Hello, imaginary internet people!
Here we are, right at the end of the year. Somehow we made it through 2024.
We're still clinging onto Halloween, as October was Halloween month (it lasts a month if you really work hard at it, we had our Halloween decorations up for about two months and there are still some dotted around we can't let go of). I hope you all watched some horror movies, otherwise I'll have to call the manager. Of Halloween. The surviving Halloween decorations are now mixed in with the Christmas decorations, which went up (along with the tree) in late November. Hey, that's just how we roll, here.
It's been a strange year, in many ways. Some things have been released that I wrote over a year ago, and as soon as that happens, I descend into the usual despair where I think my career is over. This is the same cycle I always go through, you'd think I'd learn my lesson, but nope.
Still working at Pocket overseeing some of their ongoing audio shows, and really enjoying it. I've also been teaching a TV writing course for the ELVTR teaching platform in the evenings, which is intensive but very good fun. It's always inspiring when I speak to newer writers/students, their energy and enthusiasm revives my creative soul a bit. They've been such a great group, full of fantastic ideas. The future of TV is in good hands.
Writing Stuff
A big part of writing is... not writing. Sitting around, wondering what to write next, thinking about the current project and what it needs, trying to come up with fun new stuff.
But a lot of it is also what I call the career stock take. At least once a year, I'll have look at what I've got in the pipeline, what I'm planning, what I want to do, where my career is at, and think about where I want to go next. Do I have any missing scripts in my portfolio, is there an area I want to try and break into, am I focusing too much on one area, and not enough on another, etc. What went right, what went wrong, what can I do differently next time. It's a bit like a job interview but I'm interviewing myself, and I don't know what the job is.
I'll check the spreadsheet of all my projects, see what the current status is, if I need to follow up anything. It just helps me to clarify where I am, where I'm going, and how to get there. Refocus my goals. And, hopefully, make the upcoming year work for me.
I combine the stock-take with regular training sessions during the year, where I’ll teach myself a new skill, or continue learning about something - if I'm stuck on a script, I'll turn the time over to training instead. Several years ago I taught myself how to edit (thank you, YouTube tutorials). I’ve edited all my FrightFest idents, my short films Blood Shed, Three Minutes, Ghosting, and my music video. I also graded them (except for Blood Shed), did the sound mixes, and the visual effects. Most software packages and skills have tons of online tutorials, most of them are free, so you can learn almost anything you want. I’m now pretty confident with Final Cut Pro X, having moved on from 7 a few years back, and am hoping to have time to learn Premiere soon. I'm going to call it Procrasti-learning.
At the moment, I'm in the middle of a stock take, figuring some stuff out. I need to make a few adjustments, but for now, I think I'm mostly on the right track. I have a spec script I need to write, as I haven't written one for most of this year, so that's next up on the schedule. I'll reassess in a few months and see where I am.
Work Stuff
The Doctor Who box set Reflections is out now, from Big Finish, featuring my story Cass-cade! A fun and emotional one, with a barnstorming central anchor performance from Emma Campbell-Jones, making me cry. Grab a plate of po-tay-to chip-chips and have a listen!
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-time-war-uncharted-1-reflections-2528
It was a tricky one to write, as Cass is falling through time and space, experiencing the story in the wrong order, trying to piece it together. This meant that I got very confused early on, and had to stop and work out the *correct* order of the actual adventure, so I could pick the places where Cass would intersect and when. I was on the recording feed online when they recorded part of it, and was able a few times to let the cast know when and where they were! They recorded the story in order, which usually helps, but not this time, as it's all told out of order. So once again, I've made things very difficult for the cast... But they're amazing, so I know I can throw a lot at them.
My three Commando stories have all been released, and you can get them here:
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/07/15/simple-simon/
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/08/26/blood-money/
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/09/09/bait/
They all involved a LOT of research, as they pride themselves on being as accurate as possible, so I had to learn a lot more about World War 2 than I did before. But the research ended up changing the story of Bait in particular - I wanted to base the main character on my friend Mal, who is a Sikh, and a quick Google to see if there were any Sikh RAF pilots in WW2 led me to discover that there were quite a lot! Several who had private pilot licences came over to volunteer, and made a huge impact on the war effort. So now my friend is a Spitfire pilot in a comic. Magic.
Two of my short films and one of Cat's are now on the fantastic Arrow Player platform - Blood Shed, directed and co-written by me, produced and co-written by Cat, Crazy For You, written and directed by me, and Connie, written and directed by Cat, are all on there for your viewing pleasure. Blood Shed is about a killer shed that eats people (and the man who loves her), Crazy For You is a romantic comedy about a serial killer, and Connie is about a demonic, foul mouthed puppet. So expect blood, bad language, jokes, and more blood. Blood Shed stars Shaun Dooley and Sally Phillips, Crazy For You stars Arthur Darvill, and Connie stars Catrin Stewart as the human AND the puppet voice. Arrow are currently running a free trial, and have a 50% off deal as well.
https://www.arrow-player.com/blood-shed
https://www.arrow-player.com/crazy-for-you
https://www.arrow-player.com/connie
And the big news... I've written two episodes of a new box set featuring the Doctor Who characters Ace, Tegan, and River Song!
