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
Project Semicolon: R.I.P. Amy Bleuel
April 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Drug addiction, mental illness, and suicidal behavior—which is often a result of one of the two aforementioned issues—are among a handful of problems that our culture has traditionally viewed as moral failings, rather than from physiological disorders. While some progress has been made in this realm, it has not been nearly enough to effect substantive […]
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 […]
NO ALTERNATIVE: To Be Continued…
May 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It has been an incredibly rewarding, and equally exhausting, few months. I launched my first crowdfunding effort for “No Alternative” on Indiegogo, which succeeded in raising over $50,000 for the project. While it missed the mark of my goal, this is a big chunk of the budget that will, no doubt, help the film get […]
All Writing Should Be Eulogies
May 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I’m the go-to guy in my family for eulogies. Someone dies, I’m you’re man. In one respect, this may seem flattering, if not comforting; in every other respect, it’s quite the opposite. I remember being in the hospital, sitting next to my sister while she was on life support. She had stopped breathing and was […]
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 […]
Music Is A Drug
March 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
No, really, it is. Music can significantly increase the levels of serotonin in a listener’s brain, which, as a result, positively impacts mood, sexual desires and the physical manifestation of those desires, overall cognitive function, regulation of body temperature, sleep and memory. Plug in your headphones and prescribe yourself a song. The ability of music […]
“No Alternative” – The Crowdfunding Campaign
March 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I launched my first crowdfunding campaign this week. Crowdfunding is its own art form—an art form I’m no expert at, I’m sure—but indie film is at a point where grassroots funding is becoming more and more critical to sustaining its viability. It’s almost impossible to get Hollywood to fund something that’s not a thriller, or a […]
NO ALTERNATIVE: “The Clarity of Regret”
May 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I just completed my book tour. It was a great success, and also a heck of a lot of fun. I’m grateful to those bloggers who hosted my book and to Kriss and Kai of The Finishing Fairies for organizing the endeavor. On the tour, I released an exclusive clip from a reading I did […]
