Archive for the “Screenwriting From Iowa” Category
May
12
2019
 
My Mother’s Last Last Mother’s DayPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaMy mother was tough. Sue Stautner doesn’t look tough in this photo. But she was tough. She was born in the middle of the Great Depression and a chunk of her youth was taken up with the scarcity of the effects of a world at war. Those raised during the Depression and World War II […]
May
11
2019
One Key Thing Writer/Director Peter Hedges Learned Working on His First FilmPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I learned a number of things [working on my first firm]. I remember there is a scene in the film [What’s Eating Gilbert Grape ] that I was so proud of—it was about seven pages too long. [The director Lasse Hallström ] said the scene is about six and three quarters pages too long. I kept […]
May
08
2019
One Key Thing Actor/Director Vincent D’Onofrio Learned from Working with Stanley Kubrick for 13 MonthsPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaLong ago I embraced grown the coninsidence that happens occationally on this blog. Yesterday’s post touched on the period in the 1970s and ’80s when there was an influx of Haitian and Cuban refugees to Miami. I even included a photo I took during that era in Hialeah, Florida. Early this morning I happened to […]
May
07
2019
‘The Last Resort’—Photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe on Capturing Retro Miami BeachPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“In the early ’80s Miami was not the place to be.” Photographer Gary Monroe Last week I watched the documentary The Last Resort on Netflix and I found it fascinating. The focus of the documentary is on photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe as Miami Beach transitions from a Jewish retirement haven, to home for Haitian […]
May
02
2019
Emily Carmichael’s 26-Minute Screenwriting LessonPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaNow class, everyone thank Emily and Vanity Fair for making this video. (Virtual applause.) Scott W. Smith “One out of 21 black American males will be murdered in their lifetime. Most will die at the hands of another black male.” Opening graphic in Boyz n the Hood ”Before I could do long division, I mastered which neighborhoods and housing projects to never step foot in. I can easily remember running full speed […]
Apr
26
2019
‘Amazing Grace’—Aretha Franklin DocumentaryPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“***** (5-Stars!) A miracle. Amazing Grace doesn’t have a plot—just a voice touched by God. (An) indispensable gift. Aretha… in all her thrilling glory.” – Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE Sometimes these things just line up in the right order. In yesterday’s post I mentioned playing the Judy Collins version of “Amazing Grace” in the hour […]
Apr
25
2019
Sue Stautner Smith (1934—2019)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaMy mother died yesterday and it was a peaceful year to her 85 years on this earth. She took her last breath at 1:05 PM with both her kids at her side which is as good as it gets. I’ll write about my mother (she was a middle school art teacher for 31 years) and […] On Sunday I went to a sunrise Easter service that was held in a cemetery. Over the years I’ve been to big churches and little chapels. I’ve been to weddings, funerals, and church services across a wide range of denominations. (I’ve even been to a foot washing service.) But a church service in a cemetery—that […]
Apr
20
2019
Frances Marion on Writing and Living a Rich and Varied LifePosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaTo paraphrase Carlyle, ‘A writer who could only sit in a chair and write stories would never write any stories worth the reading.’ Your story material naturally will be influenced in quality and quantity by the richness of your own life experience; by your own loving, fearing, suffering, struggling, and achieving. Therefore, as a writer, […] |
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