 Welcome, everyone. We're going to get started in just a minute. Just waiting for SLP to log on. Well, goodness, it's five o'clock. This is Watch Me Work. I'm SLP. Title Watch Me Work, the me in the title refers to you. And this is where we hang out and allow you to get some work done and allow you to ask me questions about your creative process. That's all we do. I was just thinking, maybe I need to tell people what this is all about. We've been doing this show for about 12 years. We started in the lobby of the public theater where we do it live, rain or shine, come crowds or come not so big crowds. And we moved on to Zoom during the first days of the pandemic where we did it days and days and days in a row. And now we're once a week again. So here we are. What we do is we work for 20 minutes by the timer. And then we all work together silently with our mutes on. And then I invite you to ask me questions about your creative process. And if you should have a question about your creative process after the allotted work time, Lolly will tell you how to get in touch. Thank you. Yeah. So if you have a question, if you're in Zoom with us, you can ask questions by clicking on the raise your hand button, which should be in either the reactions or participants tab, likely on the bottom of your screen if you're on a laptop. If you have any trouble finding it, you can send me a message in the private chat and I will do my best to help you. If you're watching the stream with us on HowlRound, feel free to send us your questions via the public theater's Twitter or Instagram accounts or via Watch Me Works Twitter account, which is at Watch Me Work SLP with the hashtag HowlRound. That's hashtag H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D. So that's how you ask a question. All right. And before we get started, we will of course say thank you to the public theater and HowlRound for making this universe possible. That's right, Mo. Hands in the air. And so here we go. All right. All right. Okay. Okay. All right. Okay. Any questions? Raise your hand. Okay. Looks like Nancy has a question. Hi. Hello, everyone. Hello. So I had an experience. I went to some place and had an experience and I tried to get interest from websites, publications for a little article about it because it's about conservation and animals and stuff. And nobody was interested. But then I heard from this guy who used to write for the New York Times, and I'm not a journalist, but he did, that he got paid by ARP very well to write a piece. So I wrote to them and they said, nah, we're not interested in wolves, but we'll read it. And I made, I don't know if it was a mistake, but I wrote it with this idea, which is not ages, but I kind of used the theme of the extinction of wolves and the extinction of youth and how puzzling that is and why it drew me to go to this event. And it wasn't normally as poetic as I would like to then, but I tried to and I don't read ARP, but I figured, you know, and that it could be, this would be a good spot for people to go because you don't have to only sleep on the ground one night. It's not a big heavy camping thing. And she came back to me with a big huge no. So I just want to know in the future going forward, should one ever write with the idea of what other people would, well, you know what I'm saying, or just write it and then see where it lands because it felt even more undignified being refused by them. And I'm also so protective of the wolves, then if I had just written it and cast it out in a net and seen if anybody was interested. Right. So let me see if I understand you correctly. So you wrote a piece and then you sent it around and I'm trying to get you, it sounds like you modified it for. No, I tried, I first I asked if anybody I made inquiry and I got no response. This one person did respond and say we're not interested in conservation. I said, well, my writing isn't like that. But then I wrote it with this leaning towards ARP ARP ARP ARP, not ARP ARP ARP is aging, you know, that society for aging where they have all these discounts and things. I'm sorry, the only one here who gets letters from ARP American Association of Aging. Oh, cool. Okay. Okay. So you so you thought, well, if I if I kind of am considerate of my audience, since it is an article that I'm pitching to them, is that a bad thing? I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't think it's a bad, I don't think it's a bad thing at all. Nancy, I think it was really smart to go on being considerate of my audience because it is after all the article that I am sort of going to, you know, angle in that direction. Is that correct? Is that what you did? Yeah. And I, you know, I would have wanted to talk about death a lot more because I think we as a culture never talk about death. And, and that's certainly part of why they have conservation to keep right creatures from dying. But I sort of danced around it because a friend who read looked at my my typos and things said, Oh, you know what I mentioned that? Oh, I mean, of course it's for people who are retiring who are