Mr. Aardvark's Big Box of Money : A Hollywood Fable

— Chapter 1 —Badger has a PlanOld Mr. Aardvark was not happy. He lived in a beautiful land and had a lot of money, but no matter how many times he counted his money he got no happier. He had spent his youth making more money than he could ever spend so that his happiness would be assured. Now, very old and very bitter, he summoned his adviser, Badger."I'm not happy, Badger and I want to know what

"Who are you?"

In June I spent some time on the set of The Soloist as a background actor. I like being on sets, even hot dirty sets like Joe Wright's. I didn't meet him, but I got to see him work. He's very methodical to the point of being maddeningly slow: He called 9 takes (I counted) of Robert Downey Jr. getting out of a car, closing the door, and walking across the street. I could see both Downey and the

Phone calls and anniversaries...

Fear not, gentlest of Readers, your RSS feed isn't acting weird. I am actually posting to my wee blog one year and one day after my last post. I didn't realize until yesterday that it had been a year since I was here, but that's not the reason for this article.The reason for the post, and why yesterday was notable is because of who I was talking to on the telephone and why: I was talking to a

Welcome to Anhedonia

Anhedonia is where you can end up when your journey becomes miserable. I think I've been on the outskirts for a while now and my ardent attempts to find the proverbial interstate have finally landed me in the middle of downtown.I still enjoy writing well enough, but screenwriting isn't remotely fun anymore. I'm sure I'd like it just fine if I'd become remotely successful as a screenwriter. I'd

Summertime

People have been asking me if I've heard from the producer I wrote about in my last article. Yes, I have.The upshot: SCRATCH is a pass but I have an open invite to pitch anew.Here's a bit of what she had to say:First, I think you are a very talented young writer, which is why it's no surprise that you have a manager and/or additional representation. Your presentation is professional and

Notes from the edge of irony

Enduring Readers of this wee-blog have seen the notes I've received from Biz folken--the few left in Town who still write them. I always appreciate receiving them and even when they're not even close to glowing. I'm a writer, so I appreciate someone taking the time to write me notes.I received an email from one of my Pitch Fest contacts. I didn't pitch this exec in person. I emailed her my 3

The ultimate f-word

I stumbled upon it by accident. It's a word unlike any other and orders of magnitude more powerful than any f-word you've thought of all ready. The amazing thing is it's a word you know.But this word is like a gun. We know what a gun is, and some of us have handled and fired them. But the vast-vast majority of us have never used a gun to terrify someone. But you know a word that can terrify a