The continuum: How to give your audience a complete experience

What do The Godfather, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Fantasia all have in common?.…

AFI film school #7: Unforgiven— Bad reputation

Don’t put your six-shooters away quite yet--especially if you’re in Big Whiskey County--we’re back with another western this week.…

AFI film school #6: The Shawshank Redemption — Why the movie is so beloved

Today we’re looking at one of the most controversial movies of all time. Not controversial like The Interview or Human Centipede 2, but controversial because IMDb…

How to sell your show (a preview)

We have a new eBook out, and it’s free to anyone who signs up for our newsletter. How to Sell Your Show will go over specific ways to make it easier to sell your TV show idea to a network.…

AFI film school #5: The Searchers — Finding an antihero

Get your six-shooter loaded. We’re traveling back to the wild west this week…

AFI film school #4: In the Heat of the Night — The Power of Perception

When looking at the 2007 AFI List of top 100 movies and asking why did these particular films all make it--what singular quality do they all possess--I come up with...hmm…umm...

AFI film school #3: It's a Wonderful Life — Earned wings

This is the third post where I discuss what creators and filmmakers can learn from a specific AFI top 100 movie. The big news is this means I have surpassed the output of Sufjan Steven’s…

Nine crucial lessons from Mad Men's pilot

Ending things is hard. I think most people are aware of that. And judging by how many shows end in ways that make people complain for decades…

AFI film school #2: Schindler's List — The opposite of evil

This is the second post where I’m looking at one of the movies from the AFI top 100 list and discussing what writers and filmmakers can learn from it…

AFI film school #1: Rocky — Pushing to potential

The AFI top 100 list may be one of the most daunting film lists that exists. The 100 best American movies. Well, at least the 100 best according to a group of people who…