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History of TV: ‘Downton Abbey’

May 12, 2022

Photo courtesy of Peacock Before the Duke captivated our attention in Bridgerton, there was the Crawley family in Downton Abbey. The aristocratic family and their house full of servants with all of their intertwined stories sprawled six seasons, a 20...

Write On with 'No Sudden Move' writer Ed Solomon

July 6, 2021

The famed Bill & Ted writer talks working with director Steven Soderbergh on the HBO Max crime thriller No Sudden Move: "I was asking Steven [Soderbergh] what style of film I should watch, because a lot of times when he and I work together on stu...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘Lovecraft Country’

September 2, 2020

Right from the first few frames of Lovecraft Country, we know this is no ordinary story. We also simultaneously know this is a story of the American dream, so often broken before it can even get started. Atticus Freeman, aka Tic (played by the steadf...

Filmmaker Benjamin Cavell on his modern retelling of Stephen King's 'The Stand'

July 28, 2020

Benjamin Cavell and the team behind the CBS All Access limited series The Stand got to shelter in place for the pandemic by the skin of their teeth. They wrapped in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 11, 2020 — mere hours before much of North Ameri...

Spec Spotlight: Zack Ford Sells 'The Watcher' to Spooky Pictures

May 14, 2020

Zack Ford is hoping to scare audiences with his spec script The Watcher, which recently sold. The psychological thriller is about a newly engaged couple who move to an apartment in New York City, however the fiancée soon feels that she is being watch...

Rising Through the Ranks: Saeed Crumpler

April 22, 2020

For over two decades, 40-year-old Saeed Crumpler took the Oakland, California music industry by storm. With rap hits like Swagger Jackin, and Fa Sho featuring Kendrick Lamar, Crumpler became a rising star gaining fans around the world. It was a fulfi...

Rising Through the Ranks: 'Better Call Saul' Showrunner's Assistant Valerie Chu

May 8, 2019

Imagine working for the showrunner of one of the most esteemed shows in Hollywood.

All the Write Moves: Russian Doll

February 26, 2019

Songwriters face an inherent conundrum when trying to innovate because the chromatic scale of Western music includes only 12 unique notes. The challenge is to arrange and combine these limited resources in surprising ways. A similar conundrum faces t...

All the Write Moves: High Flying Bird

February 18, 2019

“They invented a game on top of a game,” observes a veteran coach in the new sports drama High Flying Bird. Within the context of its scene, the line refers to how long ago, white NBA executives created an infrastructure to retain control at the infl...