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Recent Posts
- [ETCETERA] Please Stand By September 29, 2020
- [IN THE TRENCHES] What’s in a Name? August 31, 2020
- [IN THE TRENCHES] The Day Job and DreamWorks “Wizards” July 31, 2020
- [THREE CENTS] Sounds Like… A Different Band Entirely June 30, 2020
- [THE NETWORK] Fame-Ish May 31, 2020
Category Archives: IN THE TRENCHES
[IN THE TRENCHES] What’s in a Name?
What’s in a name? A whole lot, it turns out. Maybe even too much. From the front cover of a spec script to a marquee on a movie theater, the title has been, and always will be, a critical task … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry
Tagged Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Friends, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return!, Kuu Kuu Harajuku, Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book, Race, Screenwriting, The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, The Karate Kid, Titles
4 Comments
[IN THE TRENCHES] The Day Job and DreamWorks “Wizards”
Like a lot of screenwriters, my freelance gigs have infrequently provided enough income to make a living. To be able to do fun things like eat and pay health insurance, requires one to have an additional source of income… aka … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry
Tagged 3Below, Assistant Editor, Avid, DreamWorks, Guillermo del Toro, Tales of Arcadia, Trollhunters, Wizards
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[IN THE TRENCHES] Chris Cluess – A Man for All Formats
Emmy-winning screenwriter, Chris Cluess, is not easily pigeonholed. Does he do sketches? Sitcoms? Hour-long? Features? How about animation? Novels? Yes. Yes, he does. If a format exists, Chris has more than likely written for it at one point or another. … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry, Interview
Tagged Chris Cluess, Homeboys in Outer Space, Interview, MADtv, Modern Love, National Lampoon, Night Court, Screenwriter, SCTV, SNL, The Simpsons
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[IN THE TRENCHES] Tech vs. Spec
In the never-ending war of tech vs. spec, tech wins almost every time. Not too long ago, a production company liked a script Rhonda Smiley and I wrote, but the scale was a little too small for them. They asked … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry
Tagged Fax Machine, Outdated, Revision, Screenwriting, Spec Script, Tech, The Firm
2 Comments
[IN THE TRENCHES] The End of the Road
Writing is hard. Making a living writing, is almost impossible. So, have you imagined a time when you’d stop? Stop writing. Stop trying to get discovered. Stop trying to get hired, produced, or published. Have you imagined a scenario where … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES
Tagged Courtney Hunt, Frank McCourt, Quitting, Screenwriting, The Wizard of Oz, Toni Morrison
4 Comments
[IN THE TRENCHES] That First Gig
I think the primary question for most impending college graduates is: What now? That was in the forefront of my mind as a senior in the film and television department at NYU. I had a couple of thoughts. There was … Continue reading
Posted in Biographical, IN THE TRENCHES, Industry, NYU
Tagged Film School, First Gig, M.C. Hammer, Night Flight, NYU
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[IN THE TRENCHES] Tortured Running Analogies
As the oft-repeated saying goes, a career is a Marathon, not a sprint. But really, pretty much everything – other than a sprint – isn’t a sprint. In the same vein, the most obvious marathon is an actual 26.2 mile … Continue reading
[IN THE TRENCHES] 2020 Vision
It’s still January. If barely. What are you gonna do about it? The New Year traditionally brings with it high hopes and bold resolutions (some that might border on the delusional). I’m not really the resolutions type, personally (just ask … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES
Tagged Advice, New Year, Resolutions, Screenwriter, Writing
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[IN THE TRENCHES] Turn Up The AC (AC Bradley, That Is)
3Below, the second chapter in Guillermo del Toro’s animated Tales of Arcadia, dropped on Netflix this December 21st, to glowing reviews (pun intended). AC Bradley, 3Below’s Head Writer, is no stranger to accolades. In addition to her work on the … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry, Interview
Tagged 3Below, AC Bradley, DreamWorks, Guillermo del Toro, Interview, Marc Guggenheim, Netflix, Screenwriting, Tales of Arcadia, Tara Butters, Trollhunters, Writing
1 Comment
[THREE CENTS] Responsibility to Your Audience
As writers, most of us work to create scripts with compelling stories, three-dimensional characters, and authentic-sounding dialogue. But what else should be on our checklist? After all, screenplays – and the resulting movies, television, and web content – aren’t designed … Continue reading
Posted in IN THE TRENCHES, Industry, THREE CENTS
Tagged Advice, Audience, Industry, Screenwriter, Screenwriting, Writer, Writing
2 Comments