OC Screenwriters Association

This post is a bit more personal than usual because it involves people that have helped shape this organization and perservered when others have lost interest.

There's no doubt that the best part of starting the OC Screenwriters is when members meet, pull together their resources, and create something wonderful.  This has happened several times already and the latest iteration of this concept of networking is the group behind "The Prey."  

They've made me a part of this insanely ambitious project and it's truly a thrill to be again working with Rudy Garcia, Eric Hensman, his brother Matt (and super-neice Scarlett,) Itai Levin, and soon-to-be mega-producer Victor Phan.

With a script written by Gustavo Sainz and contributions from various other OCSWA members, there is no doubt that the film will be fantastic.

Locations have been scouted, models created, a recent investors' meeting drew in some much-needed capital, and the core production team has been assembled for a scheduled late-spring, early summer shoot. 

If you've met any of these men and women at our meetings you'll understand why I feel lucky to be associated with them.  They're talented, super-ambitious (in a good way) and generous of spirit.  I could see this team going on to many more successful ventures.

It starts for this team with "The Prey" - where it ends is still to be determined but it's along a bright, shining road filled with challenges but also with the confidence of their capabilities to overcome and thrive.

Best of luck moving forward, dudes.  Thanks for making me a part of something grand.

Mark

Even though I wasn't bowled over by "Lilyhammer" there are reasons to give it high marks:

• - It's funky and weird and different enough that you don't see the same pre-fabbed faces and content that you'd normally see in network TV.   
• - It stars one of the most unlikely "pretty faces" in the biz - the eternally-scowling Steven Van Zandt.
• -  It's a true breakthrough show.  Its original episodes are available all at once, as people who stream a lot of content on Netflix are likely to watch.  I myself do entire TV seasons in a few days sometimes (especially when, as in the case of "Southland" those seasons are only six episodes long.)
• -  I've never seen an "American" series set entirely in another country.
• -  The show reminds me (a bit) of a not-as-well-written "Northern Exposure."

Steven Van Zandt is a multi-talented, multi-discipline musician whose turn as mob consigliere and strip club owner Silvio Dante in "The Spranos" showed yet another side of him as his character navigated the dangeoous and surreal New Jersey mob world.  On that basis (I guess) he was hired to play wiseguy-turned-informant Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano who is witness-relocated to the Norwegian town of Lillehammer.  Yes, an odd choice explained by his love of the city when he saw it on the 1994 Winter Olympics - whatever.  He's told to behave himself and that if he gets in trouble with the law he's on his own.

Frank quickly uses his New York attitude to stir things up when he bribes, blackmails, roughs up, and cheats just about everyone he comes in contact with to get what he wants.  And yet, his sense of fair-play is firmly in place as dispenses (mild) street justice to the people in which he contacts.  You can take the boy out of the mob but...forgettabouit.

"Lilyhammer" is terribly uneven -some good and fun stuff interspered with some truly awful stuff.  Sometimes it seems like everyone is doing a bad skit from "Saturday Night Live."  But at times, Van Zandt makes it work and his situation doesn't seem so truly unbelievable as a fish out of water.  He's surrounded by actors who show potential - if they're given just a little bit better material to work with.

In the spirit of giving this breakthrough dramedy a fighting change and since Netflix is directly able to track the metrics of people watching it, I'm going to finish the rest of the season.  Not even "Cheers" or "Seinfeld" was brilliant all at once and, as stated, this has potential.

The entire Season One of "Lilyhammer" is available on Netflix streaming.

And that's amazing!

Billy Wilder's Tips For Writers

It was 10 years ago (March 27, 2002) that the world lost Billy Wilder. Some of his wisdom from Cameron Crowe's book, Conversations With Wilder start with his Tips for Writers.

1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then -- that’s it. Don’t hang around.

Editors note: I really shouldn't have to list Wilder's film because any student of film should know them but here's a few just in case:

Some Like it Hot
Double Indemnity
Seven Year Itch
Stalag 17
The Apartment
Sunset Blvd.

SANTA ANITA PARK AND HOLLYWOOD, A LONGTIME LOVE AFFAIR

And they were off!