closer to death. Why not mention it? But yeah, I just feel like I cheated myself and and was dishonest in that process. No, I mean, if you want to feel that way, I'm not going to take that away from you. But the last time I remember you talked, you said you didn't have a team. So I mean, I'm in the, you know, when you had the fabulous neighbor who you could send your your script to or your query to. So I'm, I'm going to, I'm going to take take things away from Nancy. Let's see. I don't think you I don't think you did anything stupid, wrong, dumb or ridiculous by considering your audience when you're writing an article. Now, what I would say is keep sending it out though. I mean, if you only send it to ARF or whatever, right? I mean, it sounds like it would fit really well with you. Have you ever heard of tricycle magazine, tricycle magazine? Sure. Okay. And parabola. And, you know, Buddhist magazines on meditation, they don't mind when you talk about death and dying, you know. I mean, you know, maybe do send it to more magazines that are actually might be truly interested in, in your, your wonderful work, you know, the only thing wrong that you can possibly do is to stop sending it out there. My hero, that's very good. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I didn't come to the team to ask them last week because I was on, I went into the howl round and I couldn't get in. I could somehow couldn't figure out how to ask a question. So in future, I will ask before. Thank you. But nobody, but yeah, keep sending it out there. And yeah. And I, I mean, if you were sending it to a magazine, let's think of, you know, I don't know, women's health or something like that, you know, maybe you include more things that are focused on women and people who identify as women. I mean, yeah, that's, that's not a bad thing. It's just, it's, it's an art. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think it's bad. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, sure. Sure. Hope looks like Emma has a question. Hey, Emma. Hey, how's it going? Wow. How are you? Good. Thank you. Well, I first wanted to say thank you for the answer that you gave to my question, like a couple of weeks ago, because I've decided that I should have characters who want things in my plays. That feels more interesting. I'm glad. Yeah. But my question for today is, how do you decide for like any given piece of something, like what the scope should be? And like sort of like what format should take, because I have a play that I had like a first draft written, and then I wrote a second draft. And now I'm writing the third draft. And I thought that I knew kind of what it was. But then I just randomly was like, I need to add six more characters. And it's like the rest of the play was like kind of like big and surreal and weird. And now I'm adding this like six character thing that's more naturalistic. And it feels like maybe it should just be an entirely different play. But I don't really want it to be. And I'm like, I could there is like a way to make it work. But at what point do I say like, I can't keep adding elements to this or like it could just be like this ever expanding thing that has like a million different scenes and different universes. And but I don't I don't know like when to cut it off and say like, I'll save these ideas for another play. So why are you adding the six additional characters? I just felt compelled to I like, what do you mean? Talk to me compelled like, like, like I don't really I'm kind of not feeling what I'm writing. And so what is it compulsory? What does it come from? So the play as it was before, it was like all of the characters are kind of these like big archetypes, like these like exaggerated cartoonish kind of characters. And someone told me like it felt kind of brektian, which was not like it was interesting, but not exactly what I was going for. Like I wanted kind of more of like an emotional core to it. And then also I was like, I feel like having teenage girls in here would be an interesting way to explore sexuality. And so I really wanted to just put some teenage girls in there who are having like really kind of normal honest conversations about sex. Like it made like the it like made sense as I was doing it. But now it feels like I don't know when to stop adding things. Right. I hear you. I hear you. So what if what if you took the six characters out, including the teenage girls gave the teenage girls their own play, you know, and really look at the the initial play you're working on writing and get it to be what you want it to be. Yeah. Do the work. You know, it's like, it's like I would, you know, for example, you meet people and they go, oh, I'm dating this really wonderful person, but they're not really what I want. And they kind of all over the place. So I'm gonna date someone else while I'm dating them. Right. I mean, you never know. Right. And they're dating like seven. Right. It feels like that they're dating like seven or eight people and that might be all fine and well. But at the end of the day, you just get