I wrote, produced, and directed a movie in 2006-2007 titled American Dream: The Gen X Perspective. My intent at the time was to make a documentary, but it ended up a collection of individual, personal definitions and impressions of what some friends and acquaintances believed the American Dream to be. I had plans to make two additional films that explored the definitions and views of the Baby Boomers and The Greatest Generation, but the opportunities never really developed, so the treatments for the films disappeared into my file cabinet never to be viewed again.
I poured my heart and soul into American Dream: The Gen X Perspective for more than a year and a half when all was said and done and I was very proud of the final cut of the film. There were some issues with the presentation not to mention some problems from a technical standpoint, but I was, and still am, quite proud of the final product.
In a way, Uncommon Karma is meant to be the spiritual successor to AD:TGEP. Early in the planning stages of the film I wanted to see if there were other people out there with similar ideas and views to my own – that we had been raised to believe on some level that we could achieve anything in this amazing country of ours but when our time came we had no fucking clue what to do with our moment and more important, we didn’t have any interest in seizing said moment. To this day I still believe that to be true.
Uncommon Karma is a personal journal of sorts, a peek into how I see the world, my thoughts on the entertainment I enjoy, the projects I’m working on, and life in general. In the coming weeks, months, and, with a little luck, years my plan is to share mini-documentaries of friends and their lives, reviews of video games I’m playing at any given time, the occasional review of a movie or TV show, and as stated in an earlier blog, my health and fitness goals from time to time.
This month I turn 44. I don’t have a lot to show for my first act. I had a lot of laughs, spent a lot of money, lost a lot of money, made some fantastic friends, managed to get lost in Academia for more time than I care to admit, and just did my own thing. There isn’t much to hang my hat on, but that’s okay, I’m at the start of my second act, and I’m just getting warmed up.
Regards,
John
Uncommon Karma 