It’s been a busy week, and the next few days promise to be equally action-packed. So I thought I’d do a quick recap before two weeks go by without any real updates.
Boulder
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I gave a lecture on screenwriting at the [Boulder International Film Festival](http://biff1.com). It’s always weird going back to your home town, and even stranger going back as the resident expert in a field. The talk went well, with many good questions in the follow-up.
Family obligations kept me from seeing any movies at the festival, though my brother enjoyed Air Guitar Nation.
Obama
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Barack Obama’s campaign visit to Los Angeles included a fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton. All of the articles about it somehow overlooked that I was there too, elbow-to-elbow with billionaires and movie stars. But that’s probably a good thing. After my trip to Boulder, it was nice to be reduced to my proper role: observer.
And from what I observed, Obama’s wife Michelle is the underestimated force here. Yes, Barack Obama is a terrific speaker, but Michelle is funnier. Together, they feel like they came from an alterate-universe Earth where hope prevails.
Dugg
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My article about [what I learned from World of Warcraft](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/seven-things-warcraft) got linked on [Digg](http://digg.com/movies/Seven_Things_I_Learned_from_World_of_Warcraft_2), which predictably overwhelmed the poor servers and made the site run very slowly for a day or two.
The fact that I was out of town was an added complication, particularly when I found I had linked to the wrong David Allen, who was upset to be getting false hits.
What did I learn from being Dugg? First, it’s important to have the right initiator. The first Digg-er put the article in the video category, which was clearly a mistake, but that led all future hits that way. Fortunately, frequent commenter [Andreas Climent](http://digg.com/users/andreascliment/news/dugg) got it set right.
Second, the discussion on the Digg thread inevitably focuses back on itself, rather than the story being linked. One commenter posted a highly-edited summary of the article which completely missed the point, and no amount of correction on the part of other readers could get it back on track.
The Nines
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Optimum Releasing bought the movie for the U.K., with other deals set to be announced soon. It’s this post-post-production phase that I hadn’t anticipated being so busy. This week, we’re working on French subtitles. Comment dit-ons “nervous breakdown”?
The Next Movie I’m Writing
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The deal’s not done, but my earlier allusions to D.C. mythology (and alternate Earths) were project-specific. I hope to be able to say what it is soon. And yes, it’s cruel of me to leave it floating out there.
