Colt, a UNCSA 4th year thesis film I wrote, wrapped production today. It's a strangely existential experience watching a performance of material you've written. The characters have been living inside my head for over a year and to see them standing in front of me, speaking, moving, and performing was frankly unnerving. It's as if the visual stage play inside my mind suddenly manifested in the material world. Amazing and bizarre.

This week I apply for Sundance Screenwriter Lab to be held January 2012. They've requested a bio and brief artistic statement about the screenplay: where I am in the process, what's my creative vision for the piece, etc. I've no doubt the screenplay I'm submitting will be unique, but it may not be appropriate material considering their preference for independent narrative feature films, and the work I'm sending is more a family friendly animated film. It doesn't bother me, nor will it prevent me from applying. I'm just aware it's not their usual kitchen sink drama.

The last two weekends I've been in Raleigh, NC filming a documentary about master tin smith Peter Blum. We'll be following Peter for the next twelve months, and the last two weekends were spent with him at the State Fair. Peter introduced us to an incredibly diverse collection of North Carolina based craftspeople working with traditional tools and techniques. Potters, weavers, toymakers, cobblers, pipe makers, glass blowers, etc. It was as educational as it was entertaining; an amazing visual and auditory feast. Many of the craftspeople were third and even fourth generation masters of their craft whose forefathers literally helped build some of the first towns and cities in North Carolina. If you ever visit the State Fair in NC, I highly recommend paying a visit to the Village of Yesteryear - it's unbelievable.