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Want to know what Elle has been up to? Read below.

Finally! Here I am!

I had such a great experience this week. On Wednesday, I went to an event that allowed you to pitch a script or film to a panel of industry experts in front of a crowd of about 200. Pitching is what makes the film and broadcast industry go around. I was always afraid of pitching but it turns out that I loved it. It wasn't the greatest pitch but the great thing is that I learned so much from doing this exercise because I got to get some feedback from the panel. I feel really excited and confident that my next pitch will be a real grabber.

So I'm now in the midst of re-setting some goals for the remainder of the year. There is sooooooo much that I want to do and accomplish this year that I figured I need to streamline things a little bit because I might get to then end of the year and not have accomplished anything that I set out to do. Like I mentioned before, I want to do some music videos and now I also want to do some mock commercials, not to mention a feature film as well. However, I've decided to put my full focus on my 3 completed scripts at the moment. I've got a game plan whereas I'm going to upload my scripts on Triggerstreet to get some feedback. I'm also sending them to various script festivals, because the opportunities that can come from that are un-matched anywhere else. Finally, I'm going to enlist the help of all of my friends to help me sell my scripts. I'm also planning on splitting some of the income I get from a sale with whoever it was that helped me with that sale. As soon as I come up with all of the logistics, I'll be posting it on my website.

My Millionaire Mind seminar is coming up at the end of the month and I'm really excited about it. I've been looking forward to it since about October last year when I read the book. I went to an evening seminar which really pumped me up.

Actually, on the heals of the Millionaire evening seminar I attended the Landmark Forum seminar. It was amazing and has really opened things up for me. It's given me a new outlook on life with the philosophy that by clearing my present and future of my past I am able to create any possibility that I want for myself and for my life .

Life is great and I'm really looking forward to all of the new possibilities that lie ahead of me.

That's it for now. Love Peace Love.

Hello and Happy New Year!

I am shocked that I haven't updated my website since last September. I really didn't think it was that long, but then when Kristin asked me about my site and we went on it I saw the date of my last update. Yikes! and a thousand apologies.

Wow. What's new? What have I been up to? Hmm. Where to start. I guess it doesn't really matter where I start. Perhaps, my greatest achievement so far. One of my goals for 2005 was to get rid of my debt. As everyone in the office and all of my friends can attest to, it wasn't an easy feat, but I'm so proud to say, I DID IT! (to be said a la Legally Blond style). ;-)

The only way I was able to do it was to stay focussed on my target and deal with issues as best I could each time they would arise. I think another thing that helped me to achieve this goal is a book I came across and read. It's called <Secrets of the Millionaire Mind> by T. Harv Eker. Check it out. In the book he gives several principles to live by if you want to be rich. One of them is to be a good receiver, meaning being open to receiving all. This has made a huge difference for me. I never was open to receiving because I always thought I wasn't worthy or that it is better to give than to receive. But the thing is giving and receiving is just two sides of the same coin. In order to give, there has to be a receiver. So now, along with giving, I also receive. Does that make sense? And in a bizarre way, it has made me a happier person and a lot of other people happier as well.

Another accomplishment has been that I finally finished one of my documentaries. It was based on a trip that I took with my family last year to Orlando, Florida. I worked 8 months on it and I learned a new program and editing tricks with it. I also did some animation on it. It was received enthusiastically and I've been getting nothing but praises from everyone. And to everyone, thank you for letting me share. :)

So far, this year has started with a big bang! I got a call on January 3rd from a guy I had co-written a song with and he told me that there was a publisher in the States that wanted to try selling our song! Talk about a high. Someone is actually interested in something I wrote or co-wrote in the case. I couldn't believe it myself! So the first thing I had to do was register with SOCAN which is the agency that distributes royalties here in Canada. And last week I signed the contract with the publisher. Now it's just a waiting game to see when he sells the song. This is so exciting.