exhausted and you don't really get your work done. Right. So instead of just going, I'm going to focus on this one relationship that I have. And I'm going to see if I can, if there's something there, you know, Brechtian someone saying is Brechtian. In my experience of the plays of Verta Brecht, they're very emotional. I don't know what they've seen, but I've seen, you know, mother courage when the death, when the deaf daughter is beating her drum on the roof and it's like, Oh my God, it's absolutely beautiful. I mean, great scene. They're beautiful scenes in his plays. Maybe they've seen really intellectualized versions of those plays, but they're great plays. So if you want more emotion in your plays, don't like, look, here's a whole another six characters and they're emotional, you know, right? I mean, that's like having like an affair when you really don't need to have an affair. You just need to focus on your partner and go, how can we work this out? Right. I mean, forgive the, you know, the relationship thing. But, but so look at your characters from your original, from your first, from that first play you're talking about, how can we make it more emotional or whatever you want? How can we make it more, you know? Yeah. And then draw a circle around the teenage girl play and give them their own play. Okay. Right. And then the other ones are they all, all the extra people are teenage girls. Are there the six characters are all teenage girls? Yeah. All the extras are teenage girls. Give them their own play. Okay. What's their own play? Okay. Are they going to hate you if you've got to stick them in another play because like, they're supposed to be like the fluffy, like cute sexy shit. I mean, right? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. That's a great question. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Who's next? Thank you so much, Emma. It looks like Kimmy D is up. Hi. Hi. Hi, everybody. Hi. Thank you for taking the question. Thanks for being here. I didn't have a question till Emma the question. So thanks, Emma. I have been working on this play of mine for quite a while and I thought it was done. It is called Waste Management. It's because, you know, New Jersey, what else would a Jersey girl call her play, right? And it's loosely based on my life in that protagonist has childhood sexual trauma. It's a very dark comedy. She's in on stage. You're frozen. Looks like you're freezing a little bit. Sorry. I think you're back. Hello. You're frozen, Kimmy, I think. I can hear you. We can hear you, though, but you're not moving. You're very still. Oh, you're going to hear me cursing? Good. Yeah, maybe turning your camera off. That might help. Oh, you're back. I think you're back. I think. No. No. Maybe turn your camera. Am I back if I'm moving? Yes, you're moving, but maybe. Okay. There you go. Maybe turn your camera off so it won't overload. Can you hear me now? Yeah. Yeah, perfect. Perfect. Okay. So it's called Waste Management and the protagonist is on the stage and there's other characters on the stage, but they're really, they are her pedophile, the childhood imaginary friends that she had growing up, and reflection, which is an actor behind a frame, and that's her talking to herself through the mirror. And so she's basically sorting out all these people, trying to figure out who she is, where does she go, how does she survive, she's in her fifties, but there is an element, you know, it's kind of a same old tired arc where she starts out, you know, as many of us who have been traumatized due on drugs and alcohol, and then she's not doing that at the end. And I spoke to a person who's a very, you know, famous comic and writer and he says, but you've never had that issue, have you? I said, no, I've never even been drunk. He goes, so you went through all this trauma without chemical assistance. And I said, yes. And he goes, that's a way more interesting story. And that's way, every, like the other side has already been done. And since it's not authentic to you, how did you survive all of this? So now I'm in a panic, as a writer usually does. Because why not, why not panic? It's not like I have a deadline or anything, I self-inflicted wounds. So I was just wondering if I should get a dramaturg. But I don't know where else to go. I don't know what to do. And I don't even really know if this is a question. I'm just kind of floundering. Thanks a lot, Emma. So your question is, should you get a dramaturg? Yes, I think so. Something I don't, I don't know where to go or how to flush out. How I actually did survive this trauma without chemicals, even though I did it. I don't know if this makes any sense. Yeah, it does make sense. I tell you, there are two things going on here, Kimmy. There's you and there's your play. Yes. We're talking about your play. Okay. Yes. This is your work we're talking about. Yes. While your life is very important and everybody's lives here are very important, I'm going to talk to you about your work. Thank you. So what you have gone through as a person is very important. And, you know, how