A Roundabout Way to Say: THE AUDIOBOOK IS DONE.

One of the measurements of a creative life is how many times you learn and unlearn Photoshop. Or Illustrator. Or Premiere Pro. Or… whatever. 

My count is immeasurable. 

I have limited space in my brain for these technical tools. There’s essentially a cache that gets filled with YouTube tutorials for one application until the next wave of tutorials squeezes the last one out. 

I dunno. I’m not a tech curmudgeon, but it’s hard not to take the advances that occur when I’m not paying attention DEEPLY personally. Final Cut going to shit was one of them. Forcing not only a new brand on me (Premiere Pro) but a new layout and bin system. Almost as bad was six months later when I realized I had forgotten everything I learned about Premiere Pro and then had to relearn it all again. Or the next time that happened. This repeats a few times - you get the idea.

My first regular gig in the film industry was at Maysles Films. They still had Steenbecks when I started – those are those flatbed film editing machines with actual film and splicing and tape and baskets full of unspooled reels. Avid was starting then, but old-timers still rented the edit suites at Maysles because they still had the Steenbecks. You’d sometimes see cinema verité royalty in the hallways then (besides Albert, I mean). In my memory each of them is wearing an old cardigan and looked either like Wallace Shawn or Austin Pendelton and always had some younger, attractive assistant at their sides. And they all smelled of cigarettes.

I long for this analog system – something that lasts, something that doesn’t update, something with screws, gears, knobs and in some cases, room for an ashtray.

Maysles called all their Production Assistants “runners” - mostly to keep them from making PA money. Runners got paid by the hour, minimum wage, no OT ever. A fast way up seemed to be starting to work for a specific department, so I made a play to be an editing assistant. Note: not an Assistant Editor. That was many steps above. This was tape organizing. Labeling. Creating manifests to ship all the tapes out to cold storage in Fort Lee, New Jersey. That was a weird tax loophole, storing the tapes in Fort Lee. I don’t remember the specifics, but I remember Fort Lee. (Moment of silence for the tape libraries of Fort Lee, please.)

All this pondering is to say I have recently added a few new programs to my list of things I will get to learn, forget and relearn. Logic Pro, Izotope and Audacity. 

Why would you care? 

Because after watching many, many YouTube tutorial videos, I can finally announce that the audiobook for BROOKLYN MOTTO is done. The very talented (and fantastic person) Bobby Daniel Rodriguez narrated it, and I directed and edited.

It took – I’m not gonna exaggerate – a long-ass time to get this done. But it’s done and it’s good and I think you’ll enjoy it. 

I want to say a special thank you to Martha Wollner for putting Bobby and I together. If you know Martha you love her. If you don't know her, you should.

The audiobook is currently available on almost every platform except Spotify (IYKYK). 

Please buy it. Please listen to it. Please review it. Please force it on your friends.

Some promo videos below to give you a vibe. 

Here's a LINK to a good cross-section of options to buy the audiobook (your fav might not be on there, but that doesn't mean it's not on your fav). If you still want hard copy, I encourage you to shop at Bookshop or send an email to me directly.

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