Last week I finished my second documentary. It was based on another trip that I took in 2003 to Portugal. This was a huge feat because I had a reminder, ever since then, pop up on my Outlook to work on it. This one didn't take as long to finish because I approached it in a totally different way. I also didn't use and special effects or animation. I just sent it off to my friend in Holland and I'm just waiting for her to receive it.

So now I'm focussed on some new projects. I have 2 music videos that I will be shooting in spring. One of the videos will be to a song that my friend Fred wrote and recorded and the other one is of a song that I wrote that Fred is helping me record. This is very exciting just on its own but the added excitement is that I'm planning on shooting on film. I can't tell you how excited I am about doing this. To me it means that I'm legit!

In keeping with the film thing, I'm taking a bunch of film related courses at LIFT, which is a film coop I joined in October of last year. They also offer cheap equipment and facilities. I'm so buzzed with excitement. I took one of the classes this week which was on camera fundamentals and I found out that I can actually use one of the 8mm cameras that was given to me last year by my friend and big supporter, Linda - who also live close to L.A. They still make the cartridges that fit in the camera. So not only do I have access to a bunch of cameras at LIFT, even a 35mm camera, but I have my own! I might even be able to use the other 8mm camera that was given to me by my mother. It's about 50 years old and it's a Bolex, which a very good camera. Not only that but it works. The only issue is whether they still make film that would fit in the camera.

I've also been reading a book on my lunchtimes at work. (I feel so lucky to be working right beside a Chapters bookstore because on my lunchtime I go over there and I have access to thousands of books.) This book I'm reading is the biography of Norm Jewison, who is one of our most prominent film director exports to the US. He's won academy awards for several films and a lot of his films are classics. I feel so connected to him in many ways and he is such a huge inspiration!

I was planning on moving into a new apartment on March 1st. It's just across the deck from where I live. It's always been my favorite apartment out of all of the 5 apartments in my building. I was so excited and my landlord promised it to me but then he reneged on the deal and within 2 weeks of having it, he took it away. Needless to say that I was extremely disappointed, HOWEVER... it turns out great because I've decided to buy a house. I figured if I can pay off all of the debts that I had last year, that I can certainly save up the money for a downpayment on a house. So I'm planing on buying a house by the end of summer. I am sooooo excited.

Well, I think I'm going to end it here for now. I'm sure I'll have lots more to tell you next week. Have a fantastic week and catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love.

It's 3am in the morning. A time of day that I really enjoy because there is calmness in the air.

Once again change is in the air. Many changes. Changes at work and changes in my personal life. I have goals that I've set for myself and many of them will come to fruition by the end of the year, which is coming up very quickly and this makes me very happy and excited.

I'm finally going to be in the black, financially, by the end of the year, which is so exciting since I've been in the red for a very long time now. It's been a very tough year in terms of that because I decided that every cent would be going towards paying off my debt and this has left me with almost nothing to do anything else but stay at home and work on my films, which I guess is a blessing in disguise.

I have also figured out how my body works and I am presently on a program where I will lose one pound a week in order to slim down to the athletic look that I've always yearned for. All this and I won't have to starve either.

And just yesterday, I was talking to my friend Pete and I was telling him how frustrated I was about quitting smoking. I truly feel that my addiction to cigarettes is purely mental and I told him that I was having a tough time trying to figure out how to do it. Especially since I had done it before. He suggested that I quit for a day. That way, mentally I can tell myself that I can smoke the next day and that this may help me to get through the one day. For some reason, this sparked (pardon the pun) the idea to extend this idea and come up with a fool proof plan for me to finally quit. The exciting thing is that I know I can and I will do it.

For the past month, I've been working very hard every night to finish the editing on my "documentary" on my recent trip to Orlando, Florida. The purpose for this project is two fold. Firstly, I want to present my family with a keep sake of our trip together. Secondly, I want to challenge myself with a big project (it'll probably turn out to be over and hour long when it's done). I also wanted to make use of the new program I have learned called After Effects. And finally, I wanted to have more experience editing to help me get some freelance editing work. I forget who it was that said, a film is written 3 times. On paper, as the script. On film, when it being shot. And in the editing room. It's true, and being the control freak that I am, I have to admit that I love being able to do all 3.

