Notification of Filming

I moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 2004 for a change of weather, a change of scenery, and a writing career. In retrospect I understand more clearly that I was also motivated to experience the geography and urban dynamics of one of America's greatest cities.

The writing tapered off within a few months, which felt like giving myself permission to explore new ways to create. I couldn't justify sitting in a bland Hollywood apartment trying to describe a city that was outside the window. A screenplay is only a blueprint, and a blueprint was never going to satisfy the desire to make something tangible.

I started taking long walks around Downtown after work, and on weekends taking buses out and walking as far back as I could manage before catching one home. I no longer felt the desire to invent a narrative and became more obsessed with observing reality from the sidewalks of the city. The more I walked, the more my curiosity pushed me to absorb and learn.

Los Angeles has been photographed and filmed for over a century. The landscape is generous with new perspectives and angles to explore. It was also apparent to me early on that the vast geography was overwhelming on foot. It is, after all, America's most infamous car city. As much as I wanted to walk for miles, I would never come close to seeing all of it, but at a certain point that mattered less than building a routine from the places I could reach.

On the sidewalks it can be difficult to tell whether you are looking at a movie set or at the diverse citizens of the city working out their own narratives. Film productions post notices in the neighborhoods where they intend to work. The signs read Notification of Filming and residents act accordingly.

None of my screenplays ever became a film. The blueprint in my imagination became something visible instead.