Take a Paws

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

One of my summer of 2009 projects realized!

I worked with the amazing mind of Sean Pecknold, the brilliant eye of Michael Ragen and the immeasurable patience of Tristan Seniuk, aka. The Fencer in August on a Grizzly Bear music video.

The crew for this master piece also includes, Britta Johnson (who I have never met in person, but have worked with and talked via email a few times in the past) who is one of Seattle's best animators and fabulous illustrator, Toby Liebowitz.

Special thanks to Jennifer Popochock for Murphy the bird and

Center Valley Animal Shelter http://www.centervalleyanimalrescue.org/

for Snowflake, the bunny.

Center Valley Animal rescue is an amazing facility for abused, abandoned and troubled animals. Check out the website and donate if you can.

Coming Soon

more music videos from summer 2009

check back in October for the Angel Deradoorian awesomeness

The royal family

I woke up this morning planning on blogging about the near end of summer and my dreams of Friday Night Lights and which characters will come back and when the show will premiere. I brewed myself a latte and put eye drops in my right eye, which is cursed this week with an eye infection due to stress, lack of sleep and never taking my contact lenses out. Boo

Anyway, as I sat at my lap-top to write about my thoughts, on my little blog, in my sister's house in Seattle, I read that Ted Kennedy had lost his battle with brain cancer last night at the age of 77.
2009 has been the year of winning the race.
It was only yesterday, it feels, that I was flying back to LA from the Sundance/Slamdance film festivals in Park City, UT. It was only yesterday that I lived with baby B, eating vegan dinners, dark chocolate and sipping wine while reading scripts for work.

Now, nearly 9 months later, 2009 has claimed the life of another American Icon. Ted Kennedy is all we had left of the efforts of JFK and RFK in the sense that he was with them in life. He played football with them; shared a bathroom with them; talked about girls with them; had dinner with them; he laughed and loved them; was raised by the same parents with his larger than life brothers.

Despite Ted's behavior as someone who was forced into politics by his father and inevitably followed in the foot steps of one commander and chief and one civil rights apostle, both savagely murdered for their beliefs and political stand points, Ted meant well and failed miserably.

This said, he is still Ted Kennedy. The Kennedy's, all of them, have stood for people and the rights of the American people.
We haven't seen a political system similar until Obama.
I often wonder what America would be like if Bobby had made it into the role of commander and chief.

We'll never know.

Good bye to an era of politics that has long been a dream of mine to see come to fruition.
xoxoxojoy

I love the 80's

John Hughes, one of the greatest writers, directors and producers of my 80's film and VHS experience passed away today of a heart attack at the age of 59.

I was in the 4th grade laying on the front room floor with my mom and sister the first time I watched Sixteen Candles. The three of us laughed the entire screening and I've had a crush on Jake Ryan ever since.

When friends announce their marriages I always comment back with, "She getta married!" in my Long Duck Dong Voice.

No one can deny how cool The Breakfast Club was when it came out. I was in the 5th grade. A pre-teen, but I understood the stereotypes that the film represented and enjoyed the way the characters were written and portrayed by the cast.

Since then I've had a boyfriend who would sing the movies theme song, Don't You Forget About Me, to me when we would be out at karaoke and I run into Paul Gleason at the 3rd Street Promenade in the MAC Store all the time.

In high school my sister and I owned a copy of She's Having a Baby. When we would have parties and a group of us girls would be drunk, one of us would pop in the tape, fast forward to the montage under This Woman's Work by Kate Bush and sing aloud to the panicy and distraught faces of Kevin Bacon as he feared for Elizabeth McGoverns life.

John Hughes celebrated teenagers, Children and family dynamics through comedy in screenplays and films. I can't thank him enough for reminding to laugh at myself, my friends and my family. We are all human and we all feel awkward, nerdy, insecure and forgotten at times. John Hughes reminded all us to take our lives by the riens, cast our fears to the wind and take a well deserved Day Off.

Thank you, John Hughes!

xoxojoy

EvEryDaYiWaTcHtHis

Every day I watch this trailer at least once.

It makes me laugh, cry, smile, sing, sigh, love, HAPPY.

Please watch this trailer. Read this book to your kids, if you have them. Read the book to someone elses kid, if you know them. Read the book to yourself, make time for it.

See the movie

October 16, 2009

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/

Surfing

The summer of 2009 started for me in late May.
I packed up my life, put it in Storage in Venice, CA., drove up to Seattle for a paid producer gig and have been couch surfing ever since.

Thus far I have crashed on 9 separate couches.
Tim & Jenny's in Maple Leaf, Seattle.
Matty's also in Maple Leaf.
Dawn & Ben's in South Park, Seattle.
Jennifer's in West Seattle.
Megan's in Eastlake, Seattle.
Chris & Nicole in Venice, CA.
Heidi & Joe in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Alesia in Hollywood, CA.
Noel & Katie in Wallingford, Seattle.

My Dad's in SLC, but I don't think dads count, cuz he actually has a bedroom for me and he feeds me and pays for everything. All that rad stuff that parents do for their kids in their early 20's coming home for the summer from college.
Thanks, Dad. I'm definitely out of college and totally old enough to take care of myself, but we are in a recession and therefore I surf. The couch!

It's now August 1st, ( may dad's birthday, BTW) and I am still surfing couches through October 1. By October 1, I'll have surfed 10 couches in 2009. I'm hoping to bring this amazing summer of couch surfing to an end by moving into an apartment with my Santa Monica loving bestie, baby B.

We aim to stay near the beach and in Santa Monica due to our love of surfing the waves and her return to school for the next two years.
I miss Santa Monica when in Seattle and Seattle when in Venice and normal communities when in SLC.
This has been an amazing summer and I'm happy that there is one month left to enjoy.

xoxojoy

Oh, My!

I'm in Seattle producing a short film for Oh, Hello TV and Dan Brown.
http://ohhello.tv/ check out the amazing reel.

Dan Brown is pretty much a bad ass in disguise. Dan and his partner in crime, Thai Tran know what's up.
Check it: http://www.vimeo.com/374330
http://2008.sxsw.com/film/screenings/film/F9443.html

Principal photography on YOUR LUCKY DAY begins tomorrow at 6pm. We roll until 6am. I'm crashing with the SF/X Make-up artist, Jennifer Popochock http://www.jenniferpopochock.com/film/. We're trying to stay up late by sipping tea, blogging and watching The Reader.

Seattle is beautiful but I miss Santa Monica.

I am an absentee blogger and will be through mid July 2009.
I'm producing three short films, Your Lucky Day directed by Dan Brown, Night Blind directed by Robert Parks and Some Boys Don't Leave directed by Maggie Kiley. They all shoot within weeks of one another on top of Seattle International Film Festival and Seattle True Independent Film Festival.
I worked on two films screening in SIFF this year. True Adolescents directed by Craig Johnson and The Spy and The Sparrow directed by Garrett Bennett.
Check the SIFF line up here: http://www.seattlefilm.com/index.aspx

I'm looking forward to being in Seattle for nearly 6 weeks with the occasional flight back to LA for SomeBoys and Maggie.

I'm seeking financing for Someboys and you can help by clicking here: http://www.someboysfilm.com/
It's an amazing opportunity for both Maggie and me through the AFI DWW program. For more info click here: http://www.afi.com/education/dww/

So for now, you'll have to read some other blog or follow me on twitter. joysays

Aside from all this freelance film producing, I'll be surfing a lot next week while back in Santa Monica and I'll be camping on the beach in the Pacific Northwest over the 4th of July holiday.
Oh, how I can't wait for this.

Until my next blog, live long and prosper! Cheers! xoj