I'm back.

No, I haven't been swallowed up by a big studio or even a small network. I was being a tour guide for the always lovely Nicole who left frigid temperatures in Manitoba for the mildly warm climes of Southern California.

Besides my famous "off the beaten path" tours of Los Angeles which included such landmarks as Chili John's, Philippe's and MacArthur Park. as well as Serra Retreat in Malibu and of course biking on Venice Beach, a road trip took us to Paso Robles where we sampled wine, sushi and a spectacular drive to Cambria. Luckily the weather held till today, Saturday.


It's interesting to watch someone who's seeing some of the sights we take for granted for the first time, and I envy that first look at places like Serra Retreat and the lush green hills and valleys of the Central Coast.

It always reminds me of the other side of Los Angeles, not the crowded 405 freeway or the smugness of Beverly Hills, but the land itself, there truly is every type of land mass one can find here from empty ocean beaches near Cambria to the mountains of the grapevine and the carnival that is Venice Beach which offers sunsets off the Santa Monica Pier that are truly amazing.



I needed a break from the duties and frustrations of looking for money and now, as the rains are subsiding and Nicole has gone back to the frozen north, I feel refreshed, appreciative of this little part of the world and the things it offers and ready to do battle.

And have a look at Nicole's blog, you can click on it, The 6 Month Experiment, to the left under My Blog List. Her first book, Love on the Net is currently represented by agents and is making the rounds with publishers.

More Monday

Chanel Fantasy Fast Food Containers?

Would you like to see your fast food in designer containers?

Jewelry Case Organizes and Empowers Women

There’s a new portable jewelry travel system that keeps you organized and protects your valuables, while helping others at the same time! If you’re like me… protecting your jewelry and keeping up with it may not be as easy as it seems particularly when you’re going through airport security and jumping in and out of taxi cabs. But thanks to one stay-at-home mom in Georgia, traveling with my baubles and bangles has never been easier.

 Keli Hazel says she tried everything to stay organized during business trips even resorting to ziplock bags. But that’s so not sexy! Besides we’re already forced to use them for our carryon size toiletries. So she created a travel case with the busy woman in mind. “I visualized a portable jewelry case with accordion expansion that holds individual pads to secure and protect several jewelry ensembles to keep necklaces and pendants from tangling,” exclaims Hazel.

She gave me one of her Diva Deluxe™ organizers to try out. It’s designed for the stylish and sophisticated girl on the go who loves to be organized! This case comes in black and features alligator-embossed styling with easy accessibility and organizes your jewelry according to your outfits! It comes with four pads with snaps, pockets, two folding flaps, and a velcro closure for protection. The case can easily fit into your carryon or checked luggage. You can also get the cloth versions called Diva Lite™.

 But there’s more… Hazel donates a portion of every sale to Haven House of Atlanta, a local nonprofit organization that supports and empowers women who've been in an abusive relationship. Now that’s haute!

To learn more about Keli’s Kreations visit http://www.kelikreations.com/

What do you think about Keli’s portable jewelry cases?

Blumera Bags Inspired By The Beauty of Travel

Drawn by bright colors and the sensual textures of India, Blumera creator Mehera Blum says her passion and love for travel inspires her designs. “I am inspired by the world around me, and most particularly by nature,” explains Blum.

Haute Travels caught up with Blum in Atlanta during the High Museum of Art’s fundraiser, Catwalk Meets Canvas at Mercedes-Benz in Buckhead last week. I had to ask Blum about her love for travel and her haute travel bags.

“Travel is one of the biggest components for my inspiration to create because it has given me the exposure to see inside humanity at large. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to travel the world, learn new languages, eat exotic food, and hear music native to foreign lands. Traveling in and of itself to me is a creative process. I never want to be a tourist; wherever I go I become a local and it is from this vantage point that I design. I assimilate into the culture and design from whatever the talents and skills of that land are. I seek the natural beauty of the land, the people, and the sights and sounds that I hear and see,” says Blum.

