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.
Mental Illness In Movies: An Exploration into the Dark Side Hollywood Doesn’t Show You
March 21, 2019 by Leave a Comment
NO ALTERNATIVE: “…And That’s A Wrap!”
December 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The last time I updated my blog, we had yet to begin production on “No Alternative.” Perhaps it’s a testament to the all-consuming nature of production that you have not heard from me since! I am therefore extremely pleased to write that we’ve finished principal photography and the film is in the proverbial “can.” I want to reiterate […]
Suicide: The End, and the Beginning
April 4, 2016 by 2 Comments
I think a lot of people who say they don’t think about suicide, think about suicide. I’m not saying they think about committing suicide, but the idea, the notion, the concept, is pervasive in our culture, and frankly, our DNA. It’s there, bubbling underneath the surface. As I write in the opening lines of my […]
The Beginning of a Movement: THE FIFTH WALL
February 10, 2016 by 2 Comments
“The Fifth Wall” is a response to the modality of contemporary Hollywood. The origins of its manifesto are attributed to my time at the AFI and its message developed along with some of my fellow filmmaking classmates: While we were at the AFI a few of us conceived of a movement we called “The Fifth Wall.” Whether through the use […]
What Does The Sundance Film Festival Mean To Middle Class Filmmakers?
February 1, 2016 by 1 Comment
What does this year’s Sundance Film Festival mean to Middle Class Filmmakers? Let’s first compare last year’s sales with this year’s sales. In 2015, the big Hollywood distributors bought the majority of the films showcased at the festival—Fox Searchlight bought “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”; Open Road bought “Dope”; Sony Pictures Classic bought […]
I SOLD MY JAG-STANG TO BUY A JAGUAR
June 5, 2013 by 10 Comments
But not any Jaguar, a scratch-specific replica of Kurt Cobain’s one-of-a-kind Fender Jaguar electric guitar he bought in a pawnshop in Los Angeles in 1991. Fender recently set about recreating Kurt’s guitar to the ding in their custom shop and rolling the product out on the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s seminal and billboard-busting album, “Nevermind.” […]
