Archive for the 'Los Angeles' Category

• e  15 Prepping for the Directors Close-Up panels

  Tonight and next Wednesday, I’ll be hosting the Director’s Close Up panels for Film Independent. Tonight’s director is Jason Reitman, joined by cinematographer Eric Steelberg, editor Dana E. Glauberman and composer Rolfe Kent. We’ll be talking about Up In The Air, Juno and Thank You For Smoking.

• e  9 Directors Close-up

  I’ll be moderating two panels for Film Independent this February at The Landmark in West LA.

• e  38 What’s wrong with the business

  Writers are making less money, and it’s part of a bigger shift in the industry.

• e  23 Those purple trees

  Every May, newcomers to LA inevitably ask, “What the hell are those purple trees?” They’re called jacarandas

• e  34 Why do LA people suck?

  Is one reader’s frustration indicative of the Hollywood culture, or specific to him? Likely both.

• e  8 Los Angeles myths, answered

  In February, I linked by Eric Morris about pervasive Los Angeles transportation myths. Here’s a follow-up.

• e  6 Preschool, NYC edition

  Following up on my post about getting your kid into preschool, a reader tipped me off to an upcoming documentary on the subject.

• e  26 Getting your kid into preschool

  For LA, preschool is the new college.

• e  55 Los Angeles myths

  This article by Eric Morris in today’s Freakonomics blog addresses some common myths and assumptions about Los Angeles that I often see brought up by writers who say they could never live here:

  Exactly one of the following statements about transportation in Los Angeles is indisputably true. Two are (at best) half-truths, and the [...]

• e  36 The Visitor

  On Wednesday morning, we came into the kitchen to find an orange slice on the stove and a tomato that seemed to have exploded. This was obviously troubling.

  My initial thought was that one of us had sleepwalked, and acted out some rage issue against fruit. I realize this is a strange explanation to [...]

• e  Comments Off Vote.

  There’s a strong likelihood that the networks (and the internet) will announce the presidential winner before the polls close in California. But if you’re headed to vote after work — or if you’re waiting in lines for hours — I’d urge you not to head home just because the big race has been decided. [...]

• e  32 Moving to LA (via NYC)

  Sage advice from a fresh transplant who took the plunge.

• e  51 Starting out in Hollywood

  First person account of the glorious drudgery of starting at the bottom in Hollywood.

• e  4 Google-Mapped, part two

  Matt sent me an LA Times article this morning which confirms that Google has been busy adding Street View to Los Angeles.

  My earlier suspicion that I’d been van-captured has proven true. So far, my mug doesn’t show up in any of the shots, but that’s likely because they seem to have only commercial streets [...]

• e  5 Student Films Across America

  Apologies and congratulations to the filmmakers, I had to bolt.

• e  Comments Off Guest-blogging on EW.com

  Because I’m just not busy enough, I’ve started guest-blogging on EW.com’s PopWatch blog, detailing some of the madness related to launching The Nines. You can read the first of these entries today.

  One observation so far: I’m snarkier on other people’s blogs than my own.

• e  14 My role in Transformers

  Why I can’t say definitively that I’m not in Transformers.

• e  14 Screenwriters’ dinner

  A read-out from the first WGAw Screenwriters’ Dinner.

• e  25 The Week in Review

  It’s been a busy week, and the next few days promise to be equally action-packed. So I thought I’d do a quick recap before two weeks go by without any real updates.

  Boulder

  I gave a lecture on screenwriting at the Boulder International Film Festival. It’s always weird going back to your home town, and even [...]

• e  4 Because nothing says quality like a cow

  No studio push for an Academy Award for your film? David Lynch inspires to get creative.

• e  98 Clive Cussler really, really dislikes Sahara

  An author rails against his Hollywood adaptation.

• e  17 What job should I beg for?

  Access leads to learning which is everything.

• e  24 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

  A shout out to a good show and their low budget ways.

• e  13 Helicopter day

  Today was the first and only day of aerial photography for The Movie. We rented a helicopter, a Wescam mount, a pilot, an operator, a camera and burned two thousand feet of film. Minute for minute, it was the most expensive part of the entire production.

  How was it, you ask?

  Pretty effin’ cool.

  I’d been [...]

• e  27 Additional photography

  In Hollywood parlance, “additional photography” is the polite term for what used to be called reshoots. It’s a rare case where the new word is better. Most of the time, you’re not reshooting anything. You’re getting new things you didn’t know you needed the first time around.

  Woody Allen is famous for [...]

• e  20 Turns out, he was busy reconsidering Tyra Banks

  You know how you can go months without seeing someone, then suddenly, they’re everywhere? This morning as I was getting into my little Prius, screenwriter/neighbor/inconstant blogger Josh Friedman rolled up in the Death Star Escalade to discuss our respective children’s nap schedules in anticipation of a playdate.

  Yeah, I said playdate. This is how [...]

• e  22 In which I attend the Grammy Awards

  As I might have mentioned, I got nominated for a Grammy Award (along with Danny Elfman) in the Best Song TV/Movie/Visual Media category for “Wonka’s Welcome Song” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

  The nomination came as a surprise, in that (a) I didn’t realize the Grammys were coming up, (b) I didn’t know the song [...]

• e  28 Is the Screenwriting Expo any good?

  Thoughts on public speaking.

• e  105 A message to Dr. Phil

  I ventured over to the Paramount lot yesterday for a meeting. None of the studios have ample parking, but Paramount’s main parking lot is comically over-crowded. Their solution is a crew of pseudo-valets who don’t actually park your car, but rather jockey other cars around when you inevitably find yourself stuck behind three [...]

• e  9 Don’t panic as you hit the panic button

  This sign in the Beverly Center parking garage is, I think, an example of found poetry.

  I find the decision to switch from subjunctive to indicative mood in the second line bold and foward-thinking; the elevator will become inoperative, in the same way that all men will grow old and feeble.

  In lines three and four, [...]

• e  40 Michelle Pfeiffer, Supervolcanoes and the Yellowstone Fallacy

  Having happened in the past doesn’t signify future action.