I wonder… Are we at the point where sub-text doesn’t matter? Where theme means nothing? Does style carry the story, or do we require substance, as well? People pitch me stuff all the time. I can tell they’re excited by the idea, but almost always, all they have is an image. Literally. A stark vision. [...]
I’m lucky that I have a full time job and make a fair wage. Especially while I chase a dream. A lot of writers have a tough time. Even the really good ones. Here’s an interesting article over at Deadline Hollywood. The comments are worth a read. Some salty language. M A R K
Guess! OK… there are fifty “full-time flavors.” Then, from time to time, they introduce “rookie” jelly belly’s that they consider for full-time inclusion with the “professional” beans. They either make the team. Or they don’t. It’s a cruel jelly bean world. There are also the jelly belly’s that make up their own family, separate from [...]
Few weeks back, I was hacking my way through my treatment for AIR TIGHT. It was “feature complete” meaning I knew all the big beats, but a lot of the transitional and character stuff wasn’t there — both mentally OR on the page. It was crunch time. Do or die. Make it happen. Shit or [...]
This is my treatment. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My treatment is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My treatment, without me, is useless. Without my treatment, I am useless. I must write my treatment true. I must write better [...]
Venture / Void / Osiris is about a group of people who are trapped in a escape shuttle in the middle of space. The story is about how they cope with the predicament. When I wrote it, I thought I was writing a horror movie first, a suspense movie second. Venture (as it was called [...]
Let’s say you’re not a math genius and someone said to you “Imagine you’re trapped in a six thousand square foot house with 10 foot ceilings. If the thing was completely sealed, how long would it take them to kill each other with the CO2 they exhale?” I DARE YA! Surely, a few of you [...]
No matter how good you are, you’re gonna come to the point in a script where exposition is needed. In BELOW THE ICE they come up with “the plan” to get themselves out of their predicament. The “show, don’t tell” idea would lead me to just DOING IT. Just show them enact the plan. But [...]
“You’re all just over analyzing sht writing.” – Quote from IMDB message boards. What do you get when you take the director of Charlies Angel’s and the writer of Catwoman? But of course! You would get TERMINATOR: SALVATION (aka Terminator 4) It was really really bad. There were some cool things. Sound. Set design. SFX. [...]
That phrase occurred to me just a while ago as I was writing a new ending for Below the Ice. It literally had to go to 11. I looked at what I already had and thought: Is it an 11? No. It was not an 11. I need an 11. I need it to be [...]