Finally at the end of the day after all my classes, I went to the John August sit down. I had read a bunch of John August’s stuff over the years because he is perfectly willing to post his previous scripts on his own website. As well, he takes the time to communicate with fellow writers, and gives his insight to the little stumbling quirks of the industry. I was turned onto Mr August’s website a couple years back, and read it like popcorn at the movies – I only eat popcorn when I go to the movies, but when I do go to the movies, I eat a ton. It’s the same with Mr August’s blog. I’l read 20 entries of his in one sitting, then stop reading them for a month or two, then come back to them again. He’s logical about the industry, which is exactly the way I want my information.

Anyway, John August was very interesting to listen to. He had a lot of really good stories about working with other people in the industry. For example, he told of how he worked on Charlie’s Angels the entire way through the script, on set, and even in the editorial aspect. Unlike on Big Fish or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where as soon as it went into production, Tim Burton took over and didn’t really have room for writer’s thoughts. He even went on to say Tim Burton was very direct with what he wanted from him, gave a few notes, and let August write it. Tim Burton just had trust in him. That’s something you don’t find very often between a director and screenwriters.

Another thing that kinda pulled on my heart strings in the sit down was John went into a bit of a discussion on his reasoning behind writing and Directing The Nines, which is a great little indie flick you should check out if you get a chance. He mentioned that not many people had probably seen it because it went straight to DVD, then he asked for a show of hands of how many people had seen it. When he saw the show of hands, he was touched by the response. He couldn’t believe how many people had seen it. And he thanked everyone for seeing it. He was truly touched by people supporting his work. He could have easily complained about how hard it was to make, and how difficult it was to finance it, and how it got ripped onto filesharing sights and all kinds of other stuff. But he chose instead, to thank his peers and tell of his adventures, as opposed to his woes.

The most impressive thing about John August, to me, is that he has managed to carve himself out a nice little niche in the industry. He’s constantly working, and he’s good at what he does. He’s got staying power, which in this industry, is a difficult task. If you studied him, I bet you could learn a lot of helpful information on your writing journey.
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As far as helpful information at the Expo, this was what I came across:

Good books to read on the Industry:

Karl Iglesias’ Writing for Emotional Impact
Jerry Weissman’s Presenting To Win: The Art of Telling Your Story

Good books to read that will help you adapt to business in the industry:
Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indespensible
Napolean Hill’s Think and Grow Rich – which is right now a free PDF online

And just an overall book that should be read:
Steven Pressfield’s: The War of Art
*As a side note, Pressfield has a blog that was highly suggested, called Writing Wednesdays

Next, I’ll post Day 2 thoughts…

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