Screenwriting with A View #19
February 2025: A Hell of a Month
February started slow, mostly because I was running on fumes and baby cries. Not a lot of emails got answered, and I had to make sure both my wife and daughter were good. My daughter spent six days in the NICU, which was traumatizing AF, but she’s doing well now. The whole experience solidified what I already knew: nothing else matters if my family isn’t okay.
Week Two: Let’s Get to Work
Craftlace officially added a producer, which means confidence is sky-high that this will go into pre-production summer. I locked in my DP, who will handle crew. We’ve got multiple budget versions,300K, 500K, and 700K with revisions in progress. The goal is to land at 500K to qualify for Nevada’s tax credit. Somewhere in the next few weeks, I’ll sit down and see where we can cut, where we need to spend, and where I can Jedi mind trick some freebies.
-Meanwhile, I broke ground on the next draft of The Rise and Fall of the Pixels. One of the stars has been making casting suggestions. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I still have April 1st as my deadline to finish this draft, but, you know, life happens.
-Speaking of casting, I reached out to two actresses for Craftlace. One is a well-known voice actress I worked with on Nerdcore Unlimited YEARS ago. She seemed excited when I told her I’d be reaching out to her agent. The other is an up-and-coming actress I worked with last year, and she killed it on You Should Smile More. I think she and our lead actress (who signed an LOI in January) would have fantastic chemistry.
Week Two, Part Two: A Plot Twist
-A book adaptation I’d been considering walking away from as a pilot suddenly found new life, in its original intended format: a screenplay. Some folks expressed interest, and after nearly two years of shopping it as a pilot with zero movement, I said, “Fine, let’s go back to square one.” I reached out to the author, told her I was still interested, but we had to talk compensation. To my surprise, she and her partner were down to pay me to write it. Honestly, as I get closer to buying a house, that kind of paycheck would hit real nice. Patience is key, but I feel good about this one.
-Got a couple of inquiries from a cool Black screenwriters group I’m in. The project sounded interesting until I heard the subject matter. It fell into the category of stories about Black folks that I personally don’t vibe with. No shade to them, but if I don’t feel I can write something authentically, I won’t do it. They understood.
-Out of nowhere, an old exec hit me up about “Boarder” ,a script that was supposed to be my directorial debut. Think Emilia Perez (minus the music and YEARS before) meets Repo Man. I made a proof-of-concept short for it years ago called The Hit, and people responded well to it. Of course, COVID shut down the feature version, and it never got back on its feet. Now? There’s some murmurs again. No expectations, but I’ll listen.
BOARDER proof of concept “The Hit” (2017)
Week Three: Writing Until My Fingers Bleed
-You Should Smile More (the feature) titled “Jane Doe” is officially in Final Draft. I wrote deep into the night, made changes as I went, then walked upstairs and told my wife, “This is the best screenplay I’ve ever written in my life” And I meant it. Horror wasn’t always my lane, but when I do it, I DO it.
if you haven’t watched the short yet:
-Also, after dragging my feet forever, I finally turned my personal website into a full-fledged production company site. Even bigger KEVINLMARTIN.COM PRODUCTIONS is now officially registered in Nevada. It’s been a long time coming. Ten years ago, I started Kaleidosight Films here in Vegas. Now, after all the detours in Florida, New Jersey, Denver (which we do not talk about), back to Vegas, I closed the loop. I might’ve shed a tear.
https://www.kevinlmartin.com
Week Four: Wrapping It Up
-Got a few more emails about Boarder. Again, no expectations, but nice to see people still reading it.
-I also reached out to one of the investors on “The Rise and Fall of the Pixels “ to extend the deadline to May 1. I don’t like rushing things that don’t need to be rushed, and luckily, he had no issue with it.
Then there’s Dottie. The hotel I wanted for the shoot finally got back to me. Unfortunately, it’s now 5-6 hours away, and I don’t see a way to shoot there without blowing the budget. After some thinking, I turned them down. Back to the drawing board. We’re coming up on a year since casting and seven months since the original location (a closed motel) got wrecked by a storm. The place was already abandoned, but nature finished the job.
-And then ”because life moves fast” I realized it was my birthday. Spent most of it writing, smoking a good cigar, and living my best Final Draft life.
Final Thoughts: Full Circle
10 years ago, I started a production company in Vegas with more ambition than resources. 14 years ago, I started my filmmaking journey. Now? I’m back, but different. More skilled. More connected. More ready. February was eventful, and March is looking even busier.