Santa Barbara

This weekend I was lucky enough to attend the twenty-fifth annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which takes place over ten days in February. Now, any excuse to go to Santa Barbara is a good one, but this festival was fun. I could only afford two movies, Kimjongilia and The Desert of Forbidden Art, both documentaries, but both blew me away. Although I am a features man myself, storytelling is key to both the documentary and the feature film. Let’s face it, the best documentaries tell the best stories. And the best stories always come from the best characters. Who can forget the bear-obsessed Tim Treadwell in Herzog’s Grizzly Man, for example? Or President Bush in Fahrenheit 9/11? Impossible.

Desert of Forbidden Art

Let’s talk about The Desert of Forbidden Art, which had an immensely interesting story and cast. Igor Savitsky, a disgraced artist at the beginning of the Soviet regime, travels to rural Uzbekistan to start an art museum. He effectively collects and preserves thousands of “forbidden” artworks that would otherwise be destroyed by Stalin. As we learn in the doc, most of the artists met bad ends, whether in the gulag, or extreme poverty, but their work lives on today. This is thanks to Marinika Babanazorova, the current curator, who has valiantly worked under repression and obscurity to preserve and take care of this priceless art.

The people of Uzbekistan live under political repression, and it is truly heroic Babanazorova would go to such great lengths to keep the collection together, even saying no to megabucks from Western collectors. Some stand-outs include Nadezhda Borovaya’s pencil sketches smuggled out of the gulag showing the deprivations of camp life. A truly great movie with moving subjects. More people should see it.

I will describe the next film briefly. A quick note, I am actually an intern at this film’s production company, so obviously, I already liked this one. Kimjongilia is a movie that chronicles the horrors of Kim Jong Il’s concentration camps. It is a subject so sickening that it is really hard to watch. Director NC Heiken interviews several defectors (from the camp and North Korea itself) who tell about the horrors on the inside of this walled-in state. Could you imagine being born into a concentration camp? Or purged simply because your grandfather said something against the government? Sent to die because you mistreated a likeness of Kim Jong Il? These things happen every day in North Korea, a country so sick that people who try to escape are almost invariably shot. I was lucky enough to hear a panel discussion with the director, who is continuing her advocacy on behalf of the North Korean people even after finishing the project.

Kimjongilia

So, that was my weekend. Not exactly fun but I saw a good pair of docs. As for other stuff, well, I ran along the beach, and decided Santa Barbara has to be the greatest city on Earth—while my dad was being pelted with snow in Washington, I was enjoying the beach, in February. Who knew such things were possible?

Freelancing, Part 2

So, I have been writing for LAist.com and recently my second article was published here.

I am glad I got to cover Better Off Dead, it’s the sort of simple teen movie that is quirky enough to be funny, but never loses its tenderness either. Protagonist Lane Meyer (played by the inimitable John Cusack) is potentially suicidal after getting dumped by his girlfriend. This should be a depressing movie, but it is also filled with life and humor. The teenagers are not goofballs, either, in fact they’re just like adults but with a lot less inhibitions. Equally impressed with Woody Allen and Hanna-Barbera, Holland’s work is both cartoonish and epic; it must have influenced a lot of directors working now. And what other director would place a montage of singing hamburgers in the middle of a movie?

It’s also indexed on Google News, so if anyone wanted to find out what’s up with Savage Steve Holland, I would potentially come up. This is definitely a cool part of being published online. Between writing screenplays and receiving rejection letters, it’s nice to have a writing hobby like freelancing.

Cover Letter Blahs

So, I have been on the job hunt now for a couple of months and I am finally beginning to reevaluate my methods of finding a job. For example, like many, I cut and paste from several cover letters to personalize them for every position I apply to. Only now did I actually look at what I was sending. Geez, talk about never getting a call back, like, ever.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am applying to work as an office manager at Spago restaurant. I graduated from Swarthmore College with an honors degree in History and a concentration in Spaghetti this May and moved to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment, food service, journalism, and restaurant fields. I currently am an intern at a production company that deals with social issues and the restaurant industry. Their most recent offering dealt with pasta abuse in the third world. I appreciate entertainment and sports celebrities who are socially conscious and give tips, and that is the reason I am especially excited to work for your firm.

