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Want to know what Elle has been up to?

As I said, I've really been making an effort and focusing on things that are important, AND, not focussing on things that are not important. The more I make the effort, the better I feel. It's amazing! Not only that, but by focussing on what I do want, I'm opening up the door for opportunity. For example: I started a temp job this week. They're training me for the first 2 weeks. At first I was thinking, I hate this. This isn't even what I want to do. Why am I wasting my time learning this stuff? Then I quickly realized that I was setting myself up to be very unhappy, so I decided not to focus on that and to start focusing on what I need to do next.

I came across a program last week, that I watched for a few minutes. It was a talk show and they were talking about following your instincts. The woman was explaining that the best way to take full advantage of your instincts is to ask yourself the right questions. So I asked myself, "How can I deal with my present financial situation and pursue my dreams?" I also asked myself, "Why did I end up working at this place of all places that I might have gotten a job?" So, I found an answer to my first question. This job that I presently have is helping me out financially and so I just need to focus on moving my project forward. My second question was answered when I realized that the other resident in the building I'm working in is Alliance Atlantis. As some of you might know, it is one of the biggest Canadian film and broadcasting companies. Talk about fate.

So I've decided, amongst other things, to pitch my film to Alliance Atlantis. It can't hurt. And... I ended up having a fantastic week. I think I finally found the answer to creating a life that I desire and design! :-)

Well, I'd like to say that things have been just peachy in the last little while, but that would be a lie, to you and to myself. This is the real world that I live in and regardless of my dreams, life goes on, doesn't it. It's been a difficult little stretch (major problems with my computer, major problems with my boyfriend, breaking up, looking for a job, major financial issues, friend problems...) but what counts is what you do with it. I keep saying to myself, this will make me more. I have learned and truly believe that regardless of what happens, saying things like "why me" and "why did this happen" and "why do I feel this way" is not really constructive. Don't get me wrong, I think it's really important to learn from your mistakes but I think that most of us have a tendency to focus on things that don't move us forward and I believe that therein lies the key to success. Like Tony Robbins says, it's easy to get caught up in daily life but the way to a successful life is not to.

So, let me elaborate a little on what's been happening with me. I've been really focused on finding a job. Any job, as some of you might know. Whether I like it or not, I need a job to be able to pay the bills. I had a tough time because I totally lacked motivation, partially because this is not what I want to do with my life. I don't want to have a "job". I want to design my life. So it was a real battle to get beyond the catch 22. Anyway, luckily enough I did find myself a job. In doing so, I sent out an email to all of the people I knew asking for some help. First of all, I was overwhelmed with the response. But the best thing of all is that I got a lead for a job with a production house. In the meantime, I have a temp job that will hold me over until I can get something more permanent or more importantly, until I can get this project (my film) going again.

As for the film, I've discovered a lot of things. First of all, I went to a seminar for producers on funding from Telefilm. In case you don't know, Telefilm is probably the biggest government funder of film in Canada. It was a brilliant experience. I found out that what happened to me happens to everyone at least once and more often than not, a lot! (Does that sentence make sense?). I also met with an animation house for another project that I'm working on with Val (my best friend). It's great to speak to people in the industry.

Speaking of which, one of the perks I had while I wasn't working was to be able to participate on other productions on a volunteer basis. What a fantastically super experience (I know! Corny!). But it was. I got to meet and talk with a whole bunch of people who share my passion and have the same dreams as me! Not only that, but I got confirmation again that I was on the right track.

I'm so lucky as well to have a best friend that shares my passion and that is also getting herself an education in the industry by working in it. She keeps assuring me that I'm the right track. Well, I think it's about time that I take the ball again and run with it. Don't you? I'm getting tired of listening to myself whine about how difficult life is. I have to take it by the balls.

