Last week a publisher formally requested the complete manuscript to SOS United States for review. This request came after I sent an initial query introducing the project along with some additional information. I was particularly pleased with this request, as this publisher was specifically looking for political thrillers. Will they like the SOS United States? While that remains to be seen, it’s encouraging that based on just a few paragraphs in my query, they wanted to see the entire story.

One thing I have learned throughout this process is that publishing a book is just as involved as producing a film. While both mediums can be independently produced without a publisher or studio, it is nice to have the support of an outside party who has, hopefully, your best interests at heart.

Speaking of books, for those of you interested in the Titanic, I highly recommend Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World. It’s a fascinating read into the lives of those who traveled on the ship of dreams maiden voyage.

I also completed another review of the script as compared to the novel. As both are now a relative mirror of each other, the next step on the film front is to break down the script for production purposes. While I normally would wait until I knew a “green light” was coming, owing to the size and scope of SOS United States I wanted to have as much of this work completed in advance before it formally goes into pre-production.

With both Justice Is Mind and First Signal I had a fair amount of time during the pre-production phase to break down the script. First Signal, in particular, had almost twelve months in pre-production as our original principal photography date was pushed off due to location and casting changes. That extra time meant that when the film was ready to move into production, everything was ready to go.

I was reflecting the other day on my work in Stonegate. When I posted the official poster to my Facebook page, I was pleasantly surprised at the enthusiastic comments I received. While so many who follow me know of my work in figure skating and as a filmmaker, it has been some time since they’ve seen me on the other side of the camera. 

For me, my interest in acting comes solely down to the script and the character I’m going to play. I’ve never been particularly interested in acting for the sake of acting. It has to be a character that has some dimension to it. A character where I can look back years after and still be excited for having played that part.

I can firmly attest that finding quality scripts is difficult. I can’t stress enough that a screenplay is the foundation on which a film (or TV series) will be built. If the screenplay is shaky, not one hundred percent complete, or properly fleshed out for plot, concept, character, etc., the finished film will reflect that.  

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that Justice Is Mind is now available on DVD through a variety of retailers. For those who believe that DVD is dead as a medium, I can honestly say from the sales reports I’ve received—it isn’t.