sunset Blvd.

Time draws closer for the showing as the sun sets on Sunset Blvd.

LA participants were occupied during the wait before the free showing with free food, giveaways ranging from t-shirts to iPad2s, and heart pumping music. The t-shirts featured the website on the front and on the back, “I saw it first. Oct 18 2011, PM 10:00:00, #TweetYourScream.” By 11:17AM on Oct. 21, 2011, Paranormal Activity 3 was trending on Twitter.

While @TweetYourScream promised, “The last 15 minutes will mess you up for life,” Twitter social networking promises potential for profits beyond wildest imaginations.