Usually the Friday Morning Meeting is a filmmaker term used for the meetings that take place the Morning that your movie comes out.  It’s important for cast and Crew to have good meeting because it ensures a good showing for their next project regardless of the box office take. This is also the pinnacle of buzz surrounding a movie.

I have a Friday Morning Meeting too.. and it’s one of my favorite things to do in Los Angeles.

Each Friday that a big blockbuster is coming out my good friends and I head to our local cinema and take it in. The group is diverse, from producers to writers and cinematographers to the an enthusiast like myself.  It’s a great time because LA movie theaters open at 10 and we can usually beat the rush and the hype to the box office while making our own opinions about that weeks movie.

There something about getting a cup of coffee and sitting in a mostly empty theater with other enthusiasts taking in the big film of the week.  The movie is usually followed by a conversation over lunch about the movie and it’s a real treat to hear about it from the different perspectives from the true film auteur to the ‘splosions guy.

We kicked off this season of fun this past weekend with Iron Man 2 and it was a great time.  It’s hard to not be a fan of guys like Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. in this movie. A great continuations

Soon we’ll be checking out the highly anticipated lineup of the summer with films like Inception, The A-Team, The Other Guys, Predators, Toy Story 3 and pretty much everything in between. I love the guys I get to experience these films with and it’s usually a lot of laughing.

Do you have any film rituals?

I love hearing about first time filmmakers making a splash. This week Fede Alvarez was added to that number. In a deal similar to Neil Blomkamp mentoring by Peter Jackson, Fede Alvarez is now being overseen by Sam Raimi. Check out his 4 minute short on alien invasion (below). Also check out the original article about all of the Hollywood deals swirling around Fede.

I find this news very inspiring and I think the lesson learned is to make something small, make it well and then release it. Sign with an agent and manager and then you make your own luck.

How do you make your own luck?

Interested individuals should complete the free contest registration online at www.AtTheEndOfSlavery.com and receive a toolkit that includes official rules and guidelines, a digital, high-resolution version of ATEOS, and a series of design files, video clips and audio files to be used with their trailer entry as they see fit.

Guest judges include:
• Phil Cooke, a filmmaker, producer, media specialist and consultant whose work focuses on creating personal and organizational (with a specialty in non-profit and faith-based) cultures where real change happens.
• Craig Detweiler, director of the new Center for Entertainment, Media and Culture at Pepperdine University in Malibu. His documentary, “Purple State of Mind”, won Best Spiritual Film at the 2008 Breckenridge Festival of Film and the Audience Award at the 2009 Tallahassee Film Festival.
• Brent Gudgel, film director who co-directed and award-winning documentary “Dear Francis” about the most HIV-infected nation in the world, which has aired on Showtime, and been used by universities and churches around the world. The latest project from him is DEIDOX
• Gregg Helvey, who directed and produced “Kavi,” the winning film of the 2009 Student Academy Award gold medal, about a young boy who is a modern-day slave in a brick kiln in India.
• Dave Mahanes, a partner in the production company Chronicle Project, who has overseen the production of documentaries, promotional videos and film shorts, including “Dear Francis.” The latest project from him is DEIDOX.

The trailer contest officially ends Friday, September 18, 2009 and entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET to be eligible for judges and audience voting.

Here’s the current trailer

At The End Of Slavery – Extended Trailer from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Grand Prize is:

• A trip for 2 to Washington DC’s Premiere Event on September 30th
• A public viewing of your trailer before the event and recognition.
• The winning trailer becomes the trailer seen by thousands across the country as THE trailer for the film.

Don’t miss out on this chance to play a part in starting a modern-day abolitionist movement! Send in your trailer contest entries, and be a part of the At the End of Slavery movement today!

Sign Up Today

(Editors note:This post is about 3 stories all spun together as one. My apologies for the length)

Moving to LA was a big step for me about a year ago. In some ways it felt like I was getting a “Mulligan” on life and a new directive – To move to Los Angeles with a job (3 offers to be exact) and create entertainment – not a bad gig.

I was introduced to the issue of homelessness in LA pretty quickly because of it’s epidemic proportions here but when I started to work with Union Rescue Mission in July – All bets were off. In the last 10 months I’ve learned more about the complexities of the issue than I ever thought I would have. Plus I’ve been able to meet Mark Horvath, who I now call friend, his Invisible People series is so raw that people are responding. He’s got an incredible story himself and is a regular contributor at Change.org

Biggest takeaways:
There’s no such thing as cut and dry homlessness.
It goes so far beyond “Get a job and stop being lazy” that I find it offensive. No two stories are the same from anyone I’ve talked with at URM. They range from depression and chemical dependency to mental illness and bad economy.

The difference between most of America and the street is shrinking. As a result, I think the sobering reality is pressing on the hearts and minds of so many when the media reports that 2 parent families are on the street. (URM families are up 300% over last year and 47% of them have never been homeless before) I think it’s a crucial time to meet/greet those around you and do some “neighborly” checking in.

Hearts and Souls
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the Hearts and Souls benefit at Soul Studios where Steve Lopez from the LA Times was honored as a “Hero for Hope” by URM and had the good fortune of talking with him at some length about all that was happening with the upcoming movie adaptation of his book, “The Soloist”. At the time I hadn’t read his book and was only slightly familiar with his columns and how they had influenced popular opinion about the conditions on Skid Row. Since then I’m just about finished with the book and it’s gripping, real and a page turner.

Since I’m the new guy to the whole “Hollywood Party” scene, I think it’s funny to get your picture taken when you arrive… so what better way to spice it up? Get some friends and start making people feel uncomfortable by being loud and making kids laugh. My guess is that’s why I don’t get asked to attend more of these. Before these pictures were taken I met this family and their two little ones were trying to do their best to be good but that’s a lot to ask a 2 and 3 yr old. So I grabbed thema nd said, “Lets have some fun with pictures” everyone agreed, we grabbed a photographer and we took these.

My First Pre-Screening
This past week I was able to see an advance screening of The Soloist with a Q&A after the film from LA’s experts on homelessness like Andy Bales from URM and LA Mission’s Tina Babcock. I left thinking a few things – The acting in the film is stellar, but it’s missing a few things. In particular there were several scenes that showed Skid Row as so over the top compared to the one I was familiar with. Andy Bales quickly set me straight in the Q&A, “The ‘Mardi Gras on Crack’ was exactly how it was 3 years ago before the Safer City Initiative”. Also in the film they took HUGE liberties with the character of Steve Lopez – I think Downey nails his likability and his wit but the whole construct of his life has been broadly made into what Hollywood execs must have thought to be more compelling, and I’ll politely disagree. Do I think this movie is worth seeing? YES! Do I think there are some holes? yes. My favorite review so far is from Kenneth Turan found below.

The thing that The Soloist does and does well, is brings the complexity of homelessness and the scary world of Paranoid Schizophrenia front and center. I hope it also shows that Skid Row, while better than it was a few years back, still needs a fair amount of work and that comparatively NYC has more than 3 times the amount of funds dog eared for housing for the less fortunate than Los Angeles.

So here’s some resources
Join me and a bunch of others for a Tweetup at The LA Times Festival of Books – we’ll be talking about homelessness and how we can bring awareness/change/services to Los Angeles.

Get more info on homelessness in LA – www.urm.org/learn

A movie tie in to The Soloist – http://takepart.com/thesoloist/

The Film Site – www.The SoloistMovie.com

Photos from the Hearts and Souls event – Click here