The sweat is on at Chateau Feliz (the multi-cultural name of Kenny’s and my apartment complex.) Kenny’s buffing up for his role in our upcoming film and I’m getting bikini ready for Cannes. But our aspirations go well beyond mere vanity. A former ballerina, I positively thrive on discipline. It’s amazing how the less time I have to tackle a mound of work, the more I actually seem to get done. Even our “down time” seems to be work-related these days – writing, plotting, brainstorming new ideas.
I have but 4 days left in L.A. before I’m on the road for 6 weeks – festivaling, Cannes, making a movie, and taking meetings in Ohio to determine if that is indeed where we’ll shoot the feature. My ‘to do’ list before then is positively staggering. But it’s also exhilarating. A race against the clock.
When I first got to L.A., a lot of friends told me I really needed to change my ways – stop doing a million things at once and buckle down and focus on just one already. I listened at first. I also never got less done in my life. I’ve since gone back to doing it “my way” and work is thriving once more.
We are currently in pre-production for our next film and in development for 2 more shorts and our next feature (this one with a real budget – well, real for us anyway. It’s probably just lunch money for James Cameron, I imagine) 
It amazes me how many people in this town call themselves “filmmakers” who rarely if ever actually make a film. Hmmmm… Meanwhile, I am also co-authoring a book, in the final round of negotiations for our distribution deal, and constantly writing more scripts, while several past efforts are in the hands of others for consideration. I’m an active founding member of two women directors groups, still attending festivals and back on a serious fitness regime – 2-3 workouts a day. This interspersed with frequent meetings and social gatherings to boot have only helped productivity and energy levels. More importantly, it makes me happy.
My ‘rents always told me, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.” I think they have a point. Last year I tried to focus on one project at a time. I picked one and would obsess over it. And I was as unproductive as I’ve ever been, not to mention miserable. Life is so dreary when one allows her world to become too small. Now, when one effort starts to feel stale, I take a break from it by working on another. I seem to finish all of them more quickly and more successfully. More importantly, I enjoy the variety. Though I have a rigid schedule these days, no two days are ever alike. Still, they each bring me closer to achieving my goals.
It’s sort of like tapa-hopping. It’s so much more fun to eat a bunch of different finger foods over the course of an evening, than have to sit down to one big plate of the same thing all at once. Naturally, one must prioritize her work. Most of my attention is devoted to Dolores and the feature right now, but how fun that there are so many side acts in the three-ring-circus that is my life. Some days it truly feels like the greatest show on Earth. Send in the clowns!