On Christmas Day, 1934, Santa Anita Park Racetrack opened its gates and it was love at first sight between Santa Anita and Hollywood. 

Hollywood royalty was not only in attendance, but one of Hollywood’s most prolific movie producers, Hal Roach, who started producing film in 1915, and lived till the age of 101 as a working producer, who brought comedy to America with Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, Will Rogers, and so many more, was the money man behind the park.

Roach was so prolific, as Hal Roach Studios was producing 1500 hours of television shows per year by 1951, which was three times the number of films made in Hollywood, and he created so many of television’s greatest, was the first to create syndication. So many new works and manner of production were originated at Hal Roach Studios, it’s no wonder he drew on all the creative people in Hollywood to help with the park.

And help they did.

Bing Crosby, Joe E. Brown, Al Jolson, and Harry Warner were major stockholders and board members.

Santa Anita Park’s box holders in its early days included such luminaries as director/writer Frank Capra, actors like Fred Astaire and Jack Benny, and studio moguls Walt Disney and Cecil B. de Mille.

Santa Anita was the place to hang out, and still is, for if you pay a visit, you may encounter the ghosts of such fans as Astair, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Edgar Bergen, Jane Russell, Cary Grant, Ester Williams,and even Marilyn Monroe, who enjoyed off days and weekends at the Park as regulars, as well as just about every star and supporting actor that worked in Hollywood, including screenwriters Arthur Miller and William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. 

Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Alex Trebek, and MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, have owned horses that raced at the park.

Movies filmed there included “A Day at the Races”, the Marx Brothers classic, and the Marx Brothers jumped on horses, ran into the stands, and set the whole park on its end with hilarity.

Other films included “The Story of Seabiscuit,” with Shirley Temple.

It was the home of the stars, and if the public wanted stars, all they had to do was buy a Clubhouse ticket and mix with the biggest names ever in film history at Santa Anita, all for just a $2 bet.

And Roach, and his partner who ran the park for him, also had the park be the first to introduce the starting gate and photo finishes for every race, which became de rigeur in horse racing throughout the world. Roach said, “Movies are our business, we are using our trade to bring truth to the race.” Photo finishes became the standard of every track, as so much money was spent at race tracks, the rebroadcast of photo finishes is almost as popular as the race itself.

And it wasn’t only film royalty that inhabited the park. Seabiscuit, America’s great horse of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, raced there often and was a huge prize winner and caught the fancy of the American dream. Of course a film was made of Seabiscuit, and there is a statue of the horse on a show green, where all horses parade around before the races begin each day in his honor. 

But while the park has been a favorite spot and watering hole for many years for Hollywood, it also had a dark side.  During World War II years 1942-1944, the park was used as an internment camp for Japanese-Americans and had 17,000 living in horse stables, including a young George Takei, the actor most famous as Lt. Sulu who helmed the USS Enterprise in the television and film series of “Star Trek.” A plaque commemorates the events of those years, and there is a display of photos from the site.

Santa Anita’s close proximity to Hollywood, and its gorgeous location at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, has made it a backdrop for too many films, television series, commercials, and photo shoots to count.

But as you walk the ground, you will encounter statues of America’s greatest jockeys, including Johnny Longden, Willie Shoemaker, George Woolf, and LaffitPincay, Jr., all who appeared in so many films as jockeys.

In addition to a lifesize bronze of Seabiscuit in the walking ring at Seabiscuit Court there is also one of John Henry, America’s favorite till he retired in 2009.

And Trevor Denman, the voice of the track since the 1980’s.and whose now-famous voice has been used in many films and television shows, is instantly recognizable when he calls the gathering to attention and calls the race. 

Even today, you will still be greeted by 90 year-old Paddock Guard, John Shear, who has been on the job since 1938!

And you may see anyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to George Clooney to Tony Bennett to Mel Brooks, as the love affair continues between Hollywood and Santa Anita Park.

Mark Sevi also contributed to this article.

"Blood In, Blood Out,",  the Disney company's first R-rated film under the Hollywood Pictures banner, is screening on Wednesday night, March 28, 2012, at 7:30 PM, at the Regency South Coast Village Theatre.

