On July 18th, at C3 Vape and Coffee, OC Film and Television and OC Screenwriters held our 3rd Wednesday networking event.
Kristen D'Alessio (IMDB) was our guest to speak on the process of taking a concept from script to screen and beyond. The first words that come to mind when I think of Kristen D'Alessio are forms of the word grace. Graceful, gracious, and graced.
Kristen was so knowledgeable about the process of filmmaking and shared that information without reservation. No question was rebuffed, no avenue unexplored as she dazzled the group at C3.
The consistent message that I head from Kristen is this is not for the faint of heart. Coming from an acting background, she and Harris Goldberg (IMDB) wrote, produced, directed, and distributed the film, sharing those tasks together and separately for two years and counting!
"Alex and the List" is probably considered an indie film but it has a high concept worthy of any studio film: Alex (Patrick Fugit) is getting married and 
his fiance (Jennifer Morrison) has a list of things she wants him to change about himself before they say I do.
Fugit is confused and upset but his gal pal (Karen Gillan) tells him that every girl has a list - Morrison's character just wrote them down.
The vagaries of love and expectations are explored. Hilarity and shrewd observations of humanity occur as each player explores what it means to be in love - or think they are.
Kristen covered the entire process from concept to completion, something that, as producer, she's still not fully done with yet as she continues to negotiate foreign territories for distribution.
I've been in the business for a number of years but had no clue to the unbelievable amount of paperwork, detail, and grind that went into bringing an indie to the screen. Working for established production companies, you get a little spoiled as you hand off your script and it shows up finished a few months later. I'm not sure, no matter the potential rewards, if I'd ever want to do what Kristen did.
The event was well-attended with all as entranced by Kristen's charm as I was. Truth to tell, I've got a little crush on her. In some part because she is so accomplished but more so because she was just so real. She held nothing back, took questions, put up with my inanity, and smiled and laughed along with us as she admitted mistakes she made and milestones she accomplished. It was thrilling to be with her (in mind) as she found out her film was going to be picked up by a distributor after having been rejected by others. The phone call, the realization, the relief - she made these as real as having been there - again, because she held nothing back.
SOAP BOX:
I can't imagine us not having to turn people away from these events. Although we had a great turnout, I'm always expecting standing room only. Anyone who wants to be a filmmaker should be coming to these events and absorbing the professionals' information. Kristen was a wealth of knowledge on everything from script collaboration, script notes and rewrites, and how your script gets turned into a movie. To sit at home (I'm assuming) and watch television is the most ridiculous thing I can imagine when industry people like Kristen D'Alession are available. I've been in this business for many years and I learned so many things from this remarkable woman. Why in the world would you NOT come? It's simply beyond me.
END SOAP BOX:
After she spoke, Kristen spent an hour on the floor talking to people in small groups and one on one. Her scope is amazing and giving people access to that information was so very generous.
OC Screenwriters would like to offer our sincere thanks to Kristen for driving down from L.A. to visit us in Costa Mesa at C3 Vape And Coffee. Hopefully, after her next project she'll come back and regale us with even more stories from the Hollywood trenches.
Congrats to Kristen for accomplishing something so few people do.
After listening to her I can clearly see why she did succeed - it's that one word: Grace.
"Alex and the List" is available on many VOD channels.
Our continued thanks to Rich D'Alessio of C3 Vape and Coffee for the use of his fabulous venue. (WEBSITE)