In the Mix with Aaliyah Miller

Hello all, I know I've been mum for a few weeks. I've been struggling to get my writing focus back on track and with the first quarter of the year over in 10 days, I'm thinking about my progress for the remainder of 2011. On a positive note, I'm looking forward to this Friday, March 25, 2011. On that day I will be flying out to Los Angeles to attend the 2011 Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival, sponsored by the Alliance of Women Filmmakers . The Alliance of Women Filmmakers not only offers a platform for emerging women filmmakers, writers, and directors, it also seeks out films that have both a global and social message, contributing to women causes one film at a time. This film organization is a non-profit 501c(3) organization established by Diana Means to empower women filmmakers to create diverse roles for women. I'm both thrilled and honored that After the Headlines was selected to be screened at this festival. Just when I thought I was do...

If you follow my blog and diligently read it when I shoot you an email notification, post it on facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter (hint, hint), then it's no surprise that I've been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride when it comes to my screenwriting. While I would have hoped to have the latest revision of my feature script Finding Patience done and at least two other scripts in my writer's pipeline, sadly I do not. Making the time to write and just write is a real challenge for me. Some how life, work, friends, and a bunch of other details manage to get in the way. Around this time last year I was informed about a Connecticut screenwriting group that met at the West Hartford Public Library. After I found out about the group it still took me about two months before I showed up to a meeting. I believe I went to three meetings. That is the minimum you have to attend before you can submit your script to be in the queue (on the list) for review. I re...

Could you throw away the luxury of our modern day kitchen and cook a  meal for one evening with no electricity, gas, or oil heat?  No plastic cutting boards, just wood. No stainless steel and non stick pots and pans. Only an open fire, and a fire brick bake oven. Forget about any gadget or cooking instrument that has made your life easier in the past 100 years or so. You're probably saying to yourself, "Who would pay for this and why?" Well, Karim and I, made up a group of 14 people that embarked on this unique experience of cooking dinner as early New Englanders did back in the 19th century. We can thank his friend Gabe for the evening spent making a country dinner at Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Gabe and his wife Sabrina participated before and invited us and some others to join them. Our small group meet with Joanna, one of our hosts for the evening. She was dressed in traditional clothing that reflected the time period of the 1830s. Her ha...

Hello all, I know it has been a while since my last entry and I'm long over do. My motivation to write is in a down period and coming down with a bacterial sinus infection hasn't helped. I'm sluggish, tired, and just want to stay in bed, but rather than cave in to this cold, I'm going to tell you about the production of August Wilson's Piano Lesson at the Yale Repertory Theatre, www.yalerep.org/ . Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of checking out Piano Lesson with my mom, Anthony, a co-worker of my mom, and Halima, a friend and fellow theatre enthusiast. I was a little nervous that the weather wasn't going to cooperate, but we ended up with mostly rain, a nice change from our snowy norm. I picked Tandoor restaurant, tandoornewhaven.com/ , located at 1226 Chapel St, New Haven, Connecticut for our lunch. It's my mom's favorite Indian restaurant in New Haven. Not only is their food fabulous, but I like the fact that the restaurant looks like an old-sc...

Hello all. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sure ready for winter to be over. I've had enough of the white stuff. Rather than write an entry about where I'm at (hint, hint), I thought I use this entry to support a fellow artist. An acting colleague of mine name Cinti is taking the bull by the horns and raising funds via Kickstarter to Bring the Music to you. Kickstarter is a new way for filmmakers, producers, and artists to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors. Bring the Musi c is a live weekly comedy, variety, stand-up competition she created in 1999 and hosted in Manhattan for two consecutive years through 2001.  Cinti initially pitch her idea to the Oprah Winfrey Network in Oprah's OWN TV show competition. Although she was not selected, she's not giving up on her idea and dream. I know what that is like. It's not enough to have an idea, an individual has to have the passion to pursue it and needs the support of others. We all have a ...

 This caption echoes how I feel at times.  Hello all, It has been 10 days since my last entry and although I've got 2011 off with a positive enthusiasm, I actually haven written a word for an old or new screenplay. I'm not proud or pleased to report that. I'm actually disappointed in myself. The one thing I can say is that what I write or don't write falls on me. Since the new year began I've been focused on spec ideas for the Nickelodeon Fellowship, www.nickwriting.com/ . The deadline for applications is February 28, 2011 and that is just around the corner. I picked three shows to watch and have read their synopses on Wikipedia, but after watching the first season of one show, I wonder if I have the chops to write in that style. Comedy isn't my area of expertise, but for this fellowship I need to be able to demonstrate some skill in this area. The night before last, I voiced my struggle with my husband and even mentioned an idea I have for the sho...

Happy New Year everyone. I hope all of you have recovered from your New Year's Eve hangovers. For those of you who didn't drink or over indulge in libations, you are already off to a good start. With a new year people all over the globe are hyped about their new year resolutions. It's time to start over, start fresh, and give 2011 all you've got. The shame is that this invigorating attitude tends not to last. It is gone for most people by March. Come June, people are figuring out how they can make it through the rest of the year. And then by December, everyone is ready to close the door and start it all over again. It becomes a never ending cycle. I'm ready to break that chain. In previous blogs I've mentioned that I've felt both professional and personal growth over the last couple of year. Well, I'm ready to step up my game and get to that next level. In the past, I've said that I've wanted to get an agent, get accepted into a writing fello...