# Read

Many facets of the Hollywood game are draped in shadow and secret. And as I see it, they really shouldn’t be.

I don't believe in points of no return, I want to be an example that it's never too late to take action and go after what you want.

I had to learn to become as good a businessman as I was a wordsmith.

But love does leave a mark. It makes a trail. You can follow it and revisit it, whenever you need it, and it will light a path leading you to your true voice.

“There comes a point in our life where we get to an age and see a little less in front of us ... it's about what we are we going to leave behind."

Don’t go out of your way for someone who doesn’t value you.

What about good, original storytelling? What about hearing what this generation of cartoonists and filmmakers and screenwriters want to say?

This mutually exclusive conundrum is where I found myself after finishing my first novel ...

“When I go back ... I lied a lot. That was the beginning of my storytelling career."

Mark Steven Johnson stepped behind the lens to direct Finding Steve McQueen, the true story of a gang of Ohio bank robbers that attempted to steal $30 million from President Richard Nixon’s secret illegal fund.

“All we really have is what we make and put out. And that’s the only stuff I enjoy doing.”

He was never quite able to pin the magnificent, ethereal creature inside his head to paper, and that fact consumed him.

It's okay if your creative flavor isn't for everyone, as long as you're telling your own truth—there is an audience that will respond to a genuine, well-told story.

Nailing your professional bio, and understanding that a single bio cannot rule them all, is an invaluable skill for every aspiring writer, filmmaker, director, and beyond.

1985 gave us three such movies blending commerciality, narrative discipline, and daring—their scripts a marvel to behold.