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We've wrapped our fourth season of Forgotten Cinema with a movie from the early 90s, So I Married an Axe Murderer. Who doesn't like a Mike Myers comedy! The Love Guru doesn't count. Take a listen and enjoy how I just start doing quotes from The Fugitive equipped withe famous Ford Finger Wag, only you can't see it since it's a podcast. But trust me. I was doing it. Why? Well, find out!

This is one of my first screenplays. A dark comedy about two teenagers who murder someone, unplanned and out of some weird sense of self-defense. They almost get away with it until they realize that there was a witness to their crime. So, of course, they must kill that person and then another and another until it spirals into a killing spree that ends at a house party full of people. This story runs in conjunction with a serial killer on the loose throughout the area and of course, the serial killer also ends up at the house party. As you can see this was not just my story. My best friend and I came up with this idea - as most young, aspiring filmmakers do - while sitting around and talking about movies. Our idea was to have two main characters that didn't have any sense of what they were doing was wrong. They were murdering people because they had to do it, in order to stay out of trouble. There was no crisis of conscience for them. They had no concern over the damage they were causing. I remember trying to get this project off the ground. I thought, rather idiotically, we could shoot this on no-budget. Mind you, this script is 120 pages. Yikes! But I also remember falling out of love with the characters. I couldn't relate to them anymore. Most dark comedies deal with characters that are not good people, but there was usually one or two characters that an audience could root for. Not with It's Only Murder. I purposely made the two leads unlikeable and unapologetic. Then, after all of that, I didn't like them myself. A victim of my own writing choice. Looking back, I wonder if this story would play well today. Maybe. I'd have to rewrite it because 22 year-old me has a different writing style then 44 year-old me. The ending would still work. The house party was an exercise in space management and character movement, but I always felt confident in the finished product of that section. Will I? Probably not. Some stories are best left behind. Then again...it doesn't take much to persuade me to revisit my stories.

Just sharing the latest commercial we did over at Forgotten Cinema. Check it out. This was in conjunction with our The Night of the Hunter episode, in case you're wondering why I'm singing that tune. This is the longer version:

I've been writing since I was 17 years old. That's 28 years ago. (Don't do that math!) Through all of this time, there's one thing I never liked doing. Writing a synopsis. It's on the same level of self-promotion. It feels weird to do. But I got over the self-promotion thing. "No one else is going to do it for you, so suck it up and do it!" I said that to myself, not you. So, I would write a synopsis for any work I did. I still didn't like it. I hemmed and hawed about it. I proclaimed failure loudly and proudly while doing it. Kind of a self-preservation sort of thing. If I rip into myself, no one else will, right? Flash forward to today. I'm writing a synopsis for a short story I wrote. The short is intended to be part of a compilation book, but I want to write a synopsis for each story and perhaps send them out on their own to publishers. I have three short stories right now. So as I sit down to write one for The Brookville Arms. (The story of a dragon that terrorizes the residents of an apartment complex during a blizzard), I found a blog which outlined how to write a synopsis. I start following the steps. A set of bullet points which are easy to follow and as I continue through the process, I soon discover that I'm anticipating the steps. I already know the steps, because I've already done them. Over the years of whining and complaining about writing a synopsis, what I was also doing was actually learning how to do a synopsis. I already knew how to do this! I'm not saying I don't need help. I'll always need help. But the blog post revealed something else about me. Something better. Validation. I'm always quick to discount any skills or abilities that I perceive to have and that's a crummy habit to have. The life of a writer (or any creative) is fraught with self-doubt. I always placed writing a synopsis in that section of the 'I Can't' Ledger. I was wrong. That same "I Can't" Ledger had entries for writing a book. I did that. (Adam Parker and the Radioactive Scout) For writing a second book. (Adam Parker and the High School Bully) Writing short story about time travel. (Paradoxed) Producing consistent video content for the Forgotten Cinema Podcast. (Commercial Playlist) All these thing started with me saying "I can't" and as I ignored that and continued on, it became "I did." Synopsis writing is the newly added member to that "I Did" list. What else can I add?

I've been writing an anthology series. I believe I mentioned it before. For those who have read the last Adam Parker book, I introduce the town of Brookville. Real quick: Brookville is a town where a lot of weird stuff happens. So this anthology is called Welcome to Brookville and it'll have four stories that take place in the town. Coincidentally, be on the lookout for a podcast anthology series of the same name, because they'll be more stories coming soon set in this fictional town of Brookville. I just finished my first draft of the third story called Paradoxed. It's a little bit of the 80s, time-travel and arcade games rolled into a story about a guy who is lost and then found. (I should save that for the pitch) I've had the idea for the story for some time and I was always writing notes and outlines about the characters and what would happen. And then I did what I always do. I just started writing without knowing where it would go. There are so many ways people write. This is how I write and it works for me. I like discovering what's happening as I go. Sure, there are times, when I have to erase a page of the written word because the direction I've taken is not good. But overall, I enjoy having the characters make decisions without me having to mull it over for months ahead of time. The most important part is that I'm writing. As any writer would attest, you can't actually write unless you sit your butt down at the computer and write. Then Rewrite. Then Repeat. There are so many different ways to write. Whatever works for you is the right way. Just do it.

