Tag: Screenplay

Jump-Start

It’s the New Year. Let’s start with new ideas.

I have noticed after living here (Saigon) for a while that there hardly is any basketball court.

A city full of young people, but no basketball. I don’t play the game myself. I just jog. But for those who look for a place to make a difference in the lives of young people, why not asking around to find some way to start this sport.

It’s ironic that in a country whose young people help produce Nike Shoes yet there is an eerie absence of basketball courts.

Fitness, coordination and collaboration of this team sport are just a few skill-set that last a life time.

I am sure the expats and tourists could join in to break a sweat during their in-country stay as well.

My second idea is to have a platform on which  people can practice and promote their story telling and screen play.

Like WordPress, but with template and tutorial: characterization, plot, conflict and resolution.

A few years ago, Boyz in the Hood made a splash due to its screen play. We learned about inner-city plight of young people trapped in harsh circumstances (South Central).

William Goldman talked about Hollywood in turmoil back in the 80’s. Now it’s still the same. No sure-fire formula for success.

By crowd-source story ideas and screen play, we make our world richer with creativity and hard-to-get-to corners where shadows are darker and perhaps light is brighter.

We cut of unemployment insurance to 1 million people. I am sure one in a million has a story to tell, if not all.

Why not have a story board for them to post their pleas and plight, instead of just post in compliance to “act” as if they have looked for a job.

We live in a world of pretense. Why not take it to the next productive level: sell your story (suffering or triumph).

Use it. Pain and all.

Life is tough. Now let’s get going, dribble a ball or scribble a story, transforming the negative into positive.

The world and what it has to offer, actually depends on what and how far you go about searching for it. You have the right to a phone call or the pursuit of happiness.  2014 multiple choices. The art of jump-start an idea.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Switching the script

On film set, writer is often called out on short notice to fix the dialogue.

Something is better left unsaid or sounded odd when in “live” context.

In life, we can’t retrace our steps to switch the script.

It’s live, and happened once only.

There lies the importance of getting the right words first time around.

Another way to lessen the impact of misspoken words, is to come out immediately and retract.

Even the NYT does that.

When the facts are not straight, when a character is mis-portrayed, the best way for editors to damage control is to come out clean.

We happen to live on this side of the communication (data) explosion.

Facts and fiction are both out there.

As mentioned in Brand America a few blogs ago, people do come here and reinvent themselves e.g. name change (anglicized), hair-coloring and new wardrobe. Voila! Boy George and Bieber. Entertainers and sports idols are hot. They are more than hot. They sell merchandise.

Just Do  It.

After all, we move about our days, filtering ads and spam mail.

No wonder we long for those “in” mail.

Someone cares enough to probe and not to pitch.

And we in turn empathize with their plights, the pressures they are under.

If only we could switch the script. Living a new life and assuming a new persona.

Like when we were kids, imagining we had just been adopted by our real parents.

We wished for another life, another script (if only the writer were standing by as fixer).

Then we would be reclaimed, taken back to the castle and live a happy life ever after.

When I grew up, there was such a story. Of a half-breed (African-Vietnamese). Co Ba Xi. The man who had fathered her left only to come back years later as King of his tribe. Vietnamese Cinderella. But that’s just one jewel among a variety of Immigrant stories, ranging from model minority stories to loser’s stories.

One last thing about scripting. As long as we live out our story, and not someone else’s.

At the end of all travel is to return to the same place and to know ourselves for the first time.

It is often said, life is 10 per cent action and 90 per cent reaction. When a large part of life is lived out of reaction instead of proactive, we are not living our life script. Paul Anka would be proud to hear his “My Way” sung by 7 Billion.

Why wait for the writer to come to our rescue?

We are the writers, we are the world.

While still alive, we can switch the script, reinvent the characters, and overcome the challenges.

As long as we know what we want.

Or seek help. There are people who are gentle and kind (not just in San Francisco or down in the Bayou), and whose advice are plenty and fitting (learned this in Vietnam. People still give out free advice as if they were still living in a village).

I am indebted to professionals on LinkedIn, who endorsed my skill set and characters.

I am grateful for “followers” . People who trek the trail of current Recession and the trajectory of Social Media.

What a time we are living in, and what a company we are keeping. Just as we thought we should throw in the towel, then comes help.

I am the sum of my relationships. Two old people in their early 40’s were still at it, hence, creating me.

Now I live out that script, all the while hoping to switch those last pages.

Hope to read about your multi-chapter, multi-tasking life whose script is not written in stone, but evolving with unpredictable twist and turn and whose ending is happy albeit not perfect.