@David Stem suggested there be a thread with media recommendations during class today with @Jason Smith @Chris Dyer @Jennifer Westcott @Shauna G @Chad Desrochers @Pia Crawford @Jules Chibututu . I missed @Thia Markson and who did I miss? Feel free to put your recommendations from class in context in comments: Here were mine after hearing more of @Anne Clendening ’s story. I recommended she see “The secret Lives of Bill Bartell” (2025) https://link.tubi.tv/YAJxoVNat3b on TUBI and David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” (2014) https://m.vk.com/video583591429_456239290 (Russian YouTube?) or on Prime

TAKE 24 — Scored Storyboard Animatic Written by Gene McCallister | Directed by Jason D. Smith A pen, paper, a lightbulb metaphorical of human creativity, three AI subscriptions, and a few AI prompts for formatting, has created this Scored Storyboard Animatic of the first 12 shots of his full length movie script, (his first one), the exceptional script written by our friend, @Gene McCallister I hope to show others the process. Sincerely, Jason

David Stem emphasizes that screenplays cannot be perfected in a vacuum. Getting your pages out of your drawer and in front of others is the definitive mechanism for transforming a raw draft into a commercially viable script. If you’re nervous about bringing pages, that’s a good sign. It means that what you’re doing is important to you, and pushing out of your comfort zone is key to expanding your skills as a writer. Reach out to me, @Anna Fermin , or @David Stem directly if you need support or have any questions about bringing your pages to a premium call. Here’s the link to where you put up your casting and your pages. Here’s the link for the Tuesday, May 26th Premium Coach Call. Here’s the link for the Friday, May 29th Premium Coach Call.

Your script has been "almost done" for how long now? Six months? A year? Three years? Here is the thing nobody tells you about finishing a screenplay. It does not get finished because you finally feel inspired. It gets finished because you finally focus the f up and power through to the end. And then the pesky rewrites. Without a deadline, you can be dead in the water. I once had to call my writing partner and tell him he had to give me a deadline on something because I wasn't working on it, but I thought about working on it all day. And he'd made the mistake of telling me, oh just finish it up whenever. So he told me next Thursday and next Thursday, it was done! That is what a script competition is actually for. A script competition can be your "next Thursday." Forget winning. Forget the laurels. Forget whether the contest "matters" or whether the judges "get" your work. None of that is the point right now. The point is a date on the calendar that you cannot move. Pick a comp. Mark the deadline. Now your draft has a job. A few real ones with real runways: Austin Film Festival. May 27, 11:59pm Central. Two days. If your feature is in shape, hit send. Tubi x Black List Horror Initiative. Open through June 30. One Black List evaluation gets you eligible. Tubi produces the winner. Scriptapalooza Fellowship. Final deadline July 1. Mentorship, not just laurels. Five weeks to get one script genuinely ready. Big Break, PAGE Awards, Shore Scripts. All have summer windows. Look them up. The number of writers in this community who have a script that is 85% there is enormous. The number who have a finished, submitted draft is much smaller. The gap between those two groups is not talent. It is a deadline. So here is the ask. Drop a comment below. Tell us: 1. Which competition you are entering 2. The deadline 3. The script you are sending Public commitment. We will check in. You do not have to win. You have to finish. More on the full comp calendar next week. For now, post your next Thursday.

We often remember where we are when significant thigs happened. 9/11. The birth/death of a child etc... For me there are certain movies like this that implant in my mind where I was when I felt them. I know my son at the age of 14 when I showed him this movie will never forget!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X3RZcOeTmo