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[imichelledesrosiers]

I am humbly requesting my family, friends, and fans, to celebrate this great moment with me because my screenplay “Infanticide” received an Honorable Mention at The Murray Film Festival on June 10th, 2024.

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[imichelledesrosiers]

Do not let anyone make you feel you are unworthy. You are the author of your story. Only you can narrate it.

Creole Version

Pa kite pèsonn fè ou santi ou pa diy. ou se otè istwa ou a. sèlman ou ka rakonte li

#imichellefilm #quotes #freelance #proverbs #sicatyentertainment #motivationalquotes #keep #mistyjean #writer #author #risktaker #worldmotivation

Quote by

Marie Michelle Desrosiers, the Writer

[imichelledesrosiers]

Total Chaos with a Happy Ending!

The morning of my pitch with Ms. Wilhelmina Hampton Smith for my script “Infanticide”, I had an anxiety attack that almost sent me to the hospital. The morning was total chaos for me and the fact that we knew that when you pitch before Mrs Hampton Smith, you must have your story together, didn’t help me one bit. It is known that she likes detail and she asks a bunch of questions about the script. 

I was perplexed and worried about my strong French accent, and the themes people in the film industry used when to question script writer. I was so worried, in fact that I almost called Ms. Murray to withdraw my name from the line-up. Fortunately for me, I did not call her. I prayed to God instead to walk me through, so I could overcome it. I continued with the process, however, thirty minutes before my pitch started, I misplaced my laptop mouse! (Which I cannot use my laptop without). I found it fifteen minutes later under a chair in my bedroom. 

Then, I could not open my zoom page because Ms. Hampton requested to do the zoom under her personal link and for some reason I could not access it. My anxiety came like a rush. I was shaking, my heart was beating out of rhythm, something that has happened to me before. I called one of classmates, Ms Kaytory, for help on how to log into the zoom call. As we were on the phone, I heard Ms Murray’s voice talking in the background on the zoom. I felt like my heart was going to seize! I could not focus anymore on what Ms Kaytory was telling me to do. It was a chaotic moment to say the least. My brain shut down. I could not think anymore.

As I managed to login on my cellphone, I heard both, Ms. Murray and Ms. Kaytory guiding me one after the other on what to do to login on my phone, but I was still shaking too much to concentrate on that. 

I only heard Ms. Murray saying: “Let me give her access to her phone. Ms. Kaytory re-worded what Ms. Murray said to me. 

Meanwhile, my instinct told me to turn on my laptop back on to my original zoom page, I did. Finally,  it was working. I was just on time before Ms. Hampton Smith showed up.  

Despite the chaos, the pitch was great! She asked me a few questions about: how many days of shooting? The location of shooting? and why now? I answered the questions the way I understood them, which came off in-direct and kind of wordy. After the pitch Ms. Murray reminded me to give short and clear answers because I gave them too much information. 

Thank you again to the KMP Professional Academy. I am thankful to have the academy Staff by my side. Especially Ms Michelle Murray who is a wonderful teacher. 

Also a big shout out to my devoted and tireless Editor Ms. Audrey Lespinasse who helps and supports me each time I need my writing edited. I really appreciate you. 

[imichelledesrosiers]

PITCHING WITH ROCK RIDDLE A.K.A Mr. WONDERFUL

For those who may not know, Mr. Rock Riddle, AKA Mr. Wonderful is a former professional wrestler, but that’s not all. This man carries so many hats such as: A SAG-franchised talent agent and he was co-owner of a successful Hollywood talent agency.  He is the author of the book ‘How to Become a Magnet to Hollywood Success’.  He is currently one of Hollywood's leading publicists and producers. His expertise in the marketing for the film and television industry, gave us, as writers, great tools to pursue our careers professionally. 

Pitching before Mr. Rock Riddle, on December 19, 2023 was hands down the best pitch experiences of my life. He is a humbly cheerful person. Mr. Wonderful was very patient to listen to my pitch. My strong French accent attracted his attention enough to ask me “where that accent comes from?” I answered “French”. Then he started speaking to me in French! That was impressive. 

