Screenwriting From Iowa

So last weekend for The 48 Hour Film Project/ Des Moines our team drew “Ghost Story” as the genre we had to make a short film.  We quickly started connecting the dots and Ghost was the first movie we tossed out as fitting the genre. That lead to jokes about getting pottery wheel. 
Other movies with [...]

Original Source…

There’s nothing new about looking at the lasting impact of the Cinderella story. The basic theme resonates in so many stories it would take a lot to ignore the facts. Overlooked working girl ends up getting the prince. It strikes a cord. No one wants to be overlooked. We want our work to be recognized.
What [...]

Original Source…

There are two performances by actors that stick in my mind as transcending acting. In both performances I had not see the actors before which helped bring a sense of heightened reality to the roles they played. And both come down to a single scene that burned into my memory. One was Denzel Washington and [...]

Original Source…

Ernest Hemingway once said something to the effect that the secret of being a good writer was to have a miserable childhood. Frank McCourt would  qualify.
McCourt, who died last week, really should be the patron saint of something. Maybe the patron saint of writers who endure. If you’ve read his writings you know that he [...]

Original Source…

A friend of mine from film school who has made over a dozen feature films says forget whether or not a film is any good or not, he’s just amazed that a film simply makes sense after you’ve finish editing it. Anyone who’s made even a short film knows there is a lot of truth [...]

Original Source…

“(As a screenwriter) your goal should be to develop an educated gut, which is where the intellectual and emotional meet. When you have an ‘educated gut,’ it means that you receive visceral signals from your creative instincts, yet have enough command of craft to translate their message with with clarity and confidence.”
         [...]

Original Source…

This weekend I’m doing the 48 Hour Film Project (Des Moines) where who have to make a short film from beginning to end in 48 hours. It’s an exercise in embracing limitations. And when push comes to shove all filmmaking is embracing limitations because some where you have to draw the line on running time [...]

Original Source…

Here’s the first shot from the Good Morning America’s taping in Downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Original Source…

Sometimes I think about the only way
That I’ll ever see life beyond L.A. is dying
                                                  Ambrosia 
                                   [...]

Original Source…

“The antagonist must be as strong as the protagonist. The wills of conflicting personalities must clash.”
                                                                                 [...]

Original Source…