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 Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged A Simple Plan, Airplane!, Alice Cooper, and Madison, Andrew Bergman, Blues Brothers, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Chippewa Falls, CNN, Columbus, Darling, Des Moines, Diablo Cody, Door County, Ellen Page, entertainment, Film Wisconsin, Gene Wilder, George Clooney, Green Bay Packers, Happy Days, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp, Juno, Kenosha, Kentucky, Laverne & Shirley, Madison, Major League, Marshall Brickmam, Michael Moore, Middleton, Mississippi Rver, movies, Mr. 3000, Nicholas Ray, Orson Wells, Oskosh, Owensboro, Peter Hedges, Rebel Without a Cause, Reggie White, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, The Onion, The University of Wisconsin, Thorton Wilder, Titantic, UW Madison, Wayne’s World, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Wisconisn Screenwriters Forum, Wisconsin, Young Frankingstein, Zucker on March 24, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Johnny Depp is in Wisconsin this month shooting a John Dillinger film based on the book Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough. While in Wisconsin the Michael Mann directed film will be shooting in Columbus, Darlington, Madison and Milwaukee.
(You can view photos of the film at www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=21981)
Wisconsin is just over the Mississippi River from Iowa and has had a three [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged Academy Award, Dublin, Edwards Burns, Faces, Film Independents Spirit Awards, Guinness, Ireland, Jim Carney, John Cassavetes, LA Times, Marketa Irglova, Once, Scott W. Smith, St. Patrick's Day, Steven Spielberg, The Brothers McMullen, USA Today on March 17, 2008 | No Comments »
Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
I recommend that along with your pint of Guinness or green beer as you celebrate today that you add watching the movie Once if you haven’t seen it (or again if you have seen it). This independent film made in Ireland won the recent Academy Award for Best Song “Falling Slowly.”
It also won [...]
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Posted in Screenwriters, Screenwriting Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged A Prayer for Owen Meany--(Simon Birch), Academy Awards, Ben Afflack & Matt Damon, Bobby Bowden, catharsis, Cedar Falls, Dan Gable, David Mamet, David Puttnam, Dickens., Eliot Spitzer, Florida State football coach, Forrest Gump, Gary Ross, Good Will, Hemingway, Hunting, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Jerry Maguire, John Irving, John Updike, Juno, Kurt Vonagunt, Laura Hillendrandt, Michael Caine, movies, Oscars, Powell's City of Books, Prairie Lights Bookstore, Sceeenwriting, Scott W. Smith, Seabiscuit, Tattered Book Cover, The Cider House Rules, The Hotel New Hampshire, The Verdict, The World According to Grap, Tobey Maguire, Tom Wolf, University of Iowa, wrestling, writing on March 14, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I was talking to John Irving the other day…
Okay, technically that’s true, but it’s not like we were hanging out talking about his writings and the finer aspects of American literature. Irving was in Iowa City this week and doing a Q&A session sponsored by the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. I was simply one of the approximately [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged 80th Academy Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay, best screenplay, Bob Dylan, Coen brothers, Diablo Cody, entertainment, Frank Baum, Garrison Keillor, Hollywood, IFP, Iowa, Jessica Lange, Joel & Ethan Coen, Juno, Mary Tyler Moore, Midwest writers, Minneaplois Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune, movies, No Country for Old Men, Oscars, Paisley Park, Praire Home Companion, Prince, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, screenwriting from minnesota, Spam, Spam Museum, St. Paul, Starbucks, Steven Spielberg, Terry Gillam, The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook, University of Iowa, Wizard of Oz on February 27, 2008 | No Comments »
And the winner is… Minnesota.
If someone wanted to make a point about talent coming from outside Hollywood the 80th Academy Awards would be a great place to start. (The above photo is not from the Oscars but gave me an excuse to highlight the Minneapolis Convention Center from a production I worked on a couple [...]
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Posted in Screenwriting Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged Britney Spears, David Nutter, entertainment, filmmaking, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Darabont, George Clooney, Iowa, John Sayles, Katire Couric, Matchbox Twenty, NBC Today, Orlando films, Quinton Tarantino, Ralph Clemente, Rod Serling, Ron Howard, screenwriting, Screenwriting Ohio, Shaq, Spike Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, The Blair Witch Project, The Twlight Zone, Tom Cruise, Valencia Community College, Wesley Snipes, Willie Nelson, Yellow Springs on February 23, 2008 | 4 Comments »
”One day some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart.” [...]
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Posted in Most Viewed Posts, Screenwriting Road Trips, screenwriting, tagged Barry Kemp, Cillian Murphy, Coen brothers, Des Moines, Diablo Cody, Ellen Page, entertainment, Ethan Canin, Field of Dreams, Gene Wilder, Iowa, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Joe Eszterhas, John Irving, Juno, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Johnson, Max Allan Collins, movies, Oscars, Peacock, Philip Roth, Rebel Without a Cause, Robert Penn Warren, Scott W. Smith, screenwriting, Stewart Stern, Tennessee Williams, The Road to Perdition, University of Iowa, W.P. Kinsella on January 23, 2008 | No Comments »
Yesterday the Oscar nominations were announced and Diablo Cody and her script Juno were nominated for best original screenplay and the film was also nominated for best picture. I recently pointed out her Iowa connection as having graduated from the University of Iowa.
If you’re not familiar with the creative talent that has come out of [...]
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