I loved every single second of Crazy Rich Asians. (Even though I insist that there ought to be a comma between "crazy" and "rich.")
Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy that perfectly captures a world, a style, and a tone. But it's also a genuine cultural watershed moment that managed to be fun, romantic, and thrilling to watch. I’m in love.
Run, don't walk, to see it.
Lately, I've been winding down my screenwriting contest entries for a variety of reasons (which I hope to discuss in a blog post one of these days), but I still have a few final contests for which I'm awaiting results.
One of those is the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, one of the most prestigious screenwriting contests around, which I entered earlier this year.
I'm thrilled that my drama pilot script CONNECTION was selected as a quarter-finalist in this year's competition, ranking within the top 10 percent of all contest entries, of which there were an astounding 6,560 entries this year. (WHAT.)
(It's also my 26th screenwriting contest placement!)
To put that in perspective, Jennifer Berg, PAGE's Administrative Director, wrote, "Over 150 scripts advanced in the Drama category, over 120 scripts advanced in the Comedy category, approximately 100 scripts advanced in the Thriller/Horror and TV Drama categories, and between 50 and 80 scripts have advanced in each of the other categories — all adding up to a total of 876 Quarter-Finalists this year."
A full list of quarter-finalists can be found at the PAGE Awards site here.
After deliberately dragging my feet in order to actually enjoy the show rather than race through it (thank you, binge viewing!), I finished Season 2 of Netflix's GLOW the other night and can’t stop thinking about that final scene on the bus, which body slammed me right in the heart.
Despite my undying love for Season 1, GLOW broke that dreaded sophomore season curse to deliver a second go-around that was a perfect season of television, one that pushed its characters forward in intriguing and unexpected ways and deepened the supporting players considerably. (Tammé, I love you.)
Add in a timely #MeToo parallel, an AIDS subplot, the culmination of that Ruth/Debbie rivalry, the simmering of the Ruth/Sam dynamic, and one of the best uses of Yaz's "Only You" — not to mention the amazing Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling promo that Ruth directed in the shopping mall and that astonishing eighth episode that I wanted to live in forever and ever — and you have the makings of a pitch-perfect season that I never wanted to end.
The wait for Season 3 is going to be painful, Netflix.
It's time to get honest about my writing journey...
Oh, my kingdom for a staff writer gig. (I kid. Sort of.)
I wish I’d tried to make this move a decade ago. Trying to change careers and move from writing about television to actually writing television feels 10,000 times harder when you’re 40 years old and a parent to a small child.
But there is a joy that comes from screenwriting, from breaking stories, from living in it.
Journeys are never straight lines between two points. They twist and turn, often into unexpected detours. There are more pitfalls than shortcuts, or breakdowns so severe that it seems the end is in sight. You pick yourself up, brush off the dust, apply salve, and keep going.
And that's what I'm doing.
The thing that no one tells you about following your passions: the road is twisty, rife with peril and numerous obstacles, and it seems to stretch on endlessly at times.
Most people view success as a binary: you're either successful (you've made it!) or you've failed. The truth is that it's a constant struggle. Every day that you persevere is a WIN. Every day that you write, that you put words on a page, is a WIN.
One of the most difficult things to do as a struggling writer is to reframe that entire concept of success. Because the milestones keep moving further into the distance.
See each day that you write as a success. Keep writing. Keep striving.
RIP Anthony Bourdain.
For you, food was a gateway to the complexity and universality of a human experience, the thing that binds us together as a species. Through eating, you sought to understand how cultures & people tick, how they survive, how they flourish.
You will be missed.
Depression and anxiety are silent thieves that break into your home in the dead of night, steal your belongings, rearrange your furniture, and chip away at your sense of self. We can never truly know other people’s pain.
Be kind. Be gentle. With others and yourself.
Beyond excited for the new installments of The Staircase, which launch on Netflix this week. I've been a devotee of this ongoing true-crime drama since it launched way back when in 2005.
A few years back, I had the director of The Staircase, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade write a piece for me at The Daily Beast about Michael Peterson, the owl theory, and more:
“...I am still unsure about exactly what happened the night of December 9. I do not know how Kathleen Peterson died. I cannot assert with absolute certainty that Michael Peterson did not kill his wife. No one can. I am convinced, however, that Michael did not receive a fair trial in 2003. The prosecutors pulled out all the stops in order to procure a guilty verdict. They disinterred a body 17 years after burial. The case exposed Michael’s sexual life to undue public scrutiny—without a shred of evidence that this had contributed to a possible motive. Worse still, they called on an expert witness—an imposter—who made a mockery of scientific procedure.”
If you've never seen The Staircase, do yourself a favor and watch the grand-daddy of true crime dramas: a searing, emotional, and moving examination of innocence and guilt as the secrets and lies of a family come pouring out...
I said it once, and I’ll say it again: “This is the show we need right now.”
Binge every episode of The Good Fight now on CBS All-Access (and not just because I'm quoted in the video).
Proper reactions to season 2 of The Good Fight: OMG, WTF, and holy sh*t. 🔥🍸👠 Binge every episode now: http://bit.ly/2sqLrus
The morning after and I can’t stop thinking about this finale. The psychic damage was profound, resulting in an emotional carnage as shocking as any of the series’ numerous kills: That garage scene. The hug in the driveway. U2. The final scene behind the curtain.
