Things I’ve Learned: Paul Haggis

By Paul Haggis on June 18, 2014 MovieMaker Magazine

Today, on Wisdom Wednesday, Academy Award-winning writer/director Paul Haggis stopped by to share a whopping 55 critical moviemaking lessons he’s learned (our most ever!).

Inspired by the works of Hitchcock and Godard, London, Ontario native Paul Haggis immersed himself early on in art, fashion photography, and eventually film studies at Fanshawe College. After graduating, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he began a successful career as a television writer of such hit shows as The Love Boat, Diff’rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life. And even created series like Walker, Texas Ranger, Family Law, and Due South.
As a moviemaker, it was his adaptation of F.X. Toole’s Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner that solidified his status as a big Hollywood contender. The result was Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank. The film took home the Oscar for Best Picture (2004) and earned him a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Then, as an encore, his gripping tale of racial and social tension in Crash (2005) would send him back to the red carpet for more. Not only did he receive the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but he became the first individual to write back-to-back Oscar Best Picture winners. MORE...

 

Horror Stories: Examining the Business of Genre Filmmaking

By David Grove on November 4, 2014 MovieMaker Magazine

A decade ago, the primary focus of independent horror moviemakers was making a good horror movie, knowing that if they did their job well, they were virtually guaranteed to find an audience and make their money back (and then some). Horror was the Teflon genre—or so it seemed.

“In the last decade it’s gotten cheaper to make movies, and harder to make money off of them,” says J.T. Petty, writer-director of horror features The Burrowers (2008) and Hellbenders (2012). “The ‘guarantee’ most people took for granted was the DVD market, and that’s all but gone.” Today, the business of independent horror moviemaking has changed dramatically, and while making a good movie is still paramount, the moviemaker of 2014 must wear other hats just as well in order to survive: branding expert, distributor, producer, publicist, sales agent. “And,” as Eduardo Sanchez, director of 1999’s game-changing The Blair Witch Project and the upcoming Exists, says, “most of us didn’t get into this to become distributors.” MORE...

Make Your Smartphone Smarter: What Goes in Your iPhone Filmmaking Kit?

By Ricky Fosheim on December 2, 2014 MovieMaker Magazine

 “Shot on a smartphone” rarely means just a smartphone. So what goes in your kit? Director Ricky Fosheim, of the entirely iPhone-shot feature And Uneasy Lies the Mind, walks us through his favorite hardware and software for efficient, low-budget smartphone filmmaking.

Two years ago a group of friends asked me to direct an indie feature they had written called And Uneasy Lies the Mind. Their David Lynch-inspired script called for a very unconventional aesthetic. After research and testing, I fell in love with the look and feel of the iPhone 5 images when attached to a 35mm lens adapter, shooting through 35mm lenses. It was grainy, textured, heavily vignetted and saturated, with high contrast.
An iPhone’s unique characteristics are its size, ease of use, high-contrast image, and adaptability to all sorts of aftermarket lenses. Sure, you’re not going to shoot Lawrence of Arabia with your smartphone, but in the right context, it can make for powerful, cutting-edge cinema. And the recently released iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, with their 240-fps-capable cameras, have just opened up a wealth of new possibilities. Make the most of your phone’s versatility with the following tools, many of which I used on my own set. MORE...

Watch: Breaking Down David Fincher’s Directorial Techniques

by Sarah Salovaara
in Cinematography, Directing, Filmmaker Videos, Filmmaking on Oct 2, 2014

While the gender politics behind David Fincher’s much-anticipated Gone Girl adaptation may be muddled, the “dark lord of cinema”‘s direction is as crystalline and precise as ever. Tony Zhou, in his latest Every Frame A Painting, examines how Fincher manages to make even the most expository exchanges cinematic by using framing to relate character dynamics. He also takes a close look at Fincher’s faithfulness to the tripod, sparing use of close-ups, and almost inhuman camera movements. It’s a must watch for anyone who values the abilities of visual language.
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87750-watch-breaking-down-david-finchers-directorial-techniques/

