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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘Bad Trip’ and the Art of the Prank Narrative

April 5, 2021

Bad Trip pushes and crosses more genres than March 2020 had days. It’s a road trip movie, a buddy comedy, a prank film, and a love story, with a dash of excellent reality producing and subtle political commentary on America. It advocates for the valu...

‘French Exit’ Allows Michelle Pfeiffer To Float Gloriously In a Unique Reality

April 2, 2021

French Exit has notes of The Squid and The Whale and whimsy reminiscent of Wes Anderson, but director Azazel Jacobs, actress Michelle Pfeiffer, and writer Patrick DeWitt (based on his novel of the same name) have created a universe all their own. One...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'I’m Your Woman' Focuses On the Thief’s Wife In a '70s Crime Drama

April 1, 2021

What’s the story behind the women in 1970s crime dramas? When you watch those '70s-era crime films, you’re apt to see stories of men – cops and robbers – who fill the screen with compelling stories from the grittiest cities. That was the inspiration ...

Vida' Screenwriter Nancy Mejía on The Disruptors Fellowship

April 1, 2021

Writer-director-producer Nancy Mejía (Vida, The L Word: Generation Q) knows firsthand how important a mentorship can be in Hollywood.

History of TV: The Rise (and Fall) of 'Silicon Valley'

April 1, 2021

Silicon Valley is a screenwriter’s dream when it comes to learning how to craft a pilot with a great hook. Formulaic in the best way, the show has all the elements of a hit: empathetic characters with a clear goal we can get behind, insurmountable ob...

Writer-Director Stephen Kijak on 'Shoplifters of the World'

March 30, 2021

When iconic English rock band THE SMITHS broke up in 1987, their legions of highly devoted superfans around the world were crushed. Fans' devotion to the band's music elicited tears, heartbreak, anger, confusion and, as an urban legend has it, a host...

‘Concrete Cowboy’ Highlights The Power of the Inner-City Horseman

March 30, 2021

The visuals of Concrete Cowboy are stunning; a horse running alongside a bus route in the middle of Philadelphia. A rodeo in an empty urban field. A sunset highlighting the beauty of urban decay and the silhouette of a cowboy in the distance. What’s ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: The Burning Presence of Tilda Swinton in ‘The Human Voice’

March 29, 2021

It’s not often that Tilda Swinton stars in a short film. Nor is it frequent that director Pedro Almodóvar (Volver, The Skin I Live In) would endeavor to make a short film of someone else’s work. But right now is far from ordinary, and there’s little ...

Afro Horror: Upgrading Your Creature Feature

March 26, 2021

This past week, I hosted a Clubhouse Q & A with my friend through the internet, Josh Rubin. At the top of our discussion we talked about our love for creature features, specifically werewolves. Perhaps in part due to the fact that Rubin’s own fil...