I have worked behind a desk, most recently as an assistant at my school’s Career Services office in 1999. There I answered phones, slept, and took down messages, collated documents, and worked with Excel to create databases of students who happened to walk through the door, mistaking it for the Registrar. I am comfortable typing at an efficient pace and have extensive computer knowledge, including Photoshop and Final Cut Pro; I also chop like a pro. I am excellent with time management, and led the school’s humor magazine into the ground for the past two years as editor-in-chief. I know how to keep a busy office organized and will do everything in my power to make a smoothie.

Additionally, I have worked as a tutor for several years where I taught music and advanced pesto. I am qualified to teach marinara in several states, including New Mexico and New Jersey, but not Rhode Island, where my license is pending.

This would be my first experience in the restaurant industry, but I am very excited to learn; I want you and Wolfgang Puck to teach me every aspect of the industry. My resume is below. I look forward to hearing from Wolfie soon. I am available for an interview every day of the week and the next and the next until I die or lose interest in your firm.

Hugs,

Jonathan

My Buddy Wolfgang

Top Ten Films of the Decade

Punch-Drunk Love

OK, here goes, a very unscientific approach to my favorite films and directors of the otts, or whatever the heck we called them. I know that there were certain trends in cinema, genre, comic books, adolescent fiction (ala Harry Potter), adolescent Judd Apatow-inspired comedy, but you know what, I hate trends to begin with. So I picked my favorites because I actually liked watching them.

10. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson: 2002)

Adam Sandler can’t act. But he can play an unbelievably good loser and in this movie he is tops. Paul Thomas Anderson’s deftness of touch is particularly attractive in this comedy, in terms of pacing, dialogue, and aesthetics. It is not a great movie, but it is an enjoyable ride, and its emotional honesty affects me. In its simple brilliance, it is much more on point than many other films I saw this decade. By not doing too much, Anderson did the impossible, he made a comedy elegant. Oh and check out Jon Brion’s marvelous score.

9. Be Kind Rewind (Gondry: 2008)

Michel Gondry is a genius. I actually enjoyed all of his movies this decade—but for some reason this one stuck with me. It is a movie about the movies and how our enjoyment of them extends beyond the watching but in the living of their story-worlds. It seems particularly poignant in the age of user-produced content when a movie’s shelf life is well beyond six months. “Sweding” isn’t simply a concept in the movie, for many on youtube it’s a way of life. This is a film that celebrates film and its purpose to make sense of our lives and give us meaning.

8. American Splendor (Berman and Pulcini: 2003)

American Splendor

I unabashedly identify with Harvey Pekar, so it is hard for me to look at this movie objectively. But in directors Berman and Pulcini’s emotional treatment of Pekar’s story-life, we learn as much about ourselves as we do Pekar. It’s a funny movie about serious things, including autobiography, reality versus fiction, and performance. The directors treat Pekar’s life with respect, making the story’s message of triumph in the face of mediocrity all the more poignant. To make the epic out of the everyday is this movie’s true gift and what makes this movie so special to me. What also draws me to this film is Paul Giamatti’s performance—his sensitivity, ability to be charming, petulant, and finally funny is exceptional.

7. Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson: 2007)

Wes Anderson is one of those directors who feels the need to impress his audience. Whether it’s the furniture, the bubbly dialogue, or the silly set-pieces, it will never be enough for Anderson to simply sit down with a camera and enjoy his actors. But here he comes close and for this I applaud him. I already think he is one of the best directors of the decade, but here he lays it on the line. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, one train compartment, some backstory about loss, you wouldn’t think it runs, but it does. Anderson already has such a marvelous vision, but he needs to take a step back sometimes, and in this movie, he almost does. I connected with these characters more than any Tenenbaum or Zissou. Maybe that was the reason he chose India—to travel that far from his comfort zone, it is difficult to come back.

6. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore: 2004)

This is a stellar piece of film-propaganda, its only failing is that the war in Iraq didn’t end after this. If anyone had lost the belief that film can convince people or change their minds about something, I had more conversations about the Iraq war after seeing this film than any time before (even during the initial plans to attack). If nothing else, this movie validates my respect for film to change people’s minds.

