Hi Reader, This week is a huge milestone for me - my feature film Contamination is having its world premiere in Los Angeles at the Southern California International Film Festival. To say I’m excited would be an understatement. This project started as an idea in my head - a “what if?” moment - and now it’s about to play in front of a live audience in the heart of the film industry. Hollywood. The place we all imagine when we think of big screens, popcorn, and movie magic. What makes it even...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, If you’ve been thinking about joining Zero to Hero: Screenwriting for Beginners, but you're still on the fence, I get it. Making the leap from wanting to write a screenplay to actually committing can feel big. Here’s the thing: you don’t need to have the perfect idea, tons of free time, or years of experience to start. You just need a willingness to show up once a week, take in the lessons, write a little bit, and let me and your classmates support you through the process. By the...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Only 2 days to go before Zero to Hero starts! Over the last few days, I've gotten a number of different questions, so I thought, rather than repeating the answer over and over, let's cover them here - in case you were wondering the same thing! Here are my rapid-fire answers to the questions I get most: 1) Do I need experience?No. Zero to Hero is built for beginners (and writers looking for a solid refresher). I’ll teach format, structure, and simple workflows - along with plenty of...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Quick story. A producer friend once asked me, "Could you write a short that uses a few hearses?" I replied, "Do you have access to any hearses?" He grinned, and said, "Absolutely! Can you think of any way we could use them?" I took that as a personal challenge to flex my creative muscles. That night, I wrote Boneyard Racers - a supernatural fantasy short about a pair of teens who are challenged to a drag race by a crossroads demon - with their very souls on the line. And the hearse...
27 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, If you keep meaning to start your screenplay but never do, you’re not broken - you’re human. It's a problem that plagues writers of all levels, but none more so than beginners. Here’s the loop I see all the time: You wait for a perfect idea. The blank page gets bigger. Confidence drops. So you wait… again. It's so easy to fall into this cycle, and the longer you wait, the bigger the climb seems. And eventually, waiting becomes a permanent mindset - and the perfect idea never turns...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Fear is sneaky. It whispers: “You’re not ready.” Or worse: “What if you fail?” But here’s the truth: sooner or later, if you want to accomplish anything, especially writing - a screenplay, a novel, a short story, a poem - you have to stop dreaming about it and start doing it. Almost everyone I meet tells me they’ve got a movie idea. A story they’ve been carrying around for years. But most people never put it on the page. They would rather tell me the idea in the far-fetched hope...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Let’s talk about experience. The dictionary definition is "practical contact with and observation of facts or events" - which is another way of saying "familiarity with something from learning about it or doing it". Now, everyone knows experience makes you better. But what does that actually mean for writers? How do you get experience as a writer? How do you get better? Here are the top three ways: Every time you write, you gain experience. Even if it’s messy. Even if it’s bad....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Be honest with me for a second — how many times have you said: “I’ve got a great idea for a movie… I just haven’t started writing it yet.” Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Almost every new writer hits the same roadblocks before they even type “FADE IN.” I should know - it happened to me too! I was nervous to start writing, and when I tried, I quickly gave up. It all seemed beyond me! But I didn't give up. I'll be honest, I think I was just too stubborn to quit. So I read a ton of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this: “I started writing a screenplay… but I never finished it.” And I get it. I’ve been there myself. Before I knew what I was doing, I felt like I was stumbling in the dark - not really know what I was doing, where I was going, or how I was going to get there! And my work - or lack thereof - showed it. But as I studied screenplays and got more real-world experience in the film world, things got easier. I wasn't stumbling blind anymore,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read