I'm working on course work for the What Film Schools Don't Teach - Emotional Authorship Intensive that's coming up next week. This is going to be an in-depth seminar about how to create primal, visceral characters audiences and readers connect to on a gut level, drawing on my 25+ years of selling scripts to every major studio. If you haven't joined already, there are still a few spots open! So, I'm doing a deep dive this week on that. What are you cats up to? Goals? Deadlines? Holidays coming up, so let's focus in and keep progress up during this busy time!

This is me on the right, just before moving to SoCal to be a writer. Fresh out of college. I came here wide-eyed during a time when the city was sloshing around with money and spec script sales. And I had no clue what I was doing or how to get where I wanted to go. It was 7 years before I landed my first paid tv gig. In the meantime, I worked office jobs, advertising, PR, and would have given anything to find a community with supportive people like this... and a mentor who could give me actual feedback on my work. The Reddit post below reminds me of how lost I felt in those days. Many times. And that a HUGE part of this process is just to A. keep going. B. Be patient with yourself and give yourself some grace and C. Find some good people and feedback. Speaking of which, we have a FANTASTIC guest coming this Thursday. I'm going to do a post about that separately, but I very much urge you guys to check it out and come see this interview. It's going to be packed with goodies that will not only inform you deeply, but help keep you mentally afloat when the waters get rough! Just wanted to share this Reddit post as a reminder how lucky we all are to have a place like this for fellowship and honest feedback. Hope ya'll had a good weekend. It's going to be a busy December! Hi ho!

Hope everybody's having a wonderful holiday. My daughter is in town, visiting for the first time since she went off as a freshman this year to NYU. So, I am busy with family goodness. And just wishing the best for all of you! 🙏 It's been great developing this community with you over the last couple of months and I"m excited and grateful for what we are building TOGETHER! Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 David

Good people — strong week in here. Story sessions were sharp, the Hot Seats brought clarity, and I saw several of you crack open moments you'd been stuck on for a while. Now I want the pulse check: What were your wins this week? Big or small — pages, clarity, a scene that finally clicked. And just as important: where did you struggle? Craft, consistency, overwhelm, character work — whatever slowed you down. That's what tells me what you need next. I've been staring down the blank page for 25+ years. The fight is real. But if you've been around here for a while, you know what I preach — that's the job. Anybody can write when inspired. Real writers show up through the doubt and the procrastination. Drop your updates below, so we can keep building something here together that powers us all through blocks to breakthroughs.

Good people — I’m grateful for how this community has grown. The Hot Seats show every week how committed you are, and I love diving into the work with you. A lot of you have DM’d about private coaching. I love doing it — especially that moment when a writer’s eyes light up because they suddenly see their script in a new way after weeks (or months) of feeling stuck. The spark comes back, the idea feels alive again, and all the hard work they’ve poured in finally has a path forward. Maybe you know these feelings: - You were excited about your idea, but now you’re stuck and can’t see your way forward. - You want consistency, but procrastination keeps winning. - You’ve gotten notes that feel generic or contradictory. - You know something’s off, but you can’t pinpoint what. - You’re rewriting for the third (or fifth) time and wondering if the story even works. That’s where I come in. My time is limited, and to keep showing up here while staying on top of my own projects, I need a clear structure for the deeper story and script work many of you have asked for. So here are two ways to book me directly: 1️⃣ Monthly Upgrade — $297/month One private 1-on-1 session each month — designed to give you absolute clarity on your next steps and weekly accountability for the work you have in progress. If you’ve watched the Hot Seats, you know my process: I dive into the emotional engine, expose the blind spots, and uncover the version of your script that’s hiding just under the surface. It’s the same diagnostic work I’ve done for studios on Shrek 2, Rugrats, Disenchanted, and countless rewrites. We do that together, live. Real collaboration. Real breakthroughs. Real movement. This is for you if you want someone in your corner who won’t let you quit on yourself — someone who sees what you can’t see yet and helps you build the momentum to finish. 2️⃣ One-Time Session — $349 Same intensity and depth as the monthly sessions. We break open the real issues holding your script back — character, relationships, emotional logic, structure — and map out the exact next steps to move your story forward.