The Last of Us series rocks for several reasons, chief among them the writing. Mazin puts on a clinic in how to write action lines. He's not directing on the page, and he's not just describing what happens. The FEELING and INTENTION of each action take center stage and make it propulsive!
#scriptsky

Watched Paddington for the first time. Incredible, clearly. But the best part is that everyday Londoners don't initially avoid him at the station because he's a talking bear. It's because he's a HOMELESS IMMIGRANT! And the movie totally goes in on this theme! Teach the children, bear!
#scriptsky

Villanelle's intro in the Killing Eve pilot has been in my head for years.
Shows us exactly who she is in a way that's surprising to us, but a normal Tuesday for her. We're ready to watch her do or be anything.
Plus if I'm an actor, I'm salivating. The writing promises so much playtime! #scriptsky

So (news flash): I'm Black. As is my 3yo daughter. And she just told us that a girl at preschool said she didn't like her hair because of how it was curly.

And, man.

I know the painful realization that the world doesn't love us is a Black rite of passage but...

I just hoped she'd have more time.

MY GOD. The Interview With The Vampire pilot.
The heavy lifting that script does to build a world, mythology, character, plot engine while cracking along with dialogue that tells the story with both the words said and unsaid? Masterclass.
And this Louis character intro? Beautiful.
#scriptsky

It just dawned on me that Obama was singing Not Like Us along with the rest of the world this summer but on his year end list he put a far less passionately inflammatory, beef-adjacent Kendrick track, and that move alone is everything that's wrong with the Democratic party.

Thank you @mishellbaker.bsky.social for this urgent reminder. I definitely needed it. My rage has been so insistent.

Use your moments to live, laugh and create. Not by accident, but with intention.

Great advice I just heard: 2 rules for crafting the elusive "shocking" ending to a pilot/series/film:

Make it inevitable. Make it surprising.

Inevitable from a character choice standpoint+surprising in context and execution=satisfying.

Think of the endings you loved. This tracks! #scriptsky

Rewatching Across the Spiderverse, and marveling at the storytelling choices and efficiency. On the page? It's even more efficient.

In these four descriptive lines, the ENTIRETY of Gwen's universe aesthetic is summed up for the first and only time. Awesome.

#scriptsky

Just saw Inside Out 2 and I'm sorry what do you mean Parent Island is tiny and decrepit young lady when you got hot food, running water, free cell phone, no polio cuz of my health care, Santa Claus, tolerance of your gross fluids and odors, girl I brought you in this world I'll take you out--

In TV writing, one truth stands above the rest: it's nothing short of a lottery-level MIRACLE when a writer's idea for a show makes it onto our TVs.

Thus, I want to start sharing quick thoughts on TV! And whether or not I loved a thing, my words will only ever be positive. Miracles deserve it!

!

This x1000.
With all the pressure authors are under to become bestsellers, we often need to recalibrate what 'success' means when that doesn't happen.

Every time someone reaches out to say how much my book meant to them, I get so emotional I worry my heart will explode.

That's the real success.

Me: K time to brush teeth!

3yo: (dripping with condescension) Oh, Papa...(goes back to urgent toddler task)

Me: ... (Takes a silent seat head in hands wondering when my life became such a joke that a 3yo won't even consider me a valid purveyor of reasonable thought)

Me, to my 6 month old son when I change his diaper and he pees straight up into my nostril:

Wife (in admirable baritone to our 3yo): Ho Ho Ho! What would you like for Christmas?

3yo: A teddy bear! But Santa, what would YOU like for Christmas?

Wife: <stunned heart-filling silence of a holiday deity who's only ever been squeezed dry for their generosity>

I'm not violent or vindictive. But at the airport a random toddler walked up to my toddler and, unprovoked, slapped her in the face.

It took every ounce of me not to throw that baby in the overhead compartment unrestrained to rattle around during takeoff.

Landed in the USA for the first time in 2 years. Didn’t realize the weight of fearing for my Black life daily until I went expat.

I walked past smiling neighbors with Trump lawn signs in Wisconsin this week, fight or flight came out of hibernation and it felt…American.

Cool.