MASTERPIECE Studio Nominated for Webby Award for Best Arts & Culture Podcast

After winning two Webby Awards last year (and being named an honoree for a third), I’m overjoyed that MASTERPIECE Studio is again nominated in 2018, this year for Best Arts & Culture Podcast!

Many, many thanks to the Webby Awards judges for recognizing us in this ultra-competitive Arts & Culture category, where we're competing alongside such pods as MoMA's A Piece of Work, Dinner Party Download, The VS Podcast, and Al Jazeera's Closer Than They Appear.

While the judges deliberate, you can help us out by voting for MASTERPIECE Studio for a People's Voice award in our category by VOTING HERE: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2018/podcasts-digital-audio/general/arts-culture

MASTERPIECE Studio is definitely a labor of love. I am obsessed with British period and contemporary drama programming — interviewing the creative talents behind these shows, whether it's Sherlock or Downton Abbey, Poldark or Grantchester, Victoria or Call the Midwife, has been so fantastic and engaging, allowing me to use my journalistic background, my writing skills, and my love of television in an entirely new medium. Many thanks to WGBH and MASTERPIECE for giving me this incredible opportunity. 

CONNECTION Lands Me on the ISA Fast Track Fellowship Top 50 Screenwriter List

Many, many thanks to the International Screenwriters Association for naming me as one of the Top 50 Screenwriters being considered for the 2018 Fast Track Fellowship on the strength of my pilot script CONNECTION.

It's truly an honor to have made it this far in the competition and to be recognized alongside some tough competition.

Fingers crossed!

What I'm Watching: "Good Girls"

NBC's Good Girls has turned into one of the week’s most dependable and fun television highlights, with one of the best ensembles. This week’s episode in particular was absolutely aces.

I find that I'm watching less and less network television these days but I look forward to this show every week. It's the perfect mix of sweet and tart for the times we live in. 

What I'm Watching: "Call the Midwife" Season 7

This season of  Call the Midwife devastated me on a weekly basis, but that finale was a thing of exquisite beauty: full of sadness and tears but also hope and memory. Seeing those familiar faces brought it all back once more.

This show is something to be cherished at every turn.

CONNECTION Live Reading in Los Angeles!

Writing is a solitary activity. As writers, we tend to live inside our heads, immersed in the worlds of the characters that we're writing. 

If you're an unproduced writer, it's hard to imagine an actor reciting the lines that you've written, acting out the scenes that you've replayed a thousand times in your head.

So I'm overjoyed that CONNECTION, my most recent pilot script, is getting a live reading in about two weeks (!), thanks to the amazing folks over at LiveRead/LA, who put on a live reading of two scripts every seven to eight weeks or so in a theater on La Brea here in Los Angeles.

The first 30 pages of CONNECTION will be read and then I'll go up on stage to receive feedback from the LiveRead/LA founder and this month's industry guest (manager Brooklyn Weaver) and then the audience as well.

If you're in LA and want to drop by and show your support, tickets and more information can be found here: www.livereadla.com

What I'm Watching: BBC's "Requiem"

BBC's new drama Requiem is super, super-creepy in all the best possible ways — as much a family drama about long-buried secrets as it is a supernatural mystery about a missing girl.

It’s Alice in Wonderland by way of Lars von Trier’s Kingdom: through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole. Unnerving and elementally eerie — definitely deserving of a second season. (There's a real sense of beautiful, lovingly crafted homage to both here, esp. Alice — Matilda's hair and blue coat, the looking glass(es), the rabbit hole, the little door. ) To creator Kris Mrksa, I say: nod wedi'i gyflawni.

Fortunately for American viewers, it's heading to Netflix in a few weeks...

What I'm Watching: "The Good Fight" Season 2

The Good Fight  — CBS All Access' Good Wife spin-off — could not have picked a better, more appropriate time to return. These first three episodes back are more than worth the (long) wait, and feel painfully timely and salient.

Incredible, intoxicating, and savage television.

What I'm Watching: BBC's "Collateral"

Everyone’s talking about Billie Piper throwing the pizza on the floor last week, but Carey Mulligan is so bloody fantastic as a pregnant copper in BBC One's David Hare drama Collateral — coming soon to Netflix US — that I cannot stop thinking about her performance for more than a minute. Stunning.

ESCAPE Named Official Selection in Beverly Hills Film Festival

I'm so, so excited to announce that my feature script ESCAPE has been named an official selection of the 2018 Beverly Hills Film Festival, where I'll compete for the coveted Golden Palm Screenwriting Award.

