TWO Table Reads

Hi Fun Killers! Today, I wanted to have a brief discussion of the process for this movie because it is wildly different, and much more detailed than anything I have undertaken in the past. How so?  Well, to begin with, there will be a table read...actually two.

My other projects were so teeny, and I was such a newbie that I never really did any kind of proper table read at all, although I did work with very closely with several actors. I spent countless hours online through Skype, and in person, with the guy who played the lead in "Welcome Matt". Upon reflection, I wish I had been able to spend more time with each actor. I also wish I could have had one more pass at the script after hearing the words come from the lips of others.

That brings us to now! "The End of Fun" will kick off with a Production Meeting on July 9, 2016 which will begin with one of two "table reads". Why two? This first one serves three main purposes:

#1) I want the opportunity, as stated above, to hear the dialog read by others and even discuss it with others so I can tighten up specific lines and elements. It is entirely possible that I will add or delete entire lines based on the results and feedback of that table read.

#2) Create excitement for Producers. The goal is that everyone in attendance, whether reading, or listening, will become truly excited about and attached to the project, taking on a sense of ownership themselves. Once I begin the crowd-funding and fundraising efforts overall, I want as large of a "street team" as possible out evangelizing, spreading, links, mugging, robbing, stealing, prostituting,..WHATEVER IT TAKES to get this movie made the way I want. (And I'm not really asking for a lot! My previous experience definitely taught me very well to run LEAN and MEAN!)

#3) Marketing Material. I will stream this first table read to help generate grass roots level interest, but will also record so that I can use all or portions for the material used for fundraising, archives, etc.

Why the SECOND TABLE READ? Great question! When the first table read happens, I do not think (nor do I actually care) whether I have all my acting talent on board or not. In fact, the recording I mention above will likely be used in part to recruit the right talent!

The second table read will HOPEFULLY have all the acting talent locked in place and will take place much closer to the actual shooting date. That one will serve the purpose of helping everyone involved in the actual filming/recording to get on the same page  with stylistic elements and other small details, including dance moves/choreography.

PLEASE continue to stay tuned! Please continue to spread the word. TIP YOUR KJ!

Until next time, enjoy this video from one of the songs on my PLAYLIST:

What did I listen to while writing the screenplay? My PLAYLISTS!

Most of my writer and artist friends develop pretty particular habits when they are involved in their creative process, and I am no different at all in that regard. A great number of those artists develop "playlists" that either have certain significance,or just serve to inspire them in the way they need to get and stay busy. While I listened to A LOT of other music, and often would just play the same video on Youtube over and over 4-6 times, I created two playlists that were played in constant rotation.

Just in case you were interested, you will find both "volumes" below.

The END of FUN Playlist Vol.  1
"Parklife" -- Blur
"Mr. Brightside" -- The Killers
"Take Me Out" -- Franz Ferdinand
"Waiting on the Doorstep" -- Filthy Boy
"Truth" -- Bloc Party
"Twisted Game" -- The Subways
"Tender" -- Blur
"Our Love Survives" -- The Thermals
"Naked in the City Again" -- Hot Hot Heat
"When Everyone Cheers" -- Filthy Boy
"Sober" -- Muse
"Kinda Girl You Are" -- Kaiser Chiefs
"This Modern Love"  --Bloc Party
"I Think She Likes Me" -- Treat Her Right
"Modern Way" -- Kaiser Chiefs
"My Heart is Pumping to a Brand New Beat" -- The Subways
"Mercury" -- Bloc Party
"Hysteria" -- Muse
"Madness" -- Muse
"The Globalist" -- Muse
"Hope" -- Descendents
"Mental Conditions" --Filthy Boy
"Fall In" -- Cloud Nothings
"Country House" -- Blur
"Song 2" --  Blur
"Mercy" -- Muse
"Helicopter" --Bloc Party
"Taking All the Blame" -- The Subways
"We are not Good People" -- Bloc Party
"Somebody Told Me" -- The Killers
"A Fond Farewell" -- Elliott Smith

The END of FUN Playlist Vol. 2
"Creeps Me  Out" -- Ima Robot
"In the Name of" -- Filthy Boy
"I'm in Love and it's Burning" -- The Subways
"Where is Home" -- Bloc Party
"So Here We Are" -- Bloc Party
"Sober" -- Muse
"Sugar Coated Bitter Truth" -- Slaves
"Flathead" -- The Fratellis
"Mercury" -- Bloc Party
"WOW! 7 am" --Slaves
"Parklife" -- Blur
"Walk Away" -- Franz Ferdinand
"The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" -- Queens of the Stone Age
"Uprising" -- Muse
"Rowing" -- Soundgarden
"Tender" -- Blur
"Centurion" -- The Baddies
"You Can Have It All" -- Kaiser Chiefs
"Cool Universe" -- Ima Robot
"I Want You" -- Hanoi Rocks

Quick little truth about me? When I get really drunk sometimes, I like to speak with a British accent. Not JUST a British accent, it'll float over into Irish, Scottish, and sometimes all the way down under to Australia... occasionally, I'll even slip back into my own childhood Kentucky accent... But mostly the British thing.. What type of British accent, you ask? I'm not sure and probably sound very irritating to any native Brits as my accent zigzags all around their isle as well as off the map entirely!

Most of my favorite bands right now are from England. It's a phase. Partly related to my fascination, while drunk, of the British accent and partly to a series of graphic novels called  "Phonogram" by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, clearly!). Finally, one of my best friends in real life, a gem of a man, loved by all who know him--Dan Koven, regularly supplies me with new music and guess where his tastes lie...? Yup.

