Author Archive

“How did I learn screenwriting? Endless hours at the typewriter, then the computer, which came along later. It was really a lot of applied time and effort and self-study. Which is the way most people learn.” Oscar-nominated screenwriter Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) The Best of Creative Screenwriting Interviews And here’s a similar quote from […]

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If you haven’t seen the documentary Searching for Sugar Man yet check it out on Netflicks this weekend. The 2012 film and won the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best international documentary.  Among winning many other awards the film’s writer/director/editor Malik Bendjelloul also won Outstanding Directorial […]

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. . . I’m quite sure that I never thought much about theme before getting roadblocked on [writing] The Stand. I suppose I thought such things were for Better Minds and Bigger Thinkers. I’m not sure I would have gotten to it as soon as I did, had I not been desperate to save my […]

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John Carpenter had only shot and scored two semi-obscure features when the executive producer Irwin Yablans came to him with a proposal: make a low-budget movie about babysitters being murdered. “It was a horrible idea,” Mr. Carpenter said in a recent telephone interview. “But I wanted to make more movies, so I said, ‘Great!’ . […]

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“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of American had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game and do it by watching first some high-school or small town teams.” French-born American historian Jacques Barzun It was a Muncy mash that ended the longest game in World Series history early this morning.  The […]

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A production friend sent me this video this week and how could I not share in on this blog? BTW—My favorite University of Iowa story related to the dramatic arts is UI is where a guy named Tom Williams got his nickname. The story goes that when Tom was a student in Iowa City a […]

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The movies First Man and Free Solo really aren’t competing against each other, but there are similarities between the two. They are stories about accomplishing things that had never been done before. First Man is about Neil Armstrong becoming the first person to ever walk on the moon, and Free Solo is about Alex Honnold becoming […]

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Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light… Casey at the Bat poem by Ernest Thayer A little glimpse into the drama of college football, and the humbling power of sports. A year ago at this time, UCF head coach Scott Frost […]

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SEARS Last week I went to a mall that I’ve been going to since I was a teenager and I noticed there was a major change. One of the anchor stores that had been there from the start was blocked off from the interior mall entrance. There was no familiar Sears sign. On Monday, I heard […]

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“I will never forget one day [Lucille Ball] sort of walked out of the studio and then came back, and came up to me and said, ‘you’re very good,’ and then walked on. That was the greatest gift I ever received in this business. I don’t think I have another moment that compares with the […]

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