Let’s talk about the merc with a mouth and the lies he tells himself, and how those lies help tell a pretty satisfying story ..read more

The spec market is tough. Discover what writers whose specs launched their careers know. Fresh and fantastic pointers for creating a spec that creates a buzz ..read more

Photo by Giallo (Pexels) Is it possible to be both practical and an artist? Most would say not a chance. There’s absolutely nothing practical about pursing art as a career. Art inspires, stretches your imagination and instills a sense of awe in those who aren’t capable of creating. Artists are special. At least that’s what we’re told. You can dream of being a writer, pursue it with every ounce of creativity and energy you have, but what if you pour 10 or 20 years into it, wake up and realize you’re now middle-aged with no savings, and … no closer to selling a screenplay? Let ..read more

When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as a journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary direct ..read more

With 47 writing credits and 2 for acting it’s absurd that once again most biographical sites name Dorothy Farnum as an actress first, then a screenwriter. Her father, William, acted in 146 films and her uncle Dustin acted in 42. They were actors. She was a screenwriter. Born to a family of actors in New York City on June 10, 1900, Farnum’s life spanned the early years and massive growth of both the new century and the new medium of film. Her early mastery of literature and French history from her boarding school education came in handy later in her career when adaptations of classic Old-World ..read more

The Palmer Brothers ONE MONTH IN It’s been one month since Norrie and I told you all about our project, The Running Kind, and set off on the long, fun and stressful job of getting our production off the ground. While there is still a lot to be done to get the finished film we want, we’re thirty days in and excited to share the many ups and downs we’ve experienced so far - and give you pointers on what you can do on your own short film as you try to fundraise, find your crew, and dive deeper into producing and creative work. We were able to raise $45,000 through a combination of friends, famil ..read more

Welcome to the first installment of “Unmade Tales,” a new series in which we’ll spotlight scripts by pro writers that, because of the vagaries of the film industry, are unmade, or, as Joe O’Brien, co-writer of Lodestar, this article’s focus, says, “have yet to be made.” These scripts are passion projects, personal efforts, scripts the writers just can’t stop thinking about, can’t seem to take out of their back pocket, maybe even scripts that have been around the block a few times, and scripts, too, that deserve to be brought to life on the big screen – to be read, yes, but also to be seen. The ..read more

Bad Asian is a five-minute socially conscious short that purviews what appears to be a carefree hook-up between two Asians. Off to the couch, Melody (Lee Hubilla) and Chris (Rob Chen) delve in, and our blood pressure elevates in kind. Then maybe as expected, the wrong words come out and ain’t going back in. “You look just like me,” Hubilla blurts out almost subconsciously, and with bewilderment screaming inside and out of the fourth wall, the moment encapsulates the long journey for cultural self-discovery for the filmmaker. [L-R] Lee Hubilla as Melody and Rob Chen as Chris in Bad Asian (2023 ..read more

In this episode, host Ashley Scott Meyers talks with screenwriter Jesse Mittelstadt. Our guest Jesse Mittelstadt talks about writing action movies such as Altitude (2017) starring Denise Richards and Dolph Lundgren and most recently the war movie Murder Company (2024). Other topics include writing genre movies that cater to the AFM film market and independent movie distributors. You can listen to the audio portion of the podcast by clicking here or through iTunes by clicking here. You can also read a transcript of this episode. Links mentioned in the show: Jesse Mittelstadt on IMDb Murder Co ..read more

There is Hope at Last. If you have read this column for the past couple of years, you may remember that I have expressed my disappointment with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum here and here. I trust you will be as glad as I am to know that things are looking up at Wilshire and Fairfax. Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by: Josh White, JWPictures/©Academy Museum Foundation A couple of months ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine who works for the Academy, but not ..read more