"Dress 4 Breasts" Benefiting Stand Up 2 Cancer

"Dress 4 Breasts" 
Grassroots Fundraiser Benefiting Stand Up 2 Cancer 
Friday Oct 24, 2014
10pm at Coyote Ugly Saloon (San Diego,CA)
Please join us and make a donation!
www.dress4breasts.com

 

Small Budget Horrors: Director Leigh Janiak on Psychological Thriller Honeymoon

By Natalie Chudnovsky on September 10, 2014

Leigh Janiak took a circuitous route to filmmaking – she was studying for her PhD in Modern Jewish Literature when she realized that she wanted to pursue film. So in 2005 she packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a script reader and assistant producer before setting out to make Honeymoon, an intimate genre film on a low budget.

 

The result, a creepy, minimalist new entry into the relationship-horror genre, premiered in SXSW this March and opens in theaters this Friday, September 12, 2014. It stars Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey) and Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful, The Lone Ranger) as happy newly weds Paul and Bea who take their honeymoon in a family cabin on a lake. After Paul discovers Bea sleepwalking, naked and shivering in the woods, their marriage begins a slow, eerie fracture, posing the question: How well can we ever really know the ones we love?
Janiak talked to MovieMaker about the lessons she learned from the studios, the perils of shooting night scenes and water scenes on a low budget, and the inherent terror of memory loss. MORE...

The Show - Stand Up 2 Cancer

An Evening In Support Of Cancer Research

For the fourth time, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) returns to primetime television on September 5th, 2014. Returning executive producers, Emmy-winning producer Joel Gallen and Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, will deliver one-of-a-kind performances from top recording artists and celebrities from film and television. The broadcast will include powerful patient stories that illustrate the remarkable progress that SU2C has made in cancer research over the last few years. http://www.standup2cancer.org/the_show

From Star Trek to Sleepy Hollow

by Ramona Zacharias

Alex Kurtzman looks for the Lego click.

At a mere 40 years of age, Alex Kurtzman is a powerful creative force in Hollywood. In the last seven years alone, he and longtime writing/producing partner Roberto Orci have brought us the Transformers and Star Trek films, not to mention small-screen successes such as Fringe and Hawaii Five-O. In 2011, Forbes magazine named the duo “Hollywood’s Secret Weapons” in light of the billions of dollars their films have generated in a very short period of time. With the success of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and remakes of The Mummy and Van Helsing underway, Kurtzman and Orci’s starpower shows no signs of dwindling.

2013 saw yet another successful project for the pair: Fox’s primetime series Sleepy Hollow, which premiered last September and was co-created by Kurtzman, Oric, Len Wiseman and Phillip Iscove. Starring Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Katia Winter, this modern adaptation of Washington Irving’s short story has Ichabod Crane (Mison) and the Headless Horseman brought back from the dead in the present-day fictitious small town of Sleepy Hollow. Obviously bewildered by his surroundings but determined to learn about his past, Crane joins forces with local police lieutenant Abbie Mills (Beharie) to untangle the mysteries surrounding his resurrection and stop the decapitated horror, who, as it turns out, is just one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and about to kickstart the End of Days.

MORE...

TV Writer Podcast:

082 – Amy Berg (Caper, Eureka)

BY

GRAY JONES

 – FEBRUARY 26, 2014POSTED IN: FEATURED, PODCASTSThe TV Writer Podcast is back, better than ever! Host Gray Jones has moved permanently to LA, and the podcast now features exclusive in-person video interviews with Hollywood TV writers and producers. This week’s fun episode is with Amy Berg, co-creator of the new web series Caper, and producer/writer for Person of Interest,Eureka, Leverage, and The 4400.