In general, pitching in front of someone who you’re meeting for the first time it is not easy. I was ready to pitch with confidence that I would do great. Therefore, Facing the reality is is something different that put you into a one way road that you could not go back down, even though you are shaky. I faced and accomplished that fact with pride. Despite of my strong French accent, I could say that my pitch was a good one. I did not have criticism on it. I was only asked two questions: if the story is related to my personal experience? and if I want to shoot it in Haiti? 

It is important to answer the questions you are asked in a pitch in a way to not limit or restrict you and I believe I answered them fairly. I want the film to either be filmed on any island or a studio. The reason why is because it is difficult to bring a full crew in Haiti right now.  It is extremely risky and unsafe. I would rather they shoot it on another Island which has similar scenery, or in a studio, where they could build all the locations. I also understand that because my script talks about story coming from an island, even though it based on the truth, not everybody will understand the concept of it. 

I just want to share one of the advices that Mr. Rock Riddle gave us before the pitch: “he said that there was a writer, I could not recall his name that was pitching roughly 250 times before he made it in the industry.” He advised us to not give up!  Keep going until we make it. 

Mr. Rock Riddle advised us to keep going. So I will! No matter what stands in my path I will keep going and will believe that one day I will be successful in what I do. I truly believe that someone, somewhere wants to taste the island’s writing flavors and I will be there standing front row, fiercely, or behind a microphone to tell my story about how I made it through. I will always being grateful for Ms Michelle Murray, the COO of KMP ENTERTAINMENT. She is my teacher, my counselor, and a truthful person.  Also thanks to my devoted Editor Mrs. Audrey Lespinasse who is always on top of game when it comes to edit my writings. I really appreciate you. 

To find more information on Mr. Rock Riddle, visit his website below:

[imichelledesrosiers]

To Pitch, or Not To Pitch?

My first pitch ever was during my period at the KMP Entertainment Advance Master Writer course. Because of the WGA/SAG strike we couldn’t do a real pitch so I had a practice pitch with a writer/producer in the film industry. I was so upset after the pitch because I felt a hint of prejudice concerning my accent and the way I pronounced the words. I took it personal because my accent is sensitive spot for me and I am very self-conscious when it comes to speaking English in front of people. That left a bad taste in me to never pitch again. Period, case closed. Part of me also felt that I should stop writing all together.

However, to pass the class we still had to pitch our script to producers to either sell the script or get funds to film it. My teacher, Ms. Murray, prepared us to pitch and I prayed in my heart to not have a repeat of what happened during my practice pitch. I feared that I wouldn’t be ready to face the same kind of rejection.  

I spoke to my daughter, Audrey Lespinasse (Sound Engineer Student at the LA Recording School, about my feelings and hesitation about pitching. She advised me to bring my concern to my teacher Ms. Murray, and I did. When I spoke about it during class, my teacher Ms Murray, and my classmates Ms. Kaytory Nicole and Ms. Ruby Lee Sexton, encouraged me to not stop because of this fear. They helped me emerged to the surface again from the deep sinking sand that were my emotions and to continue the writing journey.

Although the issues of the strike affected all of us writers, filmmakers, actors/actresses, it was a good thing for me because I used that period of time to re-organize myself, worked on my fear, and prepared my portfolio to be ready for the pitch once the strike was over. 

Once the strike was over, Ms. Murray scheduled for us to pitch four times!

The first one was on December 10th, 2023 with John Duffy. He is a Producer/ Line Producer, released more than three films in 2023: "Left Behind” - “A Sunday Horse” - “Rise of the Anti Christ" and "Miracle in East Texas.”

On the day of the pitch with Mr. John Duffy, I was nervous and skeptical. I prepared everything in advance so I did not have to worry about anything. I was not really ready for the speech pitch, but my portfolio was ready thanks to my daughter Audrey who put aside her own homework and family obligations behind to help me with everything. Thank you Audrey! This time, I was mindfully well prepared, but I still had a little bit of concern about my accent.

