The other day I attended a script reading that got me thinking about what was missing from his writing beyond the basic structural flaws, story issues, and underdeveloped characters.  The writer lacked one major thing: a basic understanding of the human condition. Sadly, a handful of people, writer included, couldn’t see that all the female characters were either bitches [...]

Working in the film and TV industry, you meet everyone who is writing a script and within five minutes of talking with them, you can determine who is serious, who is amateur, who will make a career of it and who is nuts.  The first question I ask is “where did you study screenwriting”?  If [...]

The other night I went to a script reading of two TV pilot scripts.  The first suffered from being underdeveloped and the second was highly developed with structural flaws.  Both were equally talented writers, but the first will likely succeed before the second for one reason only. The hardest part of being a writer isn’t [...]

This Wednesday (tomorrow) night there’s a script reading for LIFT at Xpace on Ossington at Queen.  If you can go, go.  It’s only $5 and there will be two short scripts read by professional actors moderated by a professional writer.  Moderators are typically writers, directors or producers and they provide their feedback on the content [...]

It happens to all of us.  Someone says we suck and we tend to believe it.  My dad says the worst thing you can do is to get stuck in self-pity.  It’s so easy to do, but he’s right, it gets you nowhere except down in the dumps.  The trouble is, as a writer, we [...]