Summer has come and gone, the fall season is upon us and the year is nearly over. So what has been going on in my life thus far? A whole lot as a matter of fact.
I shot a quick 4 page script in June titled "DAYDREAMER" which tells the story of one man completely fed up with his life and decides to do something about it, but his imagination gets in the way.
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| "DAYDREAMER" Teaser Poster |
Soon after in July I played a part in fellow filmmaker/friend Brian "Cuojoe" Tolbert short "Eating", playing the part of Jim. It's a family dinner gone incredibly wrong, so very wrong. Lot's of fun on set and I got to test my acting skills in a pretty meaty part, I highly enjoyed the experience.
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| "Eating" Teaser Poster |
Less than a week after I was off to Sunnyside,Washington where I helped film an independently produced Documentary Directed by my very good friend, actor Rolando Molina. It focuses on one family and the tragedy they faced just a few years ago, the loss of a son. It was a weekend I will never forget, so many stories from so many family members. And the love they have for one another is very evident.
Busy huh? The busiest summer by far for me, but of course the summer had to end with a bang so to speak. Labor Day weekend...... I had just exported a movie file of Daydreamer, eager to show it to a few friends when the worst happened. My laptop crashed on me, yup crashed hard in fact. I did every possible thing to save it but nothing worked. Finally I got it up and running again but not until I lost everything I had on it, no worries though, I have my trusty external hard drive which has everything backed up on it right....right? Nope. Of course when it rains it pours.....my external hard drive crashed and burned and I lost everything. All the work that I had accomplished over the last 4 years, scripts, short films, a library of sound and video files, stock footage, photography work, family photos, set photos....the list goes on and on.
For a moment I lost it, I thought to myself why would this happen, what have I done wrong? Why after all the hard work would all my efforts be simply erased in a matter of moments? I sat and thought then thought some more and realized.....this is a test. For a very brief moment I told myself I'm done, I'm not going to put myself through this again, why should I? Start all over, seriously? It's bad enough I was working with virtually nothing now I have nothing to show for it! What kind of crazy effed up karma is this? And then it hit me, this is life.....anything worth doing, anything that you have a passion for, that you love will come with struggle. How else could you ever appreciate anything if you didn't work hard earning it? So yes I am basically starting from scratch, starting all over, every single project, every short film I've ever done will have to be done again. But I see it this way.....they can only be improved upon. What I did 2, 3 years ago, if I go back and do it now with the knowledge and skill I have can only get better. So maybe this was a blessing in disguise, a lesson to be learned, a way of life telling me this nothing kid.....you have much worse ahead of you. Yeah I do, I know I do. This was just a minor setback.....one month to be exact. So as I move on everything that happened is just that, a setback. I've gotten over it and I'm moving forward. Yes it will take a while to be back to where I was but it's OK, I'm fine with it.
In the meantime I've been writing like a madman. I finished up a rough draft for a short script I hope to start pre-production on next month. Also I'm currently writing a short thriller as well as a short horror flick, both that I plan to shoot before the end of the year. Oh and a very short drama that will definitely get people talking.
Other than that, nothing really, just being patient is all. I was in the process of cutting my demo reel when everything went down. So I hope I can start working on that again. One of my main goals before the end of 2010 is to have my official site up and running, along with my demo reel and access to the various short films I have done over the years, including some stuff I worked on or helped out with. Oh and look out for the SOCONFILMS logo, I have a very talented artist who is working on it and so far so good, loving the results. It's going to be a kick ass logo for sure! Ah yes, one more thing I forgot to mention. I'm in the very beginning stages of setting up my very own camera rig. Yes, finally after being ever so patient I've finally managed to save up some cash and buy a camcorder! For those who don't know I've been working camera-less since I began my endeavor into filmmaking. I've always managed to get by but enough is enough. If I want to get anywhere with this talent that God has given me I need to be able to shoot at a moments notice. I can no longer rely on anyone because realistically I can't expect the generosity of others to be available when I want it to be. I have major goals for the rest of the year and the year to come, so it's time to make a move on those goals. First step camcorder, then I will slowly buy all the tools I need to be a full fledged one man crew......so to speak.
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| My dream setup. |
OK enough, off to write the next great one, until next time folks. And I promise not to take so long to write again. Thanks for the love and support. Peace
Chris Jensen-Soto
Writer/Director/Artist
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3786598/
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. "
Frederick Douglass
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