The film is a story worthy of "The Godfather", from a Mexican point of view, and centered on the creation of the Mexican Mafia in prisons in the 1970's and 80's. But it was far more than that.

Directed by Taylor Hackford, "Blood In, Blood Out," is a great crime drama that follows the intertwining lives of the three Chicano relatives, Miklo (Damien Chapa), Paco(Benjamin Bratt) and Cruz (Jesse Borrego) from 1972 to the mid 1980s.

The film starts out with them as members of a street gang called Vatos Locos of East Los Angeles, and as dramatic incidents occur, their lives and friendships are forever changed. 

"Blood In, Blood Out," was filmed throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of Los Angeles and inside California's San Quentin Prison. Disney later changed the name to "Bound by Honor", when the film attrracted such widespread attention and crowds that caused uproars in theatres and cheered for the jailed criminals that they felt the name, "Blood In, Blood Out", was too violent for a Disney brand. 

The story is till this day, considered a coming of age story for many young latinos, and the film is watched as often as "The Godfather" is in Italian households and held in the same reverence. I am surprised that no one has picked up on this and written a good pilot for a series based on this film, or events close to it. 

But judge for yourself. If you like action and great story, this is one hell of a picture. it will always be on my Top Ten list, because you become endeared so greatly to the characters, in spite of all their weaknesses and sins.

Benjamin Bratt of course is known for many roles, in feature films and television shows, incdluding being an original on "Law and Order."

Jesse Borrego has kept working in film and television since his first break on television in the original, "Fame" show.

But Damien Chappa is the most to be admired. he realized that in Hollywood one had to wait upon the powers that be, and he took things into his own hands, and formed his own production company and cranks out two to three features a year, and self-distributes in America and throughout the world. 

"Blood In, Blood Out" is no "Shawshank Redemption", this is down and dirty and gritty as it gets, but that's what endears it and makes it so stunning. 

Again, playing on classic Wednesday Night at the Regency South Coast Village, at 1561 W Sunflower Ave, (across from South Coast Plaza). Look it up, www.regencymovies.com.

I only present this here because it's one of my favorites, and I love to share this film. It was the first with featured latin stars and a latin theme, and it was a huge hit at the box office and changed the way Hollywood looked at the latin market. 

Pity The Poor Writer

I've written under all circumstances for over twenty years - scripts, short stories, novels, industrial videos, blogs, articles, etc. Modestly speaking, I'm pretty good at it.  I know that because people pay me for that particular skill set.  

Yep, lots to learn (emphasis on 'lots'") but let me make this point at the top - I study storytelling for a living. That's what I do.  So, I should know a little more about it than your nephew, girlfriend, stranger off the street, right?  Oh you agree?  Then why are you changing my story, characters, themes and plot based on their opinions?  In fact, why are we having this conversation at all? 

You think I'm being a dilettante writer?  Fair enough.  Let's talk about that.

Chill, Dude.  It's just Your Flipping Career

Let's get the big points out of the way.  First, I do get that these are gray areas and that I am over-simplifying for the sake of making my point - it's called...writing - where have you been?

With that out of the way, let me talk directly to all the so-called producers in the world.

Dear Mr., Miss, Mrs., Ms, Other Species, Producer-Person,

• Yes, I do understand that film is a collaborative process.  Do you?  Collaborate doesn't mean (or shouldn't mean) just do it my way.
• No, I do not think that I know everything there is to know.  Do you?
• Yes, you can make good points at times but when I say it won't work, you should respect that since I am "the expert" you hired to write your story.
• Yes, I do respect you.  Why don't you respect me?
• Oh, and I do get that there are many ways to be right.  Do you know how many ways there are to be wrong?  You should.  You live it every day.
• No, I do not really want to shove my fist in your stupid face and kick your ass down the... ahem.  Nevermind.

Would you go to a doctor and after he or she diagnoses your problem then suggest that you know better how to cut that cyst out of your neck?  How about a mechanic?  He says you need a new transmission, based on twenty-odd years of being a mechanic and actually having studied and understanding how a car works (do you?) - and you say "no, that's not the problem."   Computers?  iPhones?  Airplanes?  You gonna want to tell the tech who's designing, building or diagnosing that he or she is wrong or that in your opinion it should go this way or that?  Do people tell cops how best to chase a bad guy?  Firemen how to fight a fire?  

