Success N.Y. Style
Just got back from three days of intense workshops, seminars, and meetings in New York City and I can only say “thank you” to all who made me feel welcome. Thursday evening, I was invited to speak to David Negrin’s group of screenwriters and it...
Great Movie Ideas – Part II
I am really pleased with all the activity on my last post. The idea of mixing and matching two or more different movie concepts makes for some really interesting — and sometimes hilarious — combinations. These are thought starters, as one post said “a way...
Coming Up with a Great Movie Idea!
I just got off the phone talking to a writer I am working with, a very talented guy who is looking to come up with a brand new movie idea. How, he asked, can this be done? Like me, he has a bunch of ideas...
Little Miss Sunshine — A Golden Fleece
Went to the movies last weekend. I really have not been seeing enough. I used to regularly have “Movie Day” when I would buy four tickets at the cineplex and see four movies in an afternoon — even if I didn’t stay for the whole...
Another Amazing Group
Two days. Seven Screenwriters. One author of Save the Cat! A corkboard. Some pushpins. Coffee. Pastries. These are the ingredients for a weekend of intense creativity and this past weekend was no exception. I met with seven really, really on-top-of-their-game writers who are working on...
You, Me and Dupree… and Act Three
While taking a break this weekend from the strenuosity of an amazingly busy work schedule (sorry to all whom I have not emailed), I caught You, Me and Dupree at the Sag Harbor Multiplex. Cute movie, boosted (IMO) by the last five minutes, which made...
Concept, Concept, Concept
I have read a lot of scripts lately that are well-written, show passion and thought, and yet ultimately I must get on the phone or write an email to its author or authors with not so pretty news. Why? No concept. Despite being very funny...
Attention People of New York City!
At the request of many in the greater Manhattan and five boroughs areas, I will be coming your way the last weekend of this month to hold a special two-day workshop on August 12 & 13. The topic: the coming spec sale avalanche! This fall...
Silly Little Rules
As a screenwriter in charge of my own destiny, I must survive by any means possible out here in movie land. And part of that survival is: I have to know what the tea leaves say; I gotta know how I’m doing in a world...
Spec Sale Fever!
Spec Sale Fever (aka Cat! Scratched Flu) n. 1. The irrepresible urge of Hollywood movie studios to buy screenplays written on “spec” by screenwriters who may or may not have sold anything before. 2. A gold rush of the three-hold punch kind. 3. A time...
