Week 522: Celebrating One DECADE in LA - RIP Tarik Jackson

 Weekly Written Review

September 19th made 10 years since I arrived in LA. It is indeed a great accomplishment and you know what they say about 10 years, right? You don't know? Well, they say, "It takes 10 years to become an overnight success." Hint Hint! Wink Wink! It's obvious my time is now. 

My journey is long, much longer than expected and I'm okay with that. The main downfall of being apart of a long journey is the lives that are lost along the way. While casually browsing Facebook on Friday and was alerted very unfortunate news about Tarik Jackson. Shortly afterward I posted on his page. 

I'm confused, shocked, and devasted. This news doesn't make any sense. Tarik had so much to live for. He was an inspiration. We met during the American Black Flim Festival on Sat, June 27, 2009 in Miami, FL. Years later we unexpectedly crossed paths in LA at the Roosevelt Hotel. In 2013, he screened his film at my film festival. Often times when he got word of an opportunity in late-night television he sent me the link. In May, I was so happy to know he was selected for HBO's Access Directing Fellowship. Not long after, I was a finalist in BET's Project Cre8TV contest. We praised each other and chatted about the possibility of him directing one of my projects in the future. Now, all hope is gone. I don't understand why this happened and it hurts my heart.

Tarik Jackson

I wish I could go back in time be there for you. From this day forward, my fight is your fight. I love you brother. My sincerest condolences to Tarik's family.

Motown Maurice and Tarik Jackson at The American Black Film Festival, Miami, FL 2009

Motown Maurice and Tarik Jackson at The QuarterlyWrap Festival, Downtown LA, 2013

Rest In Love Tarik Jackson

Sunday, September 13, 2020

* Hair cut...

* Virtual table read "Boys" with Michael Klug

* Editing 36 Reasons video

* Rewatching Korra and watching Pose...

Monday, September 14, 2020

* 1pm Skype GS interview for TPIR

* Rewatching and Korra

* Editing...

* Just Dance...

* Bumble Biz video chat with...


Tuesday, September 15, 2020

* Photoshoot of my new blog photo...

* Blogging...


Wednesday, September 16, 2020

* Blog banner editing...

* Garage return... I got a new table. At least I'm borrowing a new table. 

* Studio set up/planning...

* Blog photo editing...


Thursday, September 17, 2020

* Phone call with Tatiana

* Walk to the Asian supermarket. No mangos. Picked up some plums. 

* Webcam/audio testing

* Virtual Ring Fit with Atarah 

* Ordered Super Mario 3D Allstars and WWE 2k Battlegrounds with my make it rain beach money. 


Friday, September 18, 2020

* Tennis...

* RIP Tarik Jackson...

* Watching Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous. I believed I also watched Korra and The Boys...

Saturday, September 19, 2020

* Brawhalla tournament

* Blog update - celebrating 10-years in LA. 

* Rewatching Korra. Another Jurassic World Camp episode. Rewatching The Originals. 

* WWE 2k Battlegrounds arrived. Drove to pick it up. 


As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 521: Upgraded Research

Weekly Written Review 

As I get ready to embark on a journey to remaster my web series, an upgrade will be necessary. I've been thinking about treating myself to a new computer for a while now but as soon as I realized the easiest to add closed captioning/subtitles to my web series remaster is with Adobe CC, that confirmed it's time to upgrade. I'm not even using Windows 10 yet. I had a chance to upgrade from 8.0 to Windows 10 when the offer was free but I declined. I didn't trust it. I didn't want to take the chance of losing anything files or programs. Needless to say, now is the time for an upgrade. Get ready! Get Set. Go! Pause! I'm probably going to wait for a black Friday/holiday sale. We'll see. 

Sunday, September 6, 2020

* Ring Fit with Rh...

* Phone calls...

* At pick up. Store/rice purchase...

* Completed watching season 1 of Wizards... 

Monday, September 7, 2020

* Equipment testing/audio...

* Watching season 2 of The Boys...

* Rewatching The Legend of Korra... 


Tuesday, September 8, 2020

* Zoom Filmhub meeting...

* CLN ISA submission...

* Audio testing...

* Rewatching The Legend of Korra...


Wednesday, September 9, 2020

* Bumble Biz call with Nwahil...

* Game show Skype interview with Atarah...

* Closed Caption research...

* Rewatching The Legend of Korra...

* Downloaded Steam...


Thursday, September 10, 2020

* Unexpected text and phone call that lead to an interview for Monday. 

* Blogging...

* Rewatching The Legend of Korra...

* Watching the Laker game. They won! 