The Blumera line “boasts versatile collections with refined detail and stunning material— assuring quality and long life.” The Blumera travel bags are designed exclusively for the woman who expresses her unique individuality making them the must-have accessory for the girl who dances to her own beat.

“The travel bags are lined in Blumera signature silk that is hand-dyed and screened. With hand-carved hardware, right down to the zipper pulls, no detail is spared. Elegant as well as practical, the travel bag opens completely by a dual zipper-pull. With interior pockets for toiletries, it is the perfect weekender or carry-on,” explains Blum.

And then there’s the travel clutch for the girl who keeps it all together!

“The travel clutch is sophisticated, beautiful, and extremely versatile. A wallet by day and an evening bag by night, the interior pockets fit everything! There are pockets and clips for your keys, phone (including iPhone or Blackberry), lipstick, pen, checkbook, plane ticket, passport, and separate sections for different currencies when traveling to many countries at a time,” adds Blum. “The number one reason the bags are haute—they’re completely made by hand with LOVE.”

To learn more about Blumera visit http://www.blumera.com/

Celebrities who carry Blumera: Paris Hilton, Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes

What do you think about Blumera?

Photo Courtesy: Blumera

I Am Kimber Offers Sparkle That’s Haute!

If you love jewelry and being a girl there’s a new line of baubles, bracelets and beads designed with you in mind. Kimberville Accessories launched its “I Am Kimber,” spring and summer collection last week, at Midtown Atlanta bakery, Chocolate Pink.

"I Am Kimber", features “urber-cute” pieces made from a creative mix of pearls, chains, leather and Swarovski crystals ranging in price from $50 to $200, each containing small remnants reminding its owner of her playful childhood memories of yesterday. “Kimberville gives us permission to let our imaginations soar," explains creator and senior designer, Monica Leaphart, self-proclaimed child of sparkle.

Leaphart says her own quirkly, child-like spirit gave birth to Kimberville and inspires her creations. "I wanted to create pieces that remind us of the days when we were little girls dying for something shiny and sparkly,” says Leaphart. Her girly girl sense of style has taken this twenty something business woman from boutique owner to jewelry and lifestyle designer. Leaphart, a devotee of handbags, shoes and bling says she plans to create more pieces catering to the girlish fantasies of fashionistas the worldover.

For more information visit www.KimbervilleOnline.com
or contact kimbervilleusa@gmail.com for look book and line sheet requests.

What do you think about Kimberville?

Film School and reality

I'm still waiting for our Canadian partner to come up with the valued LOI's (letters of interest) and since I don't rush anyone, at least up to a point, we are eagerly looking forward to a conversation with them this week.

In the meantime, I've been asked recently about film schools and their value and since I'm still waiting for our Canadian partners to come up with letters of interest (LOI's) I thought I'd voice my opinions on film schools.

Several years ago I was invited to teach an extension class for UCLA film studies and it resulted in a gig that lasted about 2 1/2 yrs. I continued to work as a writer and even worked on a film but it didn't really interfere with either job.

UCLA is one of the top 4 film study programs in the U.S graduating Francis Coppola., the others are University of Southern California (USC), of famous for George Lucas, American Film Institute AFI), a highly regarded private school that turns out some great people and New York University (NYU) famous for Martin Scorceses. So I was pretty excited about actually teaching screenwriting at one of the big 4. 

Especially since I dropped out of Henry Ford College in Detroit after two years, preferring a job in a TV station mailroom. But UCLA hires working screenwriters for their extension classes and degrees don't matter. 

Remember those 3 words; degrees don't matter. 

I would teach every semester spring, summer, fall, winter. And the best part was that it was online. Not a classroom situation which meant I could (and did) teach at home or even on t he road, so it didn't interfere with regular work. I had a class, 15 students, mostly adults taking an extension course or two. And there were grad students who were taking the course for credit.

I got the hang of the software easily and began the class. I installed forums for discussion, a Chat Room where once a week they could all ask questions, and a program for whatever the course was that semester. There were courses in writing a full screenplay, writing the first act, writing good characters, and many more.

