Coming September 8th—my new book!

What’s the Story? The Director Meets Their Screenplay. Focal Press/Routledge

Available at Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, blackwells.co.uk, routledge.com

When I came out of AFI Conservatory in the summer of 2018, I pretty soon realized it was time for me to write a book on filmmaking. It didn't take long to see that the topics we explored at the school might be developed and expanded, and that I could explore them at deeper levels in such a volume. 

I’d always loved class with the directing fellows, always been energized by interacting with such singular talents, such youthful wisdom, but without the constriction of time limits and class schedules, I had the opportunity to do something newly exciting and to take the required months and focus to do this properly. I came up with a list of topics in about twenty minutes, but then the real work started… 

My seventy page proposal was received favorably by publishers, of whom I felt Focal Press the most appropriate avenue for what I planned to achieve. Then came the writing of the book itself, and the months of engagement with the chapters and what I wanted to think about and question and say in them. 

After submitting a draft to Focal Press and receiving invaluable insights, comments, and correctives from peer reviewers, I went on to complete the book. Only the copy editing remained, and here I discovered yet another delight in the process of writing and publishing, copy editor Steven Holt proving not only formidably literate, but a cinephile also. Then, with one or two late adjustments, the work was done. 

Now you can read the result. I hope you will enjoy this book, I hope it will prompt you to think deeply about your own exploration, your own take, and I hope very much that you will be able to draw from it valuable nourishment for your filmmaking and appreciation of the art of visual storytelling. Entitled What’s the Story? The Director Meets Their Screenplay: An Essential Guide for Directors and Writer-Directors, I believe that creative filmmakers of all crafts also, as well as lovers of film and story will find both challenges and the rewards that come of them in its pages. After all, the seed is one thing but the fruit is another—something the teacher is always anticipating with eagerness…