* Sprouts run...

Friday, September 11, 2020

* Tennis... I hit my nose with my racquet today. It hurt really bad.

* Youtube commercial video editing...


Saturday, September 12, 2020

* Youtube commercial video editing...

* Beach day with Angel. A guy was making it rain money at the beach. I scooped up 140. 

* Rewatching The Legend of Korra (I think I watched today).

* Watching Netflix's Project Power...

As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 520: A Seed Was Planted

Weekly Written Review

Building upon a few ideas for one of my Youtube channels, I ordered some equipment not realizing my new ring light was going to arrive less an hour before a scheduled photo-shoot. It must have been God because that light was a difference-maker. 

I'm retired from the world of seeking auditions but if someone else wants to seek opportunities for both of us, I'm all for it. That's exactly what's happening. The photo-shoot was magical with a lot of great potential to open up commercial doors.

Here's the back story with this person. She reached out to me in 2018 on Facebook just to say hi. We were in an acting class together a long time ago. Honestly, I don't remember her from the class.  I joined SAG in 2018 and I was inviting people to attend free movie screening with me. I invited her, we went to a movie and that was the last time we saw each other until Wednesday. Last week she reached out and proposed an idea and here we are. She was trying to collab with someone but that fell through and I came to mind. We'll see where this goes but I do know we planted in 2018 which is why this is possible today. 

Sunday, August 30, 2020

* Virtual Ring Fit with Atarah

* Equipment research

* Food 4 Less/Panda Express. Bike riding. It's good to be riding it again. 

Monday, August 31, 2020

* Call with Angel

* Walk for bread

* Equipment ordered for Youtube Project

* Zoom call with Kristin from Bumble Biz


Tuesday, September 1, 2020

* Was hoping to play soccer but it got canceled. 

* Video chat with Nehemiah

* Final edits and Youtube channel commercial upload

* Planning...

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

* Ordered a light ring on Monday and it came before my photoshoot today. I didn't order it for the shoot and it basically made the shoot. How serendipitous!

* Pick up for my photoshoot

* Virtual Read for We Make Movies

Thursday, September 3, 2020

* Blogging...

* Distribution research...


Friday, September 4, 2020

* Tennis...


Saturday, September 5, 2020

* Visitor/tournament participant. 

* Brawhalla tournament. It was tough. 3 ladies conspired against me and I was helpless. They literally wouldn't hit each other, only attacking me. Their plan forced a 3-way 2 win tie. I thought I was going to lose. For some reason, they drifted from their gameplan in the last round opening up a chance for a  steal. Honestly, I got lucky but I'm glad to be the champ again. 

As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice

Week 519: Journey to Distribution and Youtube Ideas

Weekly Written Review 

After over a year of writing, I'm done. Rewrites are forever but I'm certainly done with writing new ideas. As a result, my mind is free and anew. An inquiry about my web series transformed my perception of it. I'm not expecting an outcome from that inquiry but I'm thankful for new vision. Now, I'm remastering my series and taking on a path to self-distribution. Overall, I got a lot of greatness in the oven but the challenge is figuring out how to promote it. Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) is always an option but it's not my style. Youtube is a tool that I've never fully embraced. Yes, I have a successful web series on youtube but I'm never produced consistent short-form videos. That's about to change. Lately, my mind has been pounding with new ideas. After writing a bunch of long-form scripts, I'm ready for short-form creativity. I spent Saturday night researching equipment, lights, microphone, webcam, etc... It's about to go down. In hindsight, I probably should've bought a proper light a long time ago to improve the quality of my audition videos but that reveals where my passion lies. My passion will always be and have been 100% in my own projects. 

Sunday, August 23, 2020

* C&B revisions

* Watching Wizards. Rewatching The Legend of Kora. 


Monday, August 24, 2020

* Last revisions for C&B and sent to our producer contact...

* Package delivery issue. Had to make a quick stop at the garage. 

* Post office, CVS...

* Watching Wizards. Rewatching the Legend of Kora. 


Tuesday, August 25, 2020

* Zoom meeting with Jason...

* LNExp remastering/rendering...

* Rewatching Kora...


Wednesday, August 26, 2020

* Remastering, rendering, and uploading LNExp. Also submitted it to my contact. 

* Watching Wizards. Rewatching The Legend of Kora.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

* Blogging...

* Ring Fitness workout...

* Returned to my garage...


Friday, August 28, 2020

* Tennis...


Saturday, August 29, 2020

* Youtube channel commercial editing. 

* Channel planning... new ideas...

As the quest continues...

The future of Late Night

Motown Maurice