Notes from a Screenreader: Penn & Tellering
Photo via Go Into the Story. Here’s a great magic trick. A magician carries a dollhouse onstage and places it on a table. He says it’s a haunted dollhouse. Every time he takes the cloth away after barely an instant, the haunted dollhouse has produced a fire in the fireplace or a bloody doll massacre or...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Remembering Elaine Stritch
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/102985787?et=6cnWZ-PnQu5OIM7TOxqwWA&sig=taLVNk7TC4HoT0B3eYBlMy7Ak7uhI0Z82sW0okc3hS0= The spectacular Broadway singer and actress Elaine Stritch. Patricia Arquette really enjoyed her 12 years of Boyhood. Marvel Comics addresses superhero gender disparity. Thor will be female! Leighton Meester is not a “tart” in Broadway’s Of Mice & Men. ABC will address diversity with Cristela, and NBC will showcase more women in next season’s lineup. Robin Wright portrays her most revealing role yet...
READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Top of the Lake’
Oscar winner Jane Campion is one of the most talented contemporary, female directors who sadly hasn’t come out with a new film in awhile. That she decided to make a detective miniseries is fascinating. But don’t expect the typical crime procedural. Top of the Lake is an interesting, moody character study of life in the outback, anchored...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Dialogorrhea
Photo via Go Into the Story. There are scripts about people doing things and there are scripts about people talking about things. One of them has a much better chance of making it past the first round of readers in a competition. Visualize the beat. What is the visual information in the scene? Do your...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Primetime Emmy Nominations, ‘Danger Mouse’ & #LikeAGirl
Seeing: that not much has changed: Women make up only 26% of the Primetime Emmy nominees, the same number as last year. Glad to hear: that the new version of BBC’s Danger Mouse will be have more female characters. Really like: Lauren Greenfield’s video, Always #LikeAGirl, for Always brand. It challenges the sexist expression which...
READ MOREActing Up: Soul Inspiration
This past month I had the opportunity to travel to Machu Picchu. Wow! Did that trip turn my vibration, my reality, my thoughts on their head. As time slows down for a bit this summer, I encourage you to inspire your soul. Do something extraordinarily out of the ordinary that will make this summer one to remember....
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Emmy Fever & a New ‘View’
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/452006704?et=w-RuV0lIQX1QAJbad3H0SQ&sig=_CPqTlcGvLm6w0XkS71vYALBLi7vWoXJGMWw_yBMLso= It. Is. Emmy. Season! The full list of female nominees—plus, snubs and surprises. Amanda de Cadenet announces her new talk show Undone on Lifetime. It’s official: Everything at The View is coming up Rosie (O’Donnell) and they’re looking for new producers. Love or hate ‘em, script notes are invaluable for screenwriting success. New Oscar...
READ MOREAdvice from an Indie Producer: Locations
Locations are an important part of your prep as a filmmaker. The places you choose can either enhance or potentially harm the production value of your project. The process to find locations can be daunting especially on a full-length feature film, so it’s imperative that you have a plan. BreakdownsBreaking down the script is the...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Vanessa Williams, ‘Thelma & Louise’ & Diversity in UK Films
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/450845374?et=-vV7r2ttTk9c1dgD4Iqw6g&sig=8_KsWASeBMfZH44qTkUlXUZRxUi8LnI84S-UJKNQ1Cg= Looking forward to watching: Oprah’s Master Class: Vanessa Williams, directed by NYWIFT board member Annetta Marion. Premieres this Sunday, July 13, 10 pm on OWN TV. Glad to see: that Thelma & Louise was included in THR’s top 100 films of all time, one of only a handful of female-centric films on the list. No films directed by women...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Right Hook
Photo via Go Into the Story. A spec script with a real hook jumps right out of the pile. It’s the difference between an indestructible cyborg from the future relentlessly attempting to murder Sarah Connor and Sarah Connor, for instance, getting a message from the future that she should start taking self-defense classes while she...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: ‘Tammy’ Is Here, Academy Invites Are Not
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/451625684?et=Ma5QQpilTAd9gOfNuEgHHg&sig=eFnk15zkTrijFhEtG2kgTWv5OH3zRlDoAMROZsNWFqw= Tammy star Melissa McCarthy is laughing all the way to the bank. #HireTheseWomen seems to be making an impact. Fox announces an initiative to increase the presence of women directors. Amazon and Final Draft seek original material; BitchFlicks needs writers. Screenwriting query tips to help your material get noticed. Want to relax between auditions? Here’s a list of NYC actor hangouts....
READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Belle’
Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed-race daughter of an aristocratic navy officer. She was also the great-niece of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, who paved the way for the abolishment of slavery in Britain and the British Empire when he ruled on two cases. Even though Belle is told against the backdrop...
READ MORE‘The Lighthouse Project’ Film Saga
Erica Fae and Jane Applegate in front of Moose Peak Light on a recent scouting trip to Jonesport, ME. Photo credit: The Applegate Group. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —Theodore Roosevelt Joining a protest march to the U.S. Capitol on a snowy day in March led me to producing a feature this summer, set on...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: GOOOOAAAALLLL!
Photo via Go Into the Story. Many a spec script hits page 20 at a dead run, then pulls a hamstring and limps all the way through the second act while the writer chips away at what the story is actually about. It’s painfully slow to read. All of that should be resolved in rewrites,...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Women Directors, ‘Obvious Child’ & ‘Reckless’
Not surprised by: this infographic (above) from Women and Hollywood about how major studios have released very few films directed by women over the last five years. Really loved: Obvious Child, a funny, well-made and important movie about the realities of women’s lives. Caught the premiere of: Reckless, a new show that has many more women working on every...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: #HireTheseWomen, Diane Sawyer & Comedy Central Prez Michele Ganeless
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/490666791?et=AqxxNyZmSdRdtT-0nJDY6Q&sig=RkIHT67TihPj-cMXJXZfd9526qa-vBF0rxZHRApi9m0= Diane Sawyer steps down from World News and up to bigger projects. Inspired by Women and Hollywood’s directors infographic, film critic Miriam Bale launches the hashtag #HireTheseWomen. Director Kelly Reichardt may be the most successful indie “one trick pony” in the business. Michele Ganeless runs Comedy Central, not Stephen Colbert. Chicken & Egg pictures is accepting grant applications for women...
READ MOREActing Up: Revamp Your Online Bio
Every six months or so, I always find myself looking over my website, Actors Access account and IMDB page to see if everything is up to date and current. This time around, as I read my bio, I could feel a heaviness. I just didn’t connect with what I was reading. So, I decided on...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Discuss
Photo via Go Into the Story. Discussions are the enemy of drama in a spec script. They are info swaps to give the reader story information, which is like putting stale bagels out for guests: unwelcoming and hard to swallow. It’s more accomplished work to compose images that do the same job. Crazy, Stupid, Love opens...
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