To Live and Write in LA

My brain’s cynicism synapse snapped when I heard that a new Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie was opening at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival.

At the NAB Show 2015, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, surrounded by every video camera made, virtual sets, lighting equipment, online streaming hardware and software platforms, they didn't forget that it all begins with writing.

Drones were everywhere at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas this year. No, not male honeybees or parasitic loafers, but unmanned aircraft remotely or programmatically controlled. More specifically, drones with cameras attached.

Peter Guber concluded, "For broadcasters this is not the end. It is not even the end of the beginning. It is the beginning of the beginning."

If you'd like to be a cinematographer, camera assistant, or postproduction artist, or just understand the nitty gritty of modern video production, this is the book for you. Blain Brown, who has worked in the film industry as a cinematographer, producer, director and screenwriter for 25 years, brings his entertainment and technical expertise to a subject which is critical for your success.

Film fans and writers we can learn something from other people’s mistakes, for example, the SXSW screenings of 'The Diabolical' and 'Roar.'

SXSW presents three documentaries: "Best of Times," "They Will Have to Kill Us First," and "Disaster Playground."

Most movies are the merging of technology and short stories, novels or sagas. Manglehorn is technology merged with a poem. It is the story of a locksmith who has lost the love of his life because of something he has done and lives in self-imposed isolation. Manglehorn has constructed a cocoon of memories and fantasies, keeping his son, a former protégé, and the hope of new love at arm’s length.

Christian Slater and Lucy Lawless were on hand at SXSW 2015 to explain just why they are so creepy. Not, personally, of course, but in their new roles. Slater in the new sci-fi series Mr. Robot (SXSW Audience Award Winner – Episodic) premiering on USA Network. Lucy Lawless (Xena, Spartacus) joins the cast of WGN America's Salem for its second season.

Two remarkable biographies premiered on the screens of SXSW this year. 'The Last Man on the Moon,' profiling Astronaut Gene Cernan, and 'Love and Mercy,' which brings us into the life of Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.