Long Time, No See....

Here goes my bi-annual post! I don't even know if anyone lurks around here, but I like to keep something updated.

First bit of news, I produced, directed and edited my first documentary, OPEN A NEW WINDOW. It was screened a month ago at the Kaufman Astoria Studios, and I received good responses to it. I still have some work to do with it before I unleash it to the world, but it's summertime.....I admit, I've been lazy.

Other than that I've been working mostly on corporate videos for an investor relations firm in NYC called Trilogy Capital Partners. I did such a good job, they made me Marketing Director and Vice President of the company. It's not what I want to do forever, but it's nice to make money, get health insurance and dabble a little bit in the video world. I did get trained in Final Cut Pro, so that's a big plus as well.

As for my personal life - I've fallen even more in love with this city, New York City that is. I still live in Astoria, but now with my boyfriend of 2 years. Sometimes I just can't believe that just a few years ago I was living in Texas slaving away on Fat Girls, unhappily married....and now I have this life. It's not everything I want, but I'm very happy here.

I plan to get back into the film/doc world soon. I just want to enjoy the fruits of my labor for a while.....

Rain rain go away.......

It really doesn't rain that often in New York City, but when it does, the city goes through a depression. Away from the mad tourist trap of Times Square, most residents of NYC actually do smile, or at least a glimmer of a smile is present in their eyes......except on days like today. It's dark, wet, cold....hard to maneauver around. Everyone's faces are masked by the ill-fitting umbrellas. People tend to drop their $3.75 Starbucks coffee more easily, like I just did while trying to close the umbrella as I was going through the swivelling door. Trust me, it doesn't work easily, and I rarely get Starbucks - maybe once a month.

But, even with the hardships of the weather here and the looming winter ready to give us a bitch-slap after the very mild summer.....I still love it here. I can't imagine being anywhere else, especially in the US. And especially during this year's elections - I am happy to be among like-minded people, rather than being stuck in crimson Texas, where they actually believe all the ridiculous rumors about Obama being a hush-hush, "arab". I am related to these people who believe this!!

People often ask me if I would ever move back to Dallas, and I say HELL NO! I love my friends and family, but I say again, HELL NO. I didn't care for it much while I lived there, so of course, after living in one of the greatest cities in the world, why would I go backwards. OK, some people it's perfect for them, cheap, and all that, but for me, no.

So, I think this weather really makes me reflect on this city and makes me forgive the flaws, even on depressing days like this.

The Apple of My Eye

Hola Todos,

I am learning Spanish now - so I'll thrown in a bit of espanol every now and then......

SO - what has been going on in my life since the last post in forever?

I am still very smitten with NYC.  This city is a tough city to survive in, but it just takes a lot of patience (A LOT), dedication and passion to make it.  I am lucky that I have a lot of great friends who are extremely supportive and believe in me, even when at times I wasn't believing enough in myself.

By the way - you must check out the movie HOME for those of you New York City lovers - www.homethemovie.com - it's a beautiful love letter to the city, especially for those who know how tough it is to make it here. I watched the movie a couple of weeks ago with my boyfriend and the next day we walked from 215th and Broadway (up in Harlem), the tip of Manhattan all the way down to the Saten Island Ferry. It took us most of the day (10 AM to 7 PM), but we stopped along the way, had brunch, a couple of beers here and there. It was an awesome experience going through all the barrios and seeing the different cultures along the way. HIGHLY recommended to do this in the city.

Spring is here, yay! I absolutely love this time of year (when it's not raining).   The winter wasn't all that bad here,  but it's nice to have the sunshine and green trees back.

- What's happened since the last posting - the doc, THROUGH THICK AND THIN was picked up by 7th Art Releasing for US distribution. We're very excited about that, so it'll be coming to a theater near you sometime later this year. We just got back from the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and had a fabulous time there.

- Ash Christian, director of FAT GIRLS was nominated for a LOGO AWARD, which we are attending next week, it airs on June 7th online and on LOGO NETWORK, which is the gay network owned by MTV NETWORKS.

- Ash and I are working on another project called PETUNIA, which is sort of a sequel to FAT GIRLS - about an awkward 20 year old gay kid, Charlie Petunia, whose family owns a funeral home in NJ and moves out to NYC to explore his gayness (channelling Rodney Miller from FGs).