5. Spirited Away (Miyazaki: 2001)

Studio Ghibli restores my faith in two-dimensional animation. Director Hayao Miyazaki created an anime masterpiece, one whose lyrical reach and imaginative horizons are limitless. When other studios are creating soulless rubbish for the quick tween buck (cough Hannah Montana cough) Miyazaki dared tell a story whose depth and wonder does not talk down to teens but instead respects them.

4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Coens: 2000)

I don’t know what to say about this movie that has not already been said, but the Coen Brothers are titans of the craft and this was perhaps their best story yet. It is a testament to their vision that the soundtrack to this movie spawned a revival of old time blues and Americana music. It is the rare director who can inspire people’s music habits—but let’s face it, anyone who has inhabited their Southern gothic story-world would do anything to return. Maybe not as an ex-convict like Everett, but you know, it would have been cool to hear the Soggy Bottom Boys live at least once.

3. Good Bye, Lenin! (Becker: 2003)

Often movies and memories are inextricably linked. I remember seeing this movie the day after I graduated high school; the feeling of freedom, both my own and the movie’s depiction of post-bloc East Germany still stays with me. But another current, nostalgia, sticks, too. Alex is as much excited about the way things are now as he is depressed about the loss of that old socialist world. Somehow the broadcasts he makes for his mother (who because of a coma still thinks East Germany exists) are as much therapy for her as for him. Director Becker’s ability to evoke both of these emotions, both within his characters and his cast, is remarkable. When I watched that movie I realized life would never be the same; boy, was I ever right.

2. Avatar (Cameron: 2009)

I put Avatar on my list because I think it is both of its time and well beyond it. James Cameron created a sci-fi universe whose scope is essentially out of this world. And within that story is a very topical message: protect our resources, because they are precious. I keep watching this film’s returns at the box office, and now it has edged out Titanic for first-place, highest-grossing movie ever. Let’s face it, Cameron is the D.W. Griffith or early Steven Spielberg of our time, a man whose vision extends and encompasses more than the very medium of the movies. Not only has he reinvigorated the world’s interest in cinema, he has reintroduced the concept of film as an immersive environment through his use of 3D photography. It remains to be seen how else he will change and influence the movies, but who knew Cameron could pull it off this decade. The story is corny, the plotting boring, but the message is clear: good movies have great directors, and Cameron is the greatest.

1.     Up (Docter: 2009)

Up

Look, I could give a million reasons why Up is number one on my list, but here’s the big one, it convinced me that computer animation is a worthwhile medium. Even Toy Story didn’t do that for me. Up tells a story that is so poignant, so sweet that it is impossible to find fault. When we thought the big studio model was dead in Hollywood, Pixar brought us a vision so singular and well-crafted that it could come from only one studio in Emeryville. And it made me cry. Who knew a quiet, simple children’s story about an old man, a house, and a bunch of balloons could do that to me? Let’s face it, the movies have changed. We have moved from animators laboring over soundless serials to colorful 3D spectacles—but something didn’t change, the movies’ ability to inspire, to empathize, and to imagine a world quite different than our own. If Up is the next century’s answer to Steamboat Willie, then I am happy to float on.

Telling Details

Jafar from Aladdin

When I read screenplays the first thing I look for is a story. Sure, I love descriptions of flowers, trees, etc., but let’s face it, how much fun is a still life? Next I look for well-sketched characters, the kind who seem human, you know, with flaws, nervous tics, back stories, that kind of thing. If you have an interesting setting, that’s a plus, too. Don’t just set your story in Philadelphia, make it funky South Philly, or the still quite colonial Old Town, or the preppy University City. Do something, just don’t risk making it generic.

But what really makes me love a movie are the telling details. These are pieces of dialogue, scraps of description that tell me the author has worked hard at creating the story-world of the screenplay. In a tossed-off sentence the writer reveals more about the story than a page of text.

My favorite example of telling detail comes from Disney’s Aladdin, which features one of the best Disney villains, Jafar. Just as Aladdin finishes his grand entrance to Agrabah, the rechristened Prince Ali approaches the royal advisor who begins to question him.

Jafar: Where did you say you were from?

Aladdin: Oh, you wouldn’t have heard of it.

Jafar: Try me.

