Recently at a Meetup.com group here in Chicago, I was asked to give a down and dirty format lecture in about 55 minutes. Lightning round stuff, I barely had enough caffeine in my system to make it through. Concerning format, the first three words out of my mouth are The Screenwriter’s Bible, by Dave Trottier. […]
INT. AUDITORIUM – MORNING Kaufman, bleary-eyed, sits in the back. McKee paces. MCKEE Anyone else? Kaufman timidly raises his hand. MCKEE Yes? KAUFMAN You talked about Crisis as the ultimate decision a character makes, but what if a writer is attempting to create a story where nothing much happens, where people don’t change, they don’t […]
I only met Charles Bukowski once. I wrote a play about his life which was produced in Chicago and New York. It was later presented on National Public Radio. For the NPR reading in Los Angeles, Bukowski came down with his wonderful wife Linda Lee. This was ’93, about a year before his death. I […]
SCHMOOZE verb /SHmo͞oz/ schmoozed, past participle; schmoozed, past tense; schmoozes, 3rd person singular present; schmoozing, present participle Talk intimately and cozily; gossip Talk in such a way to (someone), typically in order to manipulate, flatter, or impress them A MEETING IN THE MAP ROOM Meeting a friend at the Map Room, Chicago. Waiting for her, I see a […]
THE STAN HUCKMAN STORY People approach me for screenwriting consultancy. They also approach me to help write their screenplays. One of these was Stan Huckman. He was a Desert Storm war vet and novelist who wanted to adapt his own published book into a screenplay. He had no idea how to write for film and […]
