Sunday, September 9, 2007

Drinking the Kool-Aid

On Wednesday this past week Howard Tullman, President and CEO of Flashpoint Academy, cuffed me on the back of the head. Yesterday, as we were waiting for people to arrive at a Flashpoint open house, founder and chairman Ric Landry slapped me on the forehead. Now if Paula Froehle, academic dean, slaps me across the face (inevitable) I will have hit the Flashpoint Academy beating trifecta. In all seriousness I take these whuppins' as signs of endearment (if not I have a pretty good law suit on my hands, I think).

We are a week away from opening the doors to the first class and all is terrific. The building at 28 N. Clark Street is state of the art and for the first time in my teaching career I feel I have all the tools and resources necessary to be the best teacher I can be. In all modesty and honesty I believe Flashpoint is going to be a big success and I take great pride in helping to get it off the ground.

More on Flashpoint developments as the week progresses but for now I need to work on my bobbing and weaving and keeping my left up.

PeterH

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I got a question for you. What advice do you have for a young filmmaker (Like me) for writing a movie script and staying focus on it?

PeterH said...

Melvin,

Thanks for the comments and for visiting my back pages.

My advice is pretty simple. Start with a treatment, really flush the story out right there and then work on the script. Expect it to take time- don't beat yourself up over the bad times (and there will be tough patches) and be sure to get a draft written and finished. After that, look it over and share it with some trusted friends, who will give you honest advice, not just supportive friends, and then work on another draft.

Be sure to use screenwriting software like Final Draft so the product will look professional- plus it makes it so much easier.

Good luck and keep at it.

PeterH