How to get famous over night!

So yesterday when I went to bed I was poor and unemployed. Somehow when I woke this morning I checked my E-mail and saw that I had 5 E-mails. Here is what they read:


Dear Mr. Reider

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We have read you resume and cover letter as well as speaking with your references. We would like to meet with you at our Montreal Branch to discuss employment and your future at our organization.

Sincerely,

Claude Levesque
Human Resources.
National Film Board of Canada


Dear Mr. Adam Reider

We would like to apologize for taking this long to respond to your employment request. We have heared all about you and we are currently firing our assistant Alex Carlsberg for not getting us to you fast enough. We ask your forgiveness and would like to offer you a 3 picture deal with us where you can direct any picture you like with final cut on each project.

We look forward to your call and sorry again for taking so long to get back to you.

yours,

Greg Thomas
CEO
Universal Studios



Dear Adam,

Thank you for allowing us to use your image to place on the cover of today's paper. Your visage will inspire others to succeed like you, over night, and become the most loved film maker of all time. Although we greatly respect other film makers and their tiny contribution to the art form, it was, after all, you who took the medium to an actual art form and your films will be recognized as quality which all other films should live up to. You are an inspiration to everyone who sees you or your films and we hope that you can accept our apology for not recognizing such talent before you awoke this morning.

Yours truly,

Matthew Masterson
Editor
New York Times




Dear Mr. Reider

Due to the fact that your films have a near god-like quality and also that we expect you to continue making films of this caliber for many years, we have decided to cancel the Academy awards as you will surly win every year from now on. Instead we will present a televised homage to you. We hope it makes you not want to destroy us with your mighty powers.

Humbly

John S. Reilly
A peasant of earth
Association of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences



Dear Adam

You are so talented and wonderful that I am stepping down as ruler of all that is so you can rule over all eternity. I know you will do better at everything than me. I only ask that you show mercy on my soul for not recognizing your superiority until you awoke this very morning.

Love

God.



So all this to say:
The only way you get famous over night is if you dream it. Literally.

Backstory Vol. 2 - The year that time forgot.

10 Months ago I was given an opportunity to become jobless (but not penniless).

I wanted to present what I did and did not do during that time to paint a vague but entertaining picture of where I am now so we can all be up to speed as we all follow my career into success.

Over the past ten months I have not:
- Found a steady job
- Written a feature film
- Directed a short film
- Been on a big budget film set
- Made anyone coffee
- Serviced a big executive (i.e. no blow jobs)
- Won any awards
- Volunteered endlessly every week
- Saved any money for a rainy day
- Knocked up my girlfriend
- Felt financially secure
- Been sure that I am making the right move
- Join a telemarketing firm
- Decicded what I really want to do in film
- Made porn (although I did try)

So what have I actually done?
Over the past ten months I have:
- Looked endlessly for a steady job.
- Written a short film
- Directed the photography and edited a few short films
- Been on a medium-size budget short film set
- Made myself coffee
- Been serviced by a big executive (i.e. My girlfriend )
- Seen awards on T.V.
- Looked for volunteer work
- Borrowed money from friends and family
- Moved in with my girlfriend
- Been financially broke
- Wondered why I am making this move
- Thought about joining a telemarketing firm (I bus Tables at a pub once a week instead)
- Applied to work at over 150 jobs in the field and were denied at least 98%.
- Started to loose hope.


Here are a few things I have been part of over the last ten months:



Anyways, now that you have a rough idea of where I am coming from we can carry on with the good stuff. I'd like to take some time every now and again to talk about some of things I have done and will be doing to kind of give people a taste of what it is like to get into the film industry. I'd like this to eventually turn into a podcast so keep checking in. I Realized today that although I say I work in film, I really don't have a career in film. That realization has helped me a little in that I suppose I can't loose what I don't have.

(Next time - How to get rich and famous over night in film)

So... Anybody have a job for me?

The Horrible Blank Page

Welcome.

This is my blog.

Somebody once told me that you don't know what you know until you write it. I am clueless and hoping to shed some light on my own life via this blog. I guess another reason I have decided to write a blog is to maybe connect with people who feel the same as me or who might be in a similar situation.

Here is some details about the situation I am in.

About 10 months ago I left my job working at a Community Centre to pursue a career in the film industry. I had a plan. Make money from the Federal Employment Insurance, Volunteer on as many film and media sets as I could and in about 5 months start freelancing and make a few bucks. Then after my E.I. runs out I will have created enough of a clientele to make a decent living while pushing my career further to eventually win an Academy Award where I would look back on my plan and say something like "I worked hard but I just new this would happen one day."

So 10 months later I am probably more poor now then I have ever been before ever and nobody wants to hire me! My E.I. ends next month (April 19 to be exact) and the reality of my situation is setting in. I am not getting any awards anytime soon. In fact at the end of this month I have told myself that I will start applying to jobs outside the Film Industry so I can have at least a few dollars to pay for silly things like rent and food and heat and a phone.

Am I in a bad place right now? Yes. Yes I am.
Do I feel frustrated and scared and stressed all the time? Yes. Yes I do.
Do I feel like I should give up? Yes. Yes I should.

Will I? No.

I turn 28 years old in 8 days from today. I spent the better part of today staring at my computer screen either flipping between my E-mail accounts hoping that some employer has responded to an application with, at the very least, an offer for interview and a blank page on Final Draft where I want to be writing my first feature length screenplay.
And now I am writing a blog.

The question is:
What have I been doing for ten months?

I mean...I thought I was busy.

Anyhoo. This Blog is not about me complaining (ok maybe a little) but this will be the documentation of my rise into the film industry...or my fall into extreme poverty and mental illness.

(Next time: 27; the age that time forgot!)