Thursday, June 24, 2010

Hello, Nobody!

And so another blog is thrust upon the internet. Another shouting voice in a sea of millions. Another person home alone in front of a computer screen, typing away about himself, not reading what all the other self-indulging bloggers already left rotting on the web. Just another no-name writing to nobody.


You're welcome, Nobody.


Nobody, you're a busy non-entity so I'll spare you more of the usual "this is my first post! yay!!" crap and get to the point: I love writing, I love movies, and I love video games. There are way too many websites about movies and video games out there so I'm not looking to add to the heap. There are, however, way too few sites about writing movies and video games. Written Bits will correct this situation.


I graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2005 with a BA in Film Production. I've worked on movies, small, big, and very big (check the film on The Dark Knight cutting room floor for Gotham Corrections Prisoner #52474, that's me!). Like most film students, I've done a bit of everything on set and I love the whole business.


For me the real excitement begins waaaaaay before those cameras roll, back at home, in my office. My desk is the stage, and my script is the star. I love writing screenplays. So far I have ten features to my name, one produced and a few in the works (thanks to a close friend of mine in Hollywood). I've written countless short scripts, as well as short stories, poems, and grocery lists. I take my advice from David Mamet, who once spoke to me personally through his script Glengarry Glen Ross and said "ABW: Always Be Writing." Or something like that.


If there's one thing that keeps me from obeying ABW, it's NES. And SNES. And N64. And Wii, XBox 360, Playstation 3, DSi, DSi XL, DS Lite, DS Fat, Genesis, Sega CD, Dreamcast, Saturn, Game Gear, Game Boy, Colecovision, Intellivision, Odyssey, Fairchild F -- I interrupt this unwarranted display of gamer knowledge bravado to mercifully bring you its conclusion. (Let's sum it all up by saying I even own a Virtual Boy. There.) Just as I love writing and movies, I love video games.


Nobody, here's where you can relate: Schindler's List is one of the greatest films of all time. Everyone knows it's Steven Spielberg's directorial masterpiece. But who wrote it? Nobody knows. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is widely heralded as the greatest video game ever made (and in my opinion, it is the greatest game ever made!). But who wrote it? Nobody knows. Now of course, people in Hollywood circles know who wrote Schindler's List (Steve Zaillian) and someone at Nintendo knows who wrote Ocarina of Time (no clue), but to the general public the writer is always a NOBODY.


Written Bits is this nobody's attempt to turn the spotlight toward the writer and all he/she brings to the table. Writing a story is hard, mind-taxing work, like putting together some ambiguous puzzle but first creating the pieces too. A great director is nothing without a great screenplay to direct. A story-driven video game requires hundreds or even thousands of pages written, and no one can say great gameplay overrides one thousand pages of bad writing. Film and game writers deserve more credit.


I may write about other subjects from time to time, whatever's on my mind. It just so happens my mind's usually on writing, movies, and video games. If you found your way here, Nobody, chances are your mind thinks the same way. Keep coming back to Written Bits and let's help writers everywhere become Somebody.

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