Friends and Family,

The semester at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center is over, and as I think back over it, I want to just briefly recap a few things that struck me about my classes.

My Screenwriting Class: I love screenwriting. I have discovered that it is
just such a joy for me to come up with a story, and figure out how to tell it through the screenplay format. In this class, I decided to tap into my
experiences of counseling at Cooperstown Bible Camp for 4 years, and started a screenplay called Misfits in Paradise. The story is about a Bible camp counselor who had a rough upbringing, but who ends up using his past experiences to connect with a problem-child camper from a similar family situation.

They say that it usually takes about 6 or 7 feature length screenplays before a screenwriter gets any good at his craft…and since I’m only about a third of the way through my first screenplay (30 pages), I still have a long way to go before I’ll really get the hang of it, but my goal is to try and spend some of my free time this next semester finishing Misfits in Paradise, and then I’d like to write a few more screenplays over the next couple years.

My Producing Class: This did not go quite as well for me. Our assignment was to write a short script, and then hire people from our program to direct, film, and edit it for us…from that point on, our only task was to oversee the production and make sure that everyone was doing their job.

Overall, the experience was fairly frustrating for me, but I learned a lot about how important it is when you are in a leadership position to hire a team that you can depend on, and that will work well together…I would almost go as far as to say that the ability to hire well might be the most important skill that a person in leadership can develop, for if the people working under an administrator are undependable, then it doesn’t matter how disciplined and organized the task delegator is from that point on…there will still be problems. They say that 90% of directing is casting, and it seems to me that hiring is just as important to administrating.

Conclusion: Based on my different experiences with these two classes, my semester ended up solidifying many things I already know about myself: I love the creative and technical aspects of filmmaking, but am not too fond of its administrative side. I have so much respect for people that are good producers though, and hope to some day get linked up with a filmmaking partner that can complement me in this important aspect of the craft.

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement over these past six months as I explored the new realm of Los Angeles. I really appreciate it, and look forward to seeing all of the fine Taylor people on this e-mail list in just over a week.

In Christ,
Dave/David/Shabotz

P.S. One thing I am really looking forward to doing during second semester of my senior year at Taylor is mastering the fine art of barbecue. The stage is set: I’m only taking 12 credits, my uncle out in California let me apprentice under him for the past six months, and my parents just gave me a portable barbecue grill for Christmas. I may not have a front porch or patio next semester due to the fact that I’m living in a dorm, but that’s not going to stop me. There will be some tasty things cooking on the sidewalks in front of Sammy Morris Hall I tell you! You just watch.

P.P.S. Several people have indicated that they were not sure where I was this past semester, so I will briefly recap my schedule.
Summer ‘03: USC
Fall ‘03: Los Angeles Film Studies Center (off-campus program through my college)
Spring ‘04: Finishing up my final semester back at Taylor in Upland, IN
Summer ‘04: In the works
Fall ‘04: USC grad school…if I get in.