I’m deeply concerned about my social network. Deeply. It all started
about 8 years ago, when I began to read tons of books on how to run a
business and how to deal with people. It started to hit home that there
is no truer adage than: "It’s not what you know — it’s who
you know." Looking back, I realize that nearly every opportunity I’ve
ever had in life fell into my lap as a result of a friend or
acquaintance.

Take, for example, every single job I’ve had since I was 16:

1. Sacker at Piggly Wiggly – urged on by my friend’s dad, who was a manager.

2. Salvage yard – my girlfriend’s dad was the owner.

3. Temporary office worker – my mom’s friend worked at the temp agency.

4. Maintenance worker at a hospital – the hospital where my mom worked.

5. News director, later General Manager of KTRM, college radio station – got to know some of the managers first.

6. News reporter for KIRX/KTUF/KRXL – my friend Brian, also a reporter there, recommended me.

7. Public Relations office, Truman State University – I knew Heidi, director of PR, later my boss.

8. Intern at Governor’s Office, Missouri State Capitol – at the insistence of Heidi.

9. English teacher in Japan – at the urging of my friend Matt and his wife Stephanie, who were doing the same thing.

10. Disney MGM Studios – another friend, Neil.

11. Now What? Home Computer support – my dad’s business.

12. Computer Support Tech, Truman State – my buddy Greg told me of the opening.

Not
to mention the magic shows and occasional videography project, which
are all word-of-mouth. Never in my life have I blindly applied for any
job, program or opportunity – there was always a friend involved on the
inside. And the only way I could make two feature films for less than
$500 apiece is by calling for favors, donations and help from the
people I know. We send out a LOT of Christmas cards every year…

So
I’d been looking with interest but hesitation at the germination of
these social networking websites, like Friendster and MySpace.com. A
couple students workers convinced me to start up a Facebook profile, so
I dove right in to see what all the fuss is about.

On one hand,
it’s a great idea. It’s like a virtual Rolodex where your friends and
acquaintances create and maintain their own entries, as well as give
you access to their own Rolodexes (Rolodexi?). But come ON. In a few weeks, I’m already "connected" to 1469 people who I don’t even know.

I’ve
seen people spend a lot of time browsing their connections, leaving
messages for their friends, and updating their profiles with more facts
and pictures. But I have two concerns. I spoke with another friend
about this, who related a story about two guys at a party who had just
met and were showing each other their facebook pages. Huh? Wouldn’t it
be easier and more fun to just talk and discuss your mutual hobbies and
interests, instead of just pointing someone to your webpage?

The
other problem is privacy. There’s so much personal information just
up-for-grabs on these sites. It’s stalker central. Gotta be careful.

So anyway, I’ll give it a whirl for a little while and see what becomes of it. Add me as your friend on Facebook, Friendster, or MySpace and see where it gets you.

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I just read a fascinating article
on ABC news about 50-Cent’s role in his new movie, a semi-true-life
story about his rise from cocaine dealer to rapper. Ala Eminem’s 8 Mile, though Eminem wasn’t really a gangster.

The
best part of the article, though, is how it continues to discuss
mobster’s fascination with Hollywood over the years. These guys live
the drama, and then get excited about their characters being portrayed
on TV. There are some really interesting bits about Al Capone’s goons
visiting Scarface screenwriter Ben Hecht
and asking about how their boss was going to be portrayed — all the
way up to FBI wiretaps that have captured present-day mafiosos
discussing The Sopranos. Apparently James Gandolfini has also been getting tips from the real-thing on how to act the part…

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So I was cruising some of the film junk mail I get the other day and
came across something familiar. I had an email for a pitch session –
this is basically where somebody organizes a bunch of producers and
production companies in a hotel room, and you pay some money for the
priviledge of pitching your movie ideas to them in the hopes that
they’ll take interest. I’ve never been to one of these, and don’t
necessarily intend to, but as I was perusing the list of companies that
were to be in attendance, one of the names caught my eye.

Catchphrase
Productions. Hmm. Catchphrase Productions. Where had I heard that
before? The name totally rang a bell, and at first I thought it was
Robert Rodriguez’s company.

After a quick internet search, I
realized what I was seeing. When I was an intern at MGM Studios in
Orlando, I worked with a guy named Dean Shull. He was organizing a
fundraiser for an independent film called Waiting that a friend of his
had written and planned to direct. A girl I was dating at the time and
I even tried to go to the big fundraiser they had planned (Fall 99),
but we searched and searched and could never find the building
downtown. The name of their company was Catchphrase Productions. 

I’d
kept in very loose contact with Dean for a year or two, then lost his
contact info while we were in Japan. Last I had heard from Dean, they
had raised enough money and started shooting the movie. Once, every
couple months or so, I would scour the internet looking for any mention
of Waiting. The only thing I could find for a while was this imdb site,
and I looked through the forums every now and then to see how things
were coming along.

So imagine my complete and utter surprise to
stumble upon this website and trailer — the movie is coming out this
month! This might not be news to any of you who have seen the trailers
on TV, but I don’t watch TV, so it struck me out of the blue. Lion’s
Gate picked it up and it’s now playing in a theater near you. From the
looks of it, it’s Office Space with waiters instead of cubicle monkeys.
They even use the music from Office Space on the trailer.

Anyway,
check it out, and by all means, go out and see this movie. You may not
realize that it’s a picture-perfect example of a grass-roots
independent film that, after several years of screenings and
negotiations, has now hit the big time. Give director Rob McKittrick mad props and check out his blog.

I didn’t think things could get any more surreal, but they did. I visited St. Louis this weekend to be a
rockstar for an evening, playing in a band in a hoosier bar with some
old music fraternity buds. While we were there, we got in touch with
some old friends from college, and one of them is now a lawyer at a law
firm. She mentioned that one of the partners at the firm is the father
of James Gunn, the writer of the Scooby Doo movies and the Dawn of the Dead remake. Of course, I
recognized the name instantly, and mentioned that I liked him better as
the writer (and actor) for Tromeo & Juliet, Terror Firmer, and book of
Lloyd Kaufmann’s. She didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.
Unless you’re a Troma fan, I suppose you wouldn’t understand.

In fact, if you are a Troma fan, you may want to check out this movie, also called Waiting. There’s a picture of Lloyd Kaufmann there. This is getting too weird.

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