So, my plans are to really focus on what's important to achieving my dreams and goals. That's another thing that I've discovered about myself. I tend to get side tracked. I start focussing on things that take time away from keeping the ball rolling. On that subject though, I know that I am an extremist. One of the things that one of the producers spoke of on that seminar I went to, is that you have to have a life outside of film. I think that was a brilliant piece of advice. What I'm saying is that as an extremist I tend to put all of my eggs in one basket and I now believe that it's good to spread it around a little, all the while not getting caught up in the little things. When I think about it, it's quite the juggling act. But it's something that I'm willing to do, especially if it's going to get me to where I want to be.

Hi all! I know, it's been a while. I hate that when I say that because it signifies to me that I've been neglecting my site. It's been a difficult time, even though some people won't believe me. Yes, I've been travelling a lot lately. I went to Europe for a couple of weeks in September, but I've been back since September 18th. What have I been up to since then? Trying to get my life back in order.

My first task at hand is to get some employment. I have run out of cash. This is so frustrating. Don't you wish that there was an endless pot available to you so that you can do what you please? I do. What would you do? I would have the freedom to breath and do exactly what I am attempting to do at the moment which is to follow my dreams.

I've had a lot of time to think about how I would like to proceed next, since I had to postpone the filming of Wolf In Sheep's Clothing. While I was away in Europe, I spoke with my friend Anneloes and she said to make sure that I'm doing my film for the right reasons. When she first said that I was really insulted because I believed I was doing it for the right reasons. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was rushing the project for all of the wrong reasons. I just wanted to do it for the sake of doing it. I wasn't doing it for the reasons I had first set out to do it such as loving the process and loving the creativity, amongst other things. So, I've been reassessing things.

I want to make this film, but I want to make it outstanding. I don't want to make it for the sake of making a film. I want something that has intelligence and substance. So, I'm going to take my time and make sure that this is what I am doing. In the meantime, I still need to satisfy my urge to create something. I will do this by making a music video to one of my songs and by making some shorts. So now, I have everything covered. :-)

As for the recording aspect of the film, that seems to have fallen apart as well. Isn't it strange how 2 months ago, things seemed to be falling into place and now things seem to be falling apart. There has got to be a reason for this. I'm not sure what. Perhaps it's just the fact that the forces that be want to make sure that whatever I do, I do it right.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I want to take this opportunity to give thanks that I have such wonderful friends and that I've met such wonderful people in the past year. I also want to give thanks for the the opportunities that I have found myself in. I want to give thanks for having my Lulubelle as well. I don't know what I would do without her.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Love, Peace, Love... Elle

I'm back from San Francisco. It wasn't as fruitful as I thought it might be. I did meet some very interesting people, which is always a great thing. I must say, I'm getting frustrated. Like I might have mentioned, it feels like I was going 200mph and now I'm down to 10mph. To a person that loves speed it can feel a little disheartening.

Never the less, I am persevering, although I feel I've lost my momentum. I'm countering this effect by staying focussed. This is the greatest tool I have found so far. I know it sounds kinda simplistic, but if you're anything like me, I tend to get bogged down by the little minutiae of life like doing the dishes and partying way too much (not that partying is a minutia ;-)).

I've decided to make some changed to the website as well. Not sure what yet but except for this page, nothing has changed much since January and I think it's in dire need of some changes. But then again, I don't want it to pull away too much from my focus of my film. It's really tough trying to strike a balance.

In the meantime, I've managed to get a job to do one website and to fix another one. So at least I got rent covered. I've made a few connections with regards to the film which I'm pursuing.

Oh ya. One thing that is moving ahead is that I'm starting to record some music for the film. This is all very very exciting!!!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Well, I got a lot to talk about. Since the last update there has been a lot of things happening.

First of all I did my auditions and it was really so much fun. There are a lot of talented people out there. Thanks all for coming and making the day successful.

I finally secured my location. Jerry is an awesome man. We got the Danforth Music Hall which is the location that I wanted all along.