Oh, you do think that it's okay to do that under certain circumstances?

Great.  Here's my problem...

Why did you hire them in the first place?  Next time just read a book, watch some YouTube videos and do it the hell yourself.

I mean, even fitness coaches get more respect than most writers.  

A Little Cheese with That Whine?

This problem is most irritating when it comes to film because everyone thinks they can write or make a film.  They think that watching movies on Netflix, knowing some trivia about John Sayles films, or understanding that film noir came out of the German Expresssionist movement, makes them experts - or "good enough" to make a movie.  Siderant: Potentially the worst are MFAs (Masters of Fine Arts) who imagine that after a few semesters of film theory and film history, and some in-class writing, they can tell you how to write.  Pah!  Only writing makes you a good writer.   Get that?  Only writing makes you a good writer. 

In music, you don't get to be a world-class musician unless you practice every day, for hours a day.  Sure, anyone can plink and plunk "Chopsticks" or play "Michael Row The Boat Ashore" on the guitar (or perhaps even the opening to "Stairway to Heaven") but it's those pros, those men and women who put in the bloody-finger-time, hours after  hours who are the true maestros.  If that's true of musicians, mechanics, techs, doctors and even fitness coaches why would anyone assume anything differently from a writer?

Let's just take me, for example.  Tens of millions of words written in all forms of narrative.  I've watched thousands of movies, TV series, short films and broken down on paper at least 1,000 of those. I have them in my files here in my office.  I write, write about writing, and teach writing so I've studied film and writing from every angle I can find.  When I hear a song, I don't think "nice tune" I think "nice story" because I've even broken down the structure of well-written songs like a film.  If, as Malcolm Gladwell states in his book "The Outliers", it takes 10,000 hours to become "an expert" then I am an expert conservatively times two.  I live, eat, drink and breathe story.

Can I be wrong?  Can I write a bad script?  Can I be so full of myself I don't see obvious problems in my work?  YES!  But here's the important part.  If you ask me to change something and I say it won't work and give you well-informed reasons then YOU SHOULD LISTEN!  You should listen because I am the expert - not you.  Saying, I'll know it when I read it or I know what I like is not reason enough to take what you're saying and change things.   You've had some success at making movies?  So have I or you wouldn't have called me in the first place!  

Why don't you get that?

Baby, Sweetie, Love Bug...

The best producers I work with have strong, competent opinions about the work they do.  They have a vision, a way - they're not casual about their work or opinions.  They don't sit by the pool and "baby, sweetie" the world.  They're in their offices early, stay late and have no personal lives because they are as obsessed with their careers as I am with mine.

And here's the most important part of what they do:  They listen to the people they hire; the experts.  They may ask and probe and suggest and contribute but they listen.  They know that story is not a simple thing.  If it was, every movie, every TV series, novel and short story would be a work of enduring genius.

In Which I Excuse My Bad Behavior

You wonder why writers are drunks or drug addicts?  It's because we've given up trying to make sense of arbitrary and idiotic notes, opinions and mindfarts that you think smell sweet because they came out of your brainhole.  We've gotten used to (read as: capitulated) being vetoed and our stories re-envisioned according to puerile sensibilities.  I mean, why fight it?  I might win that battle and lose the war being tagged as an unresponsive writer and not find work again.  It's a small world after all in the film community - hah, now you can't get that ditty out of your mind.  Would you like to know why?  I can tell you.  And I'm sure the writers of that song could have also because they STUDIED music.   

I'm off-tangent.  Happens even to us "geniuses."  (kidding, I'm kidding - it never happens to us geniuses)

Am I or any other writer Pope-like in our literary pronouncements?  No.  But we are right a great deal more than we are allowed by an industry populated by l'enfant terrible, idiot-savants who switch opinions about as fast as a child in a room filled with toys.  They have the focus of an ADHD dog ("SQUIRREL!") and yet they think that they know best and finally what your story should say.

