Screenwriting From Iowa

This week I spent four days in New York City shooting a video in a location that overlooked the Hudson River into Hoboken, New Jersey. I knew that was where Frank Sinatra was from but I didn’t realize until today that that is On the Waterfront territory.
The 1954 film that AFI listed as the #8 American film of [...]

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Often times there is a lot of talk about “life affirming” films. Films that raise up the spirit of the audience. A film like It’s a Wonderful Life is life affirming. But since I’m still in a New York state of mind I thought I relay that that is not the goal of at least [...]

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“The Soul of a City – HER GLORY STRIPPED! HER PASSIONS BARED! “
1948 ad for the movie Naked City

I woke up this morning in New York City thinking of the famous line, “There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them.”I knew it was from the movie Naked [...]

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Fresh off my trip to Yankee Stadium I thought I’d see if there was a movie quote by the former Yankee player Yoga Berra who is known for his memorable quotes. Sure enough I found one from him:
“Steve McQueen looks good in this movie. He must have made it before he died.”
Yoga Berra
I wonder if [...]

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Yesterday I took two plane flights, one bus ride, and one subway to get to my first game ever at Yankee Stadium. The journey from my house took about about nine hours. But it was really several decades in the making. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit ever since I was a little [...]

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A few days ago I learned that I received two more Emmy nominations by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. That makes four in two years. And though there are many great screenwriting blogs out there, I was thrilled last year that Screenwriting from Iowa was the first screenwriting blog [...]

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Since I wasn’t able to go to the Aplington-Parkersburg game last night I thought I’d drive out this morning and see the what remnants where left behind from the first ever high school football game from Iowa to be broadcast on ESPN. The only activity was a couple joggers running around the track.
The only hint [...]

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It’s not everyday that ESPN broadcasts nationally a from a high school in small town in Iowa. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever happened before. But it’s happening tonight in Parkersburg, Iowa just 20 miles from where I live in Cedar Falls, Iowa. 
Parkersburg,of course, would rather not be in this position. It’s not that [...]

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Time it was, and what a time it was,
it was a time of innocence…
                                    Simon & Garfunkel
                                    Bookend Theme 
 
While songwriter Ellie Greenwich never wrote [...]

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“I don’t want film to be a ’slice of life’ because people can get that at home, in the street, or even in front of the movie theater. They don’t have to pay money to see a slice of life. And I avoid out-and-out fantasy because people should be able to identify with the characters. [...]

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