Posted in Screenwriters, screenwriting, tagged American Film Institute., Babette's Feast, Blazing Saddles, Blue Velvet, Bur Hur, Crimes and Misdemeanors, David Lynch in Iowa, David Lynch Weekend, Diablo Cody, Dreams, DV films, entertainment, Exploring the Frontiers of Creativity, Fairfield, Films, Focal Press, Godfrey Reggi, Gregorian chants, Hanry David Thoreau, Iowa, Iowa City, Island Empire, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jesus, John Calvin, John Merrick, Juno, Koyaanisqatsi, Lars von Trier, Lost Highway, Mel Brooks, Mullholland Drive, Neo, peace, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Farnsworth, screenwriter, screenwriting, St. Francis of Assisi, Star Wars, Straight Story, Tender Mercies, The Elephant Man, The Five Obstructions, The Matrix, The Maxtrix, The Qatsi Triliogy, The Seventh Seal, The Shawshank Redemption, Thomas Edison, Twin Peaks, Utopia, Videography Magazine, Walden, Wild at Heart, You Tube on April 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? “
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Posted in Screenwriting Road Trips, tagged (True West), ADM, AL Capone, Andy and Larry Wachowski, Ang Lee, Archer Daniels Midland's Company, architectural boat tour, Batman, Billy Graham, Blake Snyder, chicago, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago Water Tower, Christopher Vogler, City of New Orleans, Dan Quayle, Dave Barry, David Mamet, Decatur, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edward Zwick, entertainment, Erin Brockovich, Ernest Hemingway, Ferris Buller's Day Off, Films, Gold Coast, Greg Glienna, H. L. Mencken, Harold Ramis, Harrison Ford, John Belushi, John Hughes, John Logan, Jon Favreau, Kankakee, Kurt Eichenwald, Lake Michigan, Magnificent Mile, Mark Brown, Michael Mann, Michael Weise, Michael Weise Productions, movies, Navy Pier, Phil Vischer, Preston Sturges, Ray Bradbury, Robert Zemeckis, Roger Ebert, Sam Shepard, Sarah Bernhardt, Saul Bellow Studs Terke, Save the Cat, screenwriting, screenwriting from Chicago, Sears Tower, Shot by Shot, Springfield, Steve Conrad, Steve Goodman, Steven Katz, Steven Soderbergh, The Dark Knight, The Drake, The Drake Hotel, The Hero's Journey, The Informant, the Third Coast, The Untouchables, Tina Fey, Wes Craven, West Salem, Wrigley Field on April 24, 2008 | No Comments »
“I adore Chicago. It is the pulse of America.”
Sarah Bernhardt
“You’re Abe Froman… the sausage king [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Road Trips, tagged Academy Award, Actors Studio - Lee Strasberg, Apocalypse Now, Arthur Mendoza, Benicio Del Toro, Billy Wilder, California, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Charles A. Lindbergh, Checkov, Clarksdale, Clifford Odets, David Radavich, Elia Kazan, Hannibel, Ibsen, Iowa, John Milius, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, midwest, Minnesota, Mississippi, movies, Muddy Waters, Ohio, Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, Robert Altman, Robert Johnson, Scott W. Smith, screenwriter, Seal Beach, Spirit of St. Louis, St. Louis, Stella Adler, Tennessee Williams, The Delta Blues Museum, The Glass Menagerie, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, theater, Traffic., W.C. Handy, Wisconsin on April 21, 2008 | No Comments »
“The Tennessee Williams we know and admire cannot be imagined without his long relationship with the Midwest.”
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Posted in screenwriting tips, tagged Andy Dufresne, Anne Lamont, Apollo 13, Blake Snyder, Braveheart, Cameron Crowe, Casablanca, Cinematherapy, Death of a Salesman, Diablo Cody, Emily Dickinson, entertainment, Erin Brockovich, Forrest Gump, Hans Solo, Jerry Maguire, Jimmy Buffett, John Eldredge, Juno DVD, Kenneth Burke, movies, Rain Man, Richard Walter, Robert Zemeckis, Ron Bass, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Seabiscuit, Star Wars, Stephen King, The Godfather, The Lion King, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wizard of Oz, UCLA, William Wallace, William Zinsser, writing, Writing Well, Yahoo! on April 18, 2008 | No Comments »
“Thanks in part to the plethora of new books and seminars on screenwriting, a new phenomenon is taking over Hollywood: Major scripts are skillfully, seductively shaped, yet they are soulless. They tend to be shiny but superficial.”
Richard Walter
UCLA Screenwriting Professor
”Where do we go to solves life’s problems? We go to the movies… Stories are [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Biz, tagged (Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Baton Fink, Comedian, entertainment, Excess Baggage, Frank Darabont, Frank Gehry, Hollywood Animal, IRS, Jeffrey Boam, Jerry Seinfeld, Joe Eszterhas’s Survival Guide, Max Adams, movie business, Orson Welles, Robert Rodrigue, Sarah McLachlan, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Sketches of Frank Gehry, taxes, The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood., The Screenwriter, UCLA on April 15, 2008 | No Comments »
“Remember this rule: For every quarter you spend in Hollywood, you need to earn a dollar.” [...]