Sigh...where's that bottle of vodka?  Time for breakfast.

I don't think I've seen a more salient argument for letting the experts do their thing than the brilliant Christopher Guest short that played during the Academy Awards.  Although it indicts focus groups as bad guys, look at "the man" behind the curtain as to the real reason why Hollywood is in so much trouble.

Over the rainbow, indeed.  Let me buy you a ticket there - and the end of my foot.

Imagine a romantic comedy mini-series.  That's what "Bent" puts me in mind of, in a good way.

Recovering gambleholic and stud-pants contractor (young(ish) veteran actor David Walton ) bids on kitchen remodel for newly-divorced hottie, single-mom (Amanda Peet) and spends a lot more time there than the job requires including midnight emergencies to fix a fountaining faucet.  Okay, so it's romantic comedy reality but it's still cute, clever and charming.  The three "C's" of romcoms.

Toss in a great supporting cast like veteran Jeffrey Tambour and some really witty and funny dialogue, directed with precision, and you have a pretty terrific new entry to NBC's lineup.

And it's sucking in the ratings, unfortunately, so don't expect it to last.

Damn.

Creator Tad Quill ("Scrubs") took the old "Murphy Brown" conceit of the house painter who never left and turned it into a funny, engaging, fast-paced and well-done sitcom.  The show just bleeds quality from the casting (the always incredible Tambour and an especially good Joey King who plays Peet's daughter) to the camera work.  Not sure why it didn't find an audience the first two eps but I'm hoping that it does so we can continue to enjoy the snappy repartee between the characters for a few more seasons.  It's as good as "Modern Family" in some respects but feels lighter and freer but not as pretentious as "Happy Endings" another show I really like but can get a bit nerve grinding.  

Don't get me wrong, "Modern Family" remains the top of the sitcom mountain and shows no signs of relinquishing that role but "Bent" can challenge if it remains as well-written and NBC gives it a chance to find an audience.

Two eps of "Bent"  played on Wednesday night with four more scheduled.  If you're interested you'd better catch it now before it goes away.

"Key and Peale" is on Comedy Central.  It's just been renewed for a second season and stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele two veterans of  "MadTV" now fronting their own sketch comedy show.

Key, who used to do a funny turn as a tightly-wound high school coach on "MadTV" is more manic than Peele but both have a fun and twisted persona that makes for entertaining comedy.  

They talk on stage to a live audience for a bit, goofing on each other and trying to crack each other up, then push over to some sketch comedy sorta like Chappelle used to do on his show.  

Like all well-done sketch comedy shows, some segments are brilliant and some are so-so.  The segment where they played "mouth" musician Bobby Mcferrin and human sound-effects machine Michael Winslow battling it out for King of the Mouth Noises crown was pretty funny.  Also, Peele doing a spot-on President Obama with Peele as his "ghetto interpreter" was/is hilarious.  Likewise the bit where the gang member poops his pants while waiting to make a move on other gang members.

I always think all writers would benefit from understanding the process of sketch comedy where you have to have a high concept, a good structure to tell the story effectively, and efficient writing to get it done quickly.  Watching these veterans makes me realize how essential it is to have something solid to say when writing, be it genre, drama or comedy. 

My one crictism is the men seem to rely much too much on "the black thing."  Yeah, okay they're black so that makes sense but it does seem a bit tired at times.  Apparently that deep mine of "black people do this and white people do that" is inexhaustible, at least to comedians.

"Key and Peele" isn't going to change your life but it will refresh it.  Catch it on Comedy Central on Tuesday nights (I think) but the episodes play over and over all the time so you're in no danger of missing it.

OCSWA and SCWA board member Larry Porricelli contributed to this report.

he writers at SCWA grabbed a real gem to address their March meeting.  

Deborah Pratt (IMDB) is a true "slash."  She's a dancer, singer, writer, actress, producer, director, and a few more slashes to round things off - like mother to talented actress Troian Bellisario ("Pretty Little Liars.")  

As you might have intuited, she was also married to legendary TV writer/producer Donald Bellasario ("Magnum P.I." "Quantum Leap") and she wrote for those shows and others. She came up with basic concept for Q.L. and although she's too classy to say, there must have been a really good story there because she wasn't directly credited - well, she was, but as a producer only (except for the eps she wrote or acted in.)