INSIDER INTERVIEW: Screenwriter Jeff Howard on PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE

INSIDER INTERVIEWS
Written by Jenna Milly on July 15, 2014.
Screenwriter Jeff Howard is making quite a name for himself in the world of animation. He’s written two Tinker Bell movies, as well as The Pirate Fairy, the first Planes and Pixie Hollow Games.
But he wasn’t always part of the “story trust,” as it’s called at Disney, now that they’ve adopted the Pixar story development process known as the “brain trust.” The story trust is a group of writers, directors, animators and basically anyone with an opinion on the movie. They all get together with the adopted philosophy “none of us is as smart as all of us.”
With that, the sequel to the first Planes movie was developed. Planes: Fire & Rescue brings about the return of the character of Dusty Crophopper on a new adventure, one where he trains to become a fire and rescue airplane.
Howard discusses the challenges of getting all the details just right. He and some of his “story trust” coworkers visited national parks and ranger stations to learn about aircraft and fires. What they soon discovered is that these planes are often repurposed and in a sense, getting a “second chance” at life. When they found that, they found their story for the sequel.
ScreenwritingU sat down with Howard to get the skinny on how he works with the “story trust” and what it’s like for newcomers who want to break in. Although it might seem like the holy grail of writing opportunities, the easiest way to get noticed is to have a passion for storytelling.
MORE...

Actor Michael Dean Grulli

 Actor Michael Dean Grulli played the character "Miles" in the TV Pilot MILES.

MILES "That One Night Stand" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Beau Willimon’s House of Cards

 Screenwriter Beau Willimon, the creative force behind Netflix's House of Cards, a revolutionary show that has transformed Netflix into a TV network, talks about his groundbreaking work as creator and showrunner of the series and gives tips for writers who want to follow in his footsteps 

by W. H. Bourne

“About three and a half years ago, I got a call from my agent saying David Fincher wanted to speak with me about House of Cards,” says writer and executive producer Beau Willimon. “I had heard of the BBC mini series, but I never watched it so I figured it was a pretty good excuse to take a look at it. As I watched it, I immediately fell in love with it, and I had numerous ideas about how to make it look contemporary, American and, most importantly, make it our own. I got on the phone with Fincher, and we talked about all sorts of ideas and our instincts aligned so we decided to team up and get to work. After that I spent almost a year working on the first episode, and when we had something that we were all pleased with, we got Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright on board. Then we went out and found a home for it which happened to be Netflix.”
House of Cards has been a game changer for Netflix as well as a key influence on how original Internet programming is viewed. House of Cards is currently nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series. In light of this, it’s fascinating to hear how the project came about. MORE...

Plot Construction Using Reverse Cause and Effect

Use this tool to discover what’s necessary, or central, to the spine of your story

by Jeffrey Kitchen

Reverse Cause and Effect is a unique development tool that enables you to wade into a complex mix of story material and pull it together into a tight sequence of events. Cause and effect is a crucial part of good screenwriting because Plot Point A should cause Plot Point B which causes Plot Point C, and so on through to the ending. If each event causes the next one, then your script has a crisp forward motion, with no dead spots that can lose an audience. Used properly, this tool has the power to consistently help turn your million dollar ideas into salable screenplays. I’ll explain the tool, show how it works in Ben Affleck’s Argo, and then structure and develop an original story so you can see it in action.

The main skill in using Reverse Cause and Effect is to be able to distinguish that which caused an event from those events that merely came before it. Say that your sister calls you one morning and orders you to buy a lottery ticket because she had this incredible dream, and when you do so you win a boatload of money. Now any number of things might happen before you win the money—you lose your car keys, you buy some cigarettes, you get a parking ticket—but the cause of you winning is that your sister made you do it. MORE...

Creative Screenwriting Magazine

"One Way Ticket" Award Winning Short Film

"One Way Ticket" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

CoStarring LETICIA MARTINEZ

11 Ways To Write Faster

  08.28.2012 Stephanie Palmer
How quickly can you create great material?
Here are eleven ways to improve the speed of your creative process:

1. Develop Your Pitch First

Most people think of their pitch as a tool for selling their screenplay, TV pilot, or novel. This is why most people wait to work on their pitch until just before their first meeting with a decision-maker. Unfortunately, as soon as they start to work on the pitch, they often discover significant issues with the core concept—and tank the meeting.
This can be avoided if you incorporate pitching as part of the creative process. At the point where you feel like you have an idea worth considerable time and energy, that’s when you want to start pitching and discovering any problems with your concept.

