Martini Shot

By KCRWArts

Martini Shot episodes

November 15, 2007 Emoticons
The letter from the studio came yesterday. It said this:
Reference is made to the Agreement -– and then, in parentheses, they put
the word "Agreement" in quotation mark, for some reason –- between you
on the one hand and us on the other hand, in which you agreed to render
specified services and for which you are being paid. Blah blah blah.
Boilerplate, boilerplate, boilerplate..."
6 min
November 08, 2007 Strike
A few years ago, I heard this story from a friend of mine. He's got a kid in elementary school –- he and the family live back east -– and one day, in his oldest kid's second-grade classroom, suddenly, without warning, all of the kids started to throw up...
5 min
November 01, 2007 Long Form
The only time you really, truly know that you've made a sale in
Hollywood – that the studio bought the script, that the network bought
the pitch – is when they call your agent to get your social security or
tax ID number...
5 min
October 25, 2007 The DeLorean
I want to tell you a story. I started working in the entertainment industry in 1990. I was twenty-four...
6 min
October 11, 2007 My Struggle with Addiction
Years ago, when I told my agent that I had written a book, she said to me, "Hey, if you want $800, I'll give you $800."
6 min
October 04, 2007 Chit Chat
The great thing about the entertainment industry – well, one of the great things. It's a fantastic industry in almost every way – is at some point, no matter who you are or how much power you have, eventually you're going to have to sit in someone's office – probably someone you despise – and pitch...
6 min
September 27, 2007 White Wine
I had lunch not too long ago with a friend of mine. We sat down, the
waiter came to get our drink orders – I ordered a Diet Coke, and he, he
ordered a white wine...
5 min
September 20, 2007 Check Email
Here's what I believe: I believe that if you're a writer in Hollywood
and you want to have any degree of control over your career, you can't
wait around for someone to hand you a writing assignment. You can't
wait around to get a studio deal. You're a writer: write yourself into
the business. Write yourself into a new genre, a new form, a new
career. Sit down at the computer and write. No excuses. No dithering.
Just sit down, focus, and do it. That's really the only way to succeed...
5 min
September 13, 2007 The Casino
The chairman of a large movie studio once said that the movie and
television business was a crapshoot. You make a bet, you play the
(razor thin) odds and then you roll the dice...
5 min
September 06, 2007 Hack Tricks
When you're writing a script, sometimes you resort to a plot device
that's totally implausible but necessary to the story –- a coincidental
meeting of your two main characters, for instance, or, maybe, the only
way you can free your hero from certain death is with a freak,
unexpected earthquake that jolts the steamroller that's about to hit
him -– c'mon, we've all done it. We've all resorted to these kinds of
tricks, told ourselves, "hey, look, it's a buy, okay?" or "it's way
deep in the third act, at this point, the audience wants an earthquake
to happen," or, "it's happens on page six! It's a romantic comedy! The
audience expects a certain amount of fanciful whimsy…"
5 min