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Posted in screenwriting, tagged Adam Sandler, American Gothic, Anthony Zuiker, Ashton Kutcher, Braveheart, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Creativity Magazine, Crispin Porter, CSI, CSI:Miami, Demi Moore, Des Moines, directing, Drake., Elijah Wood, Elvis, Eric Rouse, Erin Brockovich, Faulkner, filmmaking, General Mills, Georgia, Grant Wood, Horton Foote, Ibsen, Iowa, Julia Roberts, Juno, Katie Holmes, Maine, Martin Agency, Masters at Augusta National, Michele Emerson, Michele Monaghan, Minneaplois, Monterey, Nebraska, Norway, O’Connor, Ohio, Orlando, Oscars, Oxford, Randell Wallace, regionalism, Richmond, Rocky, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Seabiscuit, Smyrna, St. Louis Rams, Steinbeck, Super Bowl XXXIV MVP., teaching theater, Tender Mercies, Texas, The Geek Squad, Tiger Woods, Toledo, Tom Arnold, tulsa, University of Northern Iowa, Van Gogh, Virgina, VW, Willa Cather, Winslow Homer, writing, Zack Johnson on April 13, 2008 | No Comments »
“If you follow your passion, the money will follow. Success, in my opinion, involves sheer luck, hard work and humility.”
Anthony Zuiker, creator CSI TV programs
“I’m Zack Johnson [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Biz, tagged Air Force One, Andrew Marlow, Ben Afflack, Best Original Screenplay, Brand You 50, chicago, Chris Moore, Diablo Cody, entertainment, Field of Dreams, Good in a room, HBO Project Greenlight, Hollywood, Juno, Kevin Costner, Lee Zahavi-Jessup, Lisa Clink, Los Angeles, Matt Damon, midwest, movies, Oscar, Perfect Pitch, Pete Jones, PR, Practical Pictures, Prsentations, public speaking, rapport, sales, Scott W. Smith, screenwriter, screenwriting, Script magazine, Shelia Hanahan Taylor, STEPHANIE PALMER, Stolen Summer, story, Toastmasters International. Robert Louis Stevenson, Tom Peters, WGA on April 9, 2008 | 3 Comments »
“Everybody lives by selling something.” Robert Louis Stevenson
“Tell stories! Great Speechifying = Great Storytelling. Period.” Tom Peters
Stephanie Palmer’s Q&A on her book “Good in a Room” generated the second highest views to this site. (Right behind “The Juno-Iowa Connection” after Diablo Cody won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.) So I thought it would [...]
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Posted in screenwriting, tagged Against the Wind, Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syr, Bob Seger, Dan Gable, Darren Aronfsky, Dusty Rhodes, entertainment, Floyd Meyweather, Frank Gotch, George "The Russian Lion" Hackenschmidt, Hollywood, Iowa, Iowa Governor Chet Culver, John Irving, Marisa Tomei, Mickey Rourke, movies, NASCAR, Orlando Citrus Bowl, Orlando Sentinel, professional wrestling, Robert Thompson, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Seabiscuit, Shakespeare, Snoop Dogg, Spider-Man, Teddy Roosevelt, University of Iowa Wrestling Day, Vince McMahon, Waterloo Courier, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), WrestleMania XXIV, writing on April 7, 2008 | No Comments »
“There’s nothing like it in American show biz. It’s part comedy and part burlesque. It’s raw drama. It’s not Crime and Punishment. And it doesn’t pretend to be Masterpiece Theater.” Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University on professional wrestling
This past week was a big week in wrestling. You [...]
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Posted in screenwriting tips, tagged Alabama, Atlanta, Atticus Finch, Bloody Sunday, Christ, Churchill, Corretta Scott King, Driving Miss Daisy, Georgia, Hitler, Jackson, Kennedy, King David, King Lear, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Memphis, Mississippi, movies, Oliver STone, Oskar Schindler, Paul, Scarlet O'Hara, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Steven Spielberg, The Godfather, Wall St., William Froug, writing on April 4, 2008 | No Comments »
“Find a strong-willed character with a nothing-will-stand-in-my-way determination to reach his or her goal confronting strong opposition, add a strong action line, keep throwing obstacles (conflicts) in his or her path, and you’re well on your way to a gripping screenplay.” — William Froug
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Posted in Most Viewed Posts, Screenwriting Biz, screenwriting, tagged Alec Badwin, Blake Snyder, Bruckheimer Films, Carnegie Mellon, David Mamet, Des Moines, Diablo Cody, entertainment, Glengarry Glen Ross, Good in a room, Hollywood, Iowa Save the Cat, Juno, LA, Legally Blonde, MGM, movies, Pittsburgh, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, screenwriting from iowa, STEPHANIE PALMER on April 2, 2008 | No Comments »
“Let’s talk about something important…coffee’s for closers only.” [...]
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