you got through, what you got through, how you got through it is a very important question. But I am not in any way equipped to answer and work you through, help you through those questions. Okay. Just so let's be, let's be clear. I didn't want to help with that. I was just trying to, how's my character going to get through it without, like, I don't even know how to, use my life as a tool to help my character. Like I said, I want to talk about your work. Yes. Sorry. No, no, no. It's okay. I just, I just don't want to, don't want anybody to assume or think that I am presenting myself as a psychologist or anything like that. I'm totally not. So we can talk about your play though. And we can talk about what you might need to work on your play. Yes, please. And maybe a dramaturge would be helpful. Maybe a group of actors would be helpful. I think what's the most important thing that would be helpful is to keep the focus on your work when you're talking to, when you say gather a group of actors, what you need, the main character and then three other characters. Is that, is that right? It's how many characters in the play? The protagonist, the pedophile, her reflection, and then two imaginary friends. And there are like two other auxiliary characters, but they could just be doubled up by whomever is already there. So what do you, how many actors would you need if you had five? Okay, great. So they don't even need to be actors. They can be friends. You can have five friends. Actors might be better though, because then again, it would keep the focus on your work, not on your personal stuff. And we all have personal stuff that we're going through, but I feel like it's best when we're working on our work to focus on the work. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, if you, if you hired or gathered together, five actors, right, and a director, and perhaps a dramaturg or a director who could also do dramaturgy, do a double duty there, and gathered them together, perhaps hired them in some fashion or offered trades or offered a potluck or whatever, had them over to your house or had them over on zoom and asked them to read through your play and talk with you about it as a play. Okay, that could be very helpful. Okay. And how does one go about getting a dramaturg? Where would I find? No, I'm talking about actors and a director. I think actors and a director is probably a good idea. Okay. Because actors in their brilliance can help you with dramaturgical questions. I think the point of, I didn't go through it in real life. And so I need to write it so that it looks like my life. I'm not sure that that's a really valid argument. I appreciate that because again, Brecht was not a mother, and he wrote mother courage. Shakespeare might have been a king, but he certainly wasn't all of them kings. Right? So we have to just be, you know, be, be conscious, like we need to keep our eyes on the work. Okay. And when the personal starts coming in, if it's helpful, great. If it's not, let's set it aside and allow it its own time to be discussed and work through with the professionals that are specific to that challenge. I so appreciate that because it's really been banging around in my head. And I don't typically like to talk about, you know, what I went through. It was, it was more of, I see how so many of us have all these characters in our head that are banging around, trying to make sense out of things. And I guess I was trying to, it was more an exercise in, in describing the inner turmoil that we go through and use dark humor as a way to cope. Sounds great. Sounds great. But I think, do you, do you know how to get in touch with five actors or is there some, you know, get, you need to have actors? Okay, great. Yes, thank you. And so, and a person who can serve as the director slash dramaturge. Yes. Give your play a reading and then talk about it as a piece of theater. Okay. Okay. Yes, thank you so much. You're welcome. Love you mean it. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Kimmy. Lou, you're up next. Hi. Hey, how you doing? I'm good. I'm good. It's great to see you. Thank you so much. This is really, I'm going to keep it short. This is an appreciation post I want to share with you and the group because a piece I've been working on as an essay in this room for a couple of years was published this week. And I don't know the protocol, but I'd love to share it and pop it in the chat. But it's an essay about my mom, which has she's shown up here a few times and my relationship to her. And it's in a dream place that I've been wanting to be published for a really long time. And I've been working on it probably as long as I've been in these rooms. And I have other projects and longer projects, which we've talked about, but this is out in the world. And I have it to thank everybody here. And especially US LP for the space and the support and the navigation that made this really personal story be something that a place wanted to publish and put in the world. And I'm just really proud of it. So it's not the normal question and answer, but I wanted to just say that because I feel a deep appreciation for you and everybody. We're doing a dance. Yeah, girl. Fantastic. We're so proud of you. Thank you. Fantastic. Yeah. And it's like we I've brought questions here about, you know, should I care about the marketplace and what people think. And let me tell you, like I've really drunk the Kool-Aid on. I don't care. I just want to make things I believe in, but I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that it felt really good to have some outside, you know, that on the back. So I'll take it and keep working. But I'll drop it in the chat, but it's just, it's just appreciation. