Bri Castellini’s New Years Resolutions 2018

2017 was a rough year and yet I still ended it with 8 completed resolutions and 2 partially completed ones, so I’m ready to take 2018 by storm.

Resolutions: 2018 Edition

1. Produce 2 new projects I write to completion. Last year, I only completed Sam and Pat Are Depressed, which was awesome, but not as much as I wanted to have to show for. Keeping this resolution the same because I do want at least 2 new projects for my portfolio by the end of THIS year.
2. Write a feature-length screenplay. Either by completing my partially completed one or writing a new one. Lots of writing opportunities require a feature-length script, so I need one.
3. Post a blog twice a month and a personal YouTube video once a month. This worked out SO well this year, forcing me to make smaller projects on a consistent basis. It also led me to write some really interesting things I might not have written otherwise, like this blog about my relationship with food.
   1. NEW VIDEO RULE: At least half of the videos from 2018 have to be filmed outside of my apartment, and ALL of them have to have a least one shot more cinematic than “tripod with me in the middle of frame.” If I’m serious about pursuing directing, I need to know more about composing shots.
4. Write 2 new TV scripts- one original pilot, one spec script. I always need new scripts to keep myself sharp for TV writing, and I have also only ever written one spec script which is WILDLY out of date, and spec scripts are a requirement for most fellowships, so if I ever decide to apply for one, this will be useful.
5. Close caption all previous (and new 2018) projects. Making my projects more accessible to people with hearing disabilities is an easy enough process, it’s just time-consuming. So making it a full year project seems appropriate.*
6. Save $1500. After losing my job at MTV, burning through my entire savings account during my four months of unemployment, and getting a new job that pays significantly less than MTV, my bank account looks like someone has been blackmailing me. So even without the income I used to have, saving money is really important, because I need a safety net and eventually I’m hoping to move to LA to be closer to traditional writing opportunities in film and TV. $1500 over the course of an entire year shouldn’t be too impossible.
7. Leave New York City at least twice. I gotta get out more. I love New York but if I don’t leave at least twice a year I start to get really claustrophobic.
8. Eat out less than three times a week and do something active every day. Tangible steps to better health. I learned my lesson last year: intangible resolutions do not work for me.
9. Take a photo every day. This just seems fun, and will be a nice way to force myself to do something every day. Depression has a way of isolating me from the world and from other people and maybe not wanting 40 pictures in a row of my apartment will motivate me more than saying “stop being depressed” over and over to myself did this year.
10. Talk less, listen more. Fine, fine, ONE intangible goal. I’ve realized the past few years that I tend to empathize via telling my own related story, but then I kinda end up taking over the conversation. Sometimes this is ok, but sometimes, I just need to shut up and listen. Not every story I have needs to be told.

Obligatory comment question: Do YOU have any new years resolutions? What are they? Let’s keep each other on track!

*if anyone wants to help me CC Brains or Ace and Anxious, let me know!