Category Archives: IN THE TRENCHES

[IN THE TRENCHES] Noted

Posted on February 28, 2021 by [TEXTSMITH]

If you hope to work professionally as a screenwriter, you’re going to become very familiar with notes. I was very familiar very early on and I was not a fan. As we went through the notes process for the first … Continue reading →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] Adapt or Die

Posted on December 31, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

During an email discussion a few weeks ago, regarding some form of chaos or another, my mom remarked about her and my dad that, “We adapt.” In a year where nothing is the same as it was before, this ability … Continue reading →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] False Endings

Posted on November 30, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

False endings come in many shapes and sizes. They’re in songs, like Helter Skelter, All by Myself, and Sabotage. They’re in movies – mostly horror – often to elicit a last-minute jump scare. Although they can provide a bit of … Continue reading →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] What’s in a Name?

Posted on August 31, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] The Day Job and DreamWorks “Wizards”

Posted on July 31, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] Chris Cluess – A Man for All Formats

Posted on April 30, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] Tech vs. Spec

Posted on February 29, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] The End of the Road

Posted on January 31, 2020 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] That First Gig

Posted on September 30, 2019 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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[IN THE TRENCHES] Tortured Running Analogies

Posted on April 30, 2019 by [TEXTSMITH]

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 →

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