I cannot even begin to describe the sheer glee I felt writing these amazing characters, throwing them all together to see what happens. Ace and Tegan in particular are a huge influence on me, and Sophie and Janet's performances set the template for the modern companions - there's a direct line from them to River, Donna, and Ruby. The brilliant Roland Moore wrote the other two episodes, and we had to bounce off each other to make the complicated plot work (lots of time travelling shenanigans) which drove us both mad several times. But blimey, what fun to play in that universe! And getting to see part of the recording, with Sophie and Janet giving their all in the booth, was an absolute giddy joy. I may have fanboyed at them quite a lot, to explain how much they mean to me, they were so lovely, and both hugged me. They mean SO MUCH to me, the characters and their performances in particular, and I'm just ridiculously grateful they're in the same dimension as the rest of us. It's due out in March 2025, and you can pre-order it right now!
https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/river-meets-ace-and-tegan
Movie Stuff
We introduced the kid to The Nightmare Before Christmas recently, and she absolutely loved it. She's been desperate to watch scarier and scarier movies, and while we're glad she's a chip off the old block, we don't want to traumatise her, so we're being careful with the programming. She sailed through the Goosebumps movie, not scared in the slightest (that dummy *terrified* us). She was fascinated by Beetlejuice (again, not scared, more interested in how they do the effects), so we all went to see the sequel which we all loved. And she inhaled Gremlins and Gremlins 2, thinking the creatures were all very cute (even the evil ones). We finally went with the original Jurassic Park, which made her jump a few times, but she wasn't scared, just enjoyed the ride. So I'm not sure what to show her next, obviously there's a limit to what she will be able to handle, explicit gore and violence is out for now. I mean, I was watching The Evil Dead when I was 11, and Cat was watching things like that even earlier, so I guess Gracie has inherited our fascination with horror. She was VERY much into E.T. and Return to Oz, even though they both start a bit more slowly than she's used to, she was completely invested and watched them quietly. We went to a preview screening of The Wild Robot, which we've all been looking forward to, it had an intro from Lupita herself, as well as the writer director, composer, and producer. By the end, all three of us were in floods of tears - so when stuff hits the big emotional beats, it affects her more, she's never really bothered by horror stuff. We shall continue our journey. Carefully...
The Substance is as bonkers and splattery and brilliant as everyone says, nothing can prepare you for quite how extreme it is, that was quite the experience. Demi Moore is *amazing*, but she always was.
Blink Twice is a great thriller, very creepy, in the vein of Get Out, really unsettling with a belter of a finale.
Oh, and I really enjoyed Axel F, the new Beverly Hills Cop movie on Netflix. People got a bit snooty about it online, but then, people do that a lot. It was a nice nostalgia hit, with some fun modern updates, and nice to see those characters again.
Wicked emotionally demolished us all. I'd never seen the musical, and am not a*huge* musical theatre fan (but I like musicals in general), and it won me over. Amazing songs, amazing performances, amazing movie. Even more amazing? Our 6 year old child sat through a 2 hour 40 minute movie, and 30 mins of ads and trailers beforehand. That's a solid gold recommendation.
Waffle Stuff
Got a few things in the pipeline for next year, if they happen, then it will be a VERY interesting year, in a good way. Two particularly life-changing projects are closer to happening, so I'm keeping fingers eternally crossed. Nothing else I can do to propel those projects forward now, I've done my bit, so I'm waiting to see if other people can get them over the finish line. We shall see. In the meantime, I'm hanging around, in limbo, to see what happens.
I always find it strange, coming to the end of any particular year, like I wasn't quite ready for it to start, and now it's suddenly over. We're sort of prepared for Christmas, we're just having a quiet one at home as usual, no stress, just fun and food and toys for the kid (it's all for her now, after all). As usual, it's been a year of some good stuff, some bad stuff, and everything in between. Unusually? I'm feeling strangely optimistic for next year. I know, a "year" is an arbitrary measurement that ultimately means nothing and changes nothing unless we ourselves change it, but, BUT... it feels like maybe, just maybe, we might do exactly that. Let's change it together.
Have a safe dismount from 2024, and I'll see you in 2025...
James Moran
http://www.jamesmoran.com/
The Death and Life of River Song: Ace and Tegan:
https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/river-meets-ace-and-tegan
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-death-and-life-of-river-song-series-02-ace-and-tegan-3081
Doctor Who Time War Uncharted: Reflections box set:
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-time-war-uncharted-1-reflections-2528
Commando:
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/07/15/simple-simon/
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/08/26/blood-money/
https://www.commandocomics.com/2024/09/09/bait/
Arrow Player:
https://www.arrow-player.com/
https://www.arrow-player.com/blood-shed
https://www.arrow-player.com/crazy-for-you
https://www.arrow-player.com/connie