Last weekend, I went over to Freddy's and we put down some tracks to the song that I wrote and that I'm going to use for my music video. We didn't get as much accomplished as I had thought we would but part of it is now recorded. I just got a copy of it yesterday and next weekend I'll be heading over to Fred's again to finish it off. Then I can start working on the storyboard for it! :)

That's all she wrote folks. I hope you have a great weekend! Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love

It's amazing how fast things can change, and this gives me hope that the future holds a lot of fast changes for me.

There has been a change at my day job that at first I thought was truly astounding but in the light of the day I found out that it truly wasn't an enlightened change after all. I know, this is pretty cryptic and there are reasons for this too.

However, the good side of it all is that it pushes me forward. It gives me a swift kick in the ass to really focus on getting myself to a point where I will not need a day job and in fact, to the point where I will have my own company, which in fact I do already, that will employ people and hopefully give them a compensation that is truly deserving. I hope I'm not being too cryptic here.

Regardless of all this jibber jabber, I'm very happy with the fact that I can truly say I have learned a new editing program. It's called After Effects and I will be putting a few projects together to highlight my abilities with this program. I'm very excited about this.

I've also been nudged forward by Freddy, who is helping me with the music video I'm working on. Thanks Freddy.

You know, I've realized not to long ago that if you're going to truly make it in the film business, that not only do you need the right connections, and promote yourself incessantly, but you need the support of people who truly believe in you. The most recent addition to my support team is JM and I would really like to thank him for believing in me.

Have a great weekend! Love Peace Love

Looking at the date above, I'm thinking I should call this page Monthlies instead of Dailies. ;-)

Well the past few months have been an interesting time for me. After such an active year last year, I guess I've been stepping back and reassessing things. My financial situation is changing, for the better I might add - although not as fast I would like, and it's all due to the fact that I have a full time day job. The problem is, the day job is getting me down because it has nothing to do with what I want for a career. So...

Recently, I've been trying to figure out how I can have a day job that will help me move forward in my career choice, which in case you didn't know is filmmaking. I've decided, since I've been told that I have a talent for editing, that I would focus on that, while pursuing my passion. I figured it's just going to help me in the long run with my filmmaking anyway. A win/win situation.

So, I've looked into taking some editing course so that I could broaden my horizons and I found a few that I'm really excited about. But... yes there is a but, the problem is that they are very expensive and I can't afford them at the moment. What to do?

I would also like to take some cinematography courses and I found some good ones also, but guess what? Yup! Can't afford it.

Other than that, I've decided to shoot a mock commercial and a music video. With the mock commercial, I'm working with a woman that I met at work. Her dream is to work in advertising and to make commercials, so it's a perfect fit. Yeah!

As far as the music video is concerned, I was looking for a band that would be interested in having a video shot but I was surprised to find out that nobody was "ready" to have a music video shot. So my choices, as I mentioned in my last entry, were to either shoot a video from a known band and hope that they wouldn't sue me, or shoot one of my own songs. I've opted for the latter. Luckily, I have a friend who's interested in recording and producing so we're going to work together on recording a song and then I can shoot the video. I'll also be writing a new song for this as I want to shoot a hip hop video because I want to have some heavy choreography in the video.

Finally, a friend of mine, who discovered his need to make films at just about the same time I did, has gotten some wonderful news this week. It looks like he will be getting the financing he needs to make his feature film. This is incredibly exciting and as a good friend of mine (Sam) said, this is also great news for me as it proves that it can be done and no doubt be done by myself as well.

Oh ya, don't worry. I haven't given up on my $0 budget film either. Just regrouping on that front as well. I just wish that I could win a lottery so that I could quit my job and devote all of my time to my projects. No harm in wishing, right?

