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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'

December 23, 2021

Did you ever wish there was a Christmas film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped by Martians, rocketed off to Mars, and inevitably gives everyone on the planet the Christmas spirit?

The rise (and rise) of the holiday romance movie

December 22, 2021

The holiday season is known for gift giving, extreme decor, and, well, romance movies. At this time of year we’re inundated with movies about pairing up and every year the holiday programming starts earlier as networks and streamers try to pull ahead...

History of TV: The 'Arrested Development' saga

December 17, 2021

Ruminating on Arrested Development is a bit like prepping for American Ninja Warrior. The quirky comedy that, to many, defined the genre for the early 2000s is a minefield of politically (in)correct humor, as deeply layered as the banana business the...

Write On with ‘Hip Hop Family Christmas’ Co-Writer Saeed Crumpler – Part I

December 17, 2021

In this special 2-part episode of Write On we talk to Flatbush Misdemeanors staff writer and co-writer of Hip Hop Family Christmas Saeed Crumpler about going from rapper to screenwriter: "I had to make a change; I always loved film, and I just went b...

The Novice' is a taught tale on American hustle

December 17, 2021

The Novice is a genre-bending sports film, which puts women front and center in the world of rowing while also delivering a psychological thriller-style gut punch. Isabelle Fuhrman’s tortured Alex Dall is a captivating character study of the college ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Sorkin’s ‘Being the Ricardos’ focuses on Lucille Ball’s most stressful week

December 17, 2021

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...

Spec Spotlight: Joe Russo on 'The Last Will & Testament of Charles Abernathy'

December 15, 2021

Screenwriter Joe Russo says his latest project, Netflix's The Last Will & Testament of Charles Abernathy, was "born out of necessity."

Write On with 'Desus & Mero' Writer Robert Kornhauser

December 15, 2021

The late night TV writer talks to Write On about breaking in and his early inspirations: "I was kind of the weird kid who at, like, 11 was watching David Letterman… [the realization] came to me in my very early teens like, 'Oh, this guy's not just sa...

‘Scrooged’: Lessons in turning a 180-year-old novella into a Christmas classic

December 15, 2021

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?