Contour At The Movies

I’m thrilled to announce the title of the first eBook my company’s putting out.  Coming for this Halloween, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” will be released as the most interactive, engaging, immersive reading experience I know that I’ve ever had.  We’ve taken the full novel, carefully abridged it to make it a manageable length, and it has been stunningly illustrated with both static and interactive elements.

Make no mistakes…just because it’s interactive doesn’t mean that this is for little kids.  PadWorx’s “Dracula” definitely gets a PG rating.  Blood, death, romance: all those things people love about vampires, but in a reading experience that includes an original score, sound effects, an indie-rock soundtrack (seriously!), animation.

Check out the teaser video below and let me know what you think.

In my upcoming book, “My Story Can Beat Up Your Story!”, I have a chapter in which I outline something I refer to as ‘the tough writer’s business plan.’  One of the main themes there is “diversify.”  As I write in the book:

“When I first moved to Los Angeles in the mid-eighties, if you wanted to be a writer you had to choose: TV or features. That was the advice I was given. Of course, everyone wanted to write features, so that’s what I focused on. Writing for television was what you did if you couldn’t make a go at screenplays.

“Now, it’s a free-for-all. The smart writers are doing everything. Write spec screenplays, write animation, write sitcoms. It’s nothing personal; it’s just business. There is very little I don’t have as a writing sample. Preschool, family comedy, earnest dramedy, animated features, live-action/animation hybrids, big budget action, western, comedies, sports movies, even content for tablet computers; I’m a chameleon.  Whatever a producer needs me to be, I am.”

In the spirit of practicing what I preach, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my new company: PadWorx Digital Media Inc.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about PadWorx and our slate of projects.  On Wednesday we’re going to announce our first title, with a few more announcements in the coming weeks.  You can check out the corporate announcement HERE.

As writers, we need to keep our minds open and explore all possibilities to ply our craft, especially when there are so many new media outlets and technologies.  Don’t let anyone tell you differently…these are exciting times to be a writer.

Interestingly, the evolution of PadWorx can be traced right to this website, starting with my post about Alice for the iPad and then my interview with Chris Stevens, one of the founders over at Atomic Antelope.  PadWorx is the result of my being inspired by the possibilities in digital entertainment that Chris and Ben so quickly showed the world now exist.

Now, none of this means that I’m walking away from screenwriting by any means (I’m desperately trying to finish a rewrite on a hockey movie; yes, I live in Canada) but in today’s world and today’s entertainment market, if you want to have an ongoing career as a writer you need to do one thing, and one thing only.

Diversify!

–Jeffrey Alan Schechter

I’ve been following an animator and filmmaker on YouTube for some time now named Patrick Boivin.  In terms of creativity and talent, he’s the real thing.

Patrick just posted a short video called IRON BABY.  In just over one minute he packs in more fun, action, and wonder than IRON MAN 2 did in over 2 hours.  CLICK HERE to watch and be amazed.  And then if you really want to be inspired, watch the rest of his videos, particularly the ones where he shows you how he does what he does.

Patrick…thanks for showing us what one guy with creative vision, style, talent, and a cute baby can do!

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

I had the good fortune today of interviewing the very gracious Chris Stevens, co-founder of Atomic Antelope, the people who have  single-handedly ushered in a new era in digital media with the release of the Alice for the iPad book app.

On the podcast, Chris and I chat about finding success as a writer in unexpected ways, satisfying the creative urge, and what it’s like to see Oprah Winfrey interact with something you created just a few weeks ago.  You can hear the podcast by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks again, Chris.  Sorry about the crack about wanting to milk you…

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

P.S. As the podcasts are new, if you felt like rating them on iTunes and even saying a few kind words in a review, that would greatly appreciated.

Sure, I like film and television writing as much as the next guy, however the guys over at Atomic Antelope may have just shown us a glimpse of things to come for those of us who love the written word (aka “writers”), media (aka “screenwriters”), and technology (aka “geeks like me.”)

If you haven’t seen the video of the Alice for iPad app, CLICK HERE and check it out.  I know it’s an iPad app and not a film or a television show or a YouTube series, but it IS another way for people who are creative to create content and get into the hands of an appreciative audience.  And once the audience gets really appreciative, well, who knows where that will lead one’s career?

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

It plays like a spoof, but it’s a brilliant move by George Lucas at keeping the Star Wars universe fresh, surprising, memorable, and relevant;  everything you want your creativity to be!

I SO can’t wait for my GPS to break so it needs replacing…

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

I just saw a trailer for my new, next favorite movie.  Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

Wasting no time, the geniuses (and all around good guys) over at Mariner Software have shared with me their plans to push a Contour for iPad app through their development process.  This will be in addition to the very, very, very forthcoming Contour for iPhone app.

The above is just a taste of what the iPad version might look like, but one thing’s for certain…it’s exciting times!

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

J. J. Abrams speaks about writing, Star Wars, Macs, and his fascination with mystery at TED.

- Dan Pilditch

http://scottdistillery.googlepages.com/the2008blacklist

Makes for a bit of interesting reading.