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. Deaf drop it in the chat. Thank you. All right. Melania. Hello, Susan Lurie. Hello, everybody. Hey, Melania. How are you? Fine. I would like, I am listening to all of this and I think that I have some answers, but I would like to hear from you. There was a person this last week that, you know, that I do my work and show up and I did my best. And it's a person that I love a lot and told me that what I am doing is a hobby. Like it's a hobby. And yes. And I don't know why, but it got to me like very deeply. And I tried to say no, but they don't pay you. So it's a hobby. And there was this. And I, I try not to enter into the conversation because I could feel that I was feeling very badly inside myself. So I put the stop. I don't want to have this conversation, but there is something inside of me that is still, you know, ruminating them these words. And I would love to hear from you. What do you think about this? Because I, I show up to my work and I do it. I know girl. No, go ahead. You go. Go. Yes. And I do it with all my heart. And I know that money in this society that we live in, it's important because, you know, it's a necessity. But to me, it's not that if I receive the money, it's going to be more important or less important. This is my heart. And I am really like breathing through my words, you know, it's something that I need to do that I love to do. And I am learning how to show up to it without being a cruel judge on myself, you know. And this space is being so important to me, your thoughts, your kindness, all the community here. And when this happened, it was tough. And it hurt me. So I would like to know what, what are your thoughts? You know, I mean, there are times, I mean, I don't, you know, I don't, I'm not a physically violent person, but there are times when I am, I am, I entertain the notion that I might go and hang out with you one day, meet your friend and slap them. I'm just into, you know, become a playwright. I make up things, you know what I'm saying. There, there's really, I mean, for those of us who, who work hard and who apply ourselves that are constantly showing up, I mean, Milani, I remember, I mean, I'll tell you what, they said something, right? Okay. Your job is to say what you know to be true, right? What you know to be true. And if you can't remember everything, we'll remind you of some things. When I did watch, we worked for like, what, 12 years, 13 years, whatever, I was in the lobby of the public theater. And girl, you would tweet your questions in. We didn't even know what you looked like. You were some person named Melania. We got a lot of mileage out of that name. We were joking with you. You were there every single week. You were one of the people who was there every single week you were working. You were asking some really amazing questions. You were reaching some beautiful milestones. Okay. You, you were one of those people. Okay. And those of you who were there too, like Crystal and Jim and other folks, right? You know, Melania was, was always showing up. That's number, that's one of the things you can remind yourself, right? The other thing is, and this is kind of might be sound religious. I don't care. They ain't on the throne. They ain't on the throne. Okay. Do you understand your gift comes from the higher power and whoever said that to you is not the higher power. Thank you very much. They're not on the throne. And no matter how far we go with our, our work, our careers, the things we love to do, there's always going to be some excuse my language motherfucker who tries to say some shit to make us feel bad what we do passionately and beautifully. And with great devotion, right? The people Melania people have said similar shit to me recently. Okay. And I just say to myself, you are not on the throne. Okay. God is on the throne. You ain't that they are not the source of your power. They are not the source of your beauty. That person who said that mean thing is not the source of anything except some bullshit. And they're an asshole. And I know and if you love them, okay, I'm not, I'm not diminishing that. I'm not discounting them. I'm just saying that people who have the need to say unkind things to those of us who work and who show up and who are dedicated to beautiful things, you know, that you just need to know that often sometimes people who love us say, say some fucked up shit. They, they are not on the throne. