In this age of colossal cinematic crossovers (thing such as The Avengers or Godzilla vs. Kong), perhaps the one that beats all the others is Austin Kleon’s appearance on Andy J. Pizza’s Creative Pep Talk. In a conversation that ranges from setting creative rules for yourself to following your disgust, my favorite bit came asContinue reading “gorging on forbidden fruit”
Category Archives: film
the importance of public space
I recently watch The Last Blockbuster on Netflix, which was both magnificent and a little bit sad. But more than anything, it made me think a lot about Jenny Odell’s reflections on public spaces in her book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. Odell writes, “True public spaces, the most obvious examples beingContinue reading “the importance of public space”
“nobody wants authenticity”
When discussing art or music, there’s always a lot of talk about authenticity, a word used to describe something that orbits the truth. The problem is, the word itself has been corrupted. Artists and creative people spend so much time chasing the idea of authenticity, they make the mistake of conflating truth with reality. NoneContinue reading ““nobody wants authenticity””
“introduce a little anarchy”
Leading up to the election last November, I put in the work. I made phone calls, I wrote letters to family and friends whose opinions differed from my own. I even coordinated volunteers for a local city council race. But on election day itself, I handed out salmon hot dogs at the polls. If youContinue reading ““introduce a little anarchy””
the power of juxtaposition
In his famous interview with François Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock details the power of placing two images beside one another: [Pudovkin] describes an experiment by his teacher, Kuleshov. You see a close up of the Russian actor Ivan Mosjoukine. This is immediately followed by a shot of a dead baby. Back to Mosjoukine again and youContinue reading “the power of juxtaposition”
looking for the launchpad
In an interview with Marc Maron, Matthew McConaughey described looking for “a launchpad line” to access a character: That line is not an attitude. It’s a part of his constitution. It’s an encyclopedia on that guy and that belief. It’s like The Wolf of Wall Street. The way I was able to riff on thatContinue reading “looking for the launchpad”
where’s the fun?
I’ve been writing novels since I was fourteen. None of them have ever seen the light of day and I sincerely hope they never will. While I’ve always wanted to write books that people read, most of my early efforts had one goal: fun. As other kids were playing Xbox, I’d come home from schoolContinue reading “where’s the fun?”
fuck it…
I read an interview with Anthony Hopkins last year, in which he talks with Brad Pitt about his favorite two-word prayer: I once asked a Jesuit priest, “What is the shortest prayer in the world?” He said,“Fuck it.” It’s the prayer of release. Just say, “Fuck it.” None of it is important. The important thingContinue reading “fuck it…”
why editing is important
A few years ago, I was working on a film set. I started a conversation with one of the camera operators, who claimed that editing is one of the most useful skills a person can possess. The editor is responsible for putting the whole film together. As this camera operator said, “The writer tells theContinue reading “why editing is important”
