Recently published
- My conversation with The Work February 10, 2021
- The great reshuffling, coming hard and fast to a polity near you September 30, 2020
- A simple OpenAI Jukebox tutorial for non-engineers July 25, 2020
- Setting your working directory to Google Drive in a Colab notebook June 13, 2020
- Cats (!!!…?) January 5, 2020
A few of my favorites
- An Email Chain Between 4 People Depicted in Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” (satire)
- The Perfect First Date (satire)
- Leaving Chicago
- Marketing, Drama, and Tension
- The great reshuffling, coming hard and fast to a polity near you (weird Hemingway)
Filmmaking
Writing & Storytelling
- My conversation with The Work February 10, 2021
- What is suspense? September 1, 2019
- Stories as maps July 21, 2019
- Marketing, Drama, and Tension June 28, 2019
- Drama / melodrama / comedy / farce June 23, 2019
- Bohm on creativity, order, art, and mediocrity June 10, 2019
- Sociological vs. Psychological Storytelling June 2, 2019
- A Review of Highland 2 (vs. Final Draft) December 30, 2018
- Screenwriting as a professional fascination November 17, 2018
- The crap +1 fallacy November 13, 2018
- Two kinds of writing advice November 7, 2018
- Do screenwriting contests matter? November 2, 2018
- Skill vs talent (in screenwriting) November 1, 2018
- Steal a bit from a lot of different places July 17, 2018
- “Art is fire plus algebra” September 4, 2017
- “If I were wrong in the script, then that’d be as wrong as I could be” August 6, 2017
- “The purpose of being a serious writer is to keep people from despair”
- “If you haven’t anything to say…” July 28, 2017
- More daring and more sincere May 11, 2017
- The joy of breaking a story February 5, 2017
- In your head, on the page January 20, 2017
- Burglars November 10, 2016
- Connect more, collect less July 11, 2016
- The cardinal sin is dullness June 20, 2016
- Kubrick on originality in film January 13, 2016
- Kubrick on suspense vs. surprise
- Make your characters want something right away December 11, 2015
- Deliberate Practice for Screenwriting November 19, 2015
- Editing and Forwards November 7, 2015
- Kiarostami on curiosity and cinema November 1, 2015
- Timelessness in writing October 23, 2015
- Some very good tips on screenwriting September 24, 2015
- Creativity vs. imagination September 5, 2015
- Write what you feel bad about September 3, 2015
- Notes on Soliciting and Interpreting Feedback on Videos (or other creative work) August 12, 2015
- Some deep wound or hunger was imprinted on them early in life July 2, 2015
- How to create suspense in writing June 25, 2015
- A long-term project is like a palimpsest May 26, 2015
- A story created this way will always be full of life May 24, 2015
- They don’t go to the police because it’s dull February 22, 2015
- It doesn’t matter what the MacGuffin is February 21, 2015
- Screenplay feedback and accepting that something is broken February 16, 2015
- Hitchcock on plausibility and dullness February 13, 2015
- What I accomplished by writing an hour a day for most of a year January 5, 2015
- A writer’s life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity November 21, 2014
- But it is the thing that wants to live November 20, 2014
- Can data help you write a better screenplay? November 19, 2014
- Happy New Year. You’re running out of time. November 11, 2014
- Writing a screenplay (process) November 8, 2014
- Rewriting on paper vs. screen August 27, 2014
- Audience feedback and finding ideas August 10, 2014
- Pornographic Westerns? August 3, 2014
- One of my favorite quotes on creativity February 24, 2014
- Meisner Setups for Writing Short Plays December 23, 2013
- Anachronistic Profanity in Deadwood December 22, 2013
Directing
- My conversation with The Work February 10, 2021
- Better ugly than dull July 7, 2018
- The worst sin a filmmaker can make June 6, 2018
- Back pocket notes June 4, 2018
- Making people move May 20, 2018
- What’s the most indirect, intriguing way to present it? April 8, 2018
