Your Tri-Annual Update

If one were to look at this blog (unlikely) and see how long it has been since I last wrote, one might think I’ve been just sitting around, doing a lot of nothing. One would be wrong. It’s not that I’m lazy, I’m just very, very bad at blogging.

Thankfully, a number of projects have kept me busy since my last post - work (gettin’ paid) and personal (doin’ the paying).

The Day Job
Six years ago when I started as a business writer for a local insurance company, I asked if I could upgrade their internal video production efforts (basically a flip cam and a wired lav.) Last year my long-term goal of making that my primary role came to be, and now we have an official video production department.

As our first video production specialist I get to create some pretty fun stuff, some of which you can see in the “Corporate” area of this site. Here you can also see some freelance projects I’ve done for a little extra cash.

On the House
I’ve participated in over a dozen short film contests but only a few in my hometown, and none for a couple of years. Turns out that was long enough to forget just how much work goes into one, and that the key to success is often a good, LARGE group of people.

For the 2019 IFP Breakout Challenge I gathered a team of 9, and it turns out that still left a little too much for me as I ended up writing, acting, directing, and editing. Despite that, and the fact we shot the entire damn thing during one 8-hour day, I was pretty happy with the result, which you can view in the “Films” section of this site.

RobCom
Here’s a conversation I had not long ago with a fellow writer…

Another Rob: Hey, how would you like to start a comedy YouTube channel and try to make some money?
Me: Sounds fun, but I don’t know about the money thing. There’s a lot of competition.
AR: There’s one I watch by this girl and she’s got like a million followers. *sends link*
Me: *watches* She’s a former Playboy Playmate.
AR: So?
Me: She could read the phone book* and she’d have a million followers.
AR: …
Me: Fine it’s not like I couldn’t use the practice.

Shortly thereafter RobCom was born, and we recently hit the 50 video mark. One of which you can see in the “Films” section of this site.

Still just a little under a million followers though. This could be the year. *crosses fingers*

* Google it, millennials.

Writing
Unfortunately, nothing new to note here. Still looking for a buyer for “Lift” - a screenplay I wrote with Andy Wagner about mammoths, the woolly kind. Also toying with some other story ideas but writing a screenplay takes A LOT of time and energy. Try it sometime.

I will take this time to give a shout out to the Phoenix Screenwriters Association. If you have any interest in writing (screenplays or other) and live in the greater PHX area, you could do a lot worse than dropping a measly $40 on membership dues. With all sorts of classes and events, they make it easy to get your money’s worth. And like I’ve always said, if you’re not writing, you’re wronging.