Not much else to report except I'm happy and love my life here in the big apple!

Adios!

- Kim

Happily Ever Astoria......

Hola,

It's been ha, so long since I posted....isn't that the start of every post lately? Well good people, I have LANDED in ASTORIA, NY as my home base, which is about 10 minutes from the hustle and bustle of the always magical NEW YORK CITY. I love it here - I'm a block away from the river and an amazing natural park. I even started riding a BIKE, which I haven't done in probaly 15 years, thanks to a special friend who encouraged me to start riding ;-)

This year has been extremely hectic and I've been enjoying a bit of peace and settling in lately. So very quickly summarizing everything - I quit my job in Santa Monica in February, sublet my apartment there for four months (until end of June), came to NY March 1st for six weeks where I worked on a documentary for the Astoria Performing Arts Center while staying with friends filming senior citizens preparing for a musical revue. We're now in editing mode. Then, end of April until the end of May, I ended up in Syracuse, NY where I line produced a feature film with Steven Bauer (Scarface, Traffic) and Bar Refaeli (Leo Dicaprio's GF). I didn't care much for Syracuse (not much to do there), but I did love the surrounding areas and natural parks....beautiful country. I also got to visit Niagra Falls - taking the boat into the falls is an incredible experience no words can sufficiently describe. Everyone must do this in their lifetime. After that, came back to NY for a week and headed back to Los Angeles to pack up my things to move out to NY. I know, I was in LA for less than a year and moved to the east coast - read my last post to understand my decision. While I was in LA for less than 2 weeks (packing was so much fun ;-)) - I went to San Francisco for the premiere of the doc with the director Sebastian Cordoba, THROUGH THICK AND THIN - which had a screening to over 700 people at the Castro Theater. It was awesome and makes me feel so good to be a part of something that is meaningful!! The film has gone on to win awards at other film festivals - very exciting.

Now, I've been here for almost 2 months - my OWN place, no roommates......I love it, my own place in 10 years since I've lived alone and it's so liberating. I never get lonely because I am so busy all the time. I love my little apartment. Rent here is much cheaper than in the city and I got really lucky.

Since I've been back, been working on development for another film with the director Dani Menkin called WISDOM OF THE PRETZEL, a remake of the Israeli cult film. Looks like it's going to be shot in the spring of next year. Lastly, also working on a Global Warming Awareness benefit with some bands in NY for Sept 8 (www.myspace.com/tempcheck) is the event.

LASTLY and NOT LEAST - FAT GIRLS is going to be in theaters in October!! It's been a LONG process, but we've finally managed to make it happen, so checkout the website for release info: www.fatgirlsmovie.com

THAT in a nutshell has been my life lately. I've also discovered some interesting bits about the city - parties at the PS1 and the Water Taxi Beach Party in Queens (ha, I know a beach in Queens, it's man-made, but the view is to die for at night)....right on the water, and postcard view of the Manhattan skyline like you've never seen before. Thanks to new friends who've been showing me around this great city.

I think that people who live in and LOVE NYC are the ones I like to be around the most. You have to look for the beauty, it's not given to you like in Santa Monica where it's all beautiful, doesn't leave anything up to the imagination......I think I'll be here for a very long time.

Puh Peace!!

LA vs NYC

I hope everyone is well and having a progressive 2007 so far!!

Los Angeles versus New York City......there is no comparison, they are NIGHT and DAY.

LA has the amazing beautiful sunny weather, the beach, Hollywood, the "beautiful" healthy people and the laid-back attitude. It's also the movie-making mecca of the world - perfect for my career.

NYC has the fast-paced life, the culture, intellectual people from all walks of life, easy public transportation, Central Park, and passion for life. And not to mention, a strong close-nit independent film community.

On the flip side, LA has the hideous traffic, hard to have a meeting with anyone outside of 5 miles, very "hollywood" attitude, not as much passion about the stories being told, intellegent cultured people. I have found this "utopic" lifestyle very boring and just a little too laid back for me. Plus it's more "studio" films out here, not as many independent filmmakers, and if there are, they are working commercial or music video and get sucked into it.

In New York, you have the extreme hot/cold weather, it's hard to get around if you're carrying anything (groceries, etc.), and the people are a bit colder there, more abrubt. Not as big of a film community, as it's more independent films rather than studio films.

