'THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS Is One of the Greatest Blockbusters of the 21st Century'
There's a good chance you'll disagree with my take, but a deeper look at the film, why it exists, and the metatextual conversation it’s having about Hollywood, audiences, and our culture today might change your mind – and teach you a thing or two about how to push your own art to extraordinary places.
'A Matter of Survival: How the WGA Is Trying to Save Feature Screenwriters'
John August and Writers Guild leaders weigh in about the systemic exploitation of feature screenwriters (i.e. free work) and the contract proposals that would help them...and the whole film industry in the process.
The WGA strike is noticeably different this time. When I’m out n’ about and people hear that I’m a writer… they know about us. They know our fight. They know our issues. And they’re on our side! We will prevail!! #wga#wgastrike#tvwriting#screenwriting#writing#writingcommunity
'The Resident' creator Amy Holden Jones turned down editing E.T. for Steven
Spielberg so she could direct her first film before she was even 30. It's one of many bold decisions in her trailblazing career that would eventually see her become an A-list screenwriter and major TV player.
'50 Great Screenplays by People of Color to Download and Study for Free'
Ava DuVernay, Guillermo del Toro, and Spike Lee - oh my. Continue your education in the art of screenwriting by reading these brilliant — and diverse — writers
I wrote something in celebration of the remarkable lot coordinators holding the WGA's picket lines together. I’m so proud to have them out there fighting for us.
‘The Secret Weapon Helping the Writers Guild Win This Strike'
“When we win, it will be because they helped keep our spirits up and hold us all together,” Angelina Burnett (negotiating committee) told me.
"Let's talk about Fictional Sex: Writing sex scenes that deepen character" by Tara Kennedy explores how authors can use the ways their characters think about and engage in sex to create more fully rounded characters and even better stories.
I'm watching a scene where the hero, who was recently injured, has checked himself out of hospital. He is clearly exhausted but he's pushing himself forward. The story presents this behaviour as heroic and admirable.
I'm over it.
Promoting reckless behavior regarding health, particularly in men, has always been harmful. In the pandemic, people need the message that rest when fatigued is the "heroic" thing to do.
"97.85% of WGA members voted to...collectively declare, 'Enough is enough. Fuck you and you and you and you. You can’t buy another mansion while we can’t even pay our rent — not if you want us to keep providing you content.'”
ARTICLE: 'The WGA Is On Strike — Here’s Why We’ll Win'
Thinking tonight about how many "constrained resource" stories of one genre or another I've crossed paths with in my life that strongly promoted the message that the old, the weak, the infirm and the infertile don't deserve to live.
What are some of your favourite stories (in any genre or medium) that counterprogram these kinds of pro-eugenics messages? Who is making them?
'Why AI Is the Most Important Issue in the Writers' Strike'
AI isn't just central to the WGA strike either — it's the first battle in a much larger war that will affect all Americans.
I spoke with everyone from WGA Board members to Damon Lindelof about how the alarm bell about #AI was first run within the Guild and why it’s an existential threat to our industry (and countless American industries).
A primer on the Writers Guild of America's strike, what its members are fighting for, and why writers - and the film/TV industry - will ultimately come out on top.