That's it for now. Hope your having a fantastic summer! Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love

Good Day to all! There have been quite a few changes in the past couple of months. The first is that I am no longer doing my internet radio show. The reason is because I felt I needed to move on. Frequency is now on hiatus and will be returning in September and I have promised Val that I would help her with the show as often as she needed.

As far as my film career is concerned, I've been working on writing a script for a feature film that I want to shoot for a budget of $0. I'm having difficulty with it and I'm not sure why, but I haven't given up and I know I will be filming it some time in the future. We all have things that happen to us during the normal course of living life that sometimes gets in the way of us accomplishing our dreams but the key is not to let it go on and not to let it stop us completely. I truly believe that this is key. It is my challenge at the moment to get beyond what is holding me back at the moment from moving forward at the pace that would satisfy me.

I am also planning on shooting a music video. This too is a great challenge. I would like to shoot a video for a band that is looking to have a music video shot however I haven't been very successful in finding that band. I have a couple of other choices as well. I can shoot a video for my own music or I can take music from a known artist and shoot that. I feel it's important to do something as soon as possible so that I feel that I am moving forward in terms of the filming, so everyone repeat after me, "get off your ass Elle and just do it!" ;-)

That's it for now. Hope your working towards your dreams! Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love

The great thing about doing my internet radio show (Frequency) is that I get to meet really talented people that are going after their dreams. I'm so lucky.

As far as the script is concerned, I must admit that I am struggling because I'm not happy with what's comming out but I'm trying not to judge it, besides once it's all down on paper I can really start writing it by massaging what I have. I have no doubt that the end product will be amazing. I really love one of my characters. It's a grand mother that smokes dope. Hee. Hee.

Back to work! :-)

Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love

I had a pretty good week. I finally started putting pen to paper and writing my script for my summer movie. I still get overwhelmed by the enormity of the project, but when that happens, I change my focus. I finally broke through the writing block by giving myself a very short term goal. I set a goal of writing for an hour and then rewarding myself with something. It worked!

I've started flushing out the story and I've even written a scene. Of course it's lots of fun, and that is the bottom line isn't it. To have fun doing whatever you love doing because if it turns into a chore or a job, then personally, I don't think it's worth doing anymore.

Well, the weather is finally warming up and I'm looking forward to starting to ride my bike to work. I've got to work off those extra pounds I gained in the summer.

Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love

To tell you the truth I haven't been inspired to write on my website in a couple of weeks. In fact I haven't been inspired to do anything but watch TV, which I hate because there is so much crap on it. But that's a whole other story.

But I have broken through all of that. I finally figured out what was happening. I knew I was focussing on the wrong thing but I didn't know what it was. I also knew that eventually I would pull myself out of it. I had faith, and that is one thing I am grateful for, figuring out that faith is essential to living a great life.

So the reason I've been hesitant on moving forward with the project I set forth for myself this summer is the enormity of it all. But like the saying goes, every journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. I've already taken the first step, now it's a matter of taking the next step and focussing on the pleasure I get from doing whatever it is I am doing at the moment.

I had a busy week this week. I got invited to go see Sum 41 at a small club here in Toronto, on Tuesday. Oh my god, that was so much fun. Then on Thursday, I went to see a film that my best friend Val produced. That was fantastic seeing her name on the big screen. I was very proud of the work that she accomplished on this film.

Last night I met some creative women at a get together. They were inspiring. It's nice to know that there are women out there that have passion for what they do and that they live their lives for themselves.

Today I have my internet radio show, which always excites me and after that I'm going to a shmooze party for the Canadian Filmmakers Festival. I'm really looking forward to it as I've met a few people already and interviewed a couple of them on Val's radio show, Filmmakers Revue.

And finally, tomorrow, I'm going to see a few films at the festival. One day soon, it will be me!

Catch you on the flip side. Love Peace Love