course correction

So, well, hmm. Six months since my last entry. For whatever reason, my desire to blog about my life and goings-on waned pretty quickly, but now I feel the need to do so again, so here we are. Short version: I got a job, left for a better job, and am now leaving that job too.

Working as a video editor from 9 to 5 (9 to 6:00, actually) five days a week was an interesting experience. This atmosphere of this particular place didn't really jibe with my vibe so-to-speak, and the attitudes of my bosses were taking their toll and I decided it was time to go. In retrospect, I'm almost glad the environment was as negative as it was. Because that was the only way I was going to let myself throw away the security of a steady paycheck and daily routine and pursue what I really want...which is the really hard part. It all comes back to the same place in the end, really. I am not going to be happy until I'm really doing what I want to do. Really doing it.

Back in August I saw a movie called Hannah Takes the Stairs at the IFC Center in New York. It was a small story about 20-somethings and their relationships, shot on video and heavily improvised. It reminded me of a Cassavetes film. Afterward I got really energized because this was exactly the kind of filmmaking I wanted to do, and these guys were out there actually doing it. When I got home I was looking online for information about the director, Joe Swanberg, and his other movies. This led me to discover a film "movement" that's been dubbed mumblecore, or sometimes slackavetes. (I put "movement" in quotes because it's not really so much a movement as it is a bunch of young filmmakers who are making movies about issues and people that are relevant to them in a stripped-down, minimalist style. More on this later.) Other filmmakers that have been lumped into this movement are Andrew Bujalski, Adam Katz, and The Duplass Brothers. In an odd coincidence, these films have also inspired this girl, who once interviewed my partners and I about our film company in Binghamton. Weird, huh?

Anyway, lots more stuff to come from me soon. For right now, I have to go to work. Four days left...