At the last online Screenwriters Festival I interviewed Bruce Joel Rubin, who wrote Brainstorm, Ghost and Jacob’s Ladder. His work was profoundly impactful on me, as often it examines the veil between this life and the next. The session is fascinating for writers who want to deep dive into meaning and a great listen. If […]
When: Wednesday (Nov 22nd) at lunch time (1:00pm). Where: Online How Much: FREE ‘This course must be taken to move into where this business is going in the future.’ Mark Arnold, Actor, sometime writer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We all hate writing a bio. And yet it’s essential to have one. And not just one! Now we need […]
Times are changing. Rapidly. Streamers are declining, Hollywood is melting down, new platforms are arising, mind bending creativity tools that are as exciting as they are terrifying are appearing every day. And yet… we still love, create and consume stories BECAUSE that is who we are. I have always believed that creativity isn’t taught, it’s […]
We are experiencing the momentum and velocity now, of the digital revolution that began in the mid nineties. As a filmmaker, the evolution of cheap DSLR cameras, desktop editing and hi res video online was the first massive breakthrough I saw, but that is close to two decades ago now. Since then, the acceleration has […]
How do you feel about text or images created by AI? I can certainly spot AI images created in MidJourney now (or maybe I should say I think I can). And non human created text admittedly gives me a little ick. Followed by a strong disincentive to not to read it. If it’s been human […]
Today we begin development of a new project. Working title: Anthology. Tag line: Prompting now. All human ideated. Artwork above, literally the first prompt from Midjourney: /imagine 1970s horror movie anthology poster –ar 16:9 (I added the text in Photoshop in 3o seconds) As a kid I fell in love with horror movies, BBC2 […]
Here’s what I have learned about AI. It’s great at throwing ideas out. It’s great at first steps. BUT. It takes an artist with talent to complete what’s needed and to make it world class. When it comes to posters, I am no expert, BUT I did study design when younger and I understand some […]
London. 1977. Dread. The Enfield Poltergeist is streaming on Apple TV+ October 27. Today the trailer drops for a project I have been dying to share about since before the pandemic. Last year, just as I had begun shooting splinter unit on Mission: Impossible 7, another project went into production. The Enfield Poltergeist is a […]
Guest post by Adele Andersen I used to be a firecracker. My life was full of activity and adventure. I was only tired from the physical exhaustion of running myself ragged having a wonderful time working and playing hard. I was up for anything. I remember that version of me. Past-Adele. And I miss her […]
Your movie may well have a huge digital footprint. If these assets get lost or deleted, it may not be your fault, but it sure is your responsibility. I know of at least one feature film that was abandoned due to the team loosing hard drives. Exactly HOW to backup and archive EVERYTHING related to […]
Your Mission, should you choose to accept it… July 16th, 4pm, The Ealing Project, W5 As you may know, I run the London Screenwriters’ Festival, but I am a filmmaker first and foremost. Last year I was given the opportunity to direct Splinter Unit on Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, which I of course accepted. […]
The journey is circular, like seasons in a year and day into night. This time last year I had just begun directing splinter unit on Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1. I have been under an NDA or I would have been sharing so many extraordinary stories every single day. I have learned and grown […]
Every few years we reach out to our delegates and ask how we can best serve them through the festival and our related courses and projects. Now that we are in a post pandemic world, we have seen dramatic changes in the industry, in our writing community, and in the way that people want to […]
Voice recordings with excessive background noise or reverb, have always been a challenge if you don’t have the right kit in the heat of the moment, or the location is uncontrollable from a sound perspective. And bad sound makes ANY film or video less watchable. Adobe are now testing a new tool that replaces sound […]
What drives me? What drives you? Why do we have these deep seated needs that often others cannot connect with, or they just plain think we are crazy? The need to create and share? The need to write that film? Scribe that novel? Paint that painting? Act? Make that movie? What is it? I have […]
We all know Skynet is coming, though if the digital revolution we just lived through is anything to go by, it’s gonna look less like Blade Runner and more like Zoom. Who knew. Meanwhile, MidJourney, an AI image creation tool is getting better and better every day. I don’t mean that in some overly used […]
I just ran a firewalk for Shine PND and one of the Warrior Mums was kind enough to write a post about her journey. Over to Laura Wyatt… During one of my first sessions at Shine there was a serious buzz of excitement from Lauraine! She’d just been part of a group of Shine mums […]
By Mark MacNicol DREADED LIGHT is now available on Amazon UK & US more info HERE I’ve been a member of the Chris Jones/LSF tribe for several years and I’m grateful to all of the networking and peer support opportunities. I wanted to do a post that might add some insight. I’ve struggled a bit […]
Well, both yes and no. The old adage used to be, ‘shit in, shit out’. And that’s still true. Kinda. I have been experimenting with a tool from Topaz Labs called Video Enhance AI. It takes in old footage, typically say Standard Definition video, and then up-scales it to HD, 2k, 4k, whatever you like. […]
What materials do you need to enter a film festival? Impact50 has been selected for its FIRST Major Festival… Details to follow soon… I can’t say which festival yet as the line up has not been announced, but it’s in the early Autumn, it’s in Europe and it’s a BRILLIANT one. Ahead of the announcement […]
So yeah, I have been off social media for a couple of months as I have been directing splinter unit on Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1. My focus is 101% on this. I can’t say anything. At all. What I can tell you though is that I have never worked harder and with as […]
Last week I recorded a fabulous Desert Island Disks inspired show for Screen To Screen on Soho Radio. It’s a great listen to play in the background with some personal favourite music to boot. Hosted by the dynamic duo of Liz McMullen and Steve Harcourt (Liz who I met through The Impact). It’s a true […]
Crowdsourcing is not for everyone. But it can work, for the right project. Equally it can work brilliantly with a specific stage in a project too. I have crowdsourced two feature films now and have perhaps more experience than anyone I know when it comes to corralling very large groups of creative people to come […]
The last three years have been brutal for me. As I know they have for so many others too. I am not unique in this regard. While smarter people may have chosen to allow their companies to go under during the pandemic, I chose to fight through bankruptcy and have emerged from the other side. […]
Every so often we experience magic. Actual real world magic. Not a trick. Not supernatural. But awe inspiring scientifically backed up magic. I just opened the box containing the Meteorite that the Final Draft have so kindly sponsored for the Best Script Award at the Impact50 awards. And yes, sorry for the strong […]
