Dramatic Storytelling, Then and Now

Last month I traveled to Italy for the first time in my life. That meant plenty of pasta and Campari, of course, and visits to the predictable tourist sites. But as a professional screenwriter, it also meant a consideration of some of the early days of dramatic storytelling, a topic that endlessly fascinates me.

In the photo, I’m standing by a mighty Roman sculpture in the heart of Rome: Trajan’s Column. Arguably an ancient example of “cinematic” storytelling. The commemorative sculpture celebrates Emperor Trajan’s hard-won victory in the Dacian Wars, via 155 narrative scenes in bas-relief that wrap around (and around and around, 23 times in all) the 115-foot column. (For a full view of the enormity of Trajan’s Column, click here.) If you were to unwrap the 23 spirals from the shaft, you’d have a 620-foot frieze confronting you, and a very solid example of time-based media.

The artists who designed and then built this sculpture possessed a good understanding of effective narrative construction. (And I suspect that Trajan signed off on the storyboards, in the same way a studio chief signs off on a $200 million film.) While things go well for the Romans for awhile, conflict intensifies as the Dacians (modern-day Romanians) mount a counterattack, culminating in Dacian women (possibly war widows) torturing captured Roman soldiers who’ve been stripped naked. (Nothing like a little sensationalism in our drama!)

8 Miles High

Photo: Pixabay on Pexels.com

Once in a rare while, I write something that isn’t a screenplay, teleplay or treatment. The online journal Airplane Reading was kind enough to publish my little essay about the years I spent professionally commuting by air (as a visiting college professor), encased in a meditation on the classic Byrds’ song “Eight Miles High.” Enjoy.

Inspiration

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Writers are always seeking inspiration…

Less than a month ago, I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, the culmination of a trip to Southeast Asia. Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex in the world, built in the 12th century by the powerful and sophisticated Khmer empire, in service to the Hindu god Lord Vishnu.

2022 and Optimism

Almost immediately after my wife and I were vaccinated early in 2021, we booked a trip to the Yucatan peninsula for the end of the year: feeling that the pandemic would definitely be waning by then, and travel would no longer be a concern.

The joke was on us, of course. Delta. Omicron. We got our boosters the second we were eligible. And maybe the best way to escape Omicron after all was to head to the jungle in Campeche.

Optimism.

Visiting Professorship, Year 1

Ringling College Studio Labs panel: L-R, Dylan McDermott, Andy Armstrong, Terry Borst.

The academic year is coming to a close and that means I’m wrapping up my visiting professorship at Ringling College Art+Design’s Film department. I’m honored to have participated in the mentoring of a number of senior thesis films, along with senior thesis screenplays and one documentary. Additionally, I moderated a Ringling College Studio Labs panel featuring actor/director Dylan McDermott and legendary stunt coordinator Andy Armstrong, and racked up up a lot of frequent flyer miles ping-ponging between Florida and New Mexico.

Faculty colleague Damon Maulucci and I discovered we shared the identical fashion coordinator.

As the adjacent photo shows, there were moments of levity during the academic year, and perhaps as a consequence, the College has been kind enough to invite me back as Visiting Faculty next year. Since I know my way around Tampa International Airport pretty well by now, I’ve accepted. You can’t have too many frequent flyer miles.

Meanwhile, my feature film 2-WAY moves forward, and in case you haven’t already liked 2-WAY’s Facebook page … your ‘like’ would really be appreciated, as it helps us with potential investors and marketing opportunities. My co-producer and I have moved forward on fundraising, attachments, and distribution, and if all goes well, we’re hoping to shoot in the Fall. Another feature screenplay I’ve written is in “active development”, and I’ll be working on another feature over the summer.

Stay tuned…it should be an interesting rest-of-the-year…

Joining Ringling College of Art+Design Faculty – F’18

Very happy to share the news that Ringling College of Art + Design has appointed me as full-time Visiting Faculty in Film, beginning Fall 2018.

This is a very exciting opportunity, as Ringling’s Film department has been ranked #16 in The Hollywood Reporter‘s latest scorecard of American film schools, and Film Head Brad Battersby was recently named by Variety as “mentor of the year.” Visiting artists to the program have included writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks), actor Justin Long (dozens of screen credits), actress Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), actor Dylan McDermott (dozens of screen credits), cinematographer Wally Pfister (Inception) and many more. (Just FYI, Ringling’s Computer Animation department ranks #2 in the country!)

One Office, Two Views

(Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ readers: click through to the original WordPress blog post so you can use the WordPress 360° photo viewer: you’ll be glad you did!)

This marks the wrap-up of my time at The Film School at Santa Fe University of Art and Design (which is closing — lock, stock and barrel — on June 30, 2018). I moved into this office in 2010, when hired as full-time screenwriting faculty for the University. Our high watermark — as a department — might have been in 2016 when we were named by trade publication Variety as one of the “entertainment schools on the move.”

Certainly that was our goal.

You can check out any time you like…

Because of course.

L.A. Traveling

Always the preferred airport if you’re flying in and out of L.A. Easy to navigate, lots of history, and these days with Peet’s as its official coffee purveyor in Terminal A. Wouldn’t mind a Vino Volo inside Terminal A as well; a nice addition when catching the last flight home… (I think about airports more than I should.)

July in California, Two Views

Morning view from the porch of a guest cottage on a vineyard in the Valley of the Moon. Viognier grapes ripening on the vines.

Morning view from the balcony of the Carole Lombard/Clark Gable room in a charming, timeless Central Coast hotel that takes you back to the 1940s. Lombard and Gable actually did stay in this hotel, and it’s reasonably likely they stayed in this room, a nicely hidden hideaway a few hours from L.A.