Ideas

I like ideas. Love 'em, actually. And I get a lot of them. Some are OK; some pretty good; others suck, and some, in those rare instances, are really, really good.

My ideas are usually "movie ideas" -- ideas that I think could make a good film. "There was this guy..." or "imagine if [this] were to happen." But the problem with these ideas is that they're usually... well, they're usually pretty shallow. An idea is not a story. It's just an idea.

Developing the idea... that's the problem. Because that's where the work is.

Example:
I love heist movies and so does my filmmaking partner Warren. We both figured we should come up with an idea and make one (we're well on our way to wanting to experience our sophmore slump after our first feature, MAGDALENA'S BRAIN). A while ago I had come up with what i thought was an interesting idea for a heist film. And more recently Warren came up with another idea for a heist film. Both of them were, and are, perfectly acceptable ideas.

But now what? Well, we know exactly what. We have to develop these ideas. And that's the hard part.

For a while now, after the completion of MAGDALENA'S BRAIN, I haven't wanted to do any of the hard work. But that's got to change.

So my first idea, my heist idea. I'm going to start developing it. Work on a treatment. Get some beats down. And I'm going to have something to show you.

By Monday.

My promise to you.