I had always wanted to help writing students if I ever got to a point of reasonable success, which I did at that time. Ironically this was because nobody ever really helped me that much, I really  had to work for whatever opportunities I got.

After several semesters I began to notice that for the most part, people were taking classes for entertainment, housewives in Ohio or factory workers and just ordinary people. There were maybe 40% of them who wanted careers, but for the rest, they were being entertained by a real, live screenwriter in Hollywood. Many would take a course of two then never come back. And for one reason.

The hardest part of writing... is writing.

And it became clear that the University wanted me to encourage them to take more courses and it finally reached a point where I became disillusioned, realizing that 95% of them would never be writers. I got tired of lying to them. Out of the 250 students, I think there were 4 who might... with a lot of luck and hard work and moving to Los Angeles might... just might get a career going. I finally left teaching and returned to the rejection of the real screenwriting world.

I also failed in the minor film school encounters I had myself. An instructor told me and my friend Phil Borsos, that we shouldn't even attempt a career in this industry. Needless to say, Phil and I were the only two of the two schools we attended... who ever went on to a career in this business.

Film schools are incredibly expensive, it can cost well over $100,000 to get a degree in film. As far as I'm concerned someone could take that money and actually make a movie and learn how to do it. Interestingly enough, a degree still doesn't really count in this business, talent, craft and discipline are more valuable than a piece of paper.

At least on the creative side.

If you want to be on the business side, lawyers, accountants, CEO's, etc, then a degree is important. There still are many students who get a degree and go on to a good career, but these also are the good ones and my feeling is that they would have made it with or without film school.

Since Movie Brats Lucas and Coppola and the others, who were the first film students to succeed in the real world, the number of film schools have multiplied by the hundreds. Before that it was people who had no film schools to attend. They worked at any jobs, fought the Great War, and were accomplished authors and writers.

What disturbs me is that all these film schools, and there are hundreds, are graduating students into a work situation that has few opportunities. You've probably read about the amount of WGA writers unemployed and directors and actors. And crews. Lots of grips and gaffers and make-up people and more are unemployed.

Yet universities and private schools churn out thousands of students each year.


How can you succeed in the light of these odds? 

You have to want it.

You have to want it badly enough that you will sell your soul to the God of Film. The one who teases you with success and just as quickly snaps it away just as you reach it. Of course it doesn't happen to all of us, just most.

So to go or not to go to film school is a difficult choice, what it does is allow you to learn and make films, but on the other hand you could spend that tuition on just making a film by yourself and making mistakes and learning right there.

One of the best schools in some ways is by a guy called Dov Simens, who teaches 2-day classes for a few hundred bucks. He has compressed his course to give you basically a 4-yr college education in 3 days. If you don't believe me, check his website. I don't even know the guy but everyone in Hollywood knows about Dov, and he has a real good list of successful students.


And you or your kids can save $100,000.

Winners & Losers pt2

 Some of my friends always wonder about one of my more eccentric thoughts which occur mostly when I drive somewhere in L.A. It revolves around the premise that everytime I see a homeless person I put myself into their mindset as I look around for a reasonably safe place to spend the night with my shopping cart and some cardboard box.

The thought lasts for a moment or two and then gets lost as I continue my drive.

I thought I was the only one who does this but you'd be surprised at how many of us in the film business do think of that. It can be attributed to a greater sense of empathy that writers and actors have especially, that we are fascinated with an alternative lifestyle that we don't live.

Or maybe it's the constant rejection we get for our services.

This leads back to the topic of winners and losers. You've heard actors often say they were very lucky to have the success they now enjoy. You hear less about writers but that's because they are rarely interviewed.

How can you become successful in Hollywood?

Here's my take on it. 

Have a relative in the business. Same as any other job. There's Kate Hudson (Goldie's daughter), Jason Reitman (dad Ivan made Ghostbusters) Colin Hanks (Tom's kid), Jake Scott (Tony "Alien" Scott's son), Nic Cage (Coppola's nephew), Angelina Joli (John Voigt's girl),Josh Brolin (James' son), Michael Douglas (Kirk's), and so on.