Well, God answered my prayers! Mr. Duffy was extremely patient while he listened to my pitch. He tried his best to understand every single word of it. I had only one little recommendation from him. I am so happy to have overcome this challenge. 

Thank you Mr. Duffy! I will follow your advice to get better next time. I appreciate your kindness and respect you have for others. 

As the quote says: “What doesn’t break you, makes you stronger.”

So after the pitch on Dec 10th, I reflected on my first practice pitch, and I saw it in a different way this time.  I realized that if that producer did not do anything to bring this issue to my attention, I would have continued to make the same mistake. Someone else would bring it out. Also, I realized that it helped me to pay attention when I am reading; to go slow in the process, and to trust myself!

That was a great pitch and I look forward for the upcoming ones!

[imichelledesrosiers]

A Genius Lives in a Special World Full of Ideas and Diversities of Thoughts.

Quoted by

Marie Michelle Desrosiers

[imichelledesrosiers]

Our panel for short film ‘The Sweetest Girl’

[imichelledesrosiers]

DAILY HABITS

There are two daily habits that I will change from here on out. My use of pen and paper to write stories, and my procrastination. Let me explain

Writing is my passion. I seldom spend a day without having a new brainstorm that come to my mind so I could use for my next spec or script. As a writer I must set up a daily routine schedule to write something about any thoughts or any ideas coming to my head, in order to keep my writing skills flowing; if I really want to make it as a lifetime career.

I am an early person and my inspiration flows either early in the morning or late at night. I take these solo moments to write something, anything that comes my mind. Most of the time I use any blank writeable paper to do it, which is the easiest way for me to keep the idea fresh because by the time to turn on the laptop, to sign in, and wait until it completely turns on, the main thought starts to fade off. So, I use that as my convenient way but I pay good price for the consequences.

For instance, take a look of this Picture  

This is my bed, well the other side from I lay. I used to use that quickest way for everything coming in my head during the night. Do you think it is useful and convenient? The answer is “YES” and “NO.” we can say “yes,” if you have time during the day to go back and type every single thing that you wrote down during the night into your phone or your laptop.

In the case you cannot do that, it becomes a big “no, no” because you will have more new ideas to write down, and by adding them on the top of the pile you already have, it would be more difficult for you to type and format all of them properly. Most of the time those written papers end up in the trash because no one would take time to find out which one is which? It would become a mess that occupies some space in your house. Since you know the contents and how important those pieces of papers got in your eyes, you try your best to protect them as much as you can, but at the end of the day, or somehow you have to decide to rip of them.

To be honest, whatever great specs or ideas, and so on, I wrote down on pieces of papers ended

up in the trash because I procrastinated on going back and typing them on my laptop.  And something I slept on certain fresh and great specs or plots, and when I come back to write them down I kind of remember only a part of them. I lost all of the essence of them. The main ideas flew away because our brain is constantly working and changing your thoughts, and I don’t make it efficient enough to condense it as quick as possible.

Procrastination is another thing that we, as writers need to stay away from. It is our worst enemy. Our wills are always there to tell our stories, whether it is good or bad. Either it happy or sad. We always have something to write about, therefore, if we let laziness takes place into our lives, we will be the worst layback person on earth.

The day in itself is not enough for us to do what is important to do. If we fail to fulfill something that has to be done during the day; we are done, because it would be more difficult for us to go back and do it the next day. For those who don’t have a side job, their social network distractions take mostly half of their day and they procrastinate on what that must be done.

As the bible says: "Don't worry about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.” (Proverbs 27: 1). And the quote mentioned: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Discipline is key in everything, but using that discipline to perform this daily writing practice demands a lot of sacrifice and dedication. We must first prepare ourselves mentally before we start this daily writing practice. Do not procrastinate on it. We have to be prompt and ready at all time.

With the “Master and Advanced Master Writing” Courses that I take at “KMP Entertainment Professional Development academy,” I learn how to cope myself together and organize my craft in one place and to be ready whenever I need my them.