Both are expensive places to live, but get more for the dollar in California than NYC in terms of living space and quality of life.

So, you're probably wondering - why this debate.......

I have lived out in Los Angles for 7 months now, and I was hesitant to live the LA lifestyle before I came, so I probably manifested this to happen anyway. So, I am finally going to follow my true heart's desire...which was to live in NYC. I tried it out once last year when I was there for 2 months during Tribeca Film Festival, but I wasn't ready yet. But after spending a total of about 5 weeks there in several visits over the past several months......I just realized more and more how much more I feel at home there and I see the opportunities there as well, even more so than LA.The kind of film career path I want and film companies I want to work with are in the BIG APPLE. Plus I have more friends there and the type of people I want to spend TIME with.

I'll keep you posted, but the move should happen very very soon!!

Still Alive in Sunny (chilly?!) California

Hello ALL and ANYONE who actually reads this blog:

I am still alive and kicking in Santa Monica, CA. I have been hibernating from everyone and even from myself. Just been a big change for me to move out to LA for the first time away from family and friends. It's been tough, but I am hanging in there. I have travelled a lot, especially to New York City, the place I love!

I just got back from Dallas and it was kind of weird being back there. OH, I should update that I got a job in Santa Monica producing and coordinating these sort of mini-documentary videos that will eventually be live on Yahoo! - Starting Dec 21, if you go to: www.capessa.com, you'll see them all there. It's alright, nothing to jump pee in my pants over, but it pays the bills, so I can't complain!

So, back to Dallas.....it was weird. Last time I was there was in August. In some ways I do miss it because it was safe. I was safe with my friends and family there, but I know moving out here was the best thing for me to do.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and will have a prosperous new year!

Sincerely,
Kim

Where has Kim gone???

So much has happened this year. Where did the last few months go???

IF anyone is still lurking on this website, checking for updates.....I apologize profusely.

Here is a blast email that I sent out to everyone, so you can see what exactly I have been up to this year!

I sincerely apologize for being out of the loop most of this year. It's been a wild ride this year for me - my 30th year! To summarize it all the movie I produced, FAT GIRLS premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in NYC in April and it's been a whirlwind ever since. Since then, we have been in festivals all over and I have also travelled to some of the festivals. We are CLOSE to making a sale and will be working on new projects soon. In addition, I was figuring out where is the best place for me to live that will benefit my career - so it was NYC or LA.

New York City was my first choice, which I thought was the best option at the time, and after spending 2 months there this year, I decided that Los Angeles was the place for me to be at this time in my career. Since February, I have been travelling all over to New York, back to Dallas, back to New York for 6 weeks, and living in my mom's house or hotels or sublets, etc., not really having a home for a very long time.....so, June 21, I drove from Dallas to Los Angeles in a 17-foot U-Haul Truck and towed my car with my brother. A very LONG and interesting ride I must say. We decided to take the scenic route on Hwy 40 through Arizona and New Mexico, but of course with the mountains reaching 5,000 feet, I watched the gas guage move as I was climbing up the steep mountains and nearly freaking out as I was going downhill trying to steer everything. Poor Josh (my brother) had a tough job trying to keep me calm through all of this. After 3 days of driving and extremely exhausted, we finally arrived at my new apartment in Santa Monica, 3 blocks from the beach - and all my furniture intact. I was sad to see Josh leave just after 4th of July, especially since I haven't lived more than 4 hours away from friends or family!!

My new roomate, Ash Christian, director of Fat Girls and I are now enjoying our place. I love the lifestyle here - as I take FULL advantage of walking around and hate when I have to get into the car to drive into the city....which really isn't that far. I am 3 blocks from the 3rd Street Promenade with all the restaurants and shops and 3 blocks from the beach. Not too shabby ;-) You are welcome to visit me anytime you want!

Another thing I am involved with right now is writing a children's book with a special someone in New York City - called THE PIRATE AND THE MERMAID. It's a unique and touching story based on a real story about two people overcoming their own obstacles and finding themselves within each other. A band called The Intersession is also writing rock and roll music to go along with the story. It's a wonderful project. Once we get something close to final, I will send to everyone.

Take care!
- KIM