Merry Christmas to you all. It's December the first and I find myself living in Toronto, Canada.
I'm not exactly settled yet. I'm in an AirBnB, very soon I move into a sublet and then sometime in February I head back to an AirBnB while a friend and I decide exactly where we would like to plomp ourselves for the next 2 years.
But the last few months have been exciting! I worked in a childcare centre full time for the longest while which was the best job I’ve ever had. I have to wait for my current police check to find its way over before I can do that again, but I cannot wait to start all that just over here.
Minnie (me) face-painting for Book Week.
For now I got a seasonal job, I work in a board games store. And whilst I thought I had a plethora of knowledge for this kind of thing. Turns out, I do not. There are heaps and heaps and heaps of games. And I’m slowly gathering knowledge on the family games but the strategic video like games, I’m sure I will never completely grasp. There are just so many.
I’m not doing kids parties yet. There are companies here but unfortunately the car situation is shite. I was looking at cars, but realised you can't get a car without insurance, which you can’t get without an Ontario licence, which you can’t get unless you brought the correct licence history paperwork over which is just about impossible to retrieve if you are overseas. So I’m stuck. But even being here for 2 weeks has made me frightful of getting a car. This city is full of trams and buses and people banging into each other. And just the cost alone for insurance is more than I can afford. For a shitty $1000 car, I’m looking at $3000 for compulsory insurance a year. Like… c’mon Ontario.
Probably why Auto Insurance is so high.
As for agents, I’ve done all my homework and I made a list of top seven, then another tier list of seven and then a last list of seven incase none of them work out. I’d almost forgotten the whole process. So far, I have an interview with one of my top guys, woohoo! Now I just have to ace the interview and convince them that I am worthy. That I am enough ;)
So here’s a question I get all the time… "Why are you in Toronto?"
Well, if you couldn’t already guess
1) I don’t have a American visa.
2) It’s the closest I get to USA where all the filmmaking and acting opportunities are.
3) The next two years are dedicated wholeheartedly to getting my feature film seen.
So that means flying to Europe and all over North America, attending festivals and organising meetings with Sales and Distribution companies over here.
On that note, I went to the American Film Market! At the start of November, I attended the AFM to just get a grasp on what it’s all about. And I highly recommend all filmmakers take a trip over and buy a ticket. I had no idea about the sales and distribution scene. I had no knowledge and to be honest even if someone had taught me in Australia, I would not have understood it all in the extent that I understand it now.
Onstage with Ken LaZebnik (Writer of Touched by an Angel) & Alejandra Mikulan for a cold read at his Writers Workshop.
Our first pitching session at AFM was eye-opening. There were people, and I mean a whole lot of people, that would pitch an idea and not even have a script to back it up. A bunch of nobodies that have a grand plot and dream that someone will pick it up and give them all the money in the world to make it. And they had meetings! Blew my mind. So here is little ole May, someone whose feature film is in post-production, her next script is ready for pre-production and turns out I was one of the most prepared there. Unfortunately, previously to the festival, I was of the opinion that I was the least prepared. :/
Andy Sutton (The Army Within) is helping out our VFX this month. So Zombie Bro is wrapping up at the end of this year. Yippee! We are finishing up the VFX so that’s pretty nifty. And guess what, I have two sales agencies interested! And that’s even without the film being complete! I’m chuffed. Are you chuffed? You should be. I will let you know how that whole journey goes once lines are signed but things are looking pretty good.
Well ain't that Grand (Canyon).
I also did a heap of travelling this past month. After my accomodation pulled out on me last minute, I decided to rent a car and drive through Arizona to the Grand Canyon! I stayed in Yuma with a wonderful couch-surfing host and her son. I then drove to Flagstaff and spent Halloween in a make-shift Mad Hatter costume with a Swedish Bunny as my company. The next day was spent learning about the Grand Canyon with the sweetest North Carolinian couple. I watched a sunrise in Phoenix, lay by a pool in Palm Springs and sang along to country music every mile of the way there and back.
Cat & I before our gig on Lamb Island.
Finally, I had to say farewell to my band The 8-Tracks back in Brissy. That was pretty sad. I loved singing with a live band and especially one that had a saxophone in it. We even got shirts printed with my design. :) I’m looking around here for a band but so far, no deal. There’s no Starnow here, or there is but no one is using it, so I have to find the right platform to connect with some musos the get that started again.
And that’s about it! I’ll let you know how it all goes next month. Have a happy and safe christmas with your family and friends, like I wish I could. Merry Christmas!
xx May
Merry Christmas from #marvinandmaude #travelbugs