Well I guess that feeling has always stayed the same because while I’m mostly super excited about this new production of NEWSIES I’m also a tad jealous that I wasn’t part of it. I mean, I’ve been carrying the banner since 1993, y’all.

I feel like this is going to sweep Broadway and be a hit for years. Like The Lion King or Wicked, NEWSIES is a classic story with a older-millennial cult following. So, while I’m over not being in this production, I am SUPER EXCITED that there are people out there who are just as super excited and “get” NEWSIES like I do.

After living a year in Northern Virginia and the DC Metro area, I’ve discovered that there really is no place like home. While I made some fantastic new friends and had some of the most memorable experiences I still couldn’t see myself in the DMV for much longer.

The time was right for me to leave Nashville a year ago and the time was right for me to return just last month. Over the course of that year I helped produce the Denver #filmcamp for Inside|Out Global and attended the Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival.

The #filmcamp was a great success. We had 11 students in two teams who made “Speak Your Mind” and “leftovers.”

The Gideon was an amazing networking opportunity to meet like-minded filmmakers, writers and producers. Seeing as that’s the new career change, that’s what I’m focusing on: filmmaking.

Now with that comes a lot of dues. Most of said dues are paid by working for free on just about any production crew. I’m meeting as many people in film here as I can. I’m looking for opportunities to be on a crew, or be an extra on the production side. I’m starting to search for screenwriters and Executive Producers as well as getting the scripts I’ve written registered with the Writers Guild of America to ensure they’re protected before shopping them around.

The long-term goal is to produce feature-length films and tell great stories. As much as I’d like to jump in there and make that happen, I’m afraid there are quite a few steps between here and there. I’m looking for any opportunity to get my hands dirty and start generating content.

On the making-money-now front: I’m waiting tables at Bricktop’s in Coolsprings and am in negotiations with a social media company to fill a part time sales position with their company. That still leaves me with some time to pursue and produce film. Stories. Great stories.

So again, thanks for being with me on this journey. Check back from time to time to see what’s up. I’m working harder on making this a regular thing with more frequent updates. Be on the look out, too, for film-based content and a lot of talk about producing. I’ll still be posting about typography, design and social media, but will be focusing more on the film side of things.

Thanks for coming back!

Cheers.
-Toby

A year later, I joined them again in Washington DC to do the same workshop with Metro DC youth. Two weeks after that I found myself moving to Alexandria VA with only what I could fit into my SUV.

So what have I been doing this past year in DC? Helping to get Inside|Out Global (IOG) established as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We’re finally official!

The mission of IOG is to empower young people to tell their stories and discover their gifts and strengths through filmmaking and the creative arts. Our vision is to see the world’s youth find, embrace and offer their unique gifts to influence and enrich their cultures.

Bonus: now that we’re a 501(c)3, means that you can make a tax-deductible donation to help us do this year round! (We accept checks of all sizes *wink).

This year, in 2011, we’re bringing the same workshop that’s been done in New Zealand and DC to the Denver area at the end of the month! I’ll definitely be blogging more about this experience as it unfolds.

Be sure to check out our brand new website and watch some of the videos the students have done. Keep in mind, these are filmed by students that (in some cases) have never picked up a camera before or seen the inside of Final Cut Pro. The stories they tell are true. I’ll post more videos this week as we gear up for Denver.

What I loved about it was they didn’t give everything away in the trailer. Yes, there are some scary parts in the previews, but man oh man… once you’re in the theater they don’t hold anything back. It really is one of the best-made thrillers I’ve seen in a long time. Consider it today’s Poltergeist. The family moves into a new home and quickly discovers that it might be haunted. Their son falls into an unexplained coma. Strange things happen that can’t be explained and some really thrilling moments happen in the first house. The family moves into a new home hoping to leave it all behind them and focus on getting their son well. It isn’t long that their troubles follow them. Sightings and happenings are still, well, being seen and happening. A medium is called in and states the film’s tag line, “It’s not the house that’s haunted… it’s your son.” Dun, dun, dun.

That said, it also deals with the spiritual realm… something that seems to be on trend in Hollywood these days. Having a Christian worldview, I’m always curious to see if the filmmakers really take us “there” and what they offer to us once we’re there (redemption?, hope?, etc.) I’m quite sure that the filmmakers don’t have a clue as to just how close to “it” they really are. This is why I want to be a producer.

I won’t give it all away, but will say the film touches on being stuck in a place far from The Light. They call it “The Further.” There’s an explanation given as to how we get there, but the longer we stay, the less likely it is that we’re able to find our way back. Hmm. Interesting. Have you read the first few chapters of Romans?

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. – Romans 1:23-25, The Message

Sounds a lot like The Further to me. In the film, we’re taken there and find the son chained up in a room with (what we’re led to believe is) the devil. At least Hollywood’s version of him: red face, split tongue, hoofed feet, horns, ugly. There is a Christ-like figure (sorta) who rescues the son, but it gets kinda blurred and buried in the end.

They’re SO close that I wish they’d just commit and take us there. The mom in the film kept saying “Jesus!” but I think it was in the same way you’d say it after you stub your toe. I leaned over to a friend of mine and said, “Well, she’s close.”

All in all it was a very well-made film that is definitely worth seeing whether you’re a believer or not. Maybe you’ve already seen it… what were your thoughts on The Further and the film as whole? The first person to leave a comment with their feedback on the film gets a FREE subscription to ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY via my good friends over at ValueMags.com!

PS. I know the comments are kinda janky at the moment… I’m getting that worked out. In the meantime, you can still leave one.

Imagine what it would be like if you got paid $1 for each of your friends on Facebook. Then a $1 for each of their friends and a $1 for their friends and their friends and THEIR friends. It would start to add up.

Crazy Good is a new social network that does just that. You’ll get $1 each month for every friend you sign up and then a dollar a month for every friend THEY sign up down through 5 levels. A dollar doesn’t sound like much, but you can see how it adds up here.

For only $10/month (TEN DOLLARS!!) you become part of a community that 1) gives back their first 10% profit to a charity of your choice 2) shares 50% of their profit with you through your circles of influence and 3) uses the remaining 40% to invest back into the site to make it better and stronger.

So think it over, but act fast because you’ll want people to get invited from YOU and not from someone else. When you’re ready to sign up click here:

https://www.crazygood.com/refer/tobysturgill

or use my name (Toby Sturgill) as your referral. It’s that easy!

Payments are made via PayPal and taxes are not withheld so you’re on your own with those. It’s only $10/month and you can get out of it at any time. I’m giving it three months and if I don’t start making back my $10 investment each month, then I’m out of it. But you’ve got nothing to loose!

Here’s another safety video from New Zealand Air featuring their ruby team:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Purse God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion.

Pretty powerful, huh? What does it inspire you to do?