Tips

From the devastating loss of a loved one, to job loss and medical issues in the time of Coronavirus, I have personally dealt with trauma and loss from many angles. Despite all that, people around me always compliment me on my sunny attitude and ability to get up when I’m knocked down. I want to help you use your struggles as a means of unleashing your creative power not only as a way of healing yourself, but as fuel for your creative career.     Take Time to Process the Grief My partne...

First of all, they don’t come from other people’s movies! IN THE BEGINNING Let’s start at the top. Back when most of the really enduring film scores were written, directors were expected to have cross-training in a wide range of entertainment disciplines. Moreover, composers were expected to be masters of music theory. Today, the tight focus of a film school education on the tools we need to get working has eroded the vocabulary and habits that come with a classical performance education. W...

We’ve all heard the myth about the starving artist. This is the myth that artists need to suffer for their art if they want respect as an artist. This crazy myth has been around for over 150 years and unfortunately many artists today still believe it. The myth started in 19th century Paris with a group of artists who lived passionately for their art, but also lived in poverty. The artists were nicknamed “the water drinkers” because they couldn’t afford to drink wine. Writer Henry Murger wrote...

Podcasts are a unique way to communicate with a desired group of listeners in an episodic format. Podcasts are designed to appeal to a niche audience; therefore you have the opportunity to zero in on exactly who you want to talk to and what your topics should be. You’re straight-up targeting people. You never know… Your thoughts and opinions could very well resonate with a horde of like-minded folks and maybe even sway some of those that have different opinions than what you chat about on your...

I’ve been a member of Stage 32 since 2014. I have taken full advantage of pitching opportunities, webinars, contests and networking with other members since then. I have a Theater Arts degree from Northwestern University. Not surprisingly, I spent my post college years doing theatre, including stage managing at the Groundlings Theater and New Regency Productions in LA. I moved to Denver in the late 90s. There I met a guy who would become one of my dearest friends and writing partner, Scott Gib...

Happy Sunday Creative Army! What did you create this week? What projects are you excited about? No matter what creative pursuits you are working on right now, I've got some content this week that is sure to stir up some creativity and ideas. Grab your coffee and let's get started.  First up, the folks over at Film Riot have put together a quick video to help you start writing your screenplay. We all shudder in the face of the black page, but this video has some great tips on how to leap over...

We can all agree that it’s nigh impossible for a finished film to be even 90% close to the original screenplay. Budget and logistic constraints can be very limiting for the filmmaker and often the creative vision changes according to the ebbs and flow of the production. Locations are changed, dialogues are added, and sometimes even characters are edited out. As a result, when the filmmaker has finished post and is busy procuring deliverable material required by film festivals or the distributo...

When my friend and creative collaborator Caroline Slaughter first pitched me her concept for the short film LAMB in late 2017 at the start of the #metoo movement, my first response was “Hell Yeah!” (actual response censored) and my second was “Here is a chance to create change”. LAMB is about an eager and trusting filmmaker who follows a female assistant from a hotel lobby to a secluded room for “a meeting” with the assistant’s boss... Were these female assistants who led Hollywood’s lambs to...

Of all the species on Earth, humans have a unique ability when it comes to communication. We have the gift of stringing together words and phrases into complex ideas that eventually become stories. And we’ve used stories throughout our history as a way to educate, inspire, entertain, and yes, even save lives. The problem, as I see it, is that society can easily undermine the importance of stories and those whose chosen profession is to create them. If you’re willing to join me on a journey of st...

Dialogue is the central focus of most screenplays. It’s perhaps the clearest tool filmmakers have to convey information on plot and character to audiences, and unless you’re David Lynch of Shane Carruth, chances are you’re going to use a lot of it. In spite of this—or maybe even because of this—there is a great deal of bad dialogue in movies. Dialogue filled with clunky exposition and drastic tonal shifts that sounds nothing like a real human conversation. If you’re going for that effect, you...