C.S. Lewis on why you need to read more old books: “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable

“For J.R.R. Tolkien, the single most important element of a fairy tale was the dramatic reversal of misfortune in the story's ending.” bit.ly/46uZlwx #SecretsToAGoodStory #Writing #Hope #KeyElements

"A good director has to be a captain - he has to work with a lot of people every day." - Melanie Laurent

"Editing is where movies are made or broken. Many a film has been saved and many a film has been ruined in the editing room." - Joe Dante

“Without risks you don’t go anywhere, you don’t learn anything, and the movies that have been least enjoyable for me have been the ones that have kind of been by rote. Directors should always explore their boundaries — that’s where really exciting things happen.” - Ellen Kuras

“Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.” - William Landay

“In the first act, get your hero up a tree; in the second act, throw stones at him, and in the third act, get him down safely.” - George Abbott

Fun fact: One of the most expensive commercials ever was for Chanel No. 5 perfume. 'No. 5 The Film', directed by Baz Luhrmann, starred Nicole Kidman. It cost $33 million, of which Kidman earned $3 million. It set a precedent for luxury advertising.

"Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window." - William Faulkner

"Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing." - Norman Mailer

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." - Hannah Arendt

"A good story is always more dazzling than a broken piece of truth." - Diane Setterfield

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Benjamin Franklin

"I love the idea that the editing room is the final time you write. You should still be creatively solving problems even at that point. It's not really until you're locked that you can call it quits." - Noah Hawley

5 writing tips from Charles Dickens (the guy who invented the cliffhanger technique, got fan mail from the Queen, and sold 100 million books): 1. The greater your literary ambition, the more you must live. Charles Dickens to an aspiring writer who'd sent him a manuscript: "I

“One of the things you do as a writer and as a filmmaker is grasp for resonant symbols and imagery without necessarily fully understanding it yourself.” - Christopher Nolan

"You either are a good director or you're not." - Rebecca Hall

Gatorade is a $1,000,000,000 company. The way they’ve become so lucrative? DIGITAL storytelling with a PERSONAL element. Here’s how they’ve used the app ‘Highlight’ to revolutionize the market (and what you can steal from them too): Gatorade cracked the code to digital

📺 This World Television Day 📺 Please be aware of the OFF-AIR NIGHTMARE! UK unscripted TV has ground to a halt. The commissioning downturn means NO WORK for up to 80% of TV workers. With the severe loss of income, the industry is experiencing a huge BRAIN DRAIN

As you’re watching the BAFTAs tonight remember: 95% of indie producers who have produced 3-5 features earned less than £25k a year for their producing work. 82% bafta nominated/winning indie producers earned less than £15k a year. Stats from UK Producers Roundtable.