It is a step-by-step process, but as soon as you put yourself into it with no reserve, it will become a daily routine / habit that you would not be able to live without doing it, as a daily duty. You will instinctively force yourself to commit to it. It will become a second habit as such as if you don’t do it one day you would feel the emptiness of that unfulfilled task. 

[imichelledesrosiers]

THE END?

I look back at my journey throughout this class and I am amazed at how much I have learned. I say this all the time, that although the KMP Academy Master Writer Course is not YET accredited, it is worth every cent because of how much material you received. I would have never imagined this would be my outcome when my daughter first told me about the course. I feel overly grateful to have been a part of two courses and to have shared the space with such amazing human beings and writers! I have loved the community we have built within our class. My classmates, Ms. Kay and Ms. Ruby, have made this experience memorable for me. We have learned to really support each other, and to work together like any other writers room would. The honest truth is that I will NOT miss the workload. I have not rested the same since starting these courses with KMP. (Again it is worth it! but it is A LOT!). 

I have learned how to pitch, write a feature film script, write a video game, create a comic book, how to write a treatment, longline, beat sheet etc.! There is too much to name. I thank Ms. Michelle Murray for all that she has taught me. I love that even though the curriculum was written out before hand, it felt like the class was tailored to us and our needs. 

I think the only thing I would do differently is begin the courses sooner. I don’t like to go into “what ifs” because I don’t like to dwell on things. What I do know is that I am grateful for my daughter who helped me bridge the gap between my language barrier and this intense workload. I most definitely pushed past boundaries I didn’t expect I needed to. This course made me uncomfortable in a beneficial way. I now KNOW I can be a writer because I have done it already. Like Michelle says, “this is not class, this is your life”. And she is right about that. 

This course influenced my writing immensely. I am inspired by my classmates and their beautiful stories and backgrounds. I am now a more confident writer, a more fearless writer because of this course. I feel ready for writing opportunities that may come my way, which is a breath of fresh air for me. 

I would say to anyone wanting to take these courses that it is worth all of the stress, tears, and lack of sleep!

Thank you to my classmates, and most importantly, thank you to my instructor, Ms. Michelle Murray. 

[imichelledesrosiers]

Target Audience

For my current screenplay, I want to target the underdog; victimized and traumatic impacted people. I want to empower women who have been victimized by men, rape, and by poverty. People who understand what mental slavery does to a nation. Age can range from 18 to late 50’s.  

But not only women, my target audience is also those who are on the oppressing side of history.  There is small amount of rich people who keep the Haitian citizens under the oppression of their power. My target also focuses on illiterate and jobless people living in ghetto and unsafe environments.

Through my story, I want to target the authority that could help Haiti find peace. So that the people can live as a country like any other country. For everyone to have the same right to live. Even though I live outside of Haiti, my heart belongs to Haiti. I was born there, I was raised there. I know the greatest part of it, and I believe that the unexplored parts are still there intact.

[imichelledesrosiers]

GRANTS

MASTERY JOURNAL - WEEK 10 Film entertainment is one family with different tasks. Being a film writer is one thing, being a Filmmaker is another thing. Since we have to we, as a screenwriter we have to learn all the processes. Here we are leaning “The top film grants list and resource for filmmakers.” It has been said at the beginning of “Studio Binder” “looking for funding for your film is often harder that making the actual movie.” The waiting is long and sometimes discouraged. However, there are other funnel as resources we can use to find the most exhaustive film grants, that will teach you, either you are going after a short film grant, feature, or documentary grant, you will know which one you want to apply for. And how to use the funds to your advantage. There are the ten top we have to look for. Among those ten ones, let’s dive in to find the 3 best and perfect film grants we want to use the most. - GRANT FELLOWSHIP & LABS — The Lowdown on Film grants. According to “Studio Binder” FILM GRANTS are usually unrestricted funds, services, or equipment that can be used for the development, production, or distribution of a project. They do not have to be repaid. It is more beneficial for independent filmmaker because they have freedom to use the funds without restriction and we don’t have to repay it. however, there is a price to earn the funds. For instance, we have to participate in film festivals to earn awards, recognition, and film’s credits, or we have to be part of service commitment with film fellowships, which are for artists writing on themes of science. They may require a residency and the committee on the project, and must award your project to earn the grants from “Sloan Foundation” which is a part of the “Sundance,” Tribeca and San Francisco Film Festivals.” For this, the requirement is to attend the “Mentor meetings and labs and the living cost must be covered for three months. FIRST-TIME FILMMAKERS, First-time filmmakers give the opportunities to all writers, producer, and or theater, to make it if they have writing publishing, and or theater scripts. That program encourages them to grow in the film industry standard such as: Panavision or Abel Cine-Tech. it is a “No one left behind opportunity.”

