Chance favors the connected mind

I just watched this inspirational TED Talk and thought you all might enjoy it. Best-selling author Steven Johnson (he's best known for his book Everything Good is Bad for You) talks about what he has learned about idea generation. He gave this talk, in part, to promote his forth-coming book Where Good Ideas Come From. A surprising, or maybe not so surprising, number of ideas grow out of sharing hunches with colleagues.



His new book will be available on Amazon October 5.

Impressions of Premiere Week

That was fast. Premiere Week has come and gone. There are 11 new series on the networks with few surprises in the ratings race. I haven't seen OUTSOURCED yet but Fox's much anticipated LONE STAR didn't hold my attention and neither did the latest faux reality series MY GENERATION. Both tanked in the ratings.

One of my favorites is the reboot of HAWAII 5.0 the longest running police show in history. Executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have done an outstanding job recreating the show with a fresh new look and post-911 spin. They built the backstory and core cast with amazing speed. In two episodes, each of the four principals is already sympathetic. The script is lean and mean and fun. Having lived on Oahu, it will be fun just tuning in to see locations around the beautiful island. If you happened to miss it, here's the trailer:



Also surprised myself by liking ABCs new legal drama THE WHOLE TRUTH. Then again, Jerry Bruckheimer is executive producing it, so, why the surprise? It pits long time lawyer pals and rivals (a female prosecutor and a male criminal defense attorney) against each other. What I like most is the parallel structure and the attention to character. It's less about the forensic detail and more about building two sides of a case. They don't give away the crime in the beginning either, which is refreshing. Edgy, fast-paced and easy on the eyes.



The other one I'm liking is NBC's series CHASE, another terrific TV show from Jerry Bruckheimer. It's about U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a tough as nails blonde beauty who has suffered trauma/abuse and is relentless about taking down the bad guys. So now there are two kick-ass female-driven TV series. NIKITA (the CW series reboot of Luc Besson's classic female assassin flick LaFemme Nikita)is also very well done, but decidedly less mainstream.

Writing Better Dialogue - by John August

I've been working so diligently on the final draft of my book on the wild world of writing in Hollywood that it's been hard to post. Persistence pays off though. I will be giving a workshop at the Texas Writers League (date pending) and doing book signings soon. Both versions of the book will finally be ready to buy in just days (tick, tick, tick).

Meanwhile, here's a "scriptcast" from John August I thought you might enjoy. He's got a whole series of these narrated screen-shot vids. Excellent input from a working screenwriter - and free (you can't beat that). Thanks John for writing such great movies and for being so generous with your expertise.

Writing better dialogue from John August on Vimeo.

Boardwalk Empire Starts Tonight

HBO is about to do it again. The new series, directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book by Nelson Johnson and written and adapted for television by Terence Winter, looks fantastic. It's like the prequel to The Godfather in Atlantic City. The story begins on the eve of prohibition January 16, 1920 when the most infamous gangsters in America, were young men. Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Arnold Rothstein - at the beginning of their careers.

Scorsese calls it "the roots of organized crime". If The Sopranos was any indication, this is going to be a mega hit. Here's the "Making Of" documentary. It's a nice introduction to the story and the main characters - a meticulously envisioned and expertly executed historical fiction.

Etiquette with Attitude

I've had the idea to do a series of shorts on etiquette for a very long time. Now it looks like someone has beat me to it. Here's one of a series called Etiquette Ninjas. They're rude (which, of course, makes them even funnier) and I have to admit, more outrageous than anything I had in mind. Love these. Here's a favorite. A Valley girl on Rodeo Drive gets a lesson she'll not soon forget.

Rumi Finds Me

Such beauty and truth in two great loves, music and poetry.

Script: A Writer's Guide to the Hollywood Jungle™ coming soon!

UPDATE: I've temporarily taken the eBook off the virtual bookshelf at Amazon's Kindle store due to some formatting issues. Working this weekend to resolve them and will sign off on it as soon as the text is as it needs to be. I just got the final proof of the paperback and am in process with that one too. Once it passes muster (keep your fingers crossed) the paperback will also be available on Amazon.com. Sorry for the premature launch. I'll be sure and announce it when the book is finally ready in both formats. Thanks:)

The book is all about how Hollywood is set up with regards to scripts and developing stories for TV and film - and all based on my hard won decades of experience. It's your very own, personal field guide to The Hollywood Jungle™.