Telling you all this for no other reason than providing a little context for the Brit-heavy list you see above. Many of you who knew me in my 20's or are familiar with my own old rock band WILD LOVE REBELLION, likely expected much more metal and lots of grunge nostalgia. One of Soundgarden's newer songs did make the cut above, "Rowing" (PLEASE check it out-- awesome song), and I do still rock out regularly to other stuff by them, Nirvana, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, etc., but my current binge-crave cycle is very very British!

Enjoy!

Script Completion and Shifting Momentum

Hey Guys!

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

This story started out as a barely legible note drunkenly scrawled onto a piece of paper. The note said (see pic):

"Classic Femme Fatale
via C.H.
--------------------------------
*guy-40's
not un-handsome
hangs out in regular
spot. When approached by a hot girl,
clearly younger than him

-He invites her out
to his car to smoke a bowl (weed),
She accepts.

-while she is smoking
she tells him
<a story> which
motivates him to leave

(DOWN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE, the following is found with an arrow connecting it to <a story> above:)

about some "kill bud" that
turns out to be a confrontation w/ a violent ex-boyfriend

(ON THE BACK OF THE SCRAP:)

*He tries to shake
her/get rid of her
but she presses that
they should go back
to her place

--They do & just
start to get it
on when "Johnny"
starts to get
nervous and
wants to leave

At that point, I had decided to call the story "No Place Called Home". It never really landed with me, though, and was only a working title for a few weeks, in the end. As the story unfolded in my mind, I knew what it was really ABOUT, and the title of "The END of FUN" landed without a second thought.

Notes much like those above continued for about a year, as large parts of plot and small details, including snatches of conversation, were collected as I hung out with my friends at the Carriage House in San Diego, CA. Every night that I went out, I would at least be thinking about the story, but honestly some nights turned out to be just about the singing and drinking.

That was OK, though, since it still continued to subtly provide content and inspiration to me on a regular basis. 

The paper and pen were always in pocket, though, ready for an idea to strike. If and when those ideas did strike, nothing was more important (EXCEPT the rotation from our KJ, Nicole upon whom much of Kari K is based-- don't FUCK WITH THE KJ!!!), and I would begin scribbling away, usually quite tickled at what was bubbling up.

I knew almost every single element of the main plot within just a few weeks of thinking the story up, but because I was teaching at SDSU full-time and UCSD part-time, finding the time to sit down and bang out every detail and then make it a script was nearly impossible. Occasionally, I would sit down and work out long passages in detail, sometimes whole exchanges of conversation that remained intact all the way through to this first draft of the final version (does that seem weird to read? "first draft of final version...?).

In April of 2016, the most amazing thing that could happen, did happen. I was very unexpectedly laid off from my full-time teaching position. Whereas most people would freak out (and pretty much all my colleagues who were in the same position as me did freak out at least a little), I shrugged, smiled, and said to no one other than all these characters who had been chasing me around for the better part of a year: "Well, all right. Let's do this!"

Ten days later, and all the efforts and job termination bore fruit-- The story and screenplay for "The END of FUN" which clocks in, finally, at just over 21,000 words and nearly 80 pages. As I "movie-ize" the script (once as professional "screenplay" and again as "shooting script"), it will likely balloon out to closer to 90+ pages. 

During that 10 days, I became a different person, and noticeably less civilized. The way that my brain is wired requires fairly constant focus and effort to project a "sociable" personality. Once I dive deep into my creative process, my desire and thus effort to maintain this facade falls to zero. I'm not mean, mind you, just kind of an absent-minded zombie who is running, tracking, and editing multiple scenarios through his mind on fast forward instead of exchanging the required greetings and small pleasantries... 

Stubble spread out and turned into a beard. My phone was turned off (the phone--not just the ringer), with a vengeance. Often. Clothes became intolerable and I rarely wore them, other than to leave my room, and then more often than not, back off once secure again in the privacy of my self-isolation and creative eruption...but enough about that for now. In one of my upcoming posts, I will go into more detail about my process... You may want to skip it!

The continuing shift in momentum will be explored throughout these posts until and after the movie is shot, and even released. If you are interested in the nuts, bolts, blood, sweat, and tears of making an indie movie, you won't be disappointed.

I look forward to hearing from all of you out there, so never be afraid to get a conversation going in the comments!

See you guys soon!

--Bobby

Email me at karaokecrime@gmail.com

The END of FUN? What is this?

Hello everyone.

Thanks for finding your way to this very tiny corner of an ever-growing, already monolithic number of places to visit out there in internet-land.

If you are here, it probably is not by accident! I am Robert Christopher Smith the writer and director of "The END of FUN". This will be the first karaoke noir ever. Remember that years from now when the genre is super-saturated as the super-hero market is today.

Come ON! You know it'll happen...

This blog will be updated regularly with all manner of content related to the production of this independent thriller. Each time you check back, you can expect to see news on CASTING, FUNDING, FILMING, and a whole variety of other materials including other short stories , ramblings, rants and raves written while at the Carriage House in San Diego doing "research" (LOL)  on this story over the past year.

BE WARNED: This blog will be FILLED with spoilers, so if knowing too much about the story in advance kills the excitement for you, PLEASE be careful!

CHECK BACK OFTEN! SHARE THE LINK! DON'T KILL THE KJ!


Email me at karaokecrime@gmail.com