Creative Principles

Michael Tucker always wanted to be a filmmaker. After attending Film School, he joined some friends for what became Finite Films, a small production company focused on short films. “We spent a year making short films and web series,” he said, “then realized that short films and web series don’t pay the bills.” Tucker spent a few years doing editing work and helping with documentary films and small...

Shannon Burke is the author of ‘Safelight,’ ‘Black Flies,’ and ‘Into the Savage Country.’ Recently, he decided to partner with his screenwriting friends - Brothers Jonas and Josh Pate - to write a coming-of-age action adventure story. The idea of Outer Banks came from an article about a power outage on the Outer Banks. Pate said, “There was a photograph taken at dusk of these darkened mansions. It...

For nearly a decade, Benjamin Hardy felt a lack of purpose in his life. But, thanks to a church mission, he started journaling, found an interest in psychology, and then decided to become an author (while raising a family and acquiring his doctorate), despite the odds of achieving this goal in traditional publishing. In 2015, Hardy started blogging because he knew it was a potential route to becom...

While living in Mexico City, John Grillo saw an opportunity to work on a film set, so he came on as a translator for a Disney film. While meeting the crew, he was drawn to the lifestyle. These days, Grillo is a Cinematographer known for ‘Westworld,’ ‘The Leftovers,’ ‘Snowpiercer,’’ Preacher,’ and various Michael Mann projects such as ‘Luck,’ ‘Miami Vice,’ ‘Ali,’ and ‘Collateral.’ In this interview...

Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion met while working on animation projects. They created a short film in the horror-comedy genre (called ‘Boob’) that was accepted at SXSW. Thanks to this film, Elijah Wood’s company called to see if the duo wanted to pitch about a project called ‘Cooties.’ Thanks to their perseverance, they eventually landed the job (more on this in the interview). For their latest p...

Anna Winger has done a little bit of everything. She got her start in photography, where she did some commercial work and some documentary work, then wrote a novel, but if you have to summarize her career, she’s a storyteller. The writer-producer is known for Deutschland 83, Deutschland 86, Deutschland 89, and the new Netflix series, Unorthodox. Her latest project is the “story of a young ultra-Or...

Between 2018 and 2021, Matt Liberman will have 9 features in the works. We spoke with Matt about the “creepy” and “kooky” 'Addams Family' not long ago for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, but now we’re catching up some of his other films like 'The Christmas Chronicles' (and it’s sequel), 'Scoob!,' and the new Ryan Reynolds comedy, 'Free Guy.' In this interview, Liberman discusses how he’s so proli...

Australian Director Justin Kurzel got his start in the theater. He started working on short films and made music videos with his brother. Eventually, he made the jump - thanks to his clips - and started making films. Kurzel was hesitant to take on the first project he was offered, ‘The Snowtown Murders.’ Essentially, the story uncovered true events, revolving around a local murder and a spree or t...