A Cheerful Announcement

[badatapologies]

I'm very pleased to report that my screenplay "Dramatis Personae" has been awarded the 2007 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellowship.

I'm even more pleased to report that selected scenes from my script (and from those of my fellow...er, Fellows?) will be presented in a live staged reading during Outfest 2007. The only thing that could make this better? If you chose to attend, dear reader. Here are the particulars:

Wednesday, July 18 at 7pm at the Directors Guild Of America, 7920 Sunset Boulevard, between Crescent Heights and Fairfax. Tickets are $12 and are available here.

Don't miss your chance to see the world premiere of five great scripts, as well as a priceless opportunity to see me paralyzed by social anxiety disorder in a prestigious and festive setting. Close Personal Friends Of Caitie should expect a seemingly endless barrage of email and telephone reminders of this event as it approaches. Thank you all for your continued encouragement and support.

Edit: For the true Caitie Completist, on Sunday, July 22 at 7:30, you can see me on the big screen at Outfest in Jamie Babbit's Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Savor my 15 frames of fame while enjoying a funny, intelligent and riot-grrl-energetic take on feminist politics from the acclaimed director of But I'm A Cheerleader.

Afterwards, I will be hosting a Q&A on background acting at the Rock and Roll Denny's. You're buying.

Comments

No euphamism intended.

[capsuper.livejournal.com]

Before I let myself get so exicited I wet myself, what exactly is "fellowship." Is it the standard rich-and-famous contract?

Depends

[mcbrennan.livejournal.com]

There will be a 3-day writing workshop in LA next week, with input and guidance from established screenwriters I really admire a lot, and the staged readings, and other fun things. Here are some details.

[collisionwork]

Congrats congrats congrats!

And a great big hand.

Now I'm the one on the wrong coast, huh?

[revme.livejournal.com]

AWEX0ME! Congrats! That is awesome. I wish I could go to the reading. That'd be awesome.

Hooray for IBTC getting screened as well! It's kind of funny with But I'm A Cheerleader, since at my college, they did a month of films put on by the Gay Alliance Groupy Thingy, which I forget what it was called. A couple of my best friends were involved, so I was often on hand as a tech support type and also just because, well, best friends. ANYWAY, though, it was funny, because _But I'm A Cheerleader_ was probably the best attended, and as I looked around at my friends, the ones whom I knew to be gay/bi/etc. thought it was HILARIOUS, and the ones whom I knew to be straight just had these looks of confused disdain for it. (I admit, I was in the latter camp -- however, it was very well made, technically. But I just didn't get into it.)

HOWEVER: This is where I saw _Ma Vie En Rose_ for the first time, which is such a gorgeous film. When they were looking for another film, I argued hard for _Harold & Maude_, since it's pretty much a clear metaphor for a gay relationship, not to mention that the screenwriter (and maybe Director? I don't remember, was Hal Ashby gay?) was gay, and.. yeah. It didn't go on, though while waiting for folks to get back with _Ma Vie En Rose_, I did put _Head_ on the projector for a while. Not because of any gay themes, just because it's AWESOME.

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

hal ashby was quite heterosexual -- married three times, had dozens of affairs. haven't you read easy riders, raging bulls? :)

(the above statement was serious, but the tone isn't. i believe i read somewhere that colin higgins was gay, so there's that.)

i have a hard time getting my brain around the harold & maude being a metaphor for a gay relationship. i'm not saying that gay people couldn't relate to it, but it seems a lot more universal than that. i'm not saying this to yell at you or anything. could you explain what you mean by that?

[revme.livejournal.com]

Heh, there you go! I think I probably knew that about Ashby, but never get the truth get in the way of a good story!

I think it is a quite universal story -- which is partly why it's so successful, but it just seemed to me to be at least mostly about a gay relationship. In the beginning, Harold isn't happy at all, and the women his mother tries to set him up with do nothing for him (though, admittedly, they're not exactly great -- but he doesn't even have a "Oh, well, hm, this might be OK... oh, wait, you're a twit." type reaction. It's immediate disinterest). And then when he meets Maude, everything comes into focus -- though no one is quite fine with that. They think he's insane, send him to shrinks, she gets him disqualified from the Army (not that, a) Harold WANTED to be in the army anyway, and b) She basically encouraged him to act crazy, but... yes). I suppose you could also chalk up the brief scene with Maude's concentration camp tattoo as another sign -- homosexuals were also in the camps -- but I tend to think of this one as a little bit of a stretch, and more about the Face Story anyway of Maude's embrace of life in general.

I tend to see the scene at the end with the hearse going over the cliff as Harold's "coming out", in that he's a lot happier, and is much more in tune with himself, regardless of what others expect for him. (Partly that Maude taught him to love life in general too, but I still think there's partly a bit of Self-Embracing with that.)

There's also the Love Scene, which I took to be a humorous shock since while a lot of people are kinda squicked out by a 18 year old and an 80 year old together, so are a lot of people w/r/t two dudes together -- even though it's a perfectly understandable, normal and positive expression of their love.

And, finally -- and I'm surprised you didn't catch this, all gays commit suicide on their 80th birthday... I mean, JEEZ!

[trema-slo.livejournal.com]

Hey, this is ultra fab news. What a way to debut in LA, Cait.

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

If I could afford to cross the country to attend, it would be my greatest pleasure. In lieu of that, I say 'huzzah and hooray!' you certainly deserve it.

[toddalcott.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, a good way to arrive in LA, on Sunset Blvd no less.

[albatrossity.livejournal.com]

YAY YAY YAY

You're the bestest!!!!

[aila76.livejournal.com]

Wow that is great news. Major congratulations are indeed in order (err, so, congratulations!). I think there's actually a pretty good chance I can make it. It would be awesome to meet you when you're paralyzed by social anxiety. :)

[satoribee.livejournal.com]

Congrats again, super-wowie-genuis-award-winning-beautiful-talented Caitie!

and i can't believe they scheduled the reading for my birthday. (or the day before, anyway). What a great present!

I'm putting it on my calendar.

[fluffy109.livejournal.com]

yaaaaaaay! good for you! :-D :-D

hope we can come. i don't know yet, but we'll see what happens. you are the fab! :-D

[urbaniak.livejournal.com]

Most excellent.

[ikkeikke.livejournal.com]

Here I was all geared up to go to Austin to see you, then I realized it was somewhere in California. Alas. But muchos congrats!

[momtopatrick.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you.