I thought I'd give this blog thing a try. Well, it's not going to be much
different than
my post-filmic debriefing which I do from time to time. I'll just call it a blog
to jump
on the bandwagon.

I'm down in San Diego now clearing out the last of my stuff before making the
permanent move back up to LA – I was there for a long while. So anyway, I just
wanted to share some insight I gain from a couple of books I recently read. I'd
say
that majority of our obstacles in filmmaking do not come from filmmaking, but
rather
outside forces such as paying rent, having a day-job, moving which takes time
away
from writing and shoots – I've been having to postpone a shoot because of this
move
and have lost some key personnel.

So the first book that I read that deals with issue is call CLUTTER'S LAST
STAND; IT'S
TIME TO DE-JUNK YOUR LIFE! by Don Aslett. When I first saw the cartoon cover, I
thought yeah, yeah, another decluttering book. However, I started reading it
and it
was so gripping and eye opening about how clutter just gets in the way of
creativity
because you spend you time dusting or whatever to take care of junk you have
instead of writing or editing a film - the two most time consuming aspects of
filmmaking and where most people (read: me) lag. So based on that my goal was to
move up to LA with owning only what I can fit in my car. Also, I was determined
that
if some item (read: clutter) is not helping me with my dreams, then it's outta
here
(save for stuff like photo albums and important documents). I did this via eBay
and
craigslist. I can't begin to tell you how much eBay has helped me. don't buy a
book
regarding eBay to learn how to do it. just sell something on there and you'll
learn by
doing not reading. And you'll get rid of clutter and move onto creating.

The second book is RICH DAD POOR DAD. Yeah, this one is really popular and
everyone talks about to it so it's easy to shy away from it like shying away
from
Brittney Spears or Ricky Martin even though you like the music, but just don't
want to
be associated with all the people who listen to it. The one of the main
concepts of
this book that is to `pay yourself first'. I was doing this more with time than
with
money. I would turn off my phones and write while my mind is at its peak –
right
when I wake up.

This book also talks about setting up passive income. I've been on this quest
for a
long time. Basically, passive income is money that's coming in when you're NOT
working for it. It seems like it's only there for people with money, but if you
look
around carefully you'll find it too. For example: background work. I swore
after
working on the Oliver Stone movie that I would never do background again. I
hated
being there and it was the total opposite of what I wanted to feel like on a
film set.
However, the other day, I worked background on some b-grade TV show down in SD.
But my goal going into it was to read a book in one day. So I went in and
didn't say
hi to anyone or chit chat - most people thought I was a jerk initially because
I kept to
myself. I just sat in the back and didn't raise my hand to go be in the scene.
Then
about 10 hours into the shoot, I was about 80% done with the book. Then I talked
to a
few people as a break and by wrap-time. I finished a book. How is this passive
income you ask? Well, I would've spent the same amount of time sitting around
my
home reading the same book which took the same amount of time. However, I got
paid to read on the set. The book was DARE TO SUCCEED by Mark Burnett (exec.
Prod
`Survivor', `Rock Star: Supernova). The one of the lessons I got out of this
book is
that intentions don't count, only results matter. So it doesn't matter how long
you've
been writing or editing your movie, if you don't have a movie, you don't have a
movie. Period.

Check out these books next time you're at a bookstore with an open mind. Or do
what I do now to save money on books (no I don't go to the library because I
always
get hit with a late charge). Buy it on eBay, amazon, or half.com for about $6
with
shipping. Read it, take notes, and sell it back for about the same price or a
little
more for a profit and you're allocating that money towards headshots or film.

Which books have you read that shifted your personal paradigm?

Happy Filmmaking,
Anup

P.S. I'm also posting this on myspace.com/anups so you can make comments on it
there.