Epic Mickey Game

Disney has announced that its Epic Mickey video game will be out November, 30 – just in time for the holidays. In case you haven’t heard about it, Epic Mickey stars a circa 1930s era CGI Mickey Mouse in a cartoon “story world” they’re calling the Wasteland (ahem). In it, Mickey wields the power of the paint brush to make moral decisions to defeat the dark forces that lay forgotten in the original Disney cartoon canon. Wow! This is a story engine that truly IS epic and hits on all cylinders, at least in theory. They make it look as easy as 1,2,3. Check it out (once an analyst, always one I guess)...

First - it stars a beloved character known all over the world and because it's Mickey in the 30s-40s cartoon world, it's like a prequel for most and therefore like new material. Great way to recycle assets.

Second - it updates the famous mouse as an action hero out to rid the world of an evil villain (the mysterious shadowy fellow that haunted Fantasia, apparently). This allows us to experience a familiar guy in a whole new way.

Third - it utilizes famous Hollywood real estate (classic cartoon worlds and characters that are fixtures in the landscape) via an interactive game that allows PCs to alter the game world through morality-based choices.

Did somebody say transmedia? Of course, Epic Mickey is already transmedia by virtue of the fact that he’s already got a ton of other media developed around him. What’s different about this is that Disney is activating the storyworld that was created by Walt and the original animator/story men 80 years ago, effectively recycling the classics on new media platforms. So in that sense, it summons the spirit that created the entire studio.

It's either genius or it's going to stir up a maelstrom on "the other side". Mickey has always been sacrosanct. So this is VERY big news. No doubt the launch of Epic Mickey has an elaborate roll-out behind it that will have cell phone apps, webisodes and maybe even (gasp) a feature film! We’ll see. Meanwhile, here’s a teaser trailer…

Epic Mickey Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

To learn more and see videos and photos go here

P.S. For those of you sending emails, please be sure and identify yourselves and put something in the subject line, because I do NOT open mysterious email that has no subject - especially something that includes an attachment. You probably wouldn't either. If you're interested in a consultation, please just state that in the subject line. More information about consultations is available on the website. Thanks:)

Happy 75th Fox

Twentieth Century Fox is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Last month, the London Film Museum had a special exhibit (sorry missed that one!) and on September 5 there was a special at the Hollywood Bowl (On September 25th the bowl is hosting a sing-a-long of Fox's Sound of Music on the world's largest outdoor screen). They've also scheduled special screenings of some of their most loved films in the cities that made them famous. To learn more, and enter a contest to win 75th anniversary posters or CDs, go to their special website.

Even with all this, it seems kind of anti-climactic. What no fireworks? Fox doesn't have a theme park (all though one never know) so maybe that's all folks. I did find this short montage...



And of course, they've still got House. And now you can enjoy his sharp wit at the click of a mouse. Click here to access the best House-isms, by episode. Such as...

Why would I want to consider something that doesn't benefit me?

I can just see the book of witticism on sale in the bookstores now. Wanna weigh in on Fox Broadcasting programming? They want to hear from you, here. Okay, so that's my mini-tribute to Fox, makers of too many great films to mention. Happy 75th you guys.

Webisoaps - What if...

Today I took part in a media panel and guess what was featured? Transmedia. It's coming at us hard and fast. In this case, ABC (that's Disney's network) has a series of webisodes called What If (the classic questions all writers ask themselves). What If features stars from their most popular daytime soaps: All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Interesting approach. The network isn't just taking characters and developing them on other platforms, ABC is working with all three shows simultaneously - throwing star characters together in the classic comedy set-up (literally stuck together against their wills) from different shows.

So far, they've used the airplane and elevator sets but look for trains, automobiles and other places and circumstances where you can be unavoidably thrown together with someone you'd not be with otherwise. ABC debuted this transmedia campaign on July 12, 2010. It definitely heightens interest and could very well spark some new shows, or at least inject a little levity into the old formats. About time. If you haven't seen any of the What if? webisodes, you may be surprised at how funny they are. Here are two favorites...



This one is also fun. I apologize for the bad video quality. Will see about getting better ones. But for now, dig it. You can catch them on the ABC website or Soapnet.



Oh, and guess who has a blog? Erica Kane the most popular American soap opera star of all time, from All My Children. Yes, kids, the character is inviting you to follow her off-soap travels around the world(translation, a parallel storyline that takes place while "Erica" isn't on camera), on a faux blog. Well, I guess a blog is a blog even if it is written about a fictitious character. Here's the link. Give me a T, give me an R give me an A, N, S, what's it spell? Transmedia!