Indiana Jones and Final Draft

Today was a good day. #1 - I got to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No spoilers here, I promise. I thought it started out a little slow and expositional, but Laura reminded me that they needed to set it up for the younger viewers. OK, I'll give her that one. I thought once the ol' hat and lasso were back in the picture, it was ...

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I thought I wanted to be a hermit when I grew up, but…

...I was wrong. Growing up, I thought, "When I get old and grumpy, I'll go live in a cabin away from everybody, and then I can write and play music and not be bothered." I was wrong. I just spent nearly a week in a cabin (it's not really a cabin, it's much nicer than my house), without another living soul, except for my dog, Brando. Sure, the ...

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Goodbye Sydney :(

Sydney Pollack died today from his battle with cancer. I don't have a whole lot to say, except that I really loved his work and always got excited when he dropped in on a TV show in cameo role. He will be sorely missed by anyone who loves movies.  It's a sad day. I want to remind everyone of a few of his projects as a multi-talented Hollywood heavyweight: ...

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Walter Dalton at Cannes!

A little birdie told me that past guest, Walter Dalton, is at the Cannes Film Festival with his lovely wife. The last two films he acting in are being shown there. I can't wait to chat with him when he gets back. Soooo coool. Speaking of cool. I'm up at a "cabin" near Lake Wenatchee, trying to get my next feature done. How lucky am I?! If I ...

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Pitching Pitching Pitching: Palmer + Pilar

Love is in the air. Actually, it's not love, it's the season of pitching. We're hosting our own PitchFest, equal parts workshop and competition (with prizes). We're also co-hosting a PitchSlam with IFP and SIFF. The Great American PitchFest is coming. Expo is in the fall. Whoa. Pitches are like a job interview and speed dating combined. How should you prepare for a pitchfest? First, read Stephanie Palmer's excellent book, ...

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NBC Finales and Fear Itself

I just got back from my "Save The Cat" Writing Group, comprised of all Guild members, except for one, K8. She'll join soon, I just know it.  Anyway, we had a good session where they broke down the first 20 pp of my next feature and read some awesome beats from Van's new feature project. Got home and watched some NBC finales off the DVR, specifically The Office and ER. I ...

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News on past guest, Bobby Moresco

May 13, 2008 - News on past guest, Bobby Moresco (from Variety) Producer Robert Moresco ("Million Dollar Baby," "Crash") has partnered with Artist Relations Group to produce a biopic about Fidel Castro's exiled daughter, Alina Fernandez. Castro recently ceded power to his brother Raul after almost 50 years in power. Story, set in 1958, begins after Castro seized control of Cuba, with Fernandez as a young girl naive to the fact that the bearded ...

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Gray Days and Grants

Anyone else feel unmotivated to write during these gray days? I'm having a helluva time getting in the seat. So, I'll just jot down this little blog entry to get some writing in. Sheesh. I hope this winter will end soon. On a cheerier note, I'm happy to announce that we've received an institutional grant from AMPAS (The Academy guys - the Oscar people). Besides being really cool (I've never ...

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Iron Man, Subtext Revisited with Charles Baxter

Let me set this up. I'm a comic book fanboy. I tried to get my dad to invest in Marvel Comics in 1988. Of course, it was in the toilet until that little movie called Spiderman. Well, one of my favorite Marvel characters has been brought to the screen by no less than two separate writings teams. But, of all the comic book adaptation (not graphic novel) movies (Spawn, Blade, Ghost ...

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Marilyn Atlas Rocks!!!

I've never met anyone who's flight was almost two hours late and they were still in such good spirits.  Actually, nobody is in a good mood at the airport. I knew when I picked up Marilyn Atlas from Sea-Tac and she was all smiles, that we were in a for a real treat this weekend. Coincidentally, Seth Talley, after a year of working on this event, is back from LA ...

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