2. Clarify Your Theme

How many scenes do you have to throw away because—even if they’re great—they don’t quite “fit” the story?
Clarify your theme by making a specific statement your story will prove or a question your story will answer. When you have written your theme precisely, you’ll write more scenes that are “on point.” (For more on this, see Save The Cat by Blake Snyder, p. 73-74.) MORE...

Riley's Beach - Webisode

Riley's Beach - Ep1 from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

ALONA SUMMERS as RILEY MADISON

How To Write A Screenplay Agents Will Love

How To Write A Screenplay: 7 Things Agents Want To See In Your Script

06.04.2014 Stephanie Palmer
Before I get to the list of seven things, I want to make sure we’re on the same page about this: all agents are brokers.
In the same way stockbrokers buy and sell stock and are paid on commission, agents in Hollywood arrange transactions between buyers and sellers and are paid only when the deals go through.
This means that when an agent encounters a new project from a new writer, they are thinking about how long it would take them to sell the project and how much they might get paid.

That in itself may not surprise you, but the way in which the assessment is made may influence your choices when you decide how to write your screenplay.

I’ve worked with all the major literary agencies in a variety of capacities. As a studio executive I hired 100+ writers and purchased 25+ screenplays. As a writer, I worked with an agent to sell my book. And as a consultant, I help my screenwriter clients to find literary agents. MORE....
http://goodinaroom.com/blog/how-to-write-a-screenplay-agents/

MILES Actress Rosa Stacy Oul

Rosa Stacy Oul played sexy "Jazz" in the TV Pilot MILES.

  MILES "That One Night Stand" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Writer’s Edge: Why Horror Movies Sell

 

By: Steve Kaire | June 6, 2014

SCRIPT MAG
The horror genre has been with us since the advent of silent films. There seems to be a strong, unexplainable and innate reason people want to be frightened.
The reasons why horror films are so popular and
successful at the box office are many. From the strictly budgetary point of view, horror movies are inexpensive to produce, compared to other genres. Few locales, unknown actors, and cut rate special effects make for cheap thrills. Several spectacular successes using that formula was The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Think about it. Both those films had limited locations, no name casts, and relatively inexpensive special effects. MORE...

Specs & The City: The Threshold Guardian Archetype and ‘The Princess Bride

By: Brad Johnson | May 21, 2014
 The primary benefit of utilizing archetypes when developing the characters for your screenplay is their universality. By basing your characters, no matter how outlandish or unique, on an archetype model, you’re making it easier for your audience to identify with them; to see part of themselves, or the people they know, or the situation’s they’ve been in, within the world you’ve created. There’s nothing more powerful than that when it comes to storytelling.

Previously, I talked about The Herald and their role in getting the plot moving, and now that your hero has decided to undertake the journey laid out before them it’s time to take a look at…MORE...

Radford and Bruce "Maya" Webisode

Radford and Bruce - MAYA Episode (70's Edition) from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Ed Burns, New Era Distribution Pioneer

 by Scott Macaulay in Distribution, Filmmaking on Dec 20, 2012

If you had asked me in the early days of Filmmaker which director would go on to be the one creating a micro-budget, self-sustaining business model, I’m not sure I would have answered “Ed Burns.” His The Brothers McMullen was realized for pennies and broke through the mainstream with Fox Searchlight at its back, and from that point on, Burns seemed to be set for the mainstream studio world. He acted in Saving Private Ryan, married supermodel Christy Turlington, and embarked on a follow-up feature starring Cameron Diaz. MORE...

Audrey Apple - Test Web Pilot

Audrey Apple - Test Pilot from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

HOLLY WEBER AS "AUDREY APPLE"

Writer’s Voice: Frozen – Do You Want To Build A Screenplay?

