“Time in the Minors” available on DVD

Time in the Minors

Two Players.
One Dream

A film by Tony Okun

Every year in June approximately 1500 new players out of high school and college are chosen from the amateur baseball draft and sent to play in the minor leagues. Trying to make it in the fiercely competitive world of professional baseball can make or break you. “Time In The Minors” documents the lives and passionate dreams of two minor league players on their arduous journey to becoming Major League Baseball players. John Drennen (19), a High School All-American from San Diego, California was selected in the first round of the 2005 amateur baseball draft by the Cleveland Indians and offered a one million dollar signing bonus. 2006 will mark John’s first full season in professional baseball. Tony Schrager (28), a 1998 and 6th-round draft pick out of Omaha, Nebraska is an 8-year veteran of the minor leagues. The 2006 season may be Tony’s last shot to make it.

Click here to view the trailer.
“A timeless and compelling film; I loved it!”
-Craig Calcaterra
(NBC Sports.com)

“I really enjoyed this great
documentary.”
-Tim Kurkjian (ESPN)

“Baseball fans will
love this film!”
-Chuck Murr (Editor, Indians Ink Magazine)

Writer’s Block in San Francisco

I am currently on a shoot in San Francisco.  I’m primarily here to conduct interviews and tape B-roll for a series of short videos.  In an effort to complete another project due at the end of the week, I am writing scripts in my “downtime.”

I have nothing against San Francisco, but I am jet lagged, miss my family, had to change rooms at 2:30 in the morning because of water dripping from the ceiling onto my bed and, if I may be blunt, my gastronomic system is a little backed up.  None of this has put me in the mood to come up with pithy and energetic host script copy.  So what to do?

I’ve devised a few tactics over the years to help me continue writing even when I really don’t want to.  A deadline is a deadline. So it’s handy to have a cadre of tricks to help bust through that block when necessary.

• Dance to fast music – This is my number one, go-to block buster.  I put on one song with a driving beat, sing loudly and dance passionately.  For me, this is a shortcut to meeting my muse because I totally leave the writing behind for 5-minutes and come back refreshed and energized.
• Take a chore break – If I am at home, I find it helpful to work on rhythmic activities like washing dishes or folding clothes while my sub-conscious works on the work. I almost always come up with an exciting breakthrough this way.  If I am in an office, I might clean my desk or do some filing, anything to keep my hands busy but my mind free.
• Walk away from the writing – Get out and take a walk.  This is another way to get the blood pumping and the words flowing.
• Go over the top – Write wild and crazy, over the top stuff.  Try alliterations or some rapping and rhyming. It’s fun and you just might come up with ideas that make the final draft.
• Check out a list of clichés – If I am having difficulty with a subject matter, I often look up a list of clichés on the internet.  Yes they are staid but they can also be entertaining. And even better yet, they can help me get a grasp on concepts in a focused and fun way.
• Get help – I have a couple of producer friends that I can call or email with a problem section and they help me work it out with a fresh eye.  I do the same for them. It’s kind of like having a writing elf.  And let’s face it, two heads are better than one.

In this particular San Francisco block, I’ve elected to write something else, something that I know would flow – this blog. It’s been fun and I’m feeling ramped up to continue the writing-for-hire.  If you have any other tricks let me know. I’ll post them and maybe try them next time. Happy writing!