Film School

Gentlemen, there's no fighting in here! This is the war room! Stanley Kubrick is back on the list, this time with his alternately zany and terrifying comedy (?) Doc Strange(love). Comedic genius Peter Sellers is along for the ride, playing no less than THREE roles, including the repressed nazi titular character. On the docket: nuclear annihilation! But . . . is it funny?

A lot of us want to turn pro...but what are the downsides? The allure of "turning pro" is obvious: you get to do what you want full-time and get paid for it?! Omg. That's a no-brainer! And, working the dream job is without question all of that and more . . . but part of that "more" is that there's always a cost to taking something you love and making it your job. Sometimes that cost is more than you expected. This week, we talk about the hidden side of turning pro: the dangers.

The hills are alive! This classic team-up of legends Julie Andrews, director Robert Wise, and composers Rogers & Hammerstein is an indelible mark in the history of musicals. We've all heard the songs. We've all seen the precocious Maria twirling and wailing up on that hill in the Austrian Alps. So . . . how does it hold up sixty years on? We get a bit contentious with that question this week on the 'cast! :)

Life gets crazy. All the time! And it's never ever going to go away completely. That fantasy you have of getting everything in order and things being just perfect and right is just that . . . a fantasy. The reality is that we have to fit our creativity into our everyday life, and sometimes that can be EXTRA challenging. This week, we discuss how to squeeze in the writing no matter what!

Long live the king! Almost 100 years old, and Kong still BRINGS THE NOISE. It's rather astonishing how much of this movie still delivers the thrills today that it did so long ago. The imagery is iconic. The action doesn't stop once Kong shows up. The visual effects are beyond anything else we've seen from the era, and they STILL PLAY. It's an incredible movie. We have an incredible discussion about it.

We all fall off. How do we get back up and keep going? Failure is inevitable, big or small. We all come up short of our goals or expectations. It's a normal part of life, particularly a creative one. So, when that happens, how can we get back to the work and not get lost or derailed by the pain? We discuss methods to get back up on that horse this week!

We rob banks! It was the rallying cry of the counter-culture movement in the 1960s, and the star vehicle that brought us Warren Beatty. Based on the all-too-true story of the Barrow gang and their bloody exploits, this film was a sensation at the time for its depiction of violence and sexuality. We go full outlaw this week on Film School!

Burn-out is real. So, how do you take breaks to avoid it? What does a break look like to you, and when do you need to take them? We all need to take time to re-fill our creative well during the workday, during and between projects, and throughout the year. None of us can go go go and never stop. This week we talk about when we can tell a break is necessary, and we discuss what those breaks look like.

Hey, I'm walkin here! Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman star in this gritty portrait of the hustler life on the streets of late-60s, peak urban-decay New York . . . and it's surprisingly SWEET and full of heart. Originally given the bullsh*t X-rating for its tacit exploration of homosexuality, Midnight Cowboy goes places rarely gone in mainstream American cinema; sometimes for good, sometimes for ill . . . but its beating heart is the relationship between its two stars, and it's truly inspired direction and cinematography. This week, on Film School!

If writing is rewriting--no draft comes out perfect and immaculate on the first try--then WHEN exactly are you supposed to stop writing new words and edit the words you've written? Do you do it while you're drafting? Or do you leave behind the pile of stuff to fix and forge ahead until the draft is finished? This week, we discuss how WE do it!