Steven Hartman
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How Asif Akbar created ‘The Commando’ with speed and collaboration
“I always knew I wanted to be a director,” says Asif Akbar, director of the 2022 film The Commando regarding his experience at film school Columbia College – Hollywood. “The school let every student get experience in every aspect of production. I wen...
5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘Nightmare Alley’ creates a mind-bending neo-noir thriller
Nightmare Alley is one of those movies that keeps you guessing from the first frame. Essentially everything about the movie is both familiar and completely foreign to the audience, making it an enticing and curiosity-filled ride. Set at the end of th...
5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Sorkin’s ‘Being the Ricardos’ focuses on Lucille Ball’s most stressful week
I Love Lucy and its follow-up The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour were such landmark programs that despite the final episode airing over 60 years ago, and the likelihood that the majority of Americans have probably never watched an episode, there are memorable...
‘Scrooged’: Lessons in turning a 180-year-old novella into a Christmas classic
I have an idea for a Christmas movie. A self-absorbed, penny-pinching individual is visited by ghosts who insist that if he doesn’t change his ways, he is destined to misery. Sound familiar?
Encounter': How Michael Pearce created something more than just an alien-invasion flick
An alien threat has come to earth. Microbes are infecting humans and poised to take over the planet. Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed) is a former Marine who is well aware of this threat, knows what to look for, and wants to protect his two sons. Encounter star...
5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘House of Gucci’ soap opera based on true story
Patrizia has grand ambitions. From the first moments she appears on screen, the audience knows that she’s itching to escape the confines of her current situation. It’s just by happenstance that she soon meets a young man at a party named Maurizio, wh...
5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How Kenneth Branagh turns his tumultuous childhood in Belfast into a personal narrative
Stories of children navigating their way through tumultuous times can give fresh perspective to the realities of the world. In Belfast, the audience gets to see the world at the beginning of the three-decade-long civil war between unionists who wante...
‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’: The sequel we’ve all been waiting for?
It’s not likely that during the shooting of Ghostbusters in 1984 that the cast and crew realized they were creating something spectacular that would spawn generations of fans, the creation of three sequels, send careers into superstardom, and inspire...
5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘Spencer’ tells a fable based on a true tragedy
In December 1991, Princess Diana spent three days at the Sandringham estate to celebrate Christmas with her royal family. The film Spencer takes a look into this Christmas holiday, focusing on Diana’s mental state and how she navigates the traditions...