EVERY VOICE IS UNIQUE – Every voice is unique gives female filmmakers in various branches the opportunities to create a balance in the visibility on screen in order to represent females behind the camera and those in

executive positions. I consider that as one of the great opportunities for women in power to expose their talents in the film industry. Those are my three preferences because as novice in the film industry we need something that could help us to move forward and encourage to keep writing and make a career out of that.

[imichelledesrosiers]

LE DROIT MORAL

The term “morality” takes its ethical root word from Greek "ethos," meaning "character,” and from the Latin “mores” which means "custom." Both are part of the copyright branch that are broadly designate a set of standards of right and wrong conduct. Moral rights are more powerful with the moral law, which is the work of divine wisdom. “An author said to have the "moral right" and to control the work relies on the connection between an author and her creation. Moral rights protect the personal and reputational, rather than purely monetary, that connect the creator of a work to their work. The law says that the author enjoys the right to the respect of his name and also of his quality.

Wikipedia describes “Moral rights” as the rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions.

In the field of literary publishing, the author also has the right to have his name appear on each copy of his work. This is a right that also applies to all co-authors of audiovisual works, who have right to have their name mentioned in the credits. It is also the right to remain anonymous, not to have one’s identify revealed and an editor would be held liable if he revealed of an author who wants to publish anonymous. It is also the right to use a pseudonym. It is the author’s right to object to the false attribution of works of which he is not the author.

The moral right is the specificity of the French copyright law. It allows to sanction the targets at work.  The moral right, contrary to the patrimonial rights, is perpetual, inalienable and imprescriptible. This is an important feature for copyright. It can be exercises at all times by the author or his beneficiaries, including after 70 years postmortem of the exercise of patrimonial rights. The moral right is inalienable. The author is always able to exercise even if they are bound by contract to a production or a publishing house. Morale law is also perpetual; it does not fall into the public domain and the heirs can claim it during exploitation, the works has been denatured because the right to a name is often coupled with the right to respect for quality which poses fewer problems in practice. Which is, for the author, the possibility of requiring that his titles, grades and distributions be indicated. Moral rights protect the non-economic interests of an author. It comes to ensure that the author and his work are not subject to abuse or undesired modifications by the author. Moral law is a right that also applies to all co-authors of audiovisual works, who have the right to have their name mentioned in the credits. That results from the individual conscience, it relates to the person, to the individual. The law relates to the common good, its purpose is to organize life in society by setting common rules. The source of the moral rule is in the personal interiority.

Moral rights classify in four specific sub-branches, intended to protect a work:

The right of disclosure, is the right for the author to decide to disclose his work and to bring it to the public’s attention. These are rights that are exercised after disclosure, which gives the author the power to make his work public or not and to decide under what conditions publication takes place. The right of disclosure implies both a material fact, such as publication, but also a will of the author that must be devoid of ambiguity. The right of disclosure is the right to set the terms according to which the work will be communicated to the public. An author can cede his rights of representation and reproduction on a work and nevertheless exercise the right of disclosure to prevent a form of communication to the public.

The right of paternity allows the author to choose between affixing his name, remaining anonymous or using a pseudonym. Right to paternity of the work for the benefit of others made with “pen-lenders.” Where the real authors renounce the paternity of the work, which is in principle against the law. It is valuable for authors who collaborate to compose or co-write a work together. The right to respect for the work bases on integrity of moral rights.