Ms Pratt is in a word, wonderful.  She's funny, effusive, knowledgeable, positive and her creative energy escapes in constant. bright bursts while she talks about her journey as a person and an artist.

She enthralled us for over three hours while she put forth about the business, her recent steps into novels, and her life in general.  She was accompanied by an equally accomplished and charming Dr. Lana Bettencourt (website) who helped her brave the rain on the drive down from L.A., organize the materials, and then kept us laughing all during lunch. Another ray of positive light and "goddess energy."

Deborah (she didn't want to be a 'Debbie' when she was young) started as a "Goldigger" - no, I'm not being mean - she was a dancer/singer on the old Dean Martin show.  The Goldiggers were his talented eye-candy - sorta like Vegas showgirls who came out and either backed him up or performed with him.  That opportunity got her to CA and Deborah made the most of it.  She didn't find a lot of actress roles that made sense to her at that time so she began writing and quickly became a TV-writing star. Impressive because at that time there weren't a lot of female TV writers  - and certainly only a smattering writing for shows that featured action as part of the storyline.

Deborah is almost as knowledgable about science fiction as she is about Hollywood/TV and that is unusual.  To see such an accomplished woman in a field dominated by men is unique indeed.   She knew everyone I knew (scifi-wise) and I'm a huge fanboy (had to miss WonderCon to see her, damnit!  Worth it.)

The main reason she was at the SCWA was to talk about her YA book series "The Vision Quest" which is a fully-realized exploration into a future that is much less ominous than typical recent apocalyptic-postulations.  

In fact, she said she created it specifically because (as a mother) she hated the idea that our futures would be dark and ugly.  Sure, there's issues in her fictional worlds but it's not populated by horroshow  zombies who eat anything that moves.  In her Universe(s) corporations actually band together to help civilization when they see it heading in a bad direction.  Now that I'd have to see,  :-)

How special is she?  When she was talking about spirituality at the beginning of the morning, I snapped a photo of her on my phone.  Check out the shaft of light from the heavens that surrounded her - it wasn't there when I framed the shot (and when I looked later) but she managed to summon it just by being in the room!  Really.

Okay, truth - when I showed her the photo, she joked about  her "key light", in this case a spotlight just above her on that side of the podium which managed to shine very effectively on her at just the right moment.  But still, it's weird.  How much more symbolic can you get when you give a talk on the nuts and bolts of writing but consistently mention the spiritual aspects of that endeavour and the Universe shines its light directly on you.  Right?  Deborah (and Lana) - keep shining your light on the world.  It is appreciated.

Just a small sampling of the awards Deborah has garnered include (from IMDB):

 Women In Film, Lillian Gish Award, 1990
Ms. Pratt won the Lillian Gish award for her first 'Quantum Leap" episode "The Color of Truth".

• 5 Emmy Nominations, Best TV series - Producing, 1990
  The series "Quantum Leap" was nominated 4 times 90-91-92-93. Deborah was nominated for writing "My Friend Martin".
• Ben Awards, 4 for Producing and 1 for Writing, 1991
  Ms Pratt was awarded the B.E.N Award four times for producing and once for writing 

Deborah Pratt is an articulate, engaging, and funny speaker and she is doing book signings all over.  I urge you to go see her and get a blast of that wonderful smile.  I could write reams on her and her writing philosophies which so dovetail with mine - "it's show business with a spiritual side that should keep you growing" - but I'll stop now and hopefully you'll discover her for yourself sometime soon.

The first book of the Vision Quest series is available as a free download HERE.

Congrats to the SCWA and (OCWSA & SCWA board member) Larry Porricelli, and Victory Crane for putting on this event.  I had a great time, got to visit with some of my wonderful friends at SCWA, met some new ones, and most importantly was able to talk to and experience Mmes. Pratt and Bettencourt.

