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Deborah S. Patz – Author

Author of film books for industry pros and youth

Nov12024

What I Learned About a Film Career from Bloomin’ Flowers

In short: Flowers blossom at different rates… and some blossom more than once per calendar year.

Going for a walk recently, a local magnolia is in bloom for the second time this year and it looks lovely. Again! But as with any blooming shrub, I notice that not all flowers blossom at the same time. Some buds become ‘early adopters,’ opening up and announcing their colour to the world while others stay as buds a while longer before opening up and shining their colour. Neither flower is more beautiful than the other, they just have different timing.

So too, I’ve noticed with freelance film careers. Some folk manage to shine quickly in their given field while others find a longer path to find their niche (and so do their shining later on). Considering that finding your place in the industry is the success, then neither path is more successful than the other, it’s just different timing.

With freelance work being so volatile, that’s a comforting thought. Keep going along your path and find your way. You may not have blossomed yet, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be blossoming soon.

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

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FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Oct142024

Where and Where and Where I Write

Sure, I dream of a dedicated writing room with rows of books on shelves around the walls, a comfy chair with lamp and side table, a large surface area desk with ergonomic chair for my computer… and yeah, a dog bed nearby for a napping dog buddy.

But then reality creeps in.

I work as well as write, I have an active family – some who need shuttling around town – and the dog, well, she’d rather I sit on a couch with her a blanket than be at a desk. Instead, I have to find places to write amid my life and movements.

Consequently, here are some places I’ve written my books:

  • Coffee shop at 5 am opening time (yeah, classic, but nice and quiet)
  • Backstage at a theatre (using two chairs facing each other to better prop up my computer)
  • In the back room of a museum (don’t ask – I look pretty happy in the picture though!)
  • Desk at home (amid the clutter and noise of family)
  • Coffee shop at closing time (naturally)
  • Couch at home (yeah, I pandered to the dog for this one – call me weak)
  • College hallway lounge (surprisingly comfortable chairs and good plug-ins)
  • Airline seat (which movies make look a lot more comfortable than reality)
  • Hotel room (superbly quiet and free of distractions)
  • A boat at anchor (yeah, totally romantic, but the sunlight is blinding, the table is at a poor height for ergonomics and well, no power, so you’re on a time limit)

Do I have a favourite? Not really. I suppose I enjoy the variety – even if it’s because I have to enjoy it. What I need, however, is a dedicated amount of time to focus at any given session. The minimum time? Probably one hour for the most effective writing session, but I know I’ve written with less.

Life doesn’t stop to allow time to write. You just have to carve it out where and whenever there’s an opportunity. With the third edition of my “Film Production Management” book coming out in January (and its completion moment on the living room couch where the dog abandoned me for the floor, oh well), I’d say I found the time and the many, many places to write. You can too.

Cheers & a good writing session to you,
Deb

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Where is Deb?

Mon. Oct. 14 – Raindance’s Boozin’ n Schmoozin’ Networking for Independent Filmmakers, London UK

FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Oct12024

Gladys Works In The Movies: Dry Ice Campfire

Crew and dry ice campfire

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Where is Deb?

Tue. Oct. 8 – Guest Speaker for Telefilm at the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF24), Vancouver BC

Wed. Oct. 9 – Women in Film & TV In-Person Networking for Production Managers hosted by Netflix, London UK

Mon. Oct. 14 – Raindance’s Boozin’ n Schmoozin’ Networking for Independent Filmmakers, London UK

And FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Sep152024

Inspiration at the Movies: Tintin

Referring to the villain named Mr. Sakharine in “The Adventures of Tintin” (2011):

“A sour-faced man with a sugary name” – Captain Haddock

“May I present Monsieur Shuggair Adetittiff” – Biance Castafiore

Ya gotta love these plays on words! They make the second layer of humour for adults in a movie whose primary audience is children. Kids enjoy other humorous elements in the story – especially from slapstick and coincidence – but the movie is layered in comedy. The witty elements, like saccharine/sugar references, connect with adults and older kids like a secret in plain sight. This witty layer adds to the movie’s marketing reach, and adds to its replayability as the audience makes new discoveries with each viewing.

Isn’t that what we do in life too: re-visit places we’ve been to before and add new layers of discoveries to our memories?

Ever been back to your old school and realized that the lockers you thought where tall are actually rather short? Ever spoken with one of your old teachers and learned a new perspective on events that happened to you or your class from years before? The new realization or perspective doesn’t replace your old memory, it adds a layer to the existing memory. You can remember it as if you were young, and you can remember it with a layer of adult insight.