In this single second we see two sides of Jafar, the curious diplomat and well-seasoned traveler, as well as the sinister jerk who is trying to suss out this newcomer. He has been everywhere, but we don’t learn why, either. He is mysterious; but the audience can tell that hidden behind this idle curiosity is a Faustian desire to know things only for selfish reasons. I think at this point Jafar begins to realize Prince Ali’s true identity.

OK, time for a less villainous example. This comes from the last line of Goodfellas, another classic that is required viewing. These are the final words of the movie. Sorry to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but Henry gets placed in Witness Protection after ratting out his fellow goodfellas in a plea bargain.

Henry Hill: Today everything is different; there’s no action… have to wait around like everyone else. Can’t even get decent food – right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody… get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.

What I love about the last line is the part about the spaghetti. It seems to sum up all of Henry’s life as a gangster. He has tried so hard for an authentic experience only to be left with “egg noodles and ketchup.” It’s an earthy letdown but one that reveals his human side. No matter what he tries, where he goes, he can never live up to “spaghetti with marinara” and he is “an average nobody.” If this doesn’t get to the heart of his character’s flaw, I don’t know what else could—a modern day Cain stricken with not a mark on the forehead but crummy pasta on the plate.

Finally, this telling detail comes from my first screenplay, My Father the Agent, which continues to go unsold. Agents, I am warning you, this script heats up by the day—please take it off my hands before it burns down the apartment.

Joking aside, this line comes from the final act. Danny has worked his entire life to not be his conman father, and then after a summer with him in San Francisco, he realizes he is becoming him. This line comes from his aunt Carol to her son Adam; both have been tricked into believing Danny is making a movie. Just as Danny is filming an appearance with a local talk show host, the fraud comes out.

Carol: What did you expect with the dad he has?

This is the moment Danny realizes how far he has come from his old dad-denying self. Now he must reconcile those two versions of himself and find who he truly is. For the last fifteen years he has been denying he is his father’s son, but now he realizes he is—if only because he is thoroughly disliked by the rest of the family. And he has to accept that. I won’t give away the movie, but this leads to a climactic last scene.

These details do not have to be anything profound, don’t get me wrong. Some just add to the overall picture of the character. In Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Pee Wee is missing a bike, not an SUV, Hummer, or Honda. This tells us a lot about his character, mainly his almost creepy love of all things childish.

What are some telling details you like? Why? Which ones come readily to mind?

Good News…Finally

OK. So, this blog has gotten pretty dark over the past few weeks, and I’m sorry for that. So, here’s some good news, finally:

An article I wrote just appeared on Collegenews.com:

http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/careers/how_to_make_a_career_change_8523890458902390

As I consider making a career change after college, I might as well cover it, right? And I continue to blog on Grockit.com, an online test prep website:

http://blog.grockit.com/collegeprep/

Scroll a bit, people, I am there.

Anyway, if I could, I would freelance for a living, but unfortunately, that’s not financially reasonable, yet. I love the freedom of freelancing, the ability to write and rewrite and imagine an article until I can get it right. I also like the flexibility it offers in terms of my schedule. It’s nice to wake up in the morning, roll out of bed, log onto the computer and write something. What could ever be better than that?

This is all making me reconsider whether I ever want to be a personal assistant, production assistant, or any other type of entry level person in the entertainment industry. Why? There are ways to break in, and I know for me it will never be by serving coffee. I don’t even like coffee! Then again, you have to get out there and meet people if you ever want to make it. I wish there were another way—where are all the openings for staff writers? Oh well.

Why I Hate Log Lines

Why Log Lines Are Stupid

So, I finished my second screenplay this Friday. It’s a story about a family dealing with the effects of the 2002 Washington D.C. Beltway snipers and the siege that accompanied it. If you are not familiar with that October in Washington D.C., then read the Wikipedia, it is actually quite informative. My story details several different members of one family, dad, son, daughter, and their peregrinations through one terrible day in October. It’s about a lot of things, the toxic effect of the media, suicide, teenagers, drugs, mental illness, but mainly how we manage to live with violence and how it affects families.

And now I have to think up a log line, a one or two sentence summary of the plot and characters, and this is tough. Sure, I have whipped the story into screenplay-shape and I am prepared to write a synopsis, even a treatment, but a sentence I can’t do. The story is just too big for a sentence, and I don’t feel like condensing or abbreviating it for the sake of a sale. This is my movie, the only ninety-three page PDF I would protect with my life. And it’s just too big for tweet-length.

