FiatFilmAbout MarkAdvocate + GuardianLatest Blog21Mar“East Side Sushi”: Little film, big ideasPosted by: markCategories:MoviesNo commentsThe best characters are little people with outsized ideas of where they should be. East Side Sushi, a small, low-budget indie, is populated with them. But the scale and proportionality is important – these are not people who aim to be astronauts, CEOs or leaders of the free world. A job with health benefits will […]Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest9MarOne year later: an updatePosted by: markCategories:In The Soup Press UncategorizedNo commentsA lot has happened since my last post, in February of 2018. First, I changed out the Judgment of Parrish page for Advocate + Guardian. Back in 2015(!), I paused production on Judgment of Parrish when it won the FadeIn grand prize and was being circulated among producers, none of whom want a movie already in the works. Nobody […]Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest20FebIdrissa Ouédraogo (1954-2018)Posted by: markCategories:Moviemakers MoviesNo commentsSunday marked the death of Idrissa Ouédraogo, Burkina Faso’s most renowned filmmaker. If you haven’t heard of him, that’s okay. Most people haven’t heard of Burkina Faso. I wouldn’t know Ouédraogo’s work either if not for a free film series I attended faithfully when I lived in Richmond. Even though my degree is in film […]Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest16FebThe Spec Script is dead! Long live the Spec Script!Posted by: markCategories:In The Soup MoviemakersNo commentsSo this happened: R.I.P. for the spec script, long a source of some of Hollywood’s most beloved films I suppose you won’t get published (even in the LA Times) without some clickbaity premise or all-embracing headline. I tend to look askance at any “analysis” that claims one talented writer invented, then killed the spec script, only […]Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest19DecSanta Fraud is coming to townPosted by: markCategories:In The SoupNo commentsMy kids have been haranguing me for a PlayStation 4 for years now. I’m fed up. So they’re getting this, courtesy of their former packaging designer dad. Yes, I’ve worked with quite a few Chinese vendors. No, the game titles on the back aren’t “real.” (But yes, there’s a real “PS4″ in there.)Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest14JunScreencraft: 35 Most Overused Lines of Dialogue in ScreenplaysPosted by: markCategories:MoviesNo commentsI sent this to my (occasional) writing partner in California, as we often parrot these cliches in jest: 35 Most Overused Lines of Dialogue in Screenplays Just because.Read morefacebookTwitterGoogle +1Pinterest27Jan“La Promesse” and the one we make to each otherPosted by: markCategories:Moviemakers MoviesNo commentsIt’s a rare film that sends me straight to the keyboard to sing its praises