John sits down with writer/actor Mindy Kaling (The Office, The Mindy Project, Champions) to talk about her origin story, her big break as Ben Affleck, what it’s like to simultaneously showrun and star in a sitcom, and the nature of half-hour comedies. We also answer a listener question about point of view and its relationship […]
John and Craig partake in another installment of How Would This Be a Movie? Which story is destined for the big screen: The millennial mother with her surprise, Youtube-guided childbirth? The couple that has the same fight for decades? The Japanese families-for-hire? We also follow up on the logic of multi-cam formatting, Georgia’s success in […]
John welcomes Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo and author of Pep Talks for Writers, to discuss the writing process and how to get out of your own way creatively. We explore the ubiquity of the Other Syndrome and the perils of envy. We also look at pen names, “throw-away writing,” and the advantages of […]
Adam Davis moved to Los Angeles in 2007, and has been offering periodic updates on what he’s learned and what he’s accomplished.
Last night, I had the pleasure of hosting a Q&A with Alfonso Cuarón for Film Independent. I looked at it as an opportunity to get all my questions answered from a longtime talent crush. In particular, I wanted to know about Cuarón’s lengthy, technically-sophisticated shots.
John and Craig wind back the clock with writer-director Richard Kelly to look at the origins of Donnie Darko, and how a recent film-school grad gets a movie made.
Robin Schiff and Winnie Holzman’s great discussion series “Anatomy of a Script” is starting up again in March, and highly recommended for film and TV writers wanting to learn more about the craft.
Jamie Jensen recently wrote and co-directed her first feature with Nadia Munla. I asked her to talk about her experience taking a project from graduate school thesis script to finished film. In 2007, I moved from New York City to Los Angeles to pursue a screenwriting career. I did it by way of the Peter […]
John and Craig discuss why screenwriters want to please people — and how it often hurts them and the movie they’re writing — before a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of going to film school.
Today’s First Person demonstrates an important point: you can’t pick the single moment at which you’ve “made it.”
Jay Faerber is trying to transition from writing comics to writing TV, and is doing so with the help of the Warner Bros TV Writers Workshop.
Allison Schroeder works in both features and television. She exemplifies something I’ve seen again and again: a career is shaped by talent, luck and extraordinarily hard work
Every year, the Writers Guild Foundation holds a series of discussions with film and television writers focusing on one of their past or current projects. This year, I’ll be a guest, talking about Big Fish.
A reader unearths coverage I wrote for both Quentin Tarantino’s NATURAL BORN KILLERS and Sam Hamm’s PULITZER PRIZE.
In general, it’s a mistake to think of universities as businesses and students as consumers. But for certain specialized film training, for-profit programs can make sense.
If you can’t find that one smart reader amid your circle, it’s possible that you’d benefit from paying someone. I don’t have any names to recommend, but if I were in your place, I’d look for a few things.
Scott wonders if his online filmmaking classes are teaching him what he needs to know.
New York Times writers offer suggestions for incoming college students.
When I was buying a house, the rule of thumb was that you could afford a home three to four times your annual income. It feels like there should be an equivalent rule of thumb for how much you can spend on your education versus average salary of your studied profession.
It’s easy to pick numbers that show how a plumber who saves diligently will out-earn an egghead saddled with student debt.
Synthian Sharp taped my Q&A in Rancho Mirage, and has it available on Vimeo.
At the gym yesterday, we were discussing which language would be the best foreign language for a native English speaker to learn. Specifically, can you make a compelling case for any language other than Spanish or Mandarin?
My advice to recent film school grads. What did you do today to get closer to your goals?
Connect with your Trojan brethren.
An editing class will recut The Nines from scratch. Final film unseen.
