It has been almost exactly one year since I last sent out one of these blog posts. And what a motherhecking year! Here is a brief list:
Wrote a play that was workshopped at La Mama ETC, which then opened on the mainstage there and sold out its two week run … and then transferred to London, where it is playing now at the Marylebone Theater.
Wrote and directed a short film that is in the final stages of post-production now.
Got laid off from my job after ten years.
Officiated not one but two weddings, within two months of each other.
Started a business as an executive coach and facilitator teaching people how to make an impact when they pitch and present.
Wait, what was that middle thing? After ten years? Yes, I am no longer a technical sales professional. Instead I am coaching and training technical sales professionals (and others) on how to make an impact when they pitch and present. I’m really enjoying the work, and I also continue working on my theater and film projects. Just last week I was in London for the opening of my play, directed by and based on the true story of Alexander Molochnikov who had to flee Russia after he spoke out about the war in Ukraine. The show is still running until mid-October, so please spread the word to your UK friends.
I stayed with a friend from childhood in London, which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. She and her partner came to see the show on opening night along with celeb actors and investors. It was all very glamorous.
After that week of non-stop seeing friends and family, watching the play 7 times in 6 days, I decided to escape London and go to Marseille, where I am even now staying in a sweet and inexpensive airbnb. (As a newly self-employed person I no longer have the same travel budget that I once did.) I flew RyanAir to Brive (I do not recommend Brive, but the price of the plane ticket was cheaper than most Greyhound buses.) and went from there to Marseille stopping for a day in Toulouse along the way. (More on that later.)
This week in Marseille also happens to be the final week of my crowdfunding campaign for my short film Aggie Ascends. We have three days left in the fundraising campaign, and we are getting close to meeting our goal! Please contribute if you can, it will make it possible for us to finish the visual effects and sound editing and final color correction, all the things that will make the movie spectacular when it goes to film festivals next year. We already have submitted to a few big festivals (Sundance!!!) so cross your fingers for us. Even if you aren’t able to contribute financially, you can hit the follow button on our crowdfunding page and get updates about the movie as it goes to festivals and beyond.
Aggie in the underworld.
I’m very proud of our work this film, one of the most ambitious projects I’ve taken on yet. It is based on the myth of the goddess Inanna’s descent into the underworld, and includes surreal dream sequences and some very difficult visual effects shots. Thus the fundraising for post-production.
But enough about work! What about travel? I could go on and on about Marseille, which might have become my favorite city in Europe on this trip, but instead I want to tell you about Halle de La Machine in Toulouse.
La Machine is a street theater group that has been around for almost 30 years, making huge theater pieces in urban spaces. These often involve enormous mechanical animals, such as their famous minotaur. If you visit Halle de La Machine, you can even ride on the back of the minotaur as it walks through the streets of Toulouse, amusing the patrons of nearby cafes. It is a truly surreal experience.
They also create a variety of bizarre musical instruments, such as a wheel of guitars and a percussion instrument made of fire. I stayed for hours watching the demonstrations of their various inventions and mechanical beasts, including the huge water spraying dragon—all of this surrounded by the squeals of delight from children.
Marseille is a short train ride from there, where I continue to post updates about our crowdfunding campaign and review shots from the visual effects team for the movie. Monday the fundraiser ends and I leave Marseille to go back to New York and finish the movie with whatever we were able to raise. But no more zoom meetings with Autodesk clients! That life is over now; a new life is beginning …
