Apr 7Chased by TimeEveryone has a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I survived my beginning — a journey as a middle child in a large, dysfunctional family that practiced Judeo-Christian ethics with a sprinkling of narcissistic abuse — a mere shadow of the geniuses I was surrounded by. …Life3 min readLife3 min read
Apr 6Confessions of a CinephileMy sister’s wife recently said that she didn’t know how to watch a movie until my sister taught her. It was a remarkable statement that propelled me into thinking about the hundreds — potentially thousands — of hours of practice and training that go into knowing how to legitimately watch…Movies5 min readMovies5 min read
Apr 5Change is GoodThe Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant in life.” Heraclitus was known as the ‘weeping philosopher,’ prone to depression and melancholia, so it stands to reason that he wasn’t a big fan of change and must have said this with negative connotations. But change should be a…Writing2 min readWriting2 min read
Apr 4The Shining versus The ShiningMost everyone has seen or knows of The Shinning, the 1980 film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on one of Stephen King’s earlier novels (his third, in fact). You will often find it in lists of the greatest movies of all time. …Film5 min readFilm5 min read
Apr 3Baseball and Writing: Unexpected ParallelsI went to a little league game this weekend. I’ve been to many baseball games in my life — big leagues and small — so it was nothing unusual, but for some reason, the beauty and purity of the game brought me to tears. …Writing4 min readWriting4 min read
Mar 30Taking the Edge off the Post-Success CrashYou’ve just accomplished something huge. You rose to meet a great challenge or worked rigorously to reach a major milestone in your life. You should be feeling pretty darn good about yourself — but you’re bummed. You feel lost and apathetic. Uninspired. You chastise yourself for being ungrateful. But it’s…Life4 min readLife4 min read
Mar 15Finding your Story’s Rhythm in a Beat SheetThe definition of music is vocal or instrumental sounds, or both, combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. This also defines the perfect screenplay. The vocals — or dialogue — and the instrumentals — or action — need to be combined…Writing5 min readWriting5 min read
Mar 10What I Learned from a 5-day Writing SprintLast week I overzealously agreed to take part in a 5-day writing sprint: writing and submitting a post on Medium for five days in a row. I thought it would be easy enough. I’m constantly writing notes, capturing thoughts, and documenting snippets of overheard conversations. And that’s while working on…Writer4 min readWriter4 min read
Mar 9How to Write Split Screen SequencesUsing the split screen sequence in film has been around almost as long as movies themselves. The technique enhances the contrast of opposing points of view, lets us see two sides of a story simultaneously, and allows us to be more immersed in the complexities of a story. …Screenwriting3 min readScreenwriting3 min read
Mar 8Standing Behind the BlueOne evening, I answered a 911 call from a teenage girl who was home alone. A man was trying to break into her house. He banged on the window violently and then started jiggling the front door handle. She was terrified. While deputies were being dispatched to her address, the…Writer5 min readWriter5 min read