- It was by thinking of Hitchcock that I could find solutions April 7, 2018
- The Level-up Method of Filmmaking April 2, 2018
- Physical comedy is hard July 22, 2017
- Christopher Nolan on starting out as a filmmaker January 11, 2017
- Tony Zhou on stealing from other (older) filmmakers November 28, 2016
- Kiarostami interview July 8, 2016
- Wide-angle close ups and the Coen brothers March 31, 2016
- Sidney Lumet on theme March 30, 2016
- A surprising number of earnest conversations March 28, 2016
- That’s a wrap March 27, 2016
- Truffaut on filmmaking March 22, 2016
- Directing kissing scenes March 21, 2016
- The day before production
- Mike Nichols on Directing March 20, 2016
- Breaking down a script as a director March 8, 2016
- “The frame is a playground. So play.” December 21, 2015
- Notes on Directing Improvised Scenes (on camera) August 5, 2015
- Note on Directing for the First Time
- Mike Nichols on how improvisation influence his directing style June 22, 2015
- The Kinski entrance June 19, 2015
- Watching with a detached gaze June 17, 2015
- No close-ups, unless we need to May 8, 2015
Comedy
- Physical comedy is hard July 22, 2017
- “The frame is a playground. So play.” December 21, 2015
- Ernst Lubitsch coined the term “meet cute” November 28, 2015
- The Art of the Gag November 21, 2015
- Notes on Directing Improvised Scenes (on camera) August 5, 2015
- Mike Nichols on how improvisation influence his directing style June 22, 2015
- It’s a great joke but it’s an expensive laugh May 23, 2015
- Existentialism, identity, and comedic characters February 26, 2014
- How to Make it as an Independent Improv Troupe in Baltimore December 7, 2008
Producing
- Writing grants November 10, 2018
- The SAG short film agreement is now the short project agreement August 3, 2018
- The weekend before production June 16, 2018
- The stress of the big 3 May 15, 2018
- Wisconsin bird magic May 14, 2018
- Breakfast, Windshield Wipers, Kinko’s May 13, 2018
- $10k Short Film Budget Template April 13, 2018
- How to make a microshort March 26, 2018
- Pre-production stress May 16, 2017
- How to Make a Short Film with SAG Actors (and not kill yourself) September 28, 2016
- Notes on Pre-production and Planning for a Web Series July 25, 2015
- Pre-production, resistance, and finding the antidote February 4, 2015
Acting & Casting
- The stress of the big 3 May 15, 2018
- Actor reels, web series, and casting April 12, 2018
- The Eternal Casting of the Director’s Mind: Fishing, Hunting, and Foraging April 3, 2018
- How to create your own work as an actor July 22, 2017
Editing
- Temp Music March 30, 2019
- The long dark winter of the edit March 13, 2019
- That first assembly September 29, 2018
- Sidney Lumet on Editing June 17, 2016
- Feedback in the editing process June 14, 2016
- Tony Zhou on editing May 14, 2016
- Speed up Adobe Premiere Pro with previews (how to get rid of those yellow and red lines) April 3, 2016
- Editing and Forwards November 7, 2015
- Exporting to ProRes from Adobe Premiere on PC August 17, 2015
- Notes on Editing Improvised Video Footage August 14, 2015
- Walter Murch’s hierarchy of editing priorities May 16, 2015
- My Adobe Premiere workflow for editing improvised scenes December 8, 2014
Film Festivals
- My conversation with The Work February 10, 2021
- Marketing indie films: how do people choose which films to watch? November 27, 2019
- At the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham September 1, 2018
- Back from the Middle Coast Film Festival September 4, 2017
- Film festivals, feedback, and re-cutting May 14, 2017
Marketing & Distribution
- Marketing indie films: marketing starts with the product November 28, 2019
- Marketing indie films: how do people choose which films to watch? November 27, 2019
- How much should indie films spend on marketing? November 26, 2019
- Marketing, Drama, and Tension June 28, 2019
- Add marketing to the list of things you need to know March 19, 2019
