Creative Screenwriting Expo 4: Day 2

Kel has business, so Tommy and Brian and I are on our own. WE GET TO RIDE THE SUBWAY THIS MORNING!!!

But first: Coffee.

I'm up and at 'em before the other guys, so I hike down to the donut place Tommy and I discovered. This time I try a Mocha Cappiccinno, get one for Tommy and the normal Black for Brian, as well as 3 super-huge bottles of water for each of us (which will end up lasting us all weekend long).

On the trip down to the donut shop and back I listen to a Rolling Stone podcast with Bono. It's GENIUS! I read the interview in Rolling Stone, and it's really pretty much the same thing, but hearing the tone of voice adds another dimension to the conversation! Plus, I'm strolling Downtown LA, I feel kind of Bono-y. Ya know?

You don't, do you? You think I'm insane. Don't you. DON'T YOU!!!

So anyway, after some reviving coffee, we hike down to Vermont to find a subway station.

Did you KNOW there's a subway in LA?!! I mean, we see one in SPEED, (rewritten by Joss Whedon, by the way, despite the fact that the Writers Guild West arbitrated him out of the credits) but you just don't think of LA when you hear the word "subway". It's 'cause most people own cars or hire cars. But there IS a subway system in Los Angeles!

It's more of a hike than we expected, but we find a station at Vermont and Beverly. We're headed for Pico St. (or Ln. or Blvd. or whatever).

I just dig the concept of riding the subway -- since Austin doesn't have one, thus making the experience somewhat "exotic" for me -- but I also have an ulterior motive: When I was in New York 2 or 3 years ago I got a shot of Spooky The Thing What Squeaks in several locations, one of which was a subway! So while we're waiting for our train, I get to take a pic of Spooky (and Brian and Tommy) in an LA subway! I've got Spooky on both coasts!!!

We end up at the Holiday Inn restaurant again for breakfast/lunch. Just before we order Kelly calls Tommy to see what we're up to, and he joins us for brunch.

I'm feeling all experimental today, so I try the Crabcake Sandwich.

I don't recomend it. It didn't suck, but it's no Swiss Mushroom Burger.

We missed Ehren Kruger (writer of both the American RING movies) at 10:00 am, but what we're REALLY waiting for is JOSS WHEDON at 2:00 pm!!!

And Joss DOES NOT disappoint!!!

First of all, this weekend, many of the featured guests have been presented with an award for their achievements this year. The awards have been handed out by Creative Screenwriting Magazine staff. But not Joss.

Okay, so we sit down as close to the front as we can get. I'm on the isle -- 'cause my friends are THE BEST. There are suddenly several people approaching the front of the hall, and I smell an entourage! I look behind us down the isle AND SEE THE MAN, WALKING THIS WAY!!!

I lean over to Brian, but all Brian sees is Joss's side as he walks past us.

Then, someone pops up to the mike and introduces...

NATHON FILLION!!! Star of FIREFLY and SERENITY, and a really, really evil and misogynistic preacher guy in the last season of BUFFY! HE'S HERE, TOO!!! He's not even announced to be here! He just showed up with Joss!

Nathon Fillion RULES! If you've seen SERENITY or FIREFLY you know that this guy can play the darkest of dark, then turn around and be charming or noble or just straight-up FUNNY!!!

He intros Joss, then presents him with the CSM Sci-Fi/Fantasy award for this year.

Then he disappears and Joss does the interview thing, and then the Q&A thing.

Here's the thing: Joss Whedon is the reason we're all here this weekend. After last year's expo, I had resolved not to read any more writing books or spend any more money learning how to write and just get to the writing! (This turned out to be premature, anyway, as I hadn't yet discovered Karl Iglesias and the brilliance he has to shed on the craft!)

Because this might be my only chance to see Joss live, I HAD TO go the moment I discovered he would be here this year -- which would be sometime in early-summer. I told Brian and he was on board, too. Kel hadn't discovered FIREFLY yet, but he was down for putting up a couple of his dearest friends for the weekend. In fact, he went a step further: He said that if we got ourselves down there, he'd buy tickets for any and all who wanted to come.

Then the fact that Brian and Kelly and I were going to be in LA was all it took to get Tommy down there.