Val was amazing. She pulled together a great crew. Between the two of us we had about 30 people ready, willing and able to work on the project. I even had a camera that was donated in exchange for giving the person a job on my film. And to top it all off, I had someone doing some behind the scenes footage in order to put a "The Making of" film together for marketing purposes. It was all set up and ready to go. It wasn't an easy feat either. It demanded a lot of coordinating and putting out fires but oh my GOD it was soooo much fun. This is so for me I can't tell you. I was actually having more fun than I did when I did GIFTS. I couldn't believe it was possible.

Everything came down to the wire. We were going to start shooting on Monday the 4th of August and at the eleventh hour things just fell apart. We had some business issues that wouldn't allow us to go ahead and film. It was extremely disappointing for me and for all. To come so close and not be able to follow through...

I'm ok with it though. I realize now that it's a blessing in disguise. It will just give me more time to be even more prepared. Don't get me wrong. I am filming this movie. I'm just going to make sure that it's an outstanding product!

I am so proud of myself. I've accomplished so much and as I reflect back on the past couple of weeks I'm really surprised at what I did. I knew I could do what I did but now I can say I did it! It's given me so much confidence!

Now I have an opportunity to go to San Francisco and I will take advantage of it to make some connections there. It's all very exciting!

I hope you all have a great week and I'll catch you on the flip side. :-)

It's about 1:30am and I can't sleep. Things are moving full steam ahead. Most of the time I'm going with the flow but there are moments when I feel like I'm fooling myself.

So this is where things stand. I'm running auditions on Monday which is technically tomorrow but I'm still up on "Saturday night" so it's in a day. Val has been more than generous to offer her house for the auditions. The thing I'm worried about at the moment is that they're calling for rain. The reason why this is a problem is that we are having open auditions, which means people are just coming, they're not booked, so we don't know how many people will be coming. We were planing on having people wait in the backyard. Now if it's raining I don't know what we're going to do.

I still don't have a location secured. This is not good. Even if I get the location I want it doesn't have all of the elements that I need. If I get my backup location I'm going to have to deal with transportation. Oh man!

The third thing is that I'm desperately in need of some money and I'm not very lucky at the moment with securing that.

On the good side, I've met a lot of people and there are a lot of people who are interested in participating in this production.

On another note... I've been on a new workout program for the past 3 months. It's called Static Contraction. The theory behind it is that you experience muscle growth only when you push your muscles to their maximum. It's not about repetition or frequency, so what it involves is pushing extremely heavy weights once and holding it between 3-15 seconds. Until two weeks ago I was experiencing huge growth and gains in strength but in my last 2 workouts I've experienced a stall. According to the person who devised this program if you are not making any gains it means that you are not allowing your muscles enough recovery time. So last week I didn't workout and this weekend was the first time I worked out in 2 weeks. I'm not sure why it's not working at the moment but I suspect it's because I haven't been eating as healthily as I have previously. Anyway I'm not giving up on this. I'm just going to keep on going and spread the workouts further apart.

Well, that's it for now. 2 weeks before I shoot!

Hey I'm on a role now. This is the second time I do a weekly update. :-)

This has been a very full week. Started off with Monday. I went to see a couple of locations and I might just have a location. This week will be the deciding factor.

I had to re-evaluate some decisions I had made earlier and make some changes. For example, I wanted to play beach volleyball twice a week but I realized that I couldn't really commit to so much time so I decided to bow out of one of the nights. This may seem petty to some people but I believe that making decisions like that are very important because as I move forward towards my goal (of making my first feature film - by Oct 31st) I realize that one of the most important factors is to stay focused and not to get caught up in the daily life.

I went to a special effects house on Wednesday and it was so exciting to see latex faces and hands and mechanical snakes and rats and robots and gadgets. I was very very kewl!

I had my fundraiser last night and although I didn't have much of a turnout, the people that did come were extremely generous.

I want to thank Val, Shel, Ron, Lorri, Gary, Carol, Sean, Nicholas, Sarah, Robert, Clayton, Bill, Scott, Carl, Daviy, Dee and Joseph for their enormous generosity, help and support. I also want to thank everyone else that stopped by to give me moral support. I couldn't have done it without any of you. Thank you so much!

