Story. Screenplay. Sale.
Nakedly sincere, Charlie Kaufman presents us with a strikingly insightful masterclass on writing without a formula, the responsibilities of a film-maker and the art of failing. Although diffident and somewhat gawky in appearance, Kaufman’s surety of his own work is absolute. “If what you’re doing does not have the possibility of failing, then by definition, … Read more
Back in 1985, Back To The Future received 3.5 stars from Roger Ebert. Ebert was always my preferred reviewer, and he got it almost always right. Like Ebert, it took me some time before I realised the movie’s greatness – and clout. Time travel had been done well before. One of my favorites is Time After Time (1979), … Read more
When director John Guillermin died a few weeks ago, I missed this news. He directed two films that I enjoyed as a child. I will forever remember the moment, age eleven, when I left the cinema after seeing King Kong die on the New York streets. I was devastated. Yet I wanted to go straight … Read more
Today, Seth Godin posted four “Simple Questions For Writers”. Godin usually blogs about marketing, business culture, and what he calls ‘art’ (doing your job as your ‘bliss’). He is a prolific writer himself, with many bestselling books. The ‘questions for writers’ in today’s post relates to any kind of writer, in fact he doesn’t even mention the … Read more
About his creative inspiration, Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett once said “Babies don’t come from babies.” He meant that the greatest music doesn’t come from studying other great music. He is no longer influenced by predecessors or contemporaries. Instead, he reads. And he ‘listens’. “My main job is listening. If you’re improvising and you’re not listening, the next second that … Read more