Screenwriting From Iowa

“I’m a craftsman. I don’t know if you’ve seen Jiro, the movie about the sushi chef… There’s a little bit of that feeling of, ‘Finally I’m starting to understand certain things.’ I’m starting to understand how to use certain tools. And there’s tons of things that I need to learn and that I need to practice […]

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“I’m a craftsman. I don’t know if you’ve seen Jiro, the movie about the sushi chef… There’s a little bit of that feeling of, ‘Finally I’m starting to understand certain things.’ I’m starting to understand how to use certain tools. And there’s tons of things that I need to learn and that I need to practice […]

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“To write well, I advise people to read widely. See how people who are successful and good get their results, but don’t copy them. And then you’ve got to write! We learn to write by writing, not by just facing an empty page and dreaming of the wonderful success we are going to have. I […]

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Donald Trump inspires me. Not politically, but creatively. There I was less than two months ago deciding to write my first spec TV pilot with an idea rooted in a 36-page aborted screenplay I wrote a few years ago. The idea popped back on my radar at the end of last year because I realized […]

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All eyes are on the state of Iowa as I write this post at 9:47 (EST) on Monday, February 1, 2016. The results are starting to come in from the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. It’s the first electoral step as Republicans and Democrats in the state chose presidential nominees. It’s not exactly predictive, but it sets […]

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Scott Myers at Go Into the Story has an excellent interview with 2015 Nicholl winning screenwriter Anthony Grieco. Here’s one part that jumped out at me: “When I construct my characters, I start by asking myself, ‘What is the thematic value of my story?’ Then I go, ‘OK. Let’s meet someone at the beginning of […]

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“I’ve come to realise that there’s no such thing as a finished screenplay: the document is only a blueprint, and so much will change in the building. You have to allow for – and be prepared to notice, and welcome – what happens on the day, when the cameras are rolling.” Screenwriter Emma Donoghue (Room) “Of all […]

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Long before I started blogging in 2008 I had a couple of notebooks full magazine articles along with notes from film school and workshops (AFI, UCLA extension, Robert McKee, etc). As I’ve said before, blogging just gave me a place to pass that info to others in bite-sized chunks. Above is a example from American […]

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Before Sarah Heyward  became a producer and writer on Girls she was a Harvard graduate attending grad school at the University of Iowa, focused on being a novelist. After grad school she became an assistant on Girls.  The show’s creator Lena Dunham eventually read a short story Heyward wrote while attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop—two weeks later Heyward […]

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“I’m telling you Iowa is incredible. We should all move to Iowa and start the revolution.” Hannah (Lena Dunham) in Girls, Season 4 episode 2 It’s been a busy month for Lena Dunham as she’s been prominently in the press near the center of the film & political world in January 2016. She’s been at the Sundance Film […]

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