Steven Hartman
Related Posts
Character Breakdown: ‘Living’ Explores How a Terminal Man Finds the Meaning of His Life
What would it take for you to change your life? It’s often the basis for a plot for film and TV shows: a protagonist receives grim news about their health and becomes determined to alter how they live their life. Impending death = motivation. Living,...
What ‘Poker Face’ Teaches Us About Writing Procedural TV
If you’re looking to create a ‘Who Dun It,’ the master to follow these days is Rian Johnson. Known for his clever murder mysteries Knives Out and Glass Onion, this writer/director can show you plenty of ways to write a suspenseful tale with quirky ch...
Take 5: How ‘M3GAN’ uses the dark side of technology to scare
Dolls are creepy, especially when they get a mind of their own. The new film M3GAN follows in the footsteps of other possessed doll-like creatures such as Chucky, Annabelle and Slappy where a child’s toy comes to life and all hell breaks loose. What ...
Take 5: How ‘Wednesday’ creates a world around the Addams Family daughter
For the past 85 years, The Addams Family has been a part of the American life. Originally a single panel cartoon created by Charles Addams, this creepy and kooky family was turned into a TV series in 1964 which ran for 64 episodes followed by a movie...
Take 5: What ‘Babylon’ can teach writers about story, conflict and theme
Babylon gives audiences a glimpse into the wild west of Los Angeles when silent films produced the first movie stars and the thirst for fame, fortune and the pursuit of a dream brought people from around the world to southern California. With an ecle...
Character Breakdown: Finding complexity and depth in ‘The Whale’
When an actor gains or loses a tremendous amount of weight for a movie role it often leads to accolades and Oscar buzz. Over the last 25 years, performers like Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, Renée Zellweger, Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway ...
How the showrunner of Lopez vs Lopez turned real life into a sitcom
Creating a sitcom based on real-life situations is nothing new. Ray Ramono created Everybody Loves Raymond based on his standup which reflected his real family. Even back in the 1950s I Love Lucy had echoes of Lucy and Desi’s life.
Take 5: What ‘Avatar 2: Way of the Water’ Can Teach Screenwriters of Any Genre
Not everyone has $350+ million to spend on making a technological marvel like Avatar 2: Way of the Water, but at the end of the day, it’s a movie that requires compelling characters and a story that excites the audience in order to be successful. Ava...
How a filmmaker used her low-budget skills to create a $50k union feature
What does “low budget” mean? It’s all based on context. One person’s $50,000 film might be low budget, but so would a $10 million dollar Ridley Scott studio picture.