I do not think that’s a bad thing, either. In fact, I’m quite proud that I haven’t succeeded in writing the log lines. Let’s face it, some great log lines make terrible movies:

Example #1: A San Francisco couple, Brad and Kate usually spend the holidays somewhere exotic, but after fog grounds every plane at the airport, they are obligated to visit their extended families, all four of them; as they meet their extended family, they learn how truly different they are and reconsider whether this relationship is right.

Example #2: Sherlock Holmes must solve a case that baffles all of London when the recently hanged satanic Lord Blackwood returns from the dead to terrorize the city and kill Holmes.

Example #3: Super-intelligent monkeys!

The first example is Four Christmases, and let’s face it, even that log line makes it sound terrible. There’s no saving that one. Sherlock Holmes (2009), however sweet the logline, was so poorly paced and dense, I felt obligated to apologize to my mom after taking her to the movies. And three, well, you would think Congo would be an awesome movie, but it was one of the greatest cinematic failures ever, as everyone who has seen that movie would attest.

My point is larger than that, though. Now a big disclaimer: I am not comparing my movie to Seinfeld, but who could possibly write a convincing log line to that? Remember, before the show, Jerry was a semi-successful comic who had appeared on a few sitcoms and The Tonight Show and not much else. How could he possibly sell it with a sentence or two? As Larry David said, it is a show about nothing. That’s the log line. Nothing ever happens to George, Jerry, Kramer, or Elaine on the show, and yet it is invariably hilarious. You would have to read a script to understand the many coincidences, funny characters, comic maneuvers, and dialogue that makes this a gem.

Don’t judge a book by its cover and don’t judge a screenplay by its logline. Unfortunately, a snappy sentence or two will make or break whether anyone wants to read it. But if you really have to convince someone with a sentence, is it worth it? Not when a screenplay is ninety to a hundred and twenty minutes and not a quatrain.

What do you think?

“Beauty’s Only Skin Deep” by the Temptations, a song that inspired this post.

Quickie Review: Arise and Sing!

The Play Was Also Performed in Yiddish in the 1930s

Yes, they’re celebrities, but can they act?

This week the L.A. Theatre Works puts on Clifford Odets’ 1935 masterpiece Awake and Sing! at the Skirball Center in the Sepulveda Pass. This is a part of a weekly series of radio broadcasts for NPR and features some big names. For example, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Kind, Jane Kaczmarek, and even Ben Gazzara, Mr. Lebowski from The Big Lebowski.

But names don’t matter to me. Acting does. That written, Awake and Sing! is such a tight, well-constructed play, it is almost impossible to do wrong. Shunned because of Odets’ questionable involvement with the House Un-American Activities Committee, the play lived in semi-obscurity for many years, only to be revived on Broadway in 2006 with a production that won several Tonys. The play today still feels fresh and vital, Odets’ masterful story of a Bronx family in the midst of the Depression could be pretty much set today. Daughter gets pregnant, son has ambitions to move out but can’t afford it, grandpa is depressed, none of these scenarios feels old-fashioned. The dialogue has an emotional resonance that connects audiences of any generation, though, to a pretty heartfelt story.

So, let’s talk about the acting. This being a radio play, the actors were under a severe handicap; instead of being able to move about, block, emote, or anything else, all they really did was speak, stand up, and sit down. Of course, for what they could do—project, they tried to match the intensity of the script. Most of the actors, like Mark Ruffalo and Ben Gazzara, had performed this on Broadway, after all. But what was missing was a clear sense of pacing and cohesion throughout the play; the actors only had a week to rehearse after all, and it takes time, months often, to build a solid level of teamwork among the cast. All of the cast worked hard to portray a working class Jewish family; that any of them could pull it off was commendable; for all of them to would be nearly a miracle.

Nevertheless, it was a great experience. It’s hard to imagine life in the Bronx during winter in Southern California, any time of year. But there are other aspects of the script—the down economy, the dysfunctional family, the longing to be free of this dysfunctional family—that seemed ageless to me.

