The lesson here is FaceBook and Zuckerberg’s deft handing of The Social Network movie. Despite being a fictional and immensely unflattering protrait, Zuckerberg wisely refrained from going ballistic in the press– which wouldn’t have helped and would have only made him look worse. Now he is at the point of being able to laugh at the whole thing and wins points for not taking himself too seriously.
Tag: Comedy
Beyond Lemonade – Positioning
A Project Document explains the concept, characters, marketing and branding to anyone who works on Beyond Lemonade or provides services to the project (writers, producers, production staff, ad agencies, web designers or PR people).
Biggest Sleeper Hits of the Decade
Here’s a list of the biggest sleeper hits of the last ten years. What patterns do we see? Only two could be classified as drama, and both feature foreign locales and are about foreign nationals. Two are documentaries (one is a comedic practical joke video). Four are comedies. And two are horror films.
Vulnerability Scenes
Everyone who has heard me speak or teach knows how fundamental vulnerability is to making a movie or television show memorable. The way an audience BONDS with a character is through scenes where the character is vulnerable. Here are some of my favorites– what are yours?
Laughing Until It Hurts
“Comedy is never the gaiety of things, it is the groan made gay,” wrote drama critic Walter Kerr. This is the great irony implicit in comedy. It feels good to walk out of a theater laughing. But we often go into the theater not feeling so good. Many times, what makes us laugh is seeing that other people are not feeling so good either.
New In Town – Credibility Problem
The lesson here is make the world real. Keep your character credible or they won’t connect emotionally. Treat everyone in the film as a real live three-dimensional human being.
Ugly Betty – 2008 Premiere Disappointment
The show premiered only marginally up from its low of last season. Here’s what I believe went wrong with the season premiere (and what danger signs it sends for the rest of season three).
What Happens in Vegas
This film is a high-spirited Romantic Comedy romp that is a really enjoyable surprise. It has its flaws, particularly in its rather pat ending is well worth seeing.
#WritingAdviceWednesday – Ugly Betty
A Successful and Proven Format The Ugly Betty (Yo soy, Betty la Fea) telenovela has translated successfully around the world and the recent American version garnered Golden Globe, People’s Choice, and Writers Guild Awards for best new series as well as a best actress Golden Globe for America Ferrera. What makes the Ugly Betty format so… Continue reading #WritingAdviceWednesday – Ugly Betty