The right to respect for the work, which gives the author and only him the ability to decide on a modification of the work, in form or in substance. Respect for the work is also respect for spirit of the work. If there is no respect for the spirit of the work when it is presented in a context who denigrates or belittles it.

Finally, the right of withdrawal or repentance, which gives the author the possibility of modifying a given work (repentance) and of ceasing the distribution of this one (withdrawal) The law provides for the principle of compensation. The author must compensate the transferee for the damage that the repentance or withdrawal causes him to suffer. when it wishes by a unilateral rupture, on the assignment of rights that have been entrusted to a third party. There are two rights to repaint and withdrawal that we hear a little less talk about. The right to repent is the right to modify the work. The right to withdraw is the right to return.

Moral rights are additional rights held by authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works that require that your name is always shown with your work. This is called right of attribution. They consist of rights that protect the integrity of a work and the reputation of its author. The right of attribution is the right to always be identified as the author of a work or to remain anonymous.

Moreover, le Droit Moral is a perpetual right; in other words, even after the death of the author, the heirs of copyright can still exercise it, even for a work that has fallen into the public domain. It is also an inalienable right, which indicates that no waiver clause can be valid.

Finally, it is an imprescriptible right, so it has no time limit. “According to Kant, the moral law is not imposed by anyone. It imposes itself by itself, solely through the concepts of pure reason. The law recalls that the author has the right to respect for his work in the sense that it cannot be modified, altered, added, deleted, modified without the author, who complains of an attack on the integrity of the work has to prove that there is an attack on his honor or his reputation.”

Every reasonable being, by the simple fact of his freedom, must respect the two imperatives, the categorical and the practical.

“Kant wonders what could be the law determined by a good will, absolutely and without restriction. Such a law would not be motivated by any interest, nor inclination, nor personal impulse, but only by itself.” But it is not necessary in all cases. It is always possible to prefer an aesthetic choice to moral good, and worse still, it is always possible, in complete freedom, to decide for radical evil.

[imichelledesrosiers]

First Submission

Submitting my work for the first time in this setting was stressful and exciting at the same time. I am grateful for the opportunity to have someone look at what I have worked so hard on.  The experience was a big learning curve for me because I now know how I can approach this differently and better next time. Thank God that we had already prepared all of the content NBC asked us to submit, this took a lot of pressure off of me. 

Next time, I want to be better and understanding my computer and how it runs. This has been my biggest downfall in my writing career.

[imichelledesrosiers]

Media Convergence

As I understand it, media convergence is the outcome of technology being fused with existing media platforms. For example, films were once played only in theaters through a film reel, but now because of technology, people can watch films on their phones in their pockets! There are different aspect of media convergence but I want to talk about the entertainment industry. I am still adjusting to all of the converged platforms out there and I know that these platforms play a big role in my writing career. The entertainment industry is a billion dollar industry so that means a lot of investments have gone into multimedia convergence. Because of this, we now have platforms like: 1. Virtual reality/Augmented Reality 2. Web-based content 3. Video on demand 4. Over the top video 5. Dual screen engagement And I’m sure more on the way. These give a huge opportunity for writers to get a chance. There will always be a demand for entertainment, (I think the pandemic showed us all this).

For me, this means that not only do I have to keep up with the changes in media, but I must always be prepared with enough content so that when I do get an opportunity, my portfolio matches my belief in myself. Also another change this brings up is how we communicate in the writing world. As I get ready for my pitch, I realize that everything that can be on Zoom, or webcam, will most likely take place there and not in person. I must prepare for this too because technology at this level is not my strong suit. I want to be able to keep the constant pace of learning. If you don't keep up with these changes, you will be left behind.

[imichelledesrosiers]

PROTECT YOUR IP

This week I learned so many gems about the importance of protecting you Intellectual Property! Did you know that copyrighting your work gives you exclusive rights to display, perform, or distribute your work. 

And anyone who infringes on your protected work may be subject to pay fines, or possibly go to jail! 

My work is precious so it is protected, is yours?