Yep. Sure it is. Let’s do a little exercise on your endless imagination. Ready? Here we go: Imagine a new color. Go ahead! I’ll wait! What did you name it? Can you describe it? No? But… but you said… human imagination is endless… right? This isn’t a slap on your imagination, princess. It’s yet another [...]
I became intensely interested in movies right around 1980. It was the dawn of the video age. The rise of HBO. Viewing options were limited (comparatively). We had the Atari 8-bit console and home computers were just starting to show up. No internet. Making a 300 baud connection was a nightmare. But oh, what a [...]
co·in·ci·dence [ kō ínssidənss ] definition – happening without planning: the fact of happening by chance By that definition, everything in a screenplay IS NOT coincidence. Every word, shift of character, sneeze, side-step — not coincidence. Real-life, though, is (my opinion) really about 95% coincidence, 5% choice. Shit happens, the saying goes. Let’s look at … JAWS! (Side [...]
He’s got a really distinctive voice. What the hell does that even mean!? Imagine bee-bopin’ down the road. Your favorite song comes on the radio. You crank it. You know alllll the words and you are SPOT-ON! Damn! If that singer dies, you think, you might be able to just sort of step right in [...]
Is it important WHY something happens? For instance, in Friday the 13th (the original)… … could the kids just have been at the camp, getting it ready for summer, without the film makers showing the audience the kids were arriving? And then, WHY did the kids go to the camp? I guess because they needed [...]
There’s always something a little fun, a little edgy about taking a script wide. It’s that vibe of uncertainty. The idea that “well, here we go…” knowing some will call your baby ugly, some will come back with a non-answer “I feel strongly both ways!” and some will just get it and see the creative [...]
I recently spent some time writing to a younger version of myself. It’s a long story and it took me a while to write. Anyway… It came out as some snippets of advice, some for people starting out, some who have a few under their belt. No sense in keeping it to myself. Maybe it [...]
In 2012… EXILES took up most of my time. Unfortunately, getting moved off the EXITUS project put a serious damper on the sci-fi push (Exiles being the “two” in the one-two sci-fi punch). In terms of hours, Exiles sucked up far more time than any other project thus far. It’s sad and annoying that this [...]
I wasn’t put on this planet, brain chock-full of information that just-so-happens to be the very same information needed for all of the screenplays I just happened to write. Everything I’ve written required some deep research. From understanding how certain types of firearms work, to mental illness, to DNA technology, to how dogs hear, to [...]
I’m smack-dab in the middle of another found footage flick (that I’ll call GLR for now…) and, truthfully, I’d rather not be. But oh well. First, no, I don’t think it’s played out and there are tons more on the way. So like ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ll be here for a while yet. They’re [...]