Archive for January, 2015
Jan
28
2015
 
Screenwriting Straight Outta of ComptonPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I grew up in the Compton/Lynwood area of Los Angeles. My family has no connection with the entertainment industry at all except that I had a very beloved aunt named Denise who was a lover of the arts, of film and music and theater and literature. She gifted me with an appreciation for it all. […] “To tell you the truth, I try not to get analytical in the writing process. I really try not to do that. I try to just kind of keep the flow from my brain to my hand as far as the pen is concerned and, as I’ve said, go with the moment and go with […] “Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” Playwright Eugene O’Neill From his play The Great God Brown “I broke my hand, my shoulder, my elbow and my face but the real injury this year was to my Irish pride as it was discovered that under my tracksuit I […]
Jan
21
2015
Damien Chazell on ‘Pushing Yourself’Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“If you’re going to play music or do any art form, just as a hobby or as purely a source of enjoyment, then yeah, you should enjoy it. But I do believe in pushing yourself. If you actually take the idea of practice seriously—to me, practice should not be about enjoyment. Some people think of […]
Jan
21
2015
From Ancient Greece to ChinatownPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“What I like is that the secret to the mystery that [Jack Nicholson’s character J.J. Gettes is] eventually going to uncover is right in front of his eyes almost at the very beginning. And like Oedipus you have the mystery in front of you. (He was the killer and he didn’t know it.) In a […]
Jan
20
2015
‘Meaning & Magic’ & the Nicholl FellowshipsPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa Here’s a “recently revised” guideline that The Academy Nicholl Committee uses in judging screenplays for Nicholl Fellowships. I found it on the January 14, 2014 Facebook page for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. Related posts: The Magical Power of Stories Enchantment Making Dramatic Writing Dynamic ( Tip #98) ‘The Twilight Zone’ Secrets (2.0) Find […] “Last Sunday, more than eight thousand of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama…” Martin Luther King Jr. March 25, 1965 address at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery march Back in 2006 after a video shoot in Jackson, Mississippi I made a point on my way to Atlanta to drive […]
Jan
18
2015
‘Unique Selling Point’ for ScreenwritersPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I know this may sound silly but if you write something great it just gets seen. I can’t explain it but it does. If that’s not enough for you, then put yourself out there to anyone who will read it. Target your brand, who you are as a writer, and follow other writers and directors […]
Jan
17
2015
The President & Cedar Falls, IowaPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“There’s Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, and Cedar Falls. That’s the company you’re keeping.” President Barack Obama speaking in Cedar Falls January 14, 2015 If you followed this blog for long you may know that I started writing it in January 2008 while living in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Well, earlier this week President Obama was in […] I’m a little late to the party but I just saw the Oscar-winning “Best Documentary” Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013) that’s currently on Netflix. Great stuff from writer/director Morgan Neville and a wide variety of people he brought together to create something special. (It also fits nicely into my thread of musical related posts.) Scott W. Smith Tagged: […] |
