George Saunders on How to Tell a Story

Lucas Floyd: Composer

How surreal. Lucas Floyd—a goober-of-a-kid I once babysat (badly) when we were both living in Peru, South America—showed up on my FB feed a day ago as a composer with some real chops. Here's a song of his that recently got some air time on NPR...



I'm super-impressed.

Mayhaps one day our creative paths will cross and he'll be writing music for a film project of mine. I can apologize for whatever obnoxious thing I most likely did to him when he was a tiny tot, and he can say, "No, no! I channeled all that pain into my art and look where it got me!" We'll laugh and drink mimosas and then cry about the State of Things.

For now, though, you should check out his website HERE.

TWO FOR TEA

As Ben Joyner and I are gearing up to shoot our short film ABDUCTED (courtesy of a delicious grant from the South Carolina film commission), I figure I'll re-share our previous collaboration. Sure, it's been in the sidebar all along. But when did you last click on anything in the sidebar? You're just here hoping I'll rant about the abysmal gun culture in America or something, aren't you, you controversy-obsessed internet monster!

Well, screw controversy.
Watch this art, instead!

Two for Tea - short film from Ben Joyner on Vimeo.

your tribe is monstrous

There's an offshoot of the Amahuatoto tribe in the Amazon basin of Peru that believes that to ensure good hunting they have to sew a male child into the carcass of a goat and hoist him over a fire on a stick . After fifteen minutes they cut the child out (with usually only a few minor burns for his trouble), but the child's muffled screams are nonetheless considered powerful enough to ward off for an entire year the evil spirits that can sabotage a hunt.

This is bullshit.

And One of Three 2017 SC IndieGrants goes to... ABDUCTED!

I am thrilled to announce that a short film that director Ben Joyner and I have been stewing on for years has received a South Carolina Indie Grant big enough to finally allow us to do this right. We will be shooting sometime in the next few months.

Ben and I previously collaborated on a short I wrote called Two for Tea, and I couldn't be more excited to see what Ben and the rest of the team do with this project.

Stay tuned here for updates, and be sure to "like" on Facebook!

Here's a little blurb about the Indie Grants Program:

The INDIE GRANTS are a one-of-a-kind training and professional development program for independent filmmakers and other production professionals.  We fund and support independent short films by South Carolina filmmakers, bring in top-notch production professionals as collaborators, and have Trident Tech film students work under union crews as real-world training.  Recent collaborators include Oscar-winning DP Russell Carpenter (Titanic, Ant-Man), actor AJ Bowen (You’re Next, The Sacrament), actress Cate Freedman (TV Land’s Teachers), DP Peter Simonite (The Perfect Guy, 2nd Unit DP on Tree of Life), and writer Brad Land (Goat).  INDIE GRANTS shorts have been celebrated by top international film festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, Austin Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Film Festival and many more.  Find out more at www.indiegrants.org.

Now presenting... AT EASE

A short film I helped to write just premiered online today. At Ease was co-writer and director Jacob Kirby's senior thesis film at Savannah College of Art and Design. It's a nice little story and a feast for the eyes.

Enjoy...

At Ease from Jacob Kirby on Vimeo.

Now Is Not the Time for Punching Nazis

I don't know why my grandfather went off to fight in Europe, or anything specific about what he did when he was there—he didn't like to talk about it and died of cancer before I got a chance to ask him—but I like to think he went to stop a megalomaniac and his Nazi compatriots' evil, racist plan to eradicate the Jews.  

If there ever was a time for punching Nazis, that was it. 

And my grandfather was a gentle, thoughtful man—the sort of man who would see the threat of Hitler and the Nazis and the need to stop them. 

So it's possible that this is why he went to war... but perhaps not all that likely.

Hi! I'm Josh, I'm Thirty-Eight, and I Am Below Average...

I read somewhere that the average professional Hollywood screenwriter sold his/her first script at the age of thirty-seven. I am now thirty-eight, with no sale. This means I've passed my Mozart year (he was twelve when he wrote his first opera), my Michelangelo year (he carved his "David" when he was twenty-six), my Jesus year (he saved the entire universe when he was thirty-three), and finally my "you are an average Hollywood screenwriter" year. Le sigh.

Of course, since I'm now older than thirty-seven, the argument could be made that I am above average. Right? Right?!