“It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down resistance, sweeps away all obstacles.”
-Claude M. Bristol

On behalf of the Beverly Hills Film Festival Committee, I would like to thank you for applying to this year’s event, which is scheduled to take place on April 4th – April 8th, 2018.

The daunting task of deciding criteria and standards is never easy, and this year has been our most challenging yet! Nevertheless, we are committed to and take great pride in the task-at-hand, and a fair and true decision is always reached.

We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that your entry has been accepted into the 2018 Beverly Hills Film Festival. You will receive additional instructions via email. Please be prompt in addressing any requests by the deadline we will send you.

At this time, the committee would, once again, like to extend its excitement and pleasure on welcoming you on board and look forward to what promises to be a truly inspirational and spirited event.

Congratulations!”

— Nino Simone, President of the Beverly Hills Film Festival

Stay tuned...

Please, CW: Another Season of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

You know that feeling when your great friend moves out of town and you say you’ll see each other again soon but you don’t know whether it will actually happen? That’s how I feel about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ending its remarkable third season, which took the show to some really dark, interesting, thought-provoking places.

I love how incredibly ambitious and daring this show is and how willing it is to blow up its foundations in order to push ahead. This season was a masterclass on plotting and subverting expectations.

I hope we can get back to West Covina again and check in on Rebecca Bunch et al. Please, CW Network: order a fourth season ASAP.

ESCAPE Named Official Finalist in Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest

I'm so, so thrilled that ESCAPE was today named an Official Finalist (one of six) in the Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest. It has meant so much to me to see how well this script has done in terms of placements in screenwriting contests, particularly as I've continued to revise and rewrite it...

CONNECTION Named Runner-Up in the West Field Screenwriting Awards

I feel so incredibly honored to have had my pilot script CONNECTION selected as one of two runners-up in the television pilot category of the prestigious West Field Screenwriting Awards. (I almost clinched that Birch Award!) 

Writing Life: ESCAPE Named Semi-Finalist in Search For New Blood Screenwriting Contest

More contest-related news: My feature script ESCAPE was named a semi-finalist in Stage 32's Fourth Annual Search for New Blood Screenwriting Contest.

I'd previously made the quarter-finals and am thrilled that this script has advanced to the next round. Fingers crossed!

A full list of semi-finalists can be found at the Stage 32 site.

Writing Life: Two Scripts Named Quarter-Finalists in the 2017-18 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition

Mondays are always tricky: you're excited for the week ahead but also wanting to extend your weekend a little bit longer. I woke up this morning feeling exhausted and not ready for the work week to begin. All I wanted to do was pull the covers over my head for another hour or so. (Being a parent makes this all the more impossible, but it's good to dream.)

However, starting the week with not one but TWO placements in a fantastic screenwriting competition can make you jump out of bed with excitement and glee.

Both CONNECTION and ESCAPE were this morning named as quarter-finalists (in the one-hour TV pilot and thriller/feature categories respectively) in the 2017-18 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition, which makes me so, so proud.

“After weeks of evaluating and assessing nearly 1200 screenplays, our judges have whittled down the list to 300 quarter-finalists. We are very pleased to congratulate all of our advancing screenwriters.

Our 2017 Competition was one of our best years yet with a record number of submissions in three categories including 1 Hour Pilots, 1/2 Pilots and Short Scripts. In total, approximately 1,200 screenplays were received, read, assessed and evaluated this past year.

Entries were received from 37 countries around the world and 45 US states. California, Texas and New York submitted the most screenplays. Advancing screenplays represent the top 25% of material we received. A breakdown of submissions is as follows.

—Drama/ Historical/ Biopic Category received the most submissions
—Thriller, Comedies and 1 Hr Pilots were also among the most highly contested categories
—Scores ranged from a high of 9.7 to a low of 2.9
—The majority of scores averaged between 6.3 and 7.5”

— Fresh Voices

A full list of quarter-finalists can be found at the Fresh Voices site.

Writing Life: Short Story BEAUTIFUL FORMS Named Quarter-Finalist in ScreenCraft's Cinematic Short Story Contest

Many, many thanks to ScreenCraft for recognizing my short story BEAUTIFUL FORMS — selected from over 1,400 submissions — in this remarkable competition, which looks at how cinematic a prose short story can be.

Before I started writing scripts, I was writing a lot of short stories, which over time became more interconnected and emerged as a collection of short stories entitled BEAUTIFUL FORMS AND OTHER STORIES. The title story from that collection is what I ended up submitting here — it’s a dark fairy tale about perception, parental wish fulfillment, and horror.

A full list of the quarter-finalists can be found at the ScreenCraft site.