It was a perfect, harrowing, heartbreaking finale of FX's The Americans, offering both a homecoming and an inescapable sense of hiraeth. I’m going to miss this show, these characters, and ultimately the very mood of this remarkable show.
A perfect, harrowing, heartbreaking finale of #TheAmericans, offering both a homecoming and an inescapable sense of hiraeth. I’m going to miss this show, these characters, and ultimately the very mood of this remarkable show. pic.twitter.com/dP6HVep0Fm
— Jace Lacob (@televisionary) May 31, 2018
The Good Fight's second season finale blends political potboiler, conspiracy thriller, pregnancy comedy, and legal drama into an incisive, powerful whole.
Plus, Diane and Kurt at their very best, jingles, swipes at the current news cycle, and one of the most elegant match cuts ever. (Yes, seriously, EVER.)
Unmissable.
The Good Fight could possibly not be a better show than it has been this season. This is the show we need right now and we are so damn lucky to have it.
Tremendous, outstanding television every week.
...and I am so, so happy to have Saga Norén back on my television.
This final season of Broen (The Bridge) is so tremendous: a death-defying tightrope walk of dramatic expectations, tensions, and revelations. :chef kiss:
When it comes to contests, it's hard not to get excited by every win or placement. It's validation that you're clearly doing something right and when you're writing by yourself at your desk, it's recognition that your struggles are not in vain. However, it's also important to remember that, when it comes to contests, you win some, and you lose some. Contests are by their nature competitive... and fellowships even more so.
So I was overjoyed this morning when I learned that my pilot script CONNECTION has advanced to the semi-finals of ScreenCraft's 5th Annual Screenwriting Fellowship, an insanely competitive and prestigious fellowship program. (Full disclosure: one of my good friends was a ScreenCraft Fellow last year.) The semi-finalists represent "approximately the top 10% of submissions received," according to ScreenCraft.
I'm really chuffed to see this pilot script make it through to this next round against some really tough competition. (Alas, my screenplay ESCAPE didn't make it to the semi-finals, after placing in the quarter-finals.)
The full list of semi-finalists can be found at the ScreenCraft site... while I sit on pins and needles waiting for them to announce the Fellowship finalists on June 8. Fingers crossed...
In fact, it feels exactly like this:
My friend @televisionary wrote a spec script for JESSICA JONES that is better than any produced ep in the series. Creepy, fun, layered, & captures her voice perfectly. Seriously — staff this man.
— Anna Klassen (@AnnaJKlassen) May 14, 2018
Thank you, my friend. Your words and support mean so much to me. More than I can express.
Another contest update: after being named a quarter-finalist in Stage 32"s 3rd Annual TV Writing Contest, I'm happy to announce that CONNECTION has now placed as a semi-finalist.
Any placement is worth celebrating — it's recognition. Writing is such a solitary endeavor that any sort of recognition is meaningful and serves as much needed fuel — but when it's a second placement in an ongoing contest, it's all the more powerful.
Tonight marks the season finale of Good Girls, which quickly became one of the shows I’m most eager to watch each week: smart, sly, timely, and wickedly funny.
I need a second season of Ruby, Beth, and Annie almost as much as these women need cash.
Thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, MASTERPIECE Studio — the podcast that I host for MASTERPIECE on PBS — took home a Webby win, this time for Best Arts & Culture Podcast — People's Voice.
Thank you to all who voted for us... and for continuing to listen to this true labor of love, now in its third year!
In more contest news, my pilot script CONNECTION has been named a quarter-finalist in Stage 32's 3rd Annual TV Writing Contest.
This contest placement marks a real milestone for me: it's the 25th screenwriting contest placement I've received since September. That number is truly staggering to me: 25. Twenty-five.
I am really honored that the judges in these various screenwriting contests have seen something worthwhile in my scripts and my writing overall... Recognition means a lot — a hell of a lot — when you're sitting at your desk, typing the keys on your computer, alone. I'm still hopeful that I can translate these contest wins/placements into something more concrete and permanent. In the meantime, the recognition alone is a vital reminder to keep writing.
A full list of the quarter-finalists can be found at the Stage 32 site...
I've been a huge fan of the work that ScreenCraft has done in the contest/coverage/writing advice space in the last few years — and have been lucky enough to place in several of their contests.
I was overjoyed this morning to discover that two of my scripts, CONNECTION and ESCAPE, have both placed as quarter-finalists in ScreenCraft's 5th Annual Screenwriting Fellowship. (One of my close friends was a fellow last year and it completely jump-started her writing career.)
I have no idea if both — or either — of these scripts will advance beyond this level (fingers crossed!), but I feel so incredibly proud to have even made it this far, especially given how stiff the competition is for this fellowship: there were a record 2000 applications this year for the fellowship. That I managed to sneak through TWO scripts is amazing to me. (Time for a pat on the back.)
This next episode of The Good Fight is exquisite from start to end, particularly the painfully timely — and painfully funny — tag (which must be seen to be believed).
This show manages to be both a balm for the crazy times in which we live, and a cattle prod for action.