Well, that was certainly a year, huh? Arbitrary calendar designation or not, 2020 felt like a lot. It was the year that all of the cracks in our collective social structure not only revealed themselves, but seemed to grow ever wider. I’m not going to rehash or review them all here; you’re well aware of […]
Pj Teaches the Art of Procrastination
As I detailed in a recent video blog, at any given time, I’m sitting on a few dozen ideas for various creative projects–films, songs, videos, articles, whatever. They can range from a few words tapped out quickly in an email or brainstormed notes in my phone to fully developed pitches and halfway finished screenplays. Sometimes […]
In Memory of Benjamin Sergio Perez
Unbelievable as it seems, for the second time in just about as many months, I’m writing what amounts to an obituary for one of my parents. On August 20, my father, Benjamin Sergio Perez, somewhat unexpectedly passed away at the far-too-young age of 59—less than three months after his wife of 33 years, my mother, […]
In Memory of Marilyn Perez
As if 2020 wasn’t already shaping up to be the worst year ever–at least in my lifetime–it was made worse on Sunday May 31, when my mother, Marilyn Stephanie Perez (née Meyers) shed this mortal coil after a three-week battle to recover from a heart attack. She was 72. My mother was a nurturer, a […]
In Memory of Lenadams Dorris
These days, Facebook seems to be the first place you catch wind of any major life events in your circle of friends (or circle of random people you’ve “friended” on the internet if you’re less choosy about such things). Pregnancies. Births. Engagements. Weddings. Divorces. And, yes, deaths. The longer this platform exists, the longer I’ve […]
PJ on PJ
One of grunge’s last bands standing, Pearl Jam, recently announced a new album (Gigaton) and concurrent tour. The first single from that album, “Dance of the Clairvoyants,” was released yesterday, and … it is not what I expected. Maybe not what anyone expected? “Dance of the Clairvoyants” starts off with what sounds like a stark […]
Surviving AFM
It’s been now more than a week since the 40th annual American Film Market (AFM) ended, and I’m still processing the experience (and catching up from four days of pounding the Santa Monica pavement). This week-long event, which describes itself as “the most efficient film acquisition, development and networking event in the world,” is where […]
Another 48 Hours
It was almost exactly eight years ago when I teamed up with a few friends, a few people I barely knew, and several I didn’t know at all, to write, shoot and edit an original short film in approximately 48 hours. Although I’d been dabbling in TV and film writing as well as short-form videos […]
Hack Job
Here we are again, with a brand-new website, because some bad actors with malicious coding skills exploited a weakness in one of WordPress’ countless open-source plugins. It’s fine, really. I was planning on redesigning pjperez.com (again) anyway, even though I just did it probably less than a year ago. Instead of taking the time to […]