Tips

As we come to the end of 2022 and our final Introduce Yourself Weekend for the year, I wish you another year filled with love, joy, and success! I’ve been taking stock of where I’ve been, where I am right now, and where I want to be. I have decided that lamenting the past and worrying about the future is a huge waste of time. Being a septuagenarian, one does not have the luxury of squandering a moment. That made me think about my relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. In sales, yo...

Many writers worry about "idea theft," allowing it to be the reason they don't tell people about their projects, won't publically post their loglines, or won't apply for contests and fellowships for this reason. But the fact is, copyright law protects the expression of an idea but not the idea itself. Lots of films and television shows have similar concepts. The entertainment industry uses these comparable projects, or "comps," to sell new projects.  But what do you do if you believe your actu...

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? I have some content here for you that is sure to get the creative juices flowing, so grab your coffee, and let's dive in. After looking at pre-production last week, it seemed fitting to take the opposite approach and go into post-production. The editing of a project can be a make or break. Editors are just as much creatives and writers as everyone else involved in your project, but you can't get to the creative part of post...

At my kids’ school, they’re putting up two new buildings, and I had the chance to watch them pour the concrete for the walls as I sat waiting in the carline the other day. What was really remarkable to me was the fact that in order to get to this step, they’d first have to assemble an entire framework that served as the mold for the walls. They’d basically built a building to build the building, in a manner of speaking. And then (because I’m a writer who likes thinking about the process of wri...

When speaking of my recent victories - I wrote and produced an award-winning 48-Hour Short Film called "Livin' with Lisa," co-produced an all-female-cast-and-crew short film, and just wrapped production on the most involved proof-of-concept short film I've ever produced - there is only one constant in every one of those victories. Relationships. "Exactly how connected do I need to be to be successful in the industry? Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon connected?" Sort of. The "Six Degrees of Separati...

For many writers, the written words on a page come much easier than the spoken ones. It could be nerves, speaking about your work to someone places you in a position of vulnerability... What will they think of my script? Will they understand what I'm trying to convey with it? Can they share my vision for my script? Or a writer may doubt their ability to talk about their script. Is my voice clear and inviting enough, and can I show enough excitement and passion so that an executive will believe i...

Thanksgiving just ended, the next morning, you and your family head into their local mall or downtown commercial center for Black Friday shopping, and you have the kids in tow. All of a sudden, you see a recognizable commercial or cartoon character trying to entice you to come into their store. They’re waving, they’re jumping up and down, or maybe they’re handing out samples. Around the corner, you encounter a long line to see Santa Claus because every kid wants to get a head start on th...

Every year, I do an end-of-the-year creative review while preparing to set my goals for the new year. It’s helpful for me to do a deep dive into my process, into my productivity, and into the areas where I am most excited to improve. I’ve talked about my year-end review process on the blog before (you can check out that post here if you’re interested in more detail). Today I want to talk about a topic connected to the year-end review that’s very near and dear to my heart: measuring success....

Happy Sunday, Creative Army! Have you had a creative weekend so far? I have some content here for you that is sure to get the creative juices flowing, so grab your coffee, and let's dive in. I know many of you just finished November Write Club and are asking yourself, "what's the next goal?" Should you move on to the next script? Get feedback and submit your project to contests? Sure! But have you thought about the possibility of producing your film yourself? To see if this is doable, you'll...

Have you ever felt stuck? Or wondered why you can't progress in certain areas of your life? Why do things you want desperately elude you? The answers to these questions might be hidden in your writing. Manifesting is all about sending out and receiving. But...as I have, you might have wondered why some things aren't coming to you. Things you want so dearly. How You Affirm Matters One reason for it not working might be down to how you are transmitting. If you send out: I WANT this to happe...