Introduce Yourself : What fuels you? by Cathy J. Spaas

Hi Cathy ! Nice to meet you - where/when can we watch your show ? (It's not for a friend :D)

Hi Stephanie, thanks for asking! Here's the direct link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAog4RYvujlfmgjfZNPqoyzmqqSxzxFw3Do you relate with the term 'Spotlight Stress'?

Well, it used to be a desire to tell a personal story from my life but that was years ago and that desire has faded. Now that, that motivation is gone I can focus on simply entertaining and, if possible, also informing. I thought my career was over two years ago but the love of friends motivated me to return and so I can say the desire to return the love via my stories is now my motivation. Or I just love telling a good story.

Mental game in this industry!? Holy kapoosta, Cathy; it's nothing but a game, fuelled by ego and pathological narcissistic, borderline personalitied wannabes. AKA: sucking up til your lips bleed. I'm in it cuz I'm bored and get off on tipping sacred cows. Oh yeah, maybe making a movie I wanna watch would be a plus.

Welcome to the community, Cathy J. Spaas. Writing scripts/telling stories fuels me. Also, making some type of change in people through my scripts/stories.

The entertainment industry, like every industry, has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar racket. Ordinary (i.e. unconnected) people are simply not going to have many opportunities to make a living from their art. So, what are all the smart, talented, MFA people going to do with their time? Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Consider a TV personality like Steve Deace (TV show for Christian men) who writes a book in 2016 (Nefarious) had it filmed, to be be released in April. Seven years, and the movie takes 4 to get all the ducks in a row, and he had never written or submitted a screenplay before. He's never had a film writing class, made a pitch, or entered a competition. What he did do was get famous.

Jenean - you mean Steve Deace got famous and rode that (leveraged his TV fame) to get a book adapted/filmed? And that is apropos of what? The multi-billion dollar racket or the MFAs struggling to be heard or seen?

Yeah, let me clarify (I didn't want to be too wordy). The point is, Deace is well connected, and able to get interview spots on Glenn Beck, and other high-profile folks he hob-nobs with. Now, the BIG Hollywood market, streaming services, etc. don't take kindly to Conservative voices in general (there are exceptions of course -- Mel Gibson was able to do The Passion of the Christ because he could afford to pay actors, etc. apart from group financing.), but Deace has a following and his book was promoted and a best seller before he thought about making it a movie.

But, most of the people here, despite some having significant movie experience, are not in the same league with people like Deace, Gibson, Stallone, etc. who have the social capital to get funding for projects and/or well platformed.

Here's another example. I subscribe to Poets and Writers Magazine (a weird name considering poets write poetry, yeah?), and they have an issue completely devoted to advertising/highlighting MFA programs and conferences. Every ad, and there are over 100 at least, list the names of presenters/teachers and their conferences/classes. The lists are long, usually at least 20-30. These programs stress "networking" meaning, you pay to attend their conferences/classes and hob-nob, too. Allegedly, you will learn from these people. When asked what exactly will I learn, the answers are nebulous: benefit from their experiences. I call it the Full Employment of Teacher's Pets because only a few have publishing contracts with the Big 4 publishing houses, and earn a few $$$ presenting at conferences or teaching a class. (The Rubber Chicken Circuit, they used to call it.)

I'm not criticizing, although it sounds that way, I'm just sharing the benefit of my experiences. :) I am not suggesting people give up their talent, dreams or pursuit of fame. I'd love for every person to have a shot at making a film and letting the public decide what's good instead of what's available.

Of course I'd love to get a story of mine to the screen. I've got some great lines and I wish we had better actors to deliver them. No more etc. etc. etc. from a Bryner, or a far, far better thing I do from a Ronald Coleman ... but some advice is impossible to follow. For example: Go to where movies are made...anyone here moving to Los Angeles? You are the product! Really. Hollywood isn't nice to young pretty women, why waste tie with an elderly (but still firm) woman who is over-educated and cynical? Reality has always been "out there" and I believe under promise and over deliver works in the arts as well as politics. Some people write as therapy. Some because of ego. Some because they enjoy being part of the artsy class. I write because I have nothing better to do with my time before I buy the farm