Before screenwriter James L. White wrote the film Ray, which stars Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, he had a long journey. According to an article by Nancy Hendrickson White moved to L.A. in the late ’70s to pursue his writing dreams, but he didn’t get his first writing assignment until 1995. Ray was produced in 2004 [...]
Archive for the ‘Screenwriting & Life’ Category
The 25-Year Road to “Ray”
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged James L. White, Nancy Hendrickson, Ray, Jamie Foxx, Ray Charles on October 15, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Most Important Two Hours
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged Nicholas Kazan, The First Time I Got Paid for It on October 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Nicholas Kazan has had 15 films made from his scripts including the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune which earned him an Oscar nomination.
“My life as a writer began in the theater. The first time I wrote a real play, I was in college, eating breakfast, and heard a single line of dialogue echoing over and [...]
The Story of Men on the Moon
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged Apollo 13, Cary Grant, Central Flrodia, Dayton, Disney World, Don McLean, Dudley Nichols, Jeffery Kluger, John F. Kennedy, Man on the moon, Men walk on Moon, Neil Anderson, New York Times, Ohio, Tim magazine, Wapakoneta, Wright Brothers on July 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing [...]
Finding Your Own Voice
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged Jack Kerouac, Henry & June, Henry Miller, George Orwell, sche, Dostoievski, Hamsun, Thomas Mann on July 8, 2009 | 3 Comments »
When Henry Miller died in 1980 at the age of 88 he had over 40 books published. On Wikipedia it was written that Miller “was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of ‘novel’ that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, [...]
Happy 4th & 99th
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged 4th of July, Gloria Stuart, James Cameron, Old Rose, Street of Women, Titanic on July 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
“The United States is the only country with a known birthday.”
James G. Blaine
July 4th not only marks the birthday of the United States of America (and the signing of the Declaration of Independence [...]
Screenwriting Software vs. Ballpoint Pen
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged Elmore Leonard on June 30, 2009 | 2 Comments »
“Making it up as I go along. I write with a ballpoint pen and scratch out lines and paragraphs, revising them as I make my way into the story, the characters letting me know what comes next. Once I’ve handwritten a page until I like it, I put in on the IBM Wheelwriter 1000. If [...]
Hollywood & Small Town Ideals
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged (True West), Buried Child, Cedar Falls, Cloquet, Country, Happy Days, Iowa, Jessica Lange, Leave it to Beaver, Mayberry, Minnesota, Sam Shepard, Stillwater, Waterloo on June 29, 2009 | 3 Comments »
But, somewhere back there in the dust,
That same small town that’s in each of us.
The End of the Innocence
Don Henely
Got nothing [...]
A Sacred Story from Parkersburg, Iowa
Posted in Screenwriting & Life, tagged Aplington-Parkersburg High School, Bob McClellan, Cedar Falls, Detroit Lions, Don't Waste Your Life, Ed Thomas, ESPN, Football Coach Killed, In Cold Blood, Iowa, Jared Devries, Pakersburg, Steve Cyphers, The Sacred Acre, TRuman Capote on June 25, 2009 | 4 Comments »
“I’m one of those coaches who believes it’s my responsibility to be there for my players—my students—any way I can.”
Ed Thomas
That kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen in a place like [...]
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