By: Jacob Krueger | May 2, 2014 - Script Magazine

Building a career as a writer means learning to write on assignment.  But how do you hold on to your unique voice as a writer, while still delivering the elements big budget Hollywood producers are demanding?  In this Podcast, Award Winning Screenwriter Jacob Krueger shows you how the screenplay for Disney’s Frozen gets away with breaking all the rules, while still delivering on the promise of “the most conventional genre of them all” – The Disney Princess Musical. MORE...

"Near Hollywood Tours" Short Film

Near Hollywood Tours from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

 

 

TV Writer Podcast 083: Hilary Winston (Bad Teacher)

TV Writer Podcast 083: Hilary Winston (Bad Teacher) - SCRIPT MAGAZINE

By: Gray Jones | April 24, 2014

In the interview, Hilary has great tips on career development and networking, as well as writing, pitching, and selling pilots. She also has a fascinating personal story… how she started as an intern at the White House in the Clinton administration and ended up writing comedy in Hollywood… how even after writing scripts on a writing staff, becoming an assistant for several years was the best thing for her career. More...

"STRIP STUDS" COMEDY FILM SPEC

"STRIP STUDS" COMEDY FEATURE FILM SPEC READ NOW!

The Selling Your Screenplay Podcast: An Interview With The Black List Founder Franklin Leonard

By: Ashley Scott Meyers | April 28, 2014

In this episode of The Selling Your Screenplay Podcast I talk with The Black List founder Franklin Leonard. I have been using The Black List (as a screenwriter) and had a bunch of in-depth questions about how to use the site and how to get the most out of it. Franklin was very enlightening, and we did a deep dive on several aspects of the site. If you have been using the site or thinking about using it, this interview may answer some of the questions that you have. More...

MILES "That One Night Stand" TV Pilot

WATCH THE TEST PILOT

READ AT AMAZON STUDIOS

ROSE HUGHES as LANA

TV Writer Podcast: Lisa Alden – Intro to Power of the Pitch

By: Gray Jones | April 16, 2014

Informative introduction to Lisa Alden’s “Power of the Pitch” workshops – learn how to pitch a script for an original TV pilot from somebody who has sold every one in the room! Even if you plan on writing it on spec, learning how to pitch it will exponentially develop your project and save you months of writing wasted drafts.

 http://blip.tv/tvwriterpodcast/lisa-alden-intro-to-power-of-the-pitch-6845081

About Lisa: after a successful career as a movie executive (New Line, Universal, Fox) Lisa joined the second season writing staff of Entourage. After staying there for four amazing years, she moved on to a short-lived NBC show Lipstick Jungle. It was during the WGA strike (that interrupted that show) that she made the decision toto start writing her own TV pilots. In the last few years, she has sold every show that she’s pitched – to Fox21, HBO, MTV and ABC Family. MORE...

"Summer of Dylan" Comedy Webisode (Test)

SUMMER OF DYLAN

Comedy Webisode(Test)
Summer of Dylan Ep from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

READ MORE "SUMMER OF DYLAN" SCRIPTS AT AMAZON

BREAKING IN: Following “The Five Minute Rule”

By: Staton Rabin | April 23, 2014

We’ve all seen plenty of great movies that keep secrets from the audience that are revealed later in the story. And there are plenty of classic movies that surprise us with a jaw-dropping “plot reveal” in the end.  But is this something you should emulate in your own scripts?  To quote the late, great Amy Winehouse: “I say, ‘No, No, No!’”

 In a screenplay, your goal is not to be “mysterious” or keep secrets, but to get all the necessary facts about your story out there as quickly and clearly and efficiently as possible.  Yes, I know this may go against much of what you think you know about screenwriting.  But in movies, “Clarity is king.”  You don’t write a mystery by being “mysterious.”  You don’t generate suspense by leaving your audience confused. MORE...

