London Screenwriters Festival, sequences & me
The London Screenwriters Festival may well be the biggest and best conference for screenwriters on Earth right now. There used to be a plethora of L.A.-based writerfests - I've been…
Dialogue Is Just Another Sound Effect
When a civilian meets a screenwriter, usually the second thing they say is, "Oh, so you write all the dialogue then?" (first thing is "Have you written anything I would've seen?")…
A Tale Of Two Star Warses, or Why The Phantom Menace Gives Us A Bad Feeling
(this article originally appeared at screenwriting website Twelvepoint.com, July 2010) I stepped out of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (1999) onto the sidewalk in front of Mann's…
Full Spectrum Story Dominance
I'm on my way now to the third and final day of the Transmedia Next Training For Media Professionals, where the Pickfords, Chaplins, Fairbankses and Griffithses of the 21st century…
Introduction To Sequence Structure
(this article originally appeared at screenwriting website Twelvepoint.com, March 2010) I always pat myself on the back for having written a great scene, but writing a great scene doesn’t help…
Escape From L.A., Pt. 2
(this article originally appeared at screenwriting website Twelvepoint.com, Jan. 2010) - Read Part 1 of "Escape From L.A." - And so, with growing dread, I came to understand that this…
Escape From L.A., Pt. 1
‘(Los Angeles) is a country coming down from its trip. We are 91 days from the end of this decade, and there's gonna be a lot of refugees. They'll be…
Click to watch the Avatar trailer
Avatar (2009)
Saw James Cameron's "Avatar" (2009) yesterday afternoon in 3D at the Shepherd's Bush VUE Cinemas in London. Went with my Dad who has seen more movies than I am ever…
Writing For Pictures Workshop – London, 7 March, 2009
For you who are in London - or England - or anywhere in the UK - anywhere in Europe, for that matter - I'm conducting a workshop for writers, the…
Great Movie Monologues 5 – "Jaws"
Watching "Jaws" (1975) again, I am reminded - again - of how perfect a film it is. Performances, music & sound design, editing, and writing come together to make a…