Earl Newton.com » Chalk It Up to 2008

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Blog: January 1, 2009 : 12:34 am

Chalk It Up to 2008

2008 was a good year for me, professionally and personally. It was a hard year, financially, though I had it easier than most.

For those who missed it (and sometimes I count myself among them), here’s the recap of 2008.

JANUARY: Spent the last month of my “day job” (producing sports radio) packing up my apartment and getting ready to move.
FEBRUARY: Day job ends on the first. Rather than search for another one, I set out to make my company pay for itself, through media production. Less than two weeks later, I was in Wilmington, North Carolina, directing a promotional trailer for Scott Sigler and Random House (Watch: Infected).
MARCH: After the shoot in February, I went back to Wilmington, and with the help and talent of Joe Stauffer and Shaun O’Rourke (amongst countless others), I produced/directed “Latchkeepers“, the fourth episode of Stranger Things, from a script by Matt Wallace.
APRIL: Began post-production on Latchkeepers. Was contacted by an English teacher in Brazil, who wanted to use “Sins of the Mother” to teach Brazilian students English. Developed the principle of Newton’s Razor: “All things being dramatically equal, the shortest cut is usually the best one.”
MAY: In a rush of post-production effects and sweat, David Kanter and I drove up to Balticon and staged Stranger Things: Singularity. Before an audience of 400, we announced to the world that Stranger Things would now be syndicated in 25 million homes across the U.S. on Illusion TV.
JUNE: After going live on Illusion TV, there followed a mad rush of publicity, including press on IO9.com and Warren Ellis’ blog. Lots of squeeeing in June. Also, starting June 1st, I gave up all junk food/soda/general edible evil.
JULY: After four months of irregular work, had to put down Stranger Things for a bit and take care of finances. Family issues also came into play, and left me with little time to do anything but side-jobs and look for better work.
AUGUST: In between side-gigs, I began writing the feature version of Pure Love. At the very end of the month, we came in strong by winning the 2008 Parsec Award for Best Video Podcast.
SEPTEMBER: Finished the first draft of Pure Love, and had to take a client to court. Finances got even tighter.
OCTOBER: My Macbook Pro was destroyed by a falling statue (long story). A new long-term production gig appeared on my horizon, and helped me pay for everything. In addition, longtime friends got married after a 7-year engagement, and I created this video of their courtship.
NOVEMBER: I completed another draft of Pure Love, and helped elect Barack Obama President. I also wrote this essay about that night.
DECEMBER: I paid bills, celebrated with friends and family, and had a generally laid-back time.

By and large, I accomplished the major goals I had for 2008. I built up the company, got us sound, promoted Stranger Things, and managed to remember birthdays along the way.

That said, the bar for 2009 has been set much higher. MUCH more activity with Stranger Things, many more side-projects that should be equally fun, and a lot of personal goals I want to hit.

I’m saving that post for tomorrow. As for now: Happy New Year, and as I like to say, I hope that 2009 brings you the wonders and the learning that 2008 did for me.

Because I like to be one year ahead.