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Not and a hobby. What I mean, I don't even know because somebody looked that up in the dictionary online. I mean, what a hobby that means that that means that you're just a dilettante. That means that you're that means that you and what they're trying to say is like, you suck at it. You have some bullshit. You know what I mean? Oh, you're not important. You're not one of the important. Yes, you are. You're important. Look at you how much you've done. Look at you and you have, you have, you have daughters. Am I right? Yeah, three, three. Whoa. Okay. Okay. I got one child and girl, let me tell you how I get my work done with one child. I don't know a crystal laugh and Chris has got children, right? Those of us who have other people, whether they're children or parents or whomever of spouses to take care of, we know how hard it is to get our work done. When we have children, especially children, you got three kids and you get your work done. You know, you know, oh, for some reason, they needed to be unkind to you. You know, bless the heart, bless them. Just, you know, goodbye. Oh, but also know that you're, you're, you're in, you're in good company. There are people who say mean things to those of us who, who shine brightly, my sister. And if you're shining brightly and you're carrying yourself with some kind of dignity and you're looking around at everybody you meet with something that resembles love and you tend to have more compassion than most people, there are going to be people who need to take you down a notch, you know, and, you know, hey. I thank God for you. You are. Well, thank God for you. Thank God for you. Okay. Yes. Yes. When we will continue to be blessings to each other, that's what we're meant for. Amen. Yes. I know. Amen. That's right. That's right. Okay. And whatever, you know, spiritual, higher power percent thing you believe in is all welcome. All deities are welcome here. Yes. Yes. Definitely. Okay. Yes. Yes. I thank God for you. Likewise. Likewise. I really, I really believe that Jesus Christ brought you to my life and your words, your kindness, this community, you are so important to me and you are in my heart, in my prayers every day. And this is what you're saying to me now. It's like a hug. You know, I needed it. I needed it. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Remember when Chris, Chris, I remember when you were going to a reading and he said, how do I show up as a professional? And we said, maybe show up as an amateur. Show up as someone who does it for love. What? A professional like a hooker? Right? I mean, I'm an amateur. I do it for love. I don't do this for money. I do this for money. You know what I'm saying? Right? Especially these days. I mean, these days, gee, things are so, you know, turn on any news channel. They're so unkind. You know, the least we can do is like, give a little bit more love to each other. Right? You might have to love that person from a distance, Melania. I'm just, you know, I got people in my life that I go, I love you, but I'm gonna love you from a distance because, you know, they can't help it. Yes. Boundaries. No boundaries. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Thank you so much, Melania. It looks like we have a few more questions from the Adams family. How you doing? Good to see you. It is so good to see you. At least life has been kicking my butt. Let's just see. Just from like, you know, you know, I found out I have to move and like, you know, things with school and the kids and like just everything's just like all over the place. And it's, it's just, it's just a very crazy time right now. But I've been trying to like, you know, push my short film. That was the thing I was supposed to try to film this summer. It didn't work out because I didn't have enough funding. And then I met someone who was very interested and is still very interested in pushing this, this film. And yeah, the thing was, you know, we had met up a second on Saturday. It was and one of the things this person said was that like that threw me off. That was kind of like, Oh gosh, this is going to be a deal breaker. Was that, you know, the consumer or whoever's interested in buying this film or paying or paying giving to this film, it's going to want to see either violence or sex. And I was like, what? Like, you know, because it takes place in Paris and it takes place in New York. And it's like, Paris, what do you think Paris is? It's love. It's romance. It's sex. It's this. It's that. And I was like, yeah, but that's not where the story is. That's not what I wrote, you know? And the whole thing though, it's like, you know, like, you know, it won't sell. Basically, it won't sell if that's not in there. And I, and I, and I was like, well, I need to, I need to digest this and kind of think through this. And I'm stubborn and I know I'm hardheaded. I know I'm hardheaded. I'm not going to put that in there because it doesn't make sense because there's not enough of a relationship between either of the characters