Screenwriting From Iowa

“When you end up creating a show with seven, eight, nine characters—ask yourself, how can you appropriately dramatize that many characters within the framework of an hour television show? And the answer is that you can’t. So you say, O.K., what we have to do is spill over the sides of our form and start […]

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  On Friday Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez added another milestone to his baseball career. The Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 in his debut as manager. Before Martinez earned a World Series ring as a bench coach with the Chicago Cubs, and before he played 16 seasons as a MLB player, before he played […]

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“I think one of the best things you can do as a filmmaker (or an artist in general) is to define what you love.” Ted Hope The above quote and list below of “32 Qualities of a Better Film” came from a Facebook post @tedhope.fanpage earlier this month. Click here to see how Ted Hope […]

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“Kindness is free.” Garry Marshall From the post Garry Marshall (1934-2016) In lectures, I often beg people to do one thing— one simple thing— that I truly believe can change our world: Do at least one thing to help or promote another person and his or her work. That chain of support is the key […]

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Last week I was on spring break which explains my lack of posts, but tomorrow I’ll pick up writing posts on Ted Hope’s book Hope for Film.  (By the way, Hope is also active on Facebook  @tedhope.fanpage .)  Here’s my favorite photo I took last week as I kicked around central Florida. Scott W. Smith    

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“You are about to enter an industry that’s filled with narcissistic, egotistical, misanthropic liars and cheats. You’d better find a safe harbor of people you trust. Being an artist is exhausting and nobody appreciates your work to the degree that you want them to… unless you have people around you that say I hear you, […]

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I’m reading through Ted Hope’s book Hope for Film, From the Frontline of the Independent Cinema Revolutions (the Kindle version which I recommend) and came along this passage that he calls “My formula for the perfect Sundance Film.” I hope you find helpful. (From pages 78-79.)   1. The protagonist: Center the story around an everyday […]

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The work I did with [writer/director Nicole Holofcener] on the Walking and Talking script would set the template for my standard development process with dozens of filmmakers later. In large part, it starts with a series of questions: How do you find the theme? What do you want the big takeaway from the movie to be […]

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As an independent-film producer and an avid fan of ambitious and diverse work in all forms— and as a citizen of the world— I am always excited to keep up with the changing times. But nothing has prepared me for the onslaught of the last few years.  …The Internet has transformed the business of the arts […]

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This morning I started reading Ted Hope’s book Hope for Film: From the Frontline of the Independent Cinema Revolutions.  I’ll pull some excepts from it this week. One of his first credits was an an associate producer on Doom Asylum (1987)—a film that he actually left off his resume for years, but one where he learned […]

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