Unfortunately, because of the low turn-out, I barely broke even, but I'm not going to let that stop me. It was definitely a huge learning experience and I realize now that I need more time to prepare for something like this.

So I have some big decisions to make today as to how I'm going to proceed with my film and yes I am proceeding. I feel like a freight train and that nothing can stop me but myself, if I put the brakes on, and there is no way I'm going to put the breaks on! :-)

By the way, I finished my third draft and a couple of people have read it and I got amazing feedback. Thanks to all that took the time.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you all have a fantabulous week!
Love Peace Love, Elle.

Hellooooo! I finally did it! A weekly update!!!

I've heard from a few people that you have been visiting my website and getting updates about me that way. I want to thank you all for visiting. It really means a lot to me. :-)

Well, I had a FANTASTIC week. I hope you've all had one too. And I'm sure if you think about it you can find some great morsels of happiness and fulfillment during your week.

The movie is moving along. I went to see a location on Friday and it was just short of perfect. It's called the Danforth Music Hall up on Danforth (Duh!) and Broadview here in Toronto. They actually shot some of Chicago there! That would be so kewl to shoot there. I'm also going to check out another location on Monday. It's out of town. It's called the Sanderson Centre in Brantford, Ontario, which is about 1 hour from Toronto. I've seen some pictures of this location on the internet and it looks absolutely fantastic. I would love to shoot there but I think it looks a little too good. I think I need something a little darker. But the great thing about the Brantford location is that about an hour after I made the appointment to go check it out, I found out that I actually know someone who is from Brantford and he would be able to help me to arrange for accommodations. Awesome! And another thing about a remote location is that there is more sense of unity from the cast and crew when you all end up working and sleeping together.

I also met another budding filmmaker, Scott. We got together for the first time on Saturday and he was so great to talk shop with. I saw a couple of films that he's already made and he's absolutely fantastic. I'm sure he's going to make it!

I also went to a party last night. It was given by this guy I know called Wolfgang (what a great name!). We met a number of years ago when I was renting a rehearsal studio from him. I hadn't seen him in about 4 years and we ran into each other at the Pride Parade last weekend.

I met a lot of creative and ambitious people there. I also met an actress from Australia who had just come from L.A. She was there promoting the first film she had made. I thought that was so kewl.

I also met an illustrator a couple of days ago who's been working in the film industry for a while. He was actually working in L.A. for Dreamworks and Disney. Awesome. He and his brother are working together to make horror flicks. His brother is the writer. I saw some of his illustrations and some of his animations and they are totally awesome!!!

This coming week is very exciting. As you know, I'm having my party/fundraiser on Saturday the 12th. I hope to see a lot of you there and please don't feel obliged to donate. I would be totally grateful if you could come and give moral support!!!

I'm actually little worried because I'm having trouble locking down some beer for the occasion. That'll teach me to make a statement before the fact. Well, I can always go to plan B!!! ;-)

Oh ya! I'm just about finished my 3rd draft of Wolf which is basically the final draft, not including the changes that I will have to make once I have a location locked down.

One last thing I want to mention is that my best friend, Val, just got two major victories recently. I am so proud of you Babe. She aced an argument she was presenting in a law course she is taking, and this weekend she was part of the crew for a major sporting event over at the CBC. That is totally awesome!!!

Well, that's it for now. I hope you all have a fantabulous week!
Love, Elle.

Well, at least I'm doing a little better than last time. I only let 2 weeks go since my last update! ;-)

I've been moving forward slowly but surely with the film. I've been making some calls in order to get a location for the shoot. Things are going pretty well. I've got the possibility of one great location and a couple of alternatives.

I've been meeting lot's of new people. I think that's the best part about making a film (so far). It's so much fun.

I'm pretty happy with the way things are going considering I was terrified about doing this and here I am doing it. One thing I figured out is if you find something really difficult to do then you just have to force yourself to do it. The great thing that comes from that is the next time it gets easier and soon it just becomes a non-issue. It's amazing!

