
La La Land – a “dreamy blur” that garnered 14 Oscar nominations!
Say what? That is as many Oscar nominations that ‘Titanic’ had with about $200 Million tug-of-war rope production budget and a veteran Director, in James Cameron at its helm. ‘La La Land’ the musical was made on the relatively shoe-string production budget of $30 Million by a rookie writer-director, Damien Chazelle, who had only made one other movie before. Yes, that other movie happened to be ‘Whiplash’ that was nominated for five Oscars, with three wins in 2015, which by t

Pixar – story-tellers extraordinaire! - Part 5 of 5
It can’t be denied that Pixar has mastered the art of exquisite story-telling! Surely we all could learn from Pixar’s storytelling principles that Emma Coats tweeted in 2011 and got circulated as the “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” These were meant to be only some good guidelines for starting a conversation and the basis for further discussion as other storytellers would venture into their own stories. In the spirit of sharing the wisdom of these wonderful storytellers at

Pixar – story-tellers extraordinaire! - Part 4 of 5
It can’t be denied that Pixar has mastered the art of exquisite story-telling! Surely we all could learn from Pixar’s storytelling principles that Emma Coats tweeted in 2011 and got circulated as the “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” These were meant to be only some good guidelines for starting a conversation and the basis for further discussion as other storytellers would venture into their own stories. In the spirit of sharing the wisdom of these wonderful storytellers at

Pixar – story-tellers extraordinaire! - Part 3 of 5
It can’t be denied that Pixar has mastered the art of exquisite story-telling! Surely we all could learn from Pixar’s storytelling principles that Emma Coats tweeted in 2011 and got circulated as the “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” These were meant to be only some good guidelines for starting a conversation and the basis for further discussion as other storytellers would venture into their own stories. In the spirit of sharing the wisdom of these wonderful storytellers at

Pixar – story-tellers extraordinaire! - Part 2 of 5
It can’t be denied that Pixar has mastered the art of exquisite story-telling! Surely we all could learn from Pixar’s storytelling principles that Emma Coats tweeted in 2011 and got circulated as the “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” These were meant to be only some good guidelines for starting a conversation and the basis for further discussion as other storytellers would venture into their own stories. In the spirit of sharing the wisdom of these wonderful storytellers at

Pixar – story-tellers extraordinaire! - Part 1 of 5
It can’t be denied that Pixar has mastered the art of exquisite story-telling! Surely we all could learn from Pixar’s storytelling principles that Emma Coats tweeted in 2011 and got circulated as the “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” These were meant to be only some good guidelines for starting a conversation and the basis for further discussion as other storytellers would venture into their own stories. In the spirit of sharing the wisdom of these wonderful storytellers at

Develop your characters well and the plot will emerge from them
The most exciting part about screenplay writing is that you can take an idea and paint a picture around that idea. Not just a static picture, but a motion picture that could last up to two hours long. The motion picture for sure will have characters in them. These characters will have a past that you can create for them. You can manipulate their lives in ways to tell the story in the most effective ways. You can define their past to justify their current internal and external

The consumer is constantly moving the cheese for the movie makers
Movie producers are now in a constant state of dilemma as to how they should go-to-market with the movies they produce. Even though the number of options they have to reach their targeted audience has increased, yet it has become so much more difficult to earn that audience’s attention and engage with them. What used to be a drawn out movie marketing “funnel,” where the movie producer’s marketing team uses their brand, hires an agency who would provide the marketing services,

How do we help our people get on-board with changes in our movie business?
The media content industry is going through unprecedented disruptive changes, that movie production, distribution and exhibition companies can no longer respond to with individual, one-off transformation of their businesses. Instead, it has become imperative that they implement ongoing, interdependent business transformations, across business functions and units. Business leaders must prepare companies to thrive in a permanent state of change. Everything about how companies c

Speed and flexibility with a strong backbone for film production
The time and scale of making most films come as a shock to most of the film-makers involved. It takes intense focus, collaboration, innovation, ingenuity, and high-performing teams, to come through with a great product at the end. Incorporating the “agile principles” will help move the needle enough to peek the film-maker’s interest everywhere. So, what do we mean by agility? Agility is the ability of an organization to renew itself, adapt, change quickly, and succeed in a ra