Deborah had some suggestions fgor good books during her talk.  Here's a list:

Novels:

Worlds of Wonder - How to write science fiction and fantasy David Gerrold
Stein On Writing – Sol Stein
The Writers Journey (2^nd Edition) Christopher Vogler (I love this book)
Getting the Words Right – Theodore A Rees Cheney
The Art of Fiction - John Gardner
The Comics Tool Box – John Vothaurus
The 8 Characters of Comedy - Scott Sedita

Movies and TV:

Creating Unforgettable Characters - Linda Seger
Making a Good Script Great - Linda Seger
From Script to Screen w/ Edward Jay Whetmore
Save the Cat (1&2) - Blake Synder
Playwrights Handbook -  Frank Pike and Thomas Dunn

The History of Hollywood

Adventure in the Screen Ttrade – William Goldman (truly great book)
An Empire of Their Own – Neal Gabler

Here's a video of Deborah talking about her books:

TV PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/AUTHOR DEBORAH M PRATT

Southern California Writers Association

Date: March 17, 2012 @ 10:00 AM

"The craft of writing for multiple media"

Deborah M. Pratt is a Director/Writer/ Producer and Author of the Science-Fantasy Trilogy of books The Vision Quest. Deborah was Co-Executive Producer and head writer of the award winning, Sci-Fi hit, “Quantum Leap” and Executive producer for The Net for USA Network.

Contact me at: email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,.

This Saturday, March 17, 2012, Claim Jumper Restaurant, 18050 Brookhurst Street  Fountain Valley, CA 92708  @ 10:00 AM

Robert Rollins (IMDB listing) is a unique filmmaker in many ways.  He is making films that are rich and precise in their storytelling.  The films he makes are unique not only because of the subject matter but because they're fully realized productions.  They simply don't feel like they're being made by other than a true movie studio.  I defy anyone to see "The Magic Hourglass" and not think that it came from a studio in Burbank or Vancouver.

Rollin's films are fun, and fundamentally, filmatically sound...he translates his love of all things fantastical into his own little gems of cinema.

Written by Rollins and Edward Fik ("Knightfall") "The Magic Hourglass" follows two modern-day friends as they take a "Bill and Ted" adventure back to the land of Robin Hood and his not-so-merry men.  They're not merry yet because Arn (Alex Weber) and Ed (Benjamin Faigus) haven't taught them the ways of Sherwood Forest yet. 

Yes, Robin (David Coe) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Scotty Dickert) are enemies and yes, they run around in Sherwood Forest with abandon but they have little focus.  Robin, in this version of the story, is a bit of a slacker.  He needs the boys from the future to show him how to be the true Robin Hood who robbed from the rich, gave to the poor, and caused no end of grief for the evil Sheriff.  What we didn't know was how it all came about and how funny that origin was back in days of Good King Richard the Lionhearted.

Rollins' handling of the production is top-rate.  He has an adept hand and fun vision when it come to silly comedy, and his capable crew is able to make it seem effortlessly real.  I was able to visit the

set on one occasion and saw for myself the attention to detail that Rollins demanded.  Although the production was done on a shoestring budget nothing looked cheap or cobbled together.  And this is most definitely reflected in the sweet-looking production itself which is available on DVD.  

Adding to the richness is composer Jeremey Borum ("American Gangster" "The Day The Earth Stood Still") who provides the musical tapestry around which the story is woven.  His lush and beautiful orchestrations belie the small ensemble he used to create the soundtrack.  And it's so true to the period that one can almost see the maidens dancing and the bustling square of Nottinghamshire.

At only 20 minutes the movie is a good length to enjoy without feeling cheated.  More would have been better but Rollins is still working out his feature-length chops.  Considering that this was a local production, filmed entirely in Orange County, CA (The OC!) but doesn't look like it either story-wise or production-wise, it appears like a feature from Rollins is certainly possible soon.

Rollins' next production is in the works and I believe it will be a horror piece.  My information is that Arn and Ed will be featured in two more shorts that will complete a trilogy.

If Rollins handles horror as well as did "The Magic Hourglass" then we're in for a treat.

Don't be fooled by the small footprint of this film.  It'll have you chuckling all through and resonate long after you're done watching it.  

Credits: (see IMDB listing HERE)

Robert Rollins Pictures HERE