Diatribe
So I Made a Podcast…
Lend Me Your Ears As I’ve said before, the first time I stuck earbuds in my ears and fired up a podcast (I think it was the Slate Magazine daily podcast at the time), I had a “where has this been all my life” moment. Today I barely listen to the radio – I listen to podcasts […]
What’s On Second?
My 1st Foray 2nd Unit Being a freelancer in the entertainment business in LA (as I have since 2000) can be a stressful balancing act, and after being at it a few years I began to notice certain trends – especially the times of year that work becomes more plentiful or… Less so. And as […]
An Open Letter to Spec Screenwriters
Confession time: I am the world’s worst reader. A former manager of mine used to refer to my pile of unread scripts as the “Rockpit.” It was a steadily-growing 8 1/2″ by 11″ rectangular stack that sometimes grew so tall you’d think I was trying to turn it back into a mighty oak. I’ve finally […]
Method Acting
See This Movie I’m going to keep this short. I’m writing this on July 29, and if you live in New York City, LA, or Washington DC you owe it to yourself to see “The Act of Killing,” Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, this week. It’s only playing in town for a week it’s only playing through […]
Think Different
How Technology is Making Your Creative Job Harder – And Why That’s a Good Thing I remember when I directed my first play in Los Angeles in the spring of 1999. It was called “Golden Elliot,” and it was produced by a small theater in Hollywood called (unfortunately) “The Professional Actors’ Counsel.” We had no […]
A Swift Kick to the Head
Why Big Stars on Raising Money on Kickstarter isn’t Hurting Smaller Projects Allow me to start by saying that I’m not a Zach Braff fanboy. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, and he seems to have things he wants to say through filmmaking. But judging based on his debut feature nine years ago as well […]
NAB Roundup 2013 – Forget 3D, Let’s Talk 4K!
Emerging Patterns Every year, if I’m able to do so, I make the 4-hour trek by car from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to attend the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB). For the uninitiated, it’s a trade show where all the manufacturers of every piece of gear involving broadcast, filmmaking, production, postproduction, you-name-it fill […]
Post-Mortem: Two Years After the Fall of FCP
What A Difference Two Years Hasn’t Made It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since the stalwart Final Cut Pro shat the bed and drove countless editors into the hinterlands. At NAB 2010 2011 (thanks to Dave Camp for pointing out my error) when Apple took over a Final Cut Pro Users Supermeet […]
10 Apps That Will Make You a Better (or more effective) Director
Here I Go Again… Recently I blogged about Hollywood Shot Designer app, a product I’ve come to know and love. And use – on every shoot. I went the next step, geekdom-wise, and even joined their beta team so now I’m one of the people testing new versions before the public gets them. It’s an […]
Restoration Software II: Software Harder!
So I Re-Transferred “The Meeting,” a Short I Directed in 1998 I sometimes talk to filmmakers who came up in the all-digital world who say something like, “I’d like to shoot film someday.” My pat, dickish answer is always, “no you wouldn’t. You want to HAVE SHOT film. It’s not the same. As someone who’s […]
Neptune Salad 