“DETOUR: Hollywood” – The Audiobook
I'm thrilled to announce that my book DETOUR: Hollywood - How To Direct a Microbudget Film (or any film, for that matter) is now available as an audiobook. This book is a lot of things all wrapped up into one easily digestible text, which you can now listen to in the comfort of your own car on your way to work, through your earbuds on a power walk, or wherever a working stereo system with a set of speakers exists. I will teach you what you really need to know about making a microbudget … [Read More...]
The Dreamachine
My latest novel, “The Dreamachine,” has hit bookshelves. I’ve long been fascinated with the device the book is named after. It is, indeed, a real device with a storied history—it has roots in the Beat Generation, and in a latter generation, some claim it was responsible for Kurt Cobain’s death. One can build a Dreamachine […]
NO ALTERNATIVE: Project Semicolon
The issue of mental illness must be destigmatized. This is what compelled me to make “No Alternative” into a movie. My sister, Briana, was a victim of mental illness, and she fought against her illness with aplomb. She fought against it through her art—both painting and music. This battle in which she waged is something I […]
Caution Moviemakers: Directing Movies with Sensitive Subject Matter
[This piece was previously published in MovieMaker Magazine] There was an evolution from the Hays Code established in the 1930s, which lead a filmmaker like Howard Hawks to bury sexually suggestive dialogue into a conversation about horse racing in The Big Sleep, to the Golden Age of Hollywood in the late ’60s and early ’70s, which […]
Mental Illness In Movies: An Exploration into the Dark Side Hollywood Doesn’t Show You
We are not as open about mental illnesses as we are about broken legs. If we were, can you imagine how much more understanding there would be? People often forget that the brain is a part of the physical body; suffering from a mental illness—whether temporary or chronic—should be as normal to the outside observer, or family member, or employer, as the common cold. The severity differs, but the stigma—or lack thereof—should not. In order to empathize with the mentally ill, we need to have a better understanding of what they’re suffering from, and that understanding requires a proactive effort on everyone else’s part.
