film/TV

Work on THE FIXER TV series continues as we process resumes from cast & crew applicants. We’ve received a lot of them and will be working with a local casting director as well. More details when I have them. Suffice it to say, the pilot shoot is going to be great and we’re looking to have a start date in late-September if all goes accordingly. I have a conference call with the local SAG/AFTRA office this week so we can determine whether it will be better for the project to be a SAG signatory or an AFTRA one. Should be interesting and educational. Also, THE FIXER fan page at Facebook is almost at 700 fans, which isn’t bad for being open less than a week. We need many, many more fans, though, so if you’ve already invited all of your Facebook friends to become fans, thank you. if not, please do so. And don’t forget to interact with us out there. Ask us questions in the discussion area. Tell us what you like. We love it!

I’ve been hinting a lot at a “big” thing and it is pretty much a done deal. I’ll be co-authoring a new series that I think you’ll all get a huge kick out of. My co-author is a great friend of mine and we watch out for each other in “the biz.” The spectacular things about this deal are the particulars, which I can’t discuss just yet (unfortunately!) as our agent works with the publisher to get some last minute things cleared up. But trust me: you’ll be hearing a lot about this deal because it’s quite…innovative, let’s put it that way. As for what the series is about, let’s just say that it will contain elements of what I already write, so if you’re a fan of my work, you won’t be disappointed.

Received a great phone call from Hollywood last night. I may have mentioned that in the past month there’s been a lot of interest in Parallax for film rights, etc. As so often happens with these things, a lot of it fizzles out. But every once in a while, you get the kind of phone call you really hope to get – something that will help propel your career forward in potential leaps and bounds. Last night’s call was just that. I won’t reveal details on that, either. But should be able to let something loose by the end of the week, perhaps. If everything works out the way it should, you’ll be seeing a lot more of my work coming out of Hollywood. So please keep your fingers crossed.

I’m extremely pleased with this apparent convergence of spectacular energy. I don’t often talk about how I reach my goals, because I don’t feel it’s my place to tell someone else how they should be living their life. Living mine is tough enough, why on earth would I imagine I could advise someone else how to do it? (When you think about it, most of the people who do spend their time making judgments about others, do so because they are probably deeply unhappy with the state of their own existence and simply find it easier to cast dispersions rather than try to dig up the courage to change their own lives.) But I am a big believer in visualization and projecting positive intent.

Many of you know that I study Ninjutsu, and that ninja of legend were supposed to be able to bend the universe to their will using a combination of finger-weaving, thought projection, and a specific series of syllables intoned properly. This system of study is known as “Kuji Kiri” and involves a great deal of work. It’s not something I would ever claim mastery of, either, because at it’s core and in order to actually “work,” the person doing it needs to first understand themselves and their motivations with crystal clarity. But you don’t need to study ninjutsu to use visualization. All you need is the courage to have complete understanding of yourself and who you are. You have to be able to look into the mirror and see the reflection for what it is: a representation of you. If you stand there gazing at the mirror and start making excuses, then excuses are all you will ever have. The ability to see yourself for who you are means embracing the positive aspects of your personality with the faults you have as well. You are the sum total of your parts, not just the shiny surface you hope everyone else sees.

Once you’ve grown somewhat comfortable with this process (because, frankly, it is not a comfortable feeling looking deep inside and examining all of your faults to try to figure out how to move past them) then the method of visualization becomes much easier. You understand why you may desire things, what your motivations are and what their underlying foundations are. With this understanding of yourself, you can project the future you want to happen.

This doesn’t mean you have to sit in a lotus position and ohm your way into tomorrow. It simply mans being able to see in your mind’s eye the future thing you want to have happen. By virtue of being able to clear out the clutter that often disguises our true self, the image you conjure in your head will be that much richer in detail and vitality. Then it’s merely a matter of repeating the visualization hundred or thousands or tens of thousands of times until the universe catches up. I’m fond of saying that the universe doesn’t keep the same timetable that I do and our schedules are often out of whack. But eventually we synchronize and when that happens – pow!

This is an example of positive intent being projected out into the universe, which is always a great thing. And we all know that the opposite is also true. There are people in this world who spend their time projecting hatred and negativity out into the universe as well. And the universe, being what it is, brings that energy into existence just as it does the positive. Interestingly enough, projecting negative energy takes far less work than projecting positive. As a result, we tend to see far more negative realizations than we do positive one. The reason? Discipline.

Remember your biology class when you talked about chaos? I’m paraphrasing but at its essence, chaos simply means that any “system” left on its own will revert to that which requires the least amount of energy to maintain. Being a positive force for good in the universe takes a lot more work than being a negative person. Negative people are often masters of projecting their energy because they do it so often. Some of them wander around grumbling all the time. Others attempt to use subtle snide commentary to conceal their venom. Still others play passive-aggressive and others still are pure hatred.

Positivity means being able to confront our negative aspects – what we might call our faults – and accept the fact that they exist. We work to become better people through effort and positive intent. Just taking the time to do that can be enormous. Add to it the future we want to create for ourselves and our loved ones and you can see why positivity requires a helluva lot more work than negativity does.

“Great, Jon, thanks for the mumbo-jumbo talk – what’s your point?”

My point is this: this thing called Life happens (as far as I can tell) but once. My father died when he was 48 years old. I turn 40 in October. So I know what I want to accomplish just in case my card gets punched at the same age. That means the future I have is a direct result of the work I do now. And when things come to pass, do I want to look back and say, “Well, I played it safe but I wonder what would have happened if…?”

Nope.

I want to look back on my life and say, “Holy shit, that was awesome! I dared greatly, failed often, experienced everything I could, and succeeded when it mattered most.”

I hope those of you reading this embrace the same positivity that I try to every day. I won’t lie and say it’s easy. And you should be able to take a day or two off every once in a while, if for no other reason than to better understand what negativity is like. But don’t stay there. If you’ve got dreams, make them a reality. If someone else doesn’t approve of your life, or how you’re living it, don’t waste your time with them. More often than not, those people are living in a personal Hell they’ll probably never escape.

There are great things out there that you should be experiencing.

Who Dares Wins.