Music that soothes Pogue's savage breast...Rozsa...particularly PROVIDENCE soundtrack and a lot of his classical concert pieces. Ravel. Debussy. Katchaturian. Vaughn Williams' Sinfonia Anarctica. Rimsky-Korsakov. Symphonically, I prefer Russians, Hungarians, English, by and large.
Of course, the most soothing way for me to relax is with a bottle of good wine on the back balcony with a smooth singer. Johnny Hartman and Vic Damone are favourites...but I've got a vast array who will fit the bill.
PennyO, it depends on what is meant by mentoring? I've pretty much gotten out of the habit of reading other people's scripts...simply because it just got so overwhelming...friends of friends of friends and if you did it for one, suddenly you felt obligated to do it for others. Secondly, in all my years of reading scripts, I only found one writer who I thought actually had a chance of making it as a screenwriter...he hasn't yet and might be getting discouraged about it, despite being a wonderful talent.
Thirdly, I find most people dont really want to hear realistic feedback, they want compliments, pats on the back. I'm not that kind of mentor. I believe if you can be discouraged you should be discouraged. If you can't be discouraged in the face of harsh realities, maybe you'll survive.
On rare occasions that I do agree to do this, I am blunt, brutal, no-mincing-of-words. Some have suggested even cruel. I don't care. No matter how cruel I am, the realities of the business are crueller. I take a copy of the script and mark my comments in the margin. They usually get more acerbic as I go along, since most scripts unravel before the end. I judge by professional standards...one doesn't get graded on the curve because they're just starting out. But if you've got the nerve, the advice is always sound and you'll get an excellent lesson in screenwriting, depsite any perceived harsness.
Now if it's just advice you want about the business that doesn't involve reading work, I'm pretty free with that...though I can't say it'll be anymore optimistic in tone. I don't help people to get agents (I wouldn't know how) nor will I volunteer to show people's work to my agent or other people I know in the business, my credibility's on the line (again, the only time I have ever given a script to an agent was that one writer. I don't think the agent ever read it).
I don't know who needs mentoring, but I suggest they visit my friends,Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott's screenwriting site which is the best site around for offering no-nonsense pragmatic advice on screenwriting and is visited by several professionals. Yours truly included...where I am more or less regarded as the Simon Cowell of screenwriting advisors. Terry and Ted wrote Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, and Mask of Zorro...so are at the top of their game. The advice is geared to giving wannabes and newbies, but those serious about pursuing a career in this precarious profession, a realistic viewpoint. Their message boards are always engaging and full of lively, often brutal, debate (Their boards are always down on the weekends, however). T & T's column are great tools...I recommend starting with column 34. THROWING IN THE TOWEL. It seperates the chaff from the wheat real fast. The site is called WORDPLAY at
www.wordplayer.com. It is not for the meek, the squeamish, or dilletantes.
