It’s been a while…

But I assure you, things are going well. I’m working on three separate projects right now. A little too tired to elaborate- I’ll save that for the morning. For now, I’ll leave you with this.

Yes, that’s my hand. Look closely.

Great editing

Check out the great editing on the opening credits of my most recent film “Caged Dreams”.

Enjoy!

VISUALIZATION IS THE KEY!

When you want to affect change in your life, you must visualize your intended outcome! You gotta “test drive” those feelings, emotions and experiences so that you can get your mind and your energy in the right place to carry out your intent.

When you visualize, all doors will open. Promise.

Update!

I don’t have a clever name for this post…because…well, so much has happened.

I guess the biggest news is that my film “Caged Dreams” premiered quite successfully to a sold-out crowd at the Gasparilla International Film Festival. It was an exciting experience and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Work here in Atlanta is great. I’m meeting people and making connections. I recently met a group of innovative, independent film makers called Urban Media Makers (UMM). They seem very committed to making things happen, staying positive, and above all producing their own work.

The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is coming up this week, so I’ll be attending that. In the fall, UMM will also be hosting a film festival. I will be submitting some screenplays to that.

The audition circuit is going well, I’ve recently auditioned for Army Wives, a few feature films and even a hip-hop VJ spot with Steve Harvey’s production team. So I’m just moving along. I booked something yesterday, but I will withhold details until later.

Finally, I’m progressing nicely on my own writing. I’m working on my first play, which I plan to direct, write, produce and star in. That is slated to be finished by the end of the year and I anticipate it being produced in May or June 2011. More details to come on that.

Quote for the day: “The secret to happiness is freedom and of freedom, the secret is a brave heart”- Pericles

Take care,

DDD

My Academy Award

I was watching the Academy Awards last weekend, Monday…whenever it was…and I kept having these…visions. Not some sort of crazy hallucinations…but almost like the opposite of a flashback. I guess that’s called a flashforward?

I saw myself, sitting in the audience with my tux on. I had a bowtie on, because it’s the classy thing to do. I’m sitting there with my mom and who I think is my wife. Not sure on that one ladies, don’t get too excited. And there’s someone on stage. They announce: “And the Academy Award goes to……DANIEL DIPIAZZA”. And all at once, I’m shocked, and grateful and stunned.

But I’m not “surprised”.

It’s not the first time I’ve had this visualization before. See, I think visualization is powerful. We are so convinced that since we cannot physically “touch” a thought, that it cannot affect our world without a corresponding physical action.

But when we visualize, we aren’t just dabbling in some imaginary fancy. We are creating something real. At the most basic level, we’re creating an additional possibility. Deepak Chopra remarks that every moment is the sum and result of an infinite number of possibilities. Our thoughts are the key to creating those possibilities. There has never been an occurrence in your life or mine that didn’t start as a thought (whether positive or negative). Thoughts are the ultimate creators. Thoughts lead to ideas. Ideas lead to visualizations. Powerful visualizations lead to both conscious and subconscious changes in our behavior that alter our destiny. But no destiny can be directed without the power of intention. We have to use our thoughts, ideas and visualizations as tools to guide our path.

Yesterday, I even took the time to write out my Oscar acceptance speech. Silly, you think. Sure, I had fun with it. But I also understand that writing a speech to be delivered in the future is a very strong message of intent and purpose to the Universe. It’s now only a matter of time. This website will be up for years to come- so I want the few of you who are reading this now to remember…you read it here first.

My Academy Award Acceptance Speech:

(Throw up the peace sign. Hold for applause)

Well…I hope they don’t play the music and try to rush me off stage before I get to the second part.

So what about you? Is there a moment in the future that you could visualize? Make it real.

“Caged Dreams” premiere and agent signing

Two quick notes:

The premiere for my newest film “Caged Dreams” has been scheduled for March 20th at the Centro Ybor Muvico in Tampa. I hope you can come out. I worked very hard on the film, I’d love the support!

Also, I signed with Atlanta Models & Talent on Wednesday. I was very impressed with Kathy and her staff. I look forward to a successful, fruitful partnership!

Running and Reading

Actors,

We need to be reading. Reading everything we can get our hands on.

Newspapers.
Books.
Magazines.
Websites.
Screenplays.
Instruction manuals.
Food labels.
Everything.

Why?

Because the written word is the original medium for humans to record our thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

When we read the beliefs of others we’re forced to reflect on on our own beliefs whether we like it or not. We can only act from an organic, real place when we know how we feel and what we believe.

Reading sparks the imagination and helps us solve puzzles that once seemed impossible when only viewed through our own limited perspectives.

There’s no problem that humanity hasn’t already solved and written about in a book.

I like the way Will Smith said it:

Behind the Scenes: the audition process

I thought you guys might enjoy this video I found online. It’s the audition reel that I did for my role in ‘Caged Dreams’ which will premiere in March at the Gasparilla International Film Festival. This is a good insight into how auditions work. 4-5 minutes maximum (although this was a little longer because it was a final callback). They are usually in a cramped office, not a studio. You don’t have much time to get into character. Enjoy this rough footage! Man, I look so much better in the actual film!

Dan DiPiazza from Elisa Goad on Vimeo.

My NEW apartment in ATLANTA!

Hi everyone, I’m taking the next step in my career and I thought you might like to see how I’m living. ATL is beautiful!

Thank YOU for stopping by.

Busting BLOCKBUSTER

I was at Publix on my last day in Tampa and ran into this machine. I’ve seen them for a while, but I’ve never taken the time to stop and use one. The machine is essentially an entire blockbuster store in a box! You just swipe your card, pick from a digital screen that lists pictures and descriptions of over 500 movies and boom- the box shoots out a neatly packaged DVD. Your debit card is charged $1 per day (cheaper than the traditional store rental) until you return it back to the machine.

The concept is pretty awesome. Pick up ingredients for your pasta and run to the video store in the same building. But think about how many jobs this eliminates. An entire store of staff to categorize and shelve the movies, managerial staff, cleaning crews, vendors and probably more I can’t think of. We’re talking about eliminating as many as 50 jobs with one machine at a fraction’s fraction of the cost.

Great for Blockbuster. Not great for the economy.

I got “The Wrestler” with Mickey Rourke. It was phenomenal.