Bringing up the subject to a few friends, I realized we all had kept the same deep, dark secrets to ourselves.

Consider them positive thoughts, helpful suggestions, and a few cautionary warnings regarding the pursuit of cinema in Hollywood.

At the end of the day, concept really is king.

The tyranny of choice aspect hit me again. Only 144 films left to see.

In recent years, as studios scramble to make up for decades of exclusion, I’ve witnessed a troubling trend: diversity has become a commodity, something to acquire and display rather than a reality to embrace.

... what we think of as a novel is actually just an accident of history.

Having your entire story take place in one location is indeed limiting. However, it can yield extremely impressive results.

Did I ever expect it to get made? Nope. Not from the minute I wrote it.

Even when no one else in my life would lend me an ear, the page was always there for me.

Numbers and processes matter and understanding why and how they matter and how to work with each is fundamental to working smarter not harder.

Are we being noted to death by fear-stricken development execs who are too timid to put something up on screens that swings for the fences ... ?

... one kind of stakes towers above all the rest: the stakes of life-or-death.

When I’d imagined my own death, I suppose everyone does sometimes, it wasn’t like this.

Andrew Hewitt shares the emotional nature of film scoring, his process with directors, and what he wishes other creatives understood about composition.

Make no mistake, though. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not essential. It very much is.