An excerpt from an email I just sent: “By the way, Aristotle’s POETICS is absolutely NOT an easy read, so when you hear Crag Mazin [a pretty successful Hollywood writer] say that, just know he’s lying to you! … unless you are already an expert on Ancient Greek society, dithyrambic poetry, and music of the lyre. Then it’s a breeze.” #Writing#ScreenWriting#Filmmaking
Just submitted a sketch about President Cleveland coming out of retirement to be a running mate for 45. In doing research for it I have at least tripled my knowledge of Grover Cleveland 😝
New goal this week: learn how to write a screenplay. With the NYCMidnight Screenwriting Challenge starting on Friday, there's no time like the present!
Question: I'm after examples of creative works where there is a realisation that the way you've been told the world works is suspicious or wrong and you need to critically consider things for yourself.
Eg: The Truman Show
Particularly interested in games. The Stanley Parable is the closest so far but keen to learn about or be reminded of more!
in today's installment of fun dialogue the goblins and the swordswoman are giving the young witch love advice as they prep to burgle the wizard-king's boat
When I was 20 I thought by the time I hit mid-40s, I'd be a world famous writer and filmmaker, but well, here I am, only mildly successful but getting a lot of praise for each story from the very few who find them. Uhm.... So, I turn to teaching, and mentoring. This is one of the classes I give, and it's online so you can sign up, if you ever want to get into #screenwriting
For those people interested in getting their screenplays past readers and gatekeepers, I've just reposted a Stage 32 article that addresses the overwhelmingly common, number one reason why I "pass" on screenplays as often as I do.
‘An Artist’s Rule: Be Like David Bowie…or Die Trying’
"Bowie often strikes me as a hologram comprised entirely of counterfeit selves. Thus, no two people see or experience Bowie as an artist in the same way. He is a cipher that provides each of us whatever we need from him."
'Q&A: Director Clay Kaytis on Nostalgia, the Holidays, and Finding Himself in His Work'
The filmmaker behind THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES, A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS, and Peanuts holiday specials knows a thing or two about the narrative risks involved in mining our childhoods.
I have a deep love for the "Quentin Tarantino carves a turkey sketch" from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (which, incidentally, is never shown on screen).
It's an advanced class in writing comedy, writing violence, and the role of the audience's imagination in storytelling.
'Q&A with Matt Fraction: The Comic Book and TV Writer on What He's Learned from Letting Go As an Artist'
The 'MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS' co-creator discusses the virtue of crazy ideas, chasing right angles, and the boozy hotel bar debate that changed his life.
This is an essential read for any kind of artist, trust me.