It seems like every time I write a post, I have to comment on how long its been since my last post. But no! I won't do it this time. Wait, I already did. But I could go back and erase what I just wrote, then again that defeats the purpose of a stream of consciousness post. Anyway...before we were all sent to our homes for an undetermined amount of time, I managed to do something I hadn't done since...2018? I think, if I'm counting Scenes from the Movies, that math works out. But if we're going back to an actual short movie...that's probably 2017 if we're counting the Life Ends @ 30 Prequel short. And we are. I'm talking about directing. I haven't stepped behind the camera to direct anything in quite some time. I wouldn't say it was like riding a bike, but the usual fear and terror of making sure everything is perfect was replaced by...not fear? I'm going to attribute that to the production team. We just knew what we wanted to do. We were talking about it for quite some time. Perhaps experience, old age, been-there-done-that had something to do with it, too. This won't be the last time you hear about this short. (And it wasn't the first, since I posted about it a month or so ago) I haven't settled on a title yet and we've got some ways to go before a finished product is ready for viewing. But we're getting there. I just wanted to share some behind the scenes shots to prove I actually directed something. :)

So many things. So little time. Just wanted to give a little rundown for what I've been up to and where you can listen or see me. (Mainly, listen). Here we go! Forgotten Cinema Podcast - Ever since we started this endeavor this past May, we've been able to keep up with the schedule of churning out an episode every Wednesday. If you haven't already, take a listen to Michael Butler and me talk about a variety of movies. The last few weeks, we've discussed Sing Street, Strange Days and The Family Man. Check out our videos as well. We've been doing commercials each week and those can be found on our Facebook page. The Nomcast - I've finally joined the five-timers club as I was a guest for the fifth time this week on my friend's Andrew Morgan's podcast. We dissect The Two Popes and all my years of Catholic training came flooding back to me. Check out the episode and check the entire podcast! Super Retro Throwback Reviews Podcast - The Forgotten Cinema team was invited to share our top ten list of movies of the last decade and that's exactly what we did, as we guested on the Super Retro Throwback Reviews podcast. We had a good time and then, of course, I had to go see the movie, 1917, and realize my list was now wrong. Check out the episode. As you can see, I seem to be entrenched in the podcast world at this moment. From editing to creating promotional campaigns, it keeps me busy. With life, the day job and podcasting, there's been little room for writing. But it's working its way back into the fold. The most important thing is that I'm developing a new skill set with the podcasts. On-air talent, hosting, editing, writing copy and promos - it's all going to lead to something. Right? Thanks for reading. Thanks for being mildly interested in everything me. If you have even gotten this far. I do have other projects in various stages of development, but no use talking about them if they don't find the finish line. Take care!

It's that time of year. The 'Best Of' lists from every single publication that follow arts and entertainment and some that don't will lay out their top films of the year for you. This is something me and my friends did way back when we were ignorant twenty-somethings who thought we knew everything about movies. (We never did) I stopped doing the lists, because they were just opinions and creating a 'Best Of' list made me feel like I was passing definitive judgement on a subjective body of work. It didn't sit right with me. When someone asks me what the best movie of the year is, I'll tell them about my favorite movie of the year. And that's the beauty with cinema, there's multiple truths in everyone's opinion. You can like a movie, while someone can hate it. And you can both be right. I enjoyed The Irishman quite a bit and others do not. And that's completely fine. Then there's Variety, a publication that is a huge part of the television and film industry, comes out with a 'Worst Of' list. I don't understand that decision. No. I do. It's about clicks. It's about views. It's about creating a negative dialogue so that more people will talk about Variety on social media. Post links to the article and either praise them or slam them. Either way, it doesn't matter. As long as you're talking about Variety. (I'm not linking out to the article, for that reason) The list is dumb. You don't like a movie? Cool. You love a movie? Cool. I've made a movie and have had people come up to me and say. "You're movie was just okay, dude." And I know they thought they were hot stuff doing it. And my response was. "Cool. Thanks for watching."

For those you are not in the know. I've been doing a podcast with Michael Butler for the last few months. He's appeared in a few of my produced works. Also, he's a fellow manager at my day job. Anyhow, this week we tackled the western, 3:10 to Yuma. Take a listen here: Forgotten Cinema - 3:10 to Yuma I've never written western before, not that there's a law that says a writer needs to write in every single genre. Although, that would be cool to do. Hey...maybe I should write a western. I'd need an idea first. Those are hard to come by sometimes. Enjoy!

In Visual Form!