So now, HERE WE WERE. For an hour or more we got to listen to Joss Whedon telling us about how he does what he does.

These are PEARLS, here! This guy is OUR Rod Serling (creator of the original THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and writer of, like, 92 of the original 156 episodes)!!! Seriously, Gene Roddenbury -- all due respect -- was not as prolific and straight-up brilliant as Whedon. There hasn't been a writer, in my opinion, as skilled at merging art and entertainment since Serling.

And here he is, just spilling his writing secrets like we're a room full of close friends!

I've read enough interviews to know that Joss is a clever and insightful speaker, but ACTUALLY BEING THERE when he's talking...!!!

Okay, if you've followed my blof for any amount of time you know I have a man-crush on Mr. Whedon. But Tommy hasn't experienced FIREFLY or SERENITY yet (or BUFFY or ANGEL), and he was impressed!

After the very, very cool experience I, and a small band of approximately one-eigth of the audience head for the front for autographs.

It was so cool, Tommy and Brian and Kel totally had my back! Brian's trying to get pics, and Tommy is right behind me, looking for openings I might be able to slip into. (I was less agressive than some, but I didn't want to be THAT guy. You know?)

After a while of signing and answering questions, this big dude comes up behind Joss with a cell phone to his ear, then whispers something into Joss's. Joss says "Honestly, I would rather do THIS that that, because these people are HERE." HE'D RATHER TAKE CARE OF OUR AUTOGRAPH-HUNGRY SELVES!!! Then the big dude tells him that "they need to clear this hall". So Joss says we'll reconvene out in the hall. But first, he has to go to the rest room. "And I'm going ALONE," he says, then resumes "Except for you, and you... and you."

When he comes out of the rest room he's INSTANTLY surrounded, though he's still on the move to get to a spot that can accommodate the crowd.

I loose my place when a guy behind me says "Hey, Guy-With-Camera, (I had the camera at that moment, snapping a pic of Joss's profile) I think you dropped your pen back there." I started to look closer, but remember I have SEVERAL pens and more than one Sharpie in my bag. So I keep walking, though Helpful-Guy has taken my place. But then a second later Brian is next to me with a pen, asking if the pen that was dropped was mine. I get a look at it, and it wasn't, so then Brian re-disappears (probably to return the pen so that whoever lost it could find it). But I'm ASTOUNDED how Brian had JUST APPEARED beside me to help me out!!!

We finally get a spot, and I'M RIGHT NEXT TO JOSS!!! I'm just on the outter edges of his personal space! I get his autograph on THE VISUAL COMPANION TO SERENITY, and get a couple more on notebook paper. (I had hoped to get one for Brian, Tommy and Kelly, as well as a co-worker of Brian's who is a legitimate Joss fan; but because of the volume, I was only able to get the 3. One for me -- 'cause I'm a selfish whore -- one for Brian's friend, and Brian and Tommy elected that Kel could have the last.)

Afterward, it was DEFINITELY Smoke-Time!!! We're all out front, giddy as school-girls. Well... I was, anyway. I think the other guys were excited, too.

Then I get a call from my friend Kal. I didn't even know he was going to be here this year! It turns out that Kel had gotten seperated and spotted Kal, so he has Kal call me to find out where we were.

A moment later, Kelly and Kal are out front with us, and I get to catch up with Kal.

We -- Kelly, Tommy, Brian and I -- finally figure out that the next thing we want to do is see Paul Haggis (writer of MILLION DOLLAR BABY, writer/director of CRASH, co-creator of DUE SOUTH... and tons more stuff, too) at 6:00 pm. This gives us plenty of time to just hang a recoup from the excitement. (Again, maybe that's just me. I'm not sure.)

As we're hanging a little later, Joss Whedon and Nathon Fillion exit just next to where we're all standing. We wave and smile and they wave and smile back -- like, a GENUINE smile! -- and Kel says "Thanks, guys! That was great!" in that cool manner that Kelly can.

Then we tittered like schoolgirls some more!

Paul Haggis was really insightful. But it was a 90-minute session and all 4 of us, at different times, nodded off throughout. We all still got tons out of the interview/Q&A, but we decided we couldn't make the David Koepp session at 8:00 pm.