My Films
- Better ugly than dull July 7, 2018
- Wrapped on my first feature film July 6, 2018
- The weekend before production June 16, 2018
- The dinner party movie is almost ready to go June 10, 2018
- The stress of the big 3 May 15, 2018
- Breakfast, Windshield Wipers, Kinko’s May 13, 2018
- Making a feature March 29, 2018
- Writing again March 29, 2016
- A review of Words Fail Me + an interview with me August 5, 2015
- Why I made a web series and not… something else July 24, 2015
- New Short Film: My Last Fare February 17, 2015
- Great Opening Night for Cut to The Chase January 11, 2014
- Neighbors July 6, 2011
- The Most Depressing New Year’s Ever December 31, 2008
Life, Work, Culture
Art & Commerce
- Reasons people watch movies June 23, 2019
- Sturgeon’s Law June 16, 2019
- For a city to have a thriving arts scene March 26, 2019
- You can have my movie-watching big data November 6, 2018
- Everything is a remix December 23, 2015
- Are there too many films being made? December 20, 2015
- The phrase “starving artist” is relatively new December 14, 2015
Work & Personal Development
- My conversation with The Work February 10, 2021
- The great reshuffling, coming hard and fast to a polity near you September 30, 2020
- Freedom and constraints December 1, 2019
- Leaving Chicago August 4, 2019
- Travailler, toujours travailler. June 21, 2019
- Near misses and future success April 14, 2019
- Re-entry problems March 23, 2019
- Escaping the predicament of the self March 22, 2019
- The pushing sort of person March 18, 2019
- How to not be busy November 11, 2018
- Sure, follow your passion, you masochist November 9, 2018
- Stories get you through November 4, 2018
- Rules for work November 3, 2018
- Instead of planning your career… April 10, 2018
- Don’t keep a schedule April 9, 2018
- Survivorship bias March 29, 2018
- Knowledge and productivity are like compound interest August 7, 2017
- Dissatisfaction July 21, 2017
- Self-doubt vs. self-criticism May 7, 2017
- Between stimulus and response there is a space. February 9, 2017
- The identity gap June 19, 2016
- Listen to everything, but say no to almost everything March 17, 2016
- The task of the craftsman February 14, 2016
- Mark Duplass on career development for filmmakers December 24, 2015
- We are creative because everything isn’t okay (yet) December 14, 2015
- Two kinds of perfectionism November 22, 2015
- Identity and the other November 4, 2015
- Don’t surround yourself with smarter people October 30, 2015
- Multiple projects at once October 4, 2015
- All you need is one person to say “Get in” June 30, 2015
- There is actually no such thing as atheism May 28, 2015
- They will probably be hustlers, too May 20, 2015
- Taking notes by hand May 17, 2015
- Boredom is one of the most important things
- As far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required May 9, 2015
- Get a day job, but don’t get too good at it May 8, 2015
- Doing two important things at once improves the quality of procrastination February 12, 2015
- Sorry I killed everybody! I just really need my alone time. November 18, 2014
Ideas
- The great reshuffling, coming hard and fast to a polity near you September 30, 2020
- Transgressive behavior: when is it celebrated and when is it punished by power? November 26, 2019
- Despite your complete lack of distinguishing features, we have decided to hate you October 3, 2019
- Witch hunts October 2, 2019
- Two competing revolts July 21, 2019
- The phantom goodbye June 27, 2019
- Kafka’s best joke June 21, 2019
- anachroLARPing March 20, 2019
Movies, Music, TV
- Cats (!!!…?) January 5, 2020
- Deadwood returns March 24, 2019
- The Party (2017) June 12, 2018
- How to choose which movies to watch February 1, 2017
- Tangerine November 29, 2016
- I love this scene from A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting Existence December 20, 2015
- Steal Like an Artist, Tommy Wiseau Edition November 24, 2015
- Thoughts on Project Greenlight November 14, 2015
