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| HOLLYWOOD & MOM A Jersey Girl Takes on Hollywood By Lizbeth A. Finn-Arnold I have a bone to pick with Hollywood. Actually I have a lot of bones to pick with Hollywood. After all, I'm a Jersey Girl, born and bred, and so that automatically sets me up in a fighting stance against good old Hollywood. But mostly, I'm tired of being told that I MUST MOVE TO L.A. if I want to have a career in screenwriting. I find this hard to understand. Especially, as I toil away at my computer, all alone in my sweats with crumbs from my chocolate oreos still on my lap. I could be in Toronto, Spain, or sitting on my toilet and the results would be the same. My stories would only appear on the page if I were to commit to my writing. Therefore, I cease to see how sitting alone in L.A., in my shorts and chocolate oreo crumbs, would magically make me a better writer I know, I know. We're talking about the business end of screenwriting, rather than the art of screenwriting, when we talk about moving to L.A. But understand, I'm a writer and as such, I hate discussing business. As writers we want to be inspired. We want to have our words speak for themselves. And we want to be discovered by the powers-that-be, even though we scribble and type alone in our dark rooms three thousand miles from the powers-that-be. If only it were easy. But it's really freaking hard. I should know. I have been writing for a long time. Almost ten years to be exact. And it's become a lot harder to dedicate time to writing as a mother with small children who want more attention than I can ever give. And so I write, but it's a long slow process and I usually write whenever I can find the time, rather than when I am truly inspired. Through the years I've vowed never to write again. It's too agonizing to have a story burn within your head, only to set it to paper and then see it sit within a musty drawer for years to come. Writing is work, a lot of freaking work. And there are so many things and people that must be ignored (and neglected) while we "artists" create. So why expend so much time, energy, and creativity for nothing? And that, is the million dollar question. No matter how frustrated I've become, or how many times I've "quit", I can't help but go back to my writing every time a new story, a new idea, a new spark lights within my head. I wish I could silence the stories, but I can't. I wish I would be happy with a mindless nine-to-five job, but I won't. I wish I could be satisfied with writing screenplays nobody sees and not need external recognition, fame, and fortune. But there's a reason most of us are in this "art" of writing -- and that's because it is a business. Which brings us back to Hollywood. Do I really need to uproot my children from their home, schools, and life so that Mom can pursue her dreams out west? And is that really such a bad thing? I've actually been to Hollywood and I liked it. In fact, I thought it was a lot like New Jersey (except warmer) as far as traffic, cost-of-living, and population goes. My brother works in animation out in L.A. and my kids were impressed as hell that he worked on the Scooby Doo movie. Should I make the move? Ultimately, I guess I still can't understand why it matters where one lives if one works in a solitary profession like screenwriting. And come to think of it, why is Hollywood still the center of the film universe? I thought that explosion in new technology was suppose to make our work environment a truly global village, freeing us from the confines of the office. Shouldn't these mini DVD's, MP3's, cell phones, palm pilots, e-mail, and laptops be useful for something besides being the latest "toys" for spoiled trendy teens? At this point, I should be able to type scripts on my palm pilot from the moon, if I so wished. And who knows, maybe someday I will. COPYRIGHT 2002 GRRRLS ON FILM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
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| Lizbeth Finn-Arnold Producer A Better Taste of Life The Interview Continuity Vulgar Production Manager A Better Place Script Supervisor Home Field Advantage Continuity Big Helium Dog Script Supervisor Lies the Radio Told Me Honorable Mention PrimeTime TV Finalist Spec Scriptacular Honorable Mention Writer's Digest Semifinalist aTalentScout Semifinalist Acclaim TV The Philosophical Mother An online magazine for mothers who think too much. |
| filmmaking from a feminine & feminist frame-of-mind |
| Great Grrrls on Film or Roles that Rock ************ A list that proves an actress doesn't have to play a prostitute or a bisexual or a psychotic bisexual prostitute in order to sink her teeth into a good role. ****************** Kathy Bates Dolores Clairborne Annette Bening American Beauty Joan Cusack Toy Story II Faye Dunaway Mommie Dearest Jodie Foster Silence of the Lambs Holly Hunter Raising Arizona Debbie Reynolds Singin' in the Rain Katharine Ross The Stepford Wives Susan Sarandon Dead Man Walking Maggie Smith Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility Natalie Wood Miracle on 34th Street |
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| Great Fictional Grrrls on Film ********************** Dorothy Gale The Wizard of Oz Hermione Granger Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Holly Golightly Breakfast at Tiffany's Thelma Thelma & Louise Mary Bailey It's a Wonderful Life |
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| Have Comments? Contact me at lizfinnarnoldyahoo.com |
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| Interesting Indie Factoid About Me: I grew-up in LEONARDO, New Jersey and spent much of my childhood visiting the Quik Stop Convenience Store (originally a Cumberland Farms) later made famous in Kevin Smith's CLERKS. |
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