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I watched three films over the past several weeks that have stuck with me as I work on my own projects. Each one gave me a master class in screenwriting. Here’s the gist, with no spoilers: NOBODY (2021) Written by Derek Kolstad, who also wrote JOHN WICK, this movie dished up one reveal after another…
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On this National Screenwriters Day, I want to talk about my most recent movie-watching experience and what it showed me about “getting it right.” Last weekend, I sat in the theatre waiting for the opening frames of THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, worried. I love the book, and translating from book to screen is about…
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With eyes opened about the value of coverage, I also sent my Christmas script and pilot/pitch bible to Extreme Screenwriting for a floodlight of a review. As I mentioned before, no stone is left unturned: plot, characters, dialogue, etc. Last night, I received back the six pages of coverage for PERFECT ZERO, my dystopian sci-fi…
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Earlier this month, I sent out DIRTY POLITICS for coverage with Extreme Screenwriting. It was the first time I’d ever sent anything out for coverage because I have terrific screenwriting peeps who don’t hold back when we trade scripts. Instead of sending out for coverage, I put my money toward tightening and improving my screenwriting…
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I’ve been rereading one of my favorite books, Hidden Tools of Comedy, by Steven Kaplan, and discovered Kaplan was the May 17 guest on the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast. Remember: “The art of comedy is the art of telling the truth about what it’s like to be human.” — Steven Kaplan What makes a script funny…
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I’ve been keeping this under wraps for years, but, well, I don’t like most of today’s comedy flicks. Case in point, last night I finally started streaming a popular 2018 comedy, but I switched to Tom Hanks’ distinctly non-comedic SULLY less than 30 minutes into it. Sigh. And, here I am focusing on writing comedy…
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After Puzzle’s body was picked up, Sunny spent the rest of the day standing or lying where he had died. Continue reading →
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I like my name. It’s mostly just mine. In fact, I’ve met maybe two Hopes in my entire life. The year I was born, Hope ranked #435 in popularity, right after Ladonna and Hazel. Good. And I like that H-o-p-e isn’t just a proper noun. Those four letters and their variants can be a common…
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America is getting exactly what it deserves in the 2016 presidential race: a reality show dressed up as a sideshow. Continue reading →
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