My very first script had a tragic flaw. It was about two teenagers who start a murder spree after being seen murdering one of their friends. (I honestly, don't remember why they killed him.) They kill the first person and someone sees them, so they have to kill that person as well, but that person runs into a teenager party, so now our two leads have to kill the entire party. This all takes place over the backdrop of a serial killer who's terrorizing the town on his own killing spree. And guess what? They all meet up at the same house! What are the odds?! The script was a complete tongue-in-cheek, dark-comedic horror movie. But that's not why it was flawed. We're talking early 90s when I wrote this. Idle Hands, anyone? (Technically, that's 1999...but it counts!) The reason the script wasn't any good was because of my leads. My two main characters had zero emotion. They killed because they felt like they needed to. They had no remorse. They had no qualms about their murderous decisions. They didn't even openly disregard the norms of society while flouting them with their evil deeds. Imagine going to the post office to buy stamps. That's how my leads felt about everything they were doing. How could I expect an audience to connect with them? Back then, I was a fool. Now, I realize that my characters are just as important , and even more so, important than any other function of any story I create. Characters and their decisions influence my plot. They affect my story direction. If you've heard writers talk about how their characters talk to them while writing and make decisions that even the writer didn't even think about when plotting out scenes, this is what I'm referencing. Indiana Jones doesn't get himself in trouble with the Thuggee if he isn't after "fortune and glory". The Hickory High basketball team doesn't win a championship if Jimmy Chitwood doesn't base his decision to play hoop on whether Coach Dale remains? Harry Tasker doesn't find himself a prisoner of the Crimson Jihad if he isn't worried about his wife's supposed infidelity? The characters in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Hoosiers and True Lies are not victims of the plots in their stories. They are influencing the plot. They are causing the action around them based on their character motivated decisions. It took me some time before I realized that. And I still need to remind myself, such as right now. I'm writing a short story about a dragon accidentally let loose in a small apartment complex in the middle of a blizzard. The old style kind where the lobby is huge and open and every floor has a balcony that looks out over the lobby. Enough room for the dragon to fly and torch some peeps. I'm 15K words into this piece and I'm wondering why anyone is doing anything. I mean, I do. But you know, not enough. And my first script was called It's Only Murder. Get it? Like when these kids are asked why they did all this killing...that would be their response. I know. I can't imagine why the script didn't work either.

One thing (of many) I've learned from my years and years of writing is how to take feedback or criticism. Understanding how someone else relates to your work is key to understanding how to tell a story. There are two different styles of criticism. Constructive and Destructive. Constructive criticism is the stuff of pure gold. It challenges you, but supports you. It asks questions of your work, even without knowing the answer. The reader provides their impressions, good and bad, but doesn't place blame. Destructive criticism is the complete opposite. It's an unhelpful opinion. It's a pointing finger. It doesn't provide a support structure for your work, it simply tears it down. But both can be good. (I know, I know. Seriously?) Yes, seriously. Whereas constructive criticism turns into a conversation about your work, which can provide new ideas to help your story along, destructive criticism requires more work on your part to ask questions and investigate why your reader didn't respond to your work. But there are answers there. You just have to find them. (Yes, there are times when people are just mean because they're unhappy. But let's be honest, you probably know your reader and their opinions, so you should already expect it.) Writers can be a sensitive people. We're not only revealing inner thoughts about our lives, we're also telling a story that we desperately want people to like to affirm that those countless hours under the pale light of our computer were not spent in vain. It's a double-pained takedown when the reaction to a piece of work is greeted with less-than enthusiasm. It's dumb, I know. My job is to tell a story and if I'm not getting that story across in an entertaining manner, the frustration shouldn't be with the reader. It should be with myself. I didn't come to this realization overnight. It took years of being an idiot, sensitive, obtuse and other various words to describe someone who just doesn't get it. And even as you read this and nod your head, you could fall into the same criticism traps I did. I still do. Not so much anymore, but there are times when I get a little down on myself before realizing I'm falling into old patterns. Back in the day. There were two ways it would go for me when confronted with any kind of criticism. #1: I'd get depressed. I'd start doubting the work. I'd lose my excitement to push the script out there for others to see. I'd stop talking about it. I'd forget it. And then...the cycle repeated with a new writing project. #2: I'd get upset with the reader. I'd convince myself that they simply 'don't get it'. I'd lose my excitement to push the script out there for others to see. I'd stop talking about it. I'd forget it. And then...the cycle repeated with a new writing project. Notice how no matter what reaction I'd have, I would end up in the same place. Not a good one. I had to learn how to take criticism. I had to understand the differences between constructive and destructive criticism. More importantly, I had to realize that my writing wasn't perfect and even if it was the best I'd ever created, not everyone will respond to it the way I want them to. But more importantly, I grew to understand that someone who agreed to read my material wasn't doing it with an ulterior motive to make me stop writing. They did it to help. To support. To be part of the process. (I mentioned before how I dumb I was being, right?) So, of course, all this criticism was coming from a good place and it was my responsibility to heed it and use it. "The only kind of writing is rewriting" - Ernest Hemingway. And my (and yours) key tool to get to that glorious rewriting is criticism. Embrace it, like I do. We need feedback. We need criticism. We need support. We need to be challenged. We need help...sometimes professionally.