Writing Life: CONNECTION Named Semi-Finalist in TVWriter's People's Pilot Competition

Is it just me or has it been way too long since I announced some more contest news? (Or it just feels that way to me, at least.)

Woody knows how I feel.

Anyway, I've been on tenterhooks all week as there are several contests announcing in the next 24 hours or so, and I'm curious (read: terrified/excited) to see if I've advanced to higher rounds (finalists, etc.) or make the cut in the early rounds in a bunch of competitions.

But good news: My drama pilot script CONNECTION was named a semi-finalist this morning in TVWriter.Com's People's Pilot Competition:

“TVWriter™ congratulates all the Semi-Finalists. Your work is awesome.

We keep saying this, but that’s because it’s true: This time around, the overall quality of the entries greatly exceeded our expectations. Last year, we explained how difficult it was for the judges to make their decisions by pointing out that literally every Semi-Finalist in that year’s competition could have been a Top 5 placer in previous runnings of the PEOPLE’S PILOT. This year, the same holds true.

This time around, the median entry score in the Comedy Script category was a whopping 7.95, while the median Drama & Action category score was  7.75. The competition in the upper atmosphere of entries was especially strong in Drama & Action, with 5 different scripts scoring 9.00 points or more out of a possible 10.00 and the cut-off point for Semi-Finalists was an incredibly high 8.40.

Inasmuch as the PEOPLE’S PILOT considers a score of 7.00 as signifying Professional quality, it’s clear that on the whole the PEOPLE’S PILOT 2017 entries were Very Professional Indeed.

In short, we believe that all of those who entered this year should be very proud of themselves…and hope that at the very least all of the Semi-Finalists above will treat themselves to the most awesome celebration they can!”

— TVWriter.Net

Which: WOW. I love seeing a breakdown of the score cutoffs within a competition, especially when the cutoffs are so impressively high. And I feel really honored that CONNECTION, which is a script I really believe in and love, was selected for the semi-finalist round, joining 16 other drama scripts.

A full list of the semi-finalists can be found at the TVWriter site.

"Paddington 2" Is the Year's Most Enchanting Film

Paddington 2 was every bit as magical, joyous, and mischievous as I’d hoped it would be. Absolutely charming from start to finish, with bonus points for the pop-up sequence and Hugh Grant’s performance. I adore this franchise.

Writing Life: ESCAPE Wins Best Screenplay at 2018 IndieBoom Festival

I've reached a major milestone in this journey I've been on with these screenwriting contests. I've been really pleased with my progress so far and the placements I've received over the last few weeks/months.

But I am beyond thrilled to announce that my feature script ESCAPE has just won **BEST SCREENPLAY** in Art of Brooklyn Film Festival's 2018 Indieboom Festival! 

I was so appreciative when ESCAPE made the semi-finals... and then the finals... and then the Top 3. And now I am FREAKING OUT that it's won the entire contest.

I'm honored the jury selected this script for recognition. This has been such an extraordinary experience, particularly as this is the first feature script I've written and I've agonized over it, reworked it, workshopped it, revised it, walked away from it, tinkered with it, and tried to stop tinkering with it. (Impossible, some might say.)

A full list of all of the winners can be found at the IndieBoom! Festival site — congratulations to the filmmakers whose films were selected alongside my script and thank you to IndieBoom!

Writing Life: ESCAPE Named Top 10 Finalist in Table Read My Screenplay: Park City

More contest news: My feature script ESCAPE was today named a Top 10 Finalist in the 2018 Table Read My Screenplay: Park City competition!

I'm really just so pleased that this script is getting recognition — particularly as this was a much earlier draft of ESCAPE and it's only gotten better and better.

A full list of the finalists can be found at the Table Read My Screenplay site.

Writing Life: ESCAPE Named Top 3 Finalist in IndieBoom! Script Contest

I'll admit that I'm a bit obsessive about refreshing contest websites and checking Coverfly over and over in the hopes of an update about a contest. So I was stunned this evening when I happened to hit refresh and got some very pleasant news. Which brings us to...

MY LATEST CONTEST NEWS: I'm beyond thrilled that my feature script ESCAPE was named a Top 3 Finalist in the IndieBoom! Script Contest.

I'm genuinely beside myself with excitement. Every contest placement is a boost of (much-needed) confidence and a reminder that this path, while perilous and rocky, is worth it. It's lonely and it's difficult and at times I feel like I'm wandering off-piste in the wilderness. But every now and then when I find out that I've placed in a contest or made it to another round, it's another glimmer of hope.

And that's all any writer can ask for.