I'm also having a FUNdraiser on July 12th. If you're reading this and you didn't get an invitation by email, it's because I don't have your email. Please let me extend and invitation to you and all of your friends too. If you would like more information, please email me or call me at 416-698-3810. Here's the info. Hope to see you there.

When:    July 12th @ 9pm
Where:   Elle's Place, 198 Woodbine Ave., Toronto

Here are some reasons why you should attend:

• It's a party!
• It's fuckin' SUMMER!!!
• Elle's short film GO FISH won an award :-) - Help her celebrate!
• It's a fundraiser for her new feature - A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.
• Get a free beer with every donation of $2.50 or more
• Door prizes

Help!... If you would like to donate your time or resources, please call Elle @416-698-3810 or email.

Donation Structure

• $100-$1000 - Receive a Thank You credit in the rear title credits
• $1001-$5000 - Receive an Executive Producer credit in the rear title credits
• $5001-$20,000 - Receive an Executive Producer credit in the opening title credits
• more than $20,000 - Receive a single line Executive Producer credit in opening title credits and special arrangements with the producer.

I hope you have a fantastic week. Happy Canada Day!!!

OH! MY! GOD! I'm so bad. I had full intentions of updating the site on a regular basis and I just looked at the last time I updated it and it's over a month ago! Bad Elle! Bad Elle!

Well, here I am, on the pinnacle of change. I quit my daytime job last week and this is my first week working for myself and on my film. It's very scary and exciting all in one. What more can a woman ask for? ;-)

Yes! I am making my film! Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.

I figured the only way I was going to do it was if I took the plunge with both feet! So that's what I did. I quit my job and I have no other alternatives but to move forward with this. That's the scary part. I have nothing to fall back on, but I do have faith that things will materialize.

So the next few weeks will be spent raising funds and seeking a location.

I'm just going to throw this out there, if anyone know of someone who might be interested in a great investment opportunity or if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone, please let me know.

That's it for now. I'll keep you posted.

Ya right! I'm back!

Sorry it took so long. I've just let myself get caught up in other things. I have two very inspiring things to talk about.

The first is to say that I gave myself a fantastic present. I got the 'Get the Edge' CDs from Tony Robbins. I love it. I'm finding faith and strength that I never realized I had.

Secondly, the most amazing thing happened to me. The film that I made last spring, Go Fish, won an 'Outstanding Achievement in Comedy' at the EyeLens Film and Video Festival 2003! Oh my god. This is just too good to be true. It's beyond my wildest dreams. I mean, I went to Galiano to learn to make a film and had the most incredible experience of my life and then to top it off the film wins an award!!! Oh my god!

I must take full advantage of this.

Oh ya! One last thing. I've made a HUGE decision to leave my present employment and pursue film full time. I'm excited and terrified all at once but I'm confident that it will all work out. Wish me luck!

Helloooo!!! I'm back!

I feel like I've been hibernating for a while. It's funny how spring is in the air and I feel I am now awakening. Is it a coincidence?

Well I have renewed my faith and inspiration with this site and everything else I am doing in my life. There are many reasons for this and I will be writing about those reasons in the upcoming weeks but I want to start with an idea that I've come across a few weeks ago that's really helped me have a new perspective on life.

One of my not so productive loves is speed. I love driving fast. I just recently found out that one of the first things that you learn when you go to racing school is how to avoid an accident. It's a very simple principle that can be applied to everything in life. When you're caught in a spin or you've loss control of the car your goal is not to avoid hitting a rail or a tree or another car. In fact that is the surest way to hit that railing, tree or car.

In racing school, you are taught that the best way to avoid hitting something is to decide on where you want to go and focus on going there. This is a practice that they actually teach.

You can imagine that if they teach this in racing school that it must be a practice that is proven!

Why not apply this to life as well?...

Have a fantastic week!