They will say that they had the doors open to them, but that doesn't always get the job. Yeah, sure. Most actors don't get a chance to even see the "doors". Interestingly enough few writer's kids get into the business of writing.

So what if you have no family connections?Then you make sure that you really have some personality that is noticeable (Brad Pitt) or some good acting chops (Paul Giamatti), be strikingly beautiful always helps, but talent will usually win. Meryl Streep isn't Megan Fox in looks, but Meg won't last as long.

And making the industry connections ensures that when luck is on the horizon, it's been prepared for. Most actors with no connections get noticed in small acting classes or showcases where they do 5 minute scenes in front of casting directors and producers.

I used to attend them now and then, usually in a small storefront theater where they'd place a numbered amount of their head shots on a table in the hopes that the audience of tough talent searchers would take them. I always wondered how the actor who counts what's left of his head shots and  finds that nobody took any would feel.  

Well, okay, I didn't wonder... I felt sorry for them. 

For writers, it's basically the same except that they rarely have family members in the business. When I taught an extension class in UCLA (and that's a whole other blog) I always recommended showing your script to anyone who'd read it. I mean even to standing on the street corner and shilling them.  You never know where someone likes your writing and a break could happen. 

But the one advantage writers have over directors and actors is that we don't really need to have a job in order to write.

Why don't we need a job like everyone else? Because as we wait for a job we can write spec scripts in the hope that either someone will like our writing enough to want to meet us, or we can actually sell our script to someone although if you're on the edge of the industry and your only contact is craigslist, it might not earn you much money. Most of the people on craigslist offer very little or nothing, preferring to pay actors and crew before the writer. Some of them are liars and scum. Some are just cheap. Very few are real.

For directors, family connections seem to help a lot. Many writers often graduate to directing and most of the good ones were writers. John Huston, Preston Sturges, Joe Mankiewicz, Paul Mazursky, Mel Brooks. Several actors are also good, Kevin Costner and Warren Beatty are arguably the best.

Otherwise most new directors make shorts that get noticed. Some of them even get jobs from a YouTube short.

But how do actors, writers and directors become successful?

Again, they need to make connections and that depends entirely how much they want it. Short and sweet. Nobody asked them to come into the business and nobody is going to really care if they leave.

And what's the alternative?

Well there are a large number of writers, actors and directors who, after a few gigs that were mostly unremarkable, continue to believe that they will be famous some day. Some get very bitter, understandably, when they see someone else higher up on the food chain experience the rush of success that they were supposed to get.

One writer I know had a screenplay produced 25 years ago and since then has written a dozen or more scripts but none have sold. Yet he hangs on to the dream because "you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket".

The Dream.

 And that's the thing of it, the dream. No matter how down you get, no matter how everyone tells you you're finished, that damn dream continues to dance in your head, creating illusions, rehearsing that Oscar speech, even if all you're doing is being an apartment manager. There are a lot of actors especially who seem to be apartment managers.

Another actor I know keeps his dream of becoming famous, and tells me of his dealings with the CIA, and how he's going to partner with an underwater scientist to find riches beneath the sea. He also changes stories around as need be, including one where I told a story about a friend of mine who looked so dangerous (even though he wasn't) that a taxi driver refused to allow him in the cab.

My actor friend not only changed the story to make him me, but on another occasion said both he and I were in the cab waiting for the dangerous friend.  All of these versions right in front of me.

But I don't blame him, all he has left are his dreams and why take someone's hopes away. 

Serena emailed me the next day and wanted to buy me coffee or lunch. I said ok, coffee would be fine.

I never heard from her again.

We're a bunch of crazies, both the successful ones and the failures. But I like to think nobody really fails as I recall someone once said of a down and out director:  He's a has-been but look where he has been.

And if you ever need it, there's a great location to hide out when you're broke and down,  between the off-ramp at Sunset and the 405. I've noticed it often.