Learning to Laugh

I am taking another improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade. I really like the new instructor, he has an attitude toward comedy that’s more analytic than the way I have been taught. For example, this exercise: He told us to first of all, laugh, and then after investigate the reasons why. He told us it would ruin the way we enjoy comedy and it’s true, it is difficult to be analytical about something that is so instinctive, but I have really treasured this activity.

It’s been a tough week getting back from Michigan. I turned down my first job offer—I want to work in entertainment but I also want to afford my apartment. I also decided not to return to grad school this year, for the simple reason I don’t really want to be a teacher for the rest of my life. And I am beginning to truly understand how hard, physically, emotionally, in every other way, totally committing to this dream is. My honeymoon with Los Angeles isn’t just over, it’s getting close to the divorce.

And then I got the flu on my birthday. So, instead of enjoying the cake that my girlfriend baked (while I was at improv class, no less) I could hardly keep down a triscuit. And, besides feeling nauseous, it was pretty funny—ironic funny, but still, hilarious. The punchline? My girlfriend got sick that night, too.

The birthday was not all bad. I finally stepped inside the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica to see a free showing of Buster Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. As part of my 2k10 networking offensive, I chatted up two old ladies in the lobby who told me they were writers. They told me that writers make the best waiters, which had to have been the funniest line of the evening due to the sheer absurdity of that statement. As a writer, I would make the worst waiter. You would find me dreaming in the back room before I would ever remember to get an order.

After a late start, the movie itself was funny too (duh!)—Keaton is a physical comic of the highest order. When he falls down the water tower in one scene, you hope he’s alright, but you know he’s not, but you laugh anyway.

So, as a proviso to my New Years Resolution, here is a new one: to laugh and to understand the reasons behind my laughter. To laugh for the right reasons and the wrong ones, to be happy when I am feeling sad. When you’re down and out, what else can you do?

Buster Keaton in Sherlock Jr.

When Screenwriters Talk…

Of all the players in the film industry, the screenwriter is meted the least respect. He or she fights for agents and meetings with executives, is forced to rewrite at least seven or eight times, and often is underpaid for the effort. Then when a director does come on board, the existing document is rewritten to fit completely new specs. There is never really a time when the screenwriter can truly speak up and be heard.

Unless, of course, that screenwriter is giving a lecture. Because so many people want to be screenwriters, and so few actually are, the seven or eight who have something produced are in high demand. These lowly, nerdy specimens get to stand on the other side of the podium and for once in their lives, be looked up to. Some screenwriters abuse this power. Others are so oblivious they give boring talks. Still others are so self-obsessed they have little patience with an audience.

So here are some simple guidelines for the screenwriter asked to speak. This comes from much experience watching screenwriters; I haven’t been asked to give a talk, yet. If you have other points, or have had an equally bad experience at a lecture, please let me know in the comments.

1. Be on time. There is nothing that tests my patience more than a late speaker. Whatever your excuse, if you are being paid to lecture, then please, leave your previous appointment early.

2. How? How did you get into screenwriting? If it was your famous father, tell us that. Do not give us some crazy story about your script reaching the eyes of some producer who immediately went “Eureka” and gave your movie a green light. The ways people reach the top in this industry may be passé to you, but to us, it’s the verbal equivalent of catnip. We need to know.

3. Tell Us What Works for You. I am not entirely interested in advice, but I am interested in routines. When do you write? Do you outline your scenes or do you just write whatever comes to mind? What classes, textbooks do you recommend? Which writers give you inspiration? How do you approach adapting an original story? What are the most difficult moments for you? How do you overcome writer’s block? When do you know a draft is finished? These are all questions I want answered. If you need to phrase it as advice, fine, but try not to be too preachy, OK?

4. No attitude, please. No matter how famous you are or how far you have come, you must know what it is like to be a struggling screenwriter. Treat us with respect, we already have to deal with so much rejection. And remember, us screenwriters are always the first to buy your DVDs, read your celebrity blog, and stalk you at conferences. It’s a good idea to pander to the fan base.

5. Meet and Greet. I cannot stress this enough. However interesting your lecture, with the invention of podcasting, the internet, and personal recording devices, it’s a synch to download it the morning after. The reason I would plunk down fifteen dollars or more would be to meet you after the speech. If you rush out of the auditorium on another “assignment” you have essentially wasted my money.