for that to happen, because it's, it doesn't, just the way the story is, it doesn't make sense, right? But I kind of second guessed my story and was like, is there enough going on? Is it interesting enough? Do I need to create more conflict? Do I need to ramp up something to make it more over? Like, like, do I need to, like, oh, I felt like I needed to overcompensate for what I have already. Like, do I need to write, not write more pages, but like, inject something more to make it more something that, you know, would take the place of like, oh, just throw a sex scene in there, you know? And it just, it just, it kind of took me down a notch with like, all the work, I've been working on trying to get this film like a lot along a while. And like, I've been putting my heart and soul into it. It's, you know, what I've been putting all my energy in because I really want to make this film. And it just, it just, it just, like Melania, I kind of just hit home a little bit because it was like, you're telling me that my, you know, no one's going to want to see this unless I put it, unless I make it some kind of commercialized, you know, stereotypical view of what people want to see. But I'm, I'm like, but I, when I first wrote this, I was like, but what I have is, I thought it was good. I thought it was good, you know. What's great, Crystal, is that you're, you're sticking to what you know is right. And at the same time, you're trying to hear the note underneath the note, which is really a mark of real artistic maturity, I think. Because you're saying how I'm put sex, I mean, it's stupid. Paris and New York, and that's all Paris and New York are about sex and violence. Well, geez, okay, okay. Well, that's kind of, that's a limited worldview. And for you to look at the work and go, but maybe there's something I am missing in the story. Maybe, maybe, you know what I mean? Then it could either, it could go either way, maybe you're missing something or maybe you're not, maybe that's not the right producer. You know, maybe that's not the right producer. I mean, there are other ways to produce your work, you could self produce, you could, you know, do go fund me, you could, you know, do kind of a self producing thing, you don't necessarily have to, have to work with this person. So you met with this person on Saturday, you said? Yeah, like, that was the first time I met them, but yeah. But we've been in communication often. Because, because I wonder if, why don't you read the script over and ask yourself, is there another beat? Is there something I'm missing from this that could be there that's not sex or violence? Maybe there's just that, as they say, you know, producers use all kinds of language, a tightening of the news, just to tighten things up a little bit. Is there a thickening of the story that I might be missing? Is there a more, is there something that can make it more intense? You know what I mean? So they're not, are this, are, to put it differently, are the stakes high enough? A lot of times a sex scene or a violent act sometimes makes, oh my God, the stakes are really high, you know, the two naked bodies, stakes are really high suddenly, or someone stabbing someone, the stakes are really high, you know, but ask yourself, are the stakes high enough? Do you know what I mean when I say that? Yeah. Ask yourself, yeah, ask yourself that question. Am I, am I coming in to the story at the right point? You know, you see what I mean? Or am I coming into early and then it's a long ramp up to the story and then it kind of just makes a little bit of a hill. Right? If I came in a little later and made it more intense, is there something I can do to intensify the story? Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. Are the people agreeing in every scene? Okay. Are the wants, the characters' desires focused enough? Are they really going for what they want? You know, use them as favorite thing to focus on what the characters want. Right. You know what I mean? Are the characters really going for what they want, like 150% or are they going like 30%? You know what I'm saying? Yeah. You know, do you see what I mean? So there's a note underneath that note that maybe the script isn't yet intense enough. So you can, that's what we do all the time as artists. We take a really, a note that's not so helpful and we listen to what we translate it into something that might be much more helpful to us. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I can do that. But listen to your gut. No sex scene, no violence scene. But maybe there's something else. Maybe you need to amp the whole story up. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And don't get discouraged. Those aren't necessarily bad notes. They're just not helpful. I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is very helpful. Thank you. Okay. Oh, it's 604. We're just a little bit over time, but thank you so much, everyone. Another wonderful discussion, as always. I will see you same time, same place next week. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great week. Bye.