- Victoria (2015)
- Cronies October 26, 2015
- Computer Show October 14, 2015
- Roger Ebert on The Exterminating Angel July 1, 2015
- OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies June 1, 2015
- Some people find the taste of pilgrim guts to be too strong May 17, 2015
- Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes) March 11, 2015
- My review of Grown Ups 2 December 7, 2014
- The things fictional characters shout upon orgasm November 9, 2014
- My favorite Deadwood quotes October 6, 2014
- Watching Westerns This Week August 9, 2014
- Thoughts on Snowpiercer July 20, 2014
- Thoughts on The Lego Movie
Books
- Shark Drunk June 21, 2019
- The days of small things
- Exhilaration comes from naming the unnamable and hearing it named
- The worst sin a filmmaker can make June 6, 2018
- “We are driven back to the ‘blood’, the thriller” July 24, 2017
- I started to wonder what I was doing there June 17, 2016
- Only people who don’t give a damn have style October 12, 2015
- Fiction is the truth, fool! June 17, 2015
- My days become dreamlike May 26, 2015
- Stephen King’s “On Writing” January 4, 2015
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You November 10, 2014
Coding
- Setting your working directory to Google Drive in a Colab notebook June 13, 2020
- Collecting ActiveCampaign Subscriber Traffic Source Data January 28, 2018
- My first Ruby on Rails Project January 4, 2017
- Google Tag Manager and Turbolinks in Ruby on Rails January 1, 2017
- Extracting URL strings into Google Tag Manager July 6, 2016
Artificial Intelligence
- A simple OpenAI Jukebox tutorial for non-engineers July 25, 2020
- Do deepfakes ironically make blackmail harder? October 8, 2019
- Deepfake casting August 31, 2019
- Interviews with GPT-2: The golden age of television and The Wire July 15, 2019
- AI is really funny, and maybe, creative June 29, 2019
- Deepfakes June 14, 2019
- AI can mimic human voices
Places
- The great reshuffling, coming hard and fast to a polity near you September 30, 2020
- You get nothing but the wider world October 6, 2019
- Despite your complete lack of distinguishing features, we have decided to hate you October 3, 2019
- Witch hunts October 2, 2019
- Leaving Chicago August 4, 2019
- Notes on Berlin January 22, 2019
- At the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham September 1, 2018
- Dining not alone July 11, 2018
- Isle of Skye July 10, 2018
- Travel notes from Edinburgh July 6, 2018
- Wisconsin bird magic May 14, 2018
- Paxton, IL May 12, 2018
- Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring May 21, 2015
Creative Writing
Humor & Satire
- An Email Chain Between 4 People Depicted in Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” November 2, 2016
- The Perfect First Date December 3, 2014
- Picking The Low-hanging Fruit: Case Studies for the Innovative Business Exec July 25, 2014
- A Yale Admissions Letter from a Desperate Girl July 6, 2014
- A Woman Wonders If She’s Spending Enough Time Plugged in to the Internet February 22, 2014
- A Letter to My 7th grade Science Teacher Regarding Black Holes February 13, 2014
- Humor: What We’re Reading This Summer: Staff Picks from Maypole Leaf Books in Halifax, Canada June 8, 2013
- Diary of an Unemployed Elitist April 29, 2009
Also, I made The Historical Wire, where famous people from history quote The Wire.
Weird Hemingway
Short weird stories by Ernest Hemingway. For a while these stories would just pop into my brain, fully formed, and I had to write them down.
- Bloomington March 25, 2018
- Antonio March 1, 2018
- Comedians January 2, 2018
- Chicago to Istanbul September 25, 2017
- Southwest August 25, 2017
- Maria July 14, 2017
True Stories
- The day the mouth harp guy came to town December 18, 2018
- The Saddest Retirement Party In Recent Memory June 13, 2013
- The Time My Friend Made a Really Bad Decision to Buy a House in West Baltimore at an Auction May 28, 2013
- Non-fiction: Did you hear those fireworks? May 25, 2013