E R I K V I D A L: June 2005

Film Classes

Writer's Bootcamp
The best screenwriting course there is. One night a week for two months. The first step for any aspiring filmmaker.

New York Film Academy
Attend the one month Acting Workshop, followed by the two month Directing Workshop. Both courses are full-time committments, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Recommended only after completion of Writer's Bootcamp.

Hollywood Film Institute
A two day Producing Workshop. Recommended only after completion of the Acting and Directing Workshops at the New York Film Academy. Congratulations, you're now ready to make a feature film.

Higher Consciousness Classes

The Monroe Institute
A one week course, at the end of which you will leave, regardless of your belief system going in, with the absolute knowledge that your consciousness will survive physical body death. A life changing experience.

Landmark Education
Fifteen years of psychotherapy in 3 days. Reconciliation with the past. Also highly recommended.

The Pathwork Foundation
Transpersonal psychology with spiritualist leanings. Discovering the nature and source of one's own shadow. One-on-one work with a Helper over a number of years. Recommended only for those ready to make a substantial committment.

EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique
Remarkable, often seemingly miraculous healing technique, performed by simply tapping on various points throughout the body. Acupuncture without the needles. Instruction offered for free on web site.

The Omega Institute

New York Open Center

The CG Jung Foundation

Higher Consciousness Resources

Sacred Text Archive
A comprehensive archive of the world's great metaphysical texts.

Nirvikalpa
Selections from various channeled works.

Seth Center
The phenomenon that give birth to the New Age movement.

A Course in Miracles
The single most beautiful work I've encountered in my life thus far.

My, what a week it's been. Just back into Manhattan a few days ago, and find myself still recovering from not one but two escapades that I undertook in the last little bit: attending the "Healing Your Deepest Wound" workshop last weekend (in-depth post to follow), as well as, immediately after, heading on down to Florida to see my mother for the first time in quite a while (again, post to follow). Spent most of the weekend decompressing from the aforementioned--and in that vein, aside from the usual reading and ruminating over coffee at Mocca (as well as dinner on Saturday with M&M), I jumped at the chance to meet Sharon for a few martinis at the Chelsea Brewery last night, that we might simply catch up, veg, and watch the sunset for a few hours. Seems that Sharon has finally put most of her belongings into storage and is, just now, in the process of planning her upcoming roadtrip on June 15: SUV rented, sleeping bag and tent acquired, destination... Uknown. I find that I'm a bit envious, actually--as there's something very innocent and dream-like about tossing caution to the wind, hopping into a vehicle, and driving until you see where you end up (though she does have plans to get a bit of surfing in down south). I wished her the best of luck on her trip, and crossed my fingers that my own summer would, at the very least, provide for a bit of adventure as well. And on that note...

Signed up for Beginning Drawing and Fundamentals of Culinary Technique at the New School (never cooked a dish in my life, and figured it was about time that I remedied that...), as well as (in keeping with my "more adventure" resolve) Hang Gliding and White Water Rafting through the Adventure Society (details under "Now Enrolled In", at right). Also, would like to take Basic Sailing at the Manhattan Sailing School as well, but am waiting to get a group of four together before taking the plunge (any takers, let me know...).

More soon--in the meantime, photos from "Healing Your Deepest Wound" are now online (under "My Photos", also at right).

Bio

In 1999 I was the founder and CEO of Fragments of a Hologram Rose Inc., pioneering live video on the Internet, as well as the creator, producer, and director of the "Here and Now" webcast, the first ever live, uncut broadcast of real life to the Internet, full motion video and audio, 24/7.

I am now the CEO of the production company Academy Leader / Tears in Rain Inc., and am a writer and director of film. My work has been featured in print, online, and on radio and television throughout the world. I live in New York City.

(And yes, Gore Vidal is my uncle--though certainly our choice of writing subjects differs widely: he's the historical novelist, I'm the blockbuster sci-fi screenwriter.) Those who'd like to write can contact me at the e-mail link above.