The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith: Frozen Q&A

The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith

http://www.theqandapodcast.com/2013/11/frozen-q.html

"One Way Ticket" (Short)

2011 OFFICIAL SELECTION

"One Way Ticket" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

2011 OFFICIAL SELECTION

Screenwriter Interview: David Webb Peoples Discusses Screenwriting Process

By: Script Magazine | April 2, 2014
 
Montreal-based writer/director, Lea Nakonechny (TWO MUSEUMS, EDGE OF THE DESERT), had the chance to chat with screenwriter David Webb Peoples (12 MONKEYS, UNFORGIVEN, BLADE RUNNER) in advance of the Toronto Screenwriting Conference (April 5 & 6). They talk process, anti-heroes and the Sisyphean task of writing.

Lea Nakanechny: Which do you begin with, character or story?
David Webb Peoples: Usually with a character scene. There’s an image of somebody doing something that defines them and makes you interested. Then you try to write a story around it and it doesn’t always work. I have many moments in my head I wish I could find the story for or build onto, and many instances of trying to build a story around a particular thing and not succeeding. These things linger over the years and sometimes, suddenly, you get it. But not always. MORE...

Amazon Studios Notable Project

MILES - TV Pilot

MILES "That One Night Stand" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Eight Agent Questions Every TV Writer Wants Answered… Right Now

Eight Agent Questions Every TV Writer Wants Answered… Right Now
by Filmmaker Staff in Filmmaking, Screenwriting on Nov 26, 2013 

The following piece on TV writers’ interactions with their agents is excerpted from Chad Gervich’s just-released How to Manage Your Agent: A Writer’s Guide to Hollywood Representation. It can be purchased on Amazon at the link above.
How much should I talk to my agent during staffing season? I know they’re superbusy, and super-stressed, so I don’t want to bug them, but I also want to know what’s going on. Should I call once a day? Once an hour? Once a week? What?!
“It’s not about how frequently you call,” says Verve agent Amy Retzinger, “although please do not call every single day, and do not call once in the morning and then again in the afternoon . . . and don’t never call, because there are certainly clients you don’t hear from for weeks and that’s dangerous, too.MORE...

Radford and Bruce "Maya" Webisode

Radford and Bruce - MAYA Episode (70's Edition) from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

McG’s Six Golden Rules of Moviemaking

Wisdom Wednesday: McG's Six Golden Rules of Moviemaking

Written by Alexandra Eide

 

He has directed music videos for Sugar Ray, Cypress Hill, Sublime and Wyclef Jean… executive produced more than a dozen popular television series, including Supernatural, The O.C., and Chuck… and is the driving force behind the Charlie’s Angels and Terminator reboots. Not sure who we’re talking about? Joseph McGinty Nichol, better known as McG, is the writer-director-producer behind some of this generation’s most popular franchises.

His latest feature 3 Days to Kill premieres next Friday, February 21. It stars Kevin Costner as a dying Secret Service Agent trying to reconnect with his daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). Love him or hate him, here are McG’s six golden rules of moviemaking. MORE...

 

"NEAR HOLLYWOOD TOURS" SHORT FILM

Near Hollywood Tours from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Screenwriter Interview: Rob Edwards of ‘The Princess and The Frog’

Screenwriter Interview: Rob Edwards of ‘The Princess and The Frog’
By: Script Magazine | January 31, 2014 
Interview by Ryan Kelly for Script Magazine.

Rob Edwards wrote for some of the most acclaimed and popular television shows of all time—In Living Color and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, to name just two –and later transitioned from TV to film, with Disney’s Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog.  He currently has several animated features in the works, including The Life and Times of Santa Claus and Amulet, in addition to developing his screenwriting education website, RobEdwards.net.  I had the opportunity to sit down with Rob at The Writers Store and discuss everything from the art of animation to how the industry has evolved over the course of his remarkable career writing for film and television. MORE...

