I'm doing a lot of Flannery reading in preparation for our Story Conference next week. Some of the lines in Habit of Being are so good they make me want to call my older sister and just say them to her. It makes me happy to read her. I thought I'd share some of these lines as I find them. (Flannery O'Connor, from a letter to Ben Griffith, 4 May, 1955) "You will observe that I admire my own work as much if not more tan anybody else does. I have read "The Artifical Nigger" several times... Read Full Story

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Barbara K. Marsh-Wetherell Marsh-Wetherell Market Relations info@marsh-wetherell.com +1 925 933-1907 INFUSING HOLLYWOOD CULTURE WITH CHRISTIAN VALUES You Need More Than Christian Values, You Also Need Talent Danville, CA – (October 8, 2008) – Hollywood has been attacked as foregoing basic Christian and family values for sensationalism. While there are clearly examples of this occurring, the “big picture” is very different. The scripts that are... Read Full Story

It looks lovely.  So, lovely, you almost forgive the fact that this is a one note tragedy about a lovely, and intelligent young woman who is crushed under the injustice and occasional brutality of unbridled patriarchy.    But the costumes are grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  And if it doesn't win best costume than whomever spent two years designing and sewing the hundreds of gorgeous dresses and hats on display here will probably jump off the top of the Paramount arches. It wasn't a mess.  It just... Read Full Story

:::BREAKING NEWS::: Joe Eszterhas joins the Act One Storytelling Conference October 17 & 18! Act One Presents: "Storytelling for the 21st Century" October 17 &18 9:30 am- 5:00 pm Historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Cinegrill 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028 Cost: $125 for both days Come sit at the feet of some of the greatest thinkers and storytellers of our time. Our panelists will present meaningful topics based on art, story, ethics, and entertainment. A round table discussion... Read Full Story

I submitted probably the fifth version of the rewrite today. I think the thing is amazingly better than it was two weeks ago. ("Amazingly better"? Yeah, I have no words left with which to think or express myself.) Hopefully, the producers will agree and I will have a break for a bit. It was cool to see that the production company has entered a listing for the project here. I can't say a lot about the project yet. I can say it has some wonderfully profound theological moments that... Read Full Story

Sorry I have been AWOL everyone. In about a six week period I went from being hapless and unemployed to having three jobs. I suddenly find myself trekking out to Malibu Tuesday and Friday mornings to teach Intro to Cinema at Pepperdine University. I have also been interim managing Act One and heading up the job searches for a couple of senior staff positions. And then there is the little matter of the insanely rushed page one rewrite that I was hired to do on a very cool feature project... Read Full Story

[NB FROM BARB: A friend sent me this and asked me to post it. I don't personallyhave any experience with this group but it sounds great to me.] Subject: Artists on Call: A Diaspora of Hope Greetings. At the risk of clogging your email, I wanted to ask for your help in reaching artists, educators, social workers and even medical personnel with an exciting project that is developing at BuildaBridge. I am writing you because of your support for BuildaBridge's mission of bringing hope and... Read Full Story

My friend Laura and I have been making our way up and down Southern California this week taking in the sights, the shows, and probably too much great food. Under the category, "Southern CA is one of the most paradise-ish places on earth" are these photos of Laguna Beach. Here's Laura about to propose we set out for a lovely lunch overlooking the ocean at the newly restored, famous Laguna Hotel. Excellent. Then, we were on to the San Diego Zoo. We had wonderful good fortune... Read Full Story

----------------------------------FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--------------------------------- ACT ONE STORYTELLING CONFERENCE DRAWS BIG NAMES MEDIA CONTACT: vicki@actoneprogram.com | (323) 464-0815 HOLLYWOOD | AUGUST 13. Bringing together the sharpest minds in Hollywood to talk about the nature of story wasn’t enough; Act One had to grab the sharpest mind in academia, too. Boston College professor of philosophy Dr. Peter Kreeft, a prolific author and one of the foremost... Read Full Story

Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater desperate to slake a strange new thirst for the Napa Valley golden wine that is the heart of this quirky little movie. Bottle Shock won't get the attention that Sideways did, because it is not as outrageously crass as that prior movie, but it actually has a better and bigger story. I'm not sure that the film makers were completely aware of... Read Full Story