Current

Writing Outside the Home
Thank God, I say, that spring has finally arrived here in NYC, and I can now wake up at a reasonably early hour without it being dark out at the same time. More daylight hours equals more writing hours for this working writer--an interesting switch for me to be sure, considering, not long ago, I tended to write from the early evening on into the wee hours of the night, falling into bed shortly thereafter...

I've recently joined The Writers Room on Broadway and 8th--a perfect 20 min walk from my place in Tribeca if the weather's nice, or an easy 2 subway stops on the R or the 6 if it isn't. A big open loft on the top floor of a beautiful old building, the WR has already proven to be a Godsend in just the few weeks I've been working here: before, I'd dread waking up in the morning, knowing that, after I showered up and downed my coffee, my commute was all of several feet to my workspace. Like: there it was, right there, there was no escaping it, and it would never, ever leave...

There's something about writing a few feet from where you eat, live, and sleep that can, over time, be subtly soul crushing, as if you're never off the clock, never truly free from it. (Many might argue that this is just the curse of being a writer: like having so many homework assignments that are never really finished, with more being added to the pile all the time...) But I'm finding now that a big part of this mindset was in fact simply because I had no separation between my writing life and "everything else"--now that I have some place to go every day, some excuse to get out of the house, I'm finding more and more that writing CAN be something to look forward to, provided it takes place at a different location altogether, you pre-schedule a set number of hours that you'll be working at said location each and every day, and when you leave, you're done. That's it. Anything else writing-wise that comes to mind for the rest of the day, it gets bumped to the next.

Professional athletes don't work out at home, they join a gym--and I'm now of the mind that writers should adopt the same attitude. As a result of my joining and commuting to the WR each day, I'm now enjoying perhaps the most disciplined writing schedule I've ever had: several unbroken hours a day, 7 days a week. Of course, being single and sober certainly helps--a year ago my evenings and weekends would've been obligated to a girlfriend, or to my drinking buddies, or what have you--now it's just the work and nothing else. (As Nietzsche put it: "Give my art and a little bread, I need nothing more.") Still, one has to live a little bit (even us writers!)--here's thinking I'll be getting back into reading the Tarot, learning rock guitar, and finally getting my motorcycle license, all in the months to come. More soon... (Spring 2011)

Now Working On

Videopolis
A down-on-his-luck video journalist accidently shoots a sadistic murder, then finds himself on the run in near-future New York City. Neo-noir cyberpunk thriller: "Blade Runner" meets "Chinatown". Winner QUARTERFINALIST in the Nicholl and SECOND PLACE OVERALL in Script magazine's "Open Door" script competition. A top writer at Dreamworks referred to it as "The best script we've read so far this year."

Champion
The inspiring true story of Paralympic athlete Joe Perez. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 6 months of age, Joe spends his entire life at the grueling task of simply learning to use his body. Overcoming every obstacle along the way, Joe repeatedly does the impossible: becoming the first person with CP to ever learn how to swim, the first to ever run a marathon, and ultimately, going on to become one of the world’s great powerlifting champions. “Rocky” meets “My Left Foot”.

The Godgame
Six strangers summoned to the home of an eccentric billionaire who, lying on his deathbed, has one thing to bestow upon each of them before he goes. Classic Hitchcockian tragedy in one room and in real-time, think: story by Agatha Christie, adapted for the screen by Ingmar Bergman, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Now my writerly and feature directorial debut, with fundraising in progress and shooting expected to commence soon.

I am Lost in Oceans of Light
The director of a world-famous live 24/7 glamour-opera falls in love with his star actress, yet can't reveal his feelings lest he jeopardize his masterpiece. Postmodern retelling of the classic Greek myth "Orpheus and Eurydice", told from the POV of Hades, God of the Underworld. Winner SEMIFINALIST in Creative Screenwriting magazine's "AAA" script competition. Originally slated to be my directorial debut, at a $2M budget "Oceans of Light" has since been pushed back to my second feature, with "The Godgame", at $200K, to be completed first.

Star Maker
A young orphan with seemingly magical abilities searches for his biological family in the far future. Epic fantasy space opera: "Star Wars"--as Stanley Kubrick would have done it. More on this one soon.

As always, those in the industry and/or who know me and would like to request material, simply use the contact e-mail above.