Just as discovering the witty layer of humour in “The Adventures of Tintin” is like a rite of passage on our journey to maturity, so too is finding and adding layers of perspectives to old life experiences. How wonderfully complex and layered our lives!

Where are you inspired to re-visit in your life to add a new perspective?

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

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Where is Deb?

Mon. Sep. 16 – Guest Speaker at GEMS ETVP (Emerging TV Producers) Program, Vancouver BC

Tue. Oct. 8 – Guest Speaker for Telefilm at the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF24), Vancouver BC

Wed. Oct. 9 – Women in Film & TV In-Person Networking for Production Managers hosted by Netflix, London UK

Mon. Oct. 14 – Raindance’s Boozin’ n Schmoozin’ Networking for Independent Filmmakers, London UK

And FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Notebook-pen-blindfold
Sep62024

What I Learned About Writing from a Stroke

I’m finally back to writing my FILM blog. Besides being busy with the editing/publishing process of the next edition of “Film Production Management 101” (how exciting!), I’ve also been busy dealing with my mom’s stroke which she had this summer (not so exciting). She’s doing OK, BTW. Now, every stroke is different and my mom’s was certainly baffling to a number of us on the journey so far. What is interesting, though, is that I’ve learned two amazing discoveries about writing:

#1 – The ability to read and the ability to write are in different parts of the brain.

#2 – The ability to type and the ability to handwrite are in different parts of the brain.

You see, my mom can’t read or type (i.e. use a keyboard), but she oddly, can handwrite. And once she’s written something, she can’t read it. It’s kind of like handwriting with a blindfold on. Both strange and amazing, isn’t it?

Whod’ve thought reading and writing were so separate in the brain? Whod’ve thought that you could prove that writing on a computer is different from writing with pen and paper? My mom has proved it.

The inspiring element to this journey (beyond my mom’s spitfire dedication to re-learn to read), is that starting even from her hospital bed, she started writing. All those stories and children’s books she wanted to write over the years but never found the time, she wrote. Sure, they are messy handwritten first drafts but they are complete first drafts, story arc and all. And her spelling isn’t nearly as bad as she thinks it is.

Basically, she was forced to ignore the self-editor voice that gets in the way of writing with all kinds of corrections and judgements… because she couldn’t read what she’d written. Her only choice was to write forward. To shelve the self-editor voice. And she did. When she re-learns to read, she’ll have a body of work ready for editing and second draft. But it will be there. Pages and pages.

Makes you reflect that if you’re having trouble writing into a story on keyboard, it’s worth trying pen and paper. Mix it up and don’t let your self-editor have voice. Put on a literal or figurative blindfold if you need to. Be inspired by my spitfire of a mom and get that first draft written.

Cheers & a productive writing session to you,
Deb

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Where is Deb?

Mon. Sep. 16 – Guest Speaker at GEMS ETVP (Emerging TV Producers) Program, Vancouver BC

Tue. Oct. 8 – Guest Speaker for Telefilm at the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF24), Vancouver BC

And FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Deb writes PM101 3rd edition
Jun32024

Film Production Management 101: Third Edition Available for Pre-Order

At long last: the third edition! I’ve just completed a page-one rewrite on “Film Production Management 101” to bring it up-to-date again for this era of the Respectful Workplace and Sustainable Practices. In the meantime, my publisher (MWP Books) has already created the wonderful new book cover:

As for what is a “page-one” rewrite, here’s an example of the marked-up manuscript I sent in for publication:

The rest of the publishing process is still underway and the book’s publishing date is already set and on-schedule for January 28, 2025.

I’ve already been asked for pre-order links, so after a web search, I’ve found quite a number of them. Such an embarrassment of riches, there are so many that I can’t possibly list all the sites here, but I can provide you with a few… and some of them even have sale prices:

USA – Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Film-Production-Management-101-Coordination/dp/1615933603/

USA – IndieBound by Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/film-production-management-101-production-management-and-coordination-in-an-era-of-the-respectful-workplace-and-sustainable-practices/21074627

Canada – Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Film-Production-Management-101-Coordination/dp/1615933603/

Canada – Chapters-Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/film-production-management-101-production-management-and-coordination-in-an-era-of-the-respectful-workplace-and-sustainable-practices/9781615933600.html

Canada – Indie Book Stores (click “Shop Local” to find an indie bookstore near you): https://www.indiebookstores.ca/book/9781615933600/

UK – Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Film-Production-Management-101-Coordination/dp/1615933603/

I’ve also seen the new edition on presale in Germany, Spain and France. Let me know where you find it!

Future blog posts will provide you a further preview of the updated contents of the book. In the meantime,

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb