Category: Showbiz Stories
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In The End, Napster Came For Us All: Why The SAG/WGA Strike Won’t End Any Time Soon
“Napster”… the name brings back lots of memories, doesn’t it? Not only was it fun sharing music across Napster’s platform (and discovering lots of new music along the way), it felt downright righteous! While you were getting ahold of music you loved for free, at the very same time, you were sticking it to “the…
A L Katz
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The Writers’ Strike Won’t End Soon; Here’s Why
The Writers Guild strike isn’t going to end any time soon and here’s why. It goes to the core of why Hollywood producers have always hated Hollywood writers. The stone cold fact is, film and video are not writers’ media. Screenplays and teleplays are just floorplans. Other artists will have to fill in significant details…
A L Katz
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Good Idea, Bad Execution
One lesson you better learn fast if you want to have a shot at making it in show biz: it’s all about the execution! A bunch of people can walk around with the same idea in their heads but unless one of them executes the idea properly? It’s just another idea that couldn’t deliver on…
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Color Blind Casting Is What’s “To Be”
Over the course of my career in the film and TV business, I’ve hired a lot of actors. If I’m honest, I didn’t hire a one of them to act. I wanted all of them just to “be”. Now, keep in mind, we’re talking about acting for the camera, not acting for the stage. They’re…
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Is There A Point To The Republican Point Of View?
Short answer: No! That’s because, contrary to how our news media reports it, not all points of view, in fact, have a point. Someone who tells the truth and someone who lies both have points of view. But are their points equal? Are they equally valid? Equally legitimate? No, of course not! And to treat…
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The Night My Racism Confronted Me At The Amen Corner
Am I racist? I try very hard not to be. But then, it’s not up to me whether I am a racist or not. It’s not up to me if I’m being a misogynist or prejudiced in any way. It’s up to whomever my words or actions offended and struck as bigoted. That is where…
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S2E7: Dirty Laundry
If you really want to know what’s happening on any film or TV set, the last people you should ask are the executives. We know nothing of value. We may have a pretty good fix on where the budget is, but we have no idea who’s sleeping with whom. Film and TV sets are emotionally…
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I Wrote A Jerry Lee Lewis Movie That Shoulda Been Made
Rock ‘n roll icon Jerry Lee Lewis passed away yesterday. It always sucks when rock icons die; there aren’t many left from the original batch. Jerry Lee was especially iconic. In the early days of rock, Jerry Lee was the unabashed rule breaker. He was cocky, arrogant, almost fatally full of himself. But, that attitude…
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“Nobody Knows Anything”
“Nobody knows anything” was screenwriting god William Goldman‘s terse, brutal, spot on assessment of how show business works. The people at the top of the food chain – the decision-makers – will insist that a combination of logic and personal insight rule their thinking. But, at the same time, they’ll insist that past results can’t…
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I ALMOST Cast Donald Trump In Tales From The Crypt
Casting a movie or TV show is make or break. We all know what happens when an actor inhabits a role completely. Also we know what happens when an actor and a role conflict with each other. Example: casting Donald Trump as President Of The United States. Curious as a stunt, utterly pointless otherwise. In…