"SUMMER OF DYLAN" TEST PILOT

"SUMMER OF DYLAN" Comedy Test Pilot
Amazon Studios
Read the series scripts:
http://studios.amazon.com/projects/30410
Summer of Dylan Ep from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

WORLD CANCER DAY 2014 (February 4th)

WORLD CANCER DAY 2014 - Show the World Who You Stand Up For

STAND UP TO CANCER

http://wcd2014.su2c.org/

(February 4th)

Screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick Gives Advice on Creating A Film Franchise

By: Script Magazine | January 28, 2014

by Jeffrey Reddick
I’m a 20+ veteran of the entertainment industry.  Like most people, I grew up seeing Hollywood as Oz – this magical place where dreams came easy and artists were treated like kings. At 19, I started interning at the coolest mini-major studio at the time… New Line Cinema.  I sold them Final Destination when I was 26.  I never went to film school. But I learned about the business in the most invaluable way.  Instead of being caught up in my vision of Oz, I got to go behind the curtain of The Great and Powerful Oz and see how the business really worked. From development and marketing, to financing and distribution, I spent 11 years immersed in the business side of show business. And from page to screen, I got to see my first film turn into a profitable franchise. MORE...

http://www.scriptmag.com/features/jeffrey-reddick-advice-creating-a-film-franchise

"One Way Ticket" Short Film

"One Way Ticket" from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

2011 San Diego 48 Hour Film Festival "Best of" Selection
2011 San Diego Asian Film Festival Official Selection
2011 Temecula International Film Festival Official Selection

Writers on the Web: Crowdfunding Advice

Writers on the Web: Crowdfunding Advice from Award-Winning Filmmaker and founder of POTA, Cindy Baer

By: Rebecca Norris | January 24, 2014

Befuddled by financing? Confounded by crowdfunding? Perplexed by… okay, I’m going to quit while I’m ahead.
I’m honored to have had the opportunity to interview Cindy Baer, a critically-acclaimed filmmaker and co-founder of Patron of the Arts (POTA), a non-profit organization that believes that art and film are vital parts of a healthy community, and offers education, resources, and grants to help artists pursue their dreams.
As a director/producer Cindy made her feature debut with Purgatory House, a life-after-death drama written entirely by a 14-year-old girl she mentored in the Big Sisters of L.A program. A critical darling, Purgatory House was featured in over 60 respected publications including The New York Post, Chicago Tribune and the Jan/Feb edition of Script Magazine!  It won 12 festival awards, appeared on 7 critics’ lists for “Best Films of the Year” and was distributed by Image Entertainment. MORE...
http://www.scriptmag.com/features/writers-web-advice-crowdfunding-cindy-baer

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN" SHORT FILM

PRODUCERS GUILD WEEKEND SHORTS CHALLENGE SUBMISSION

21 Steps to Sitcom Success From a Top Comedy Showrunner

Ken Levine, of "Cheers" and "M*A*S*H" fame, spills his secrets to THR -- including hiring writers who bathe, not abusing assistants and (guffaw!) listening to your actors.

This story first appeared in the Nov. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Sitcoms are back! Despite dire predictions just a few years ago, audiences prefer to laugh over watching people eat dung beetles (who knew?), so the sitcom is enjoying a renaissance. As a veteran writer/producer/director of classic, iconic sitcoms now shown after infomercials on channels 400 or higher, I have been asked by The Hollywood Reporter to share some tips for those showrunners currently in the trenches. Happy to do it, and I hope maybe two of these come in handy.  READ MORE...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/comedy-showrunner-tips-sitcom-success-387571?mobile_redirect=false

Radford and Bruce "Maya" Episode

Radford and Bruce - MAYA Episode (70's Edition) from Scrawny Strange on Vimeo.

Producers Roundtable Full Interview-The Hollywood Reporter

Great interview...

Producers Roundtable Full Interview
12:59 PM PST 11/20/2013 by THR Staff

Producers David Heyman (Gravity), Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor), Charles Roven (American Hustle), Pam Williams (The Butler), Michael De Luca (Captain Phillips) and Dede Gardner (12 Years a Slave) join THR's executive editor Matt Belloni and executive editor of features Stephen Galloway for a candid conversation about their award-worthy films.