Creating a short or a feature that has award-winning potential at any film festival is no easy task. When writing and/or directing a short, the key is finding a thought-provoking life moment that will intrigue and connect your audience in a short amount of time. You have to enter the...

This is a question that I've contemplated on the road to creating the life I want to capture through my story. I remember many years ago seeing, "The Kid Stays in the Picture," the documentary about the life of movie producer Robert Evans. I was enraptured by it. At that...

Recently, I returned from teaching for the TV Writers Summit in London and the TV Writers Studio in Australia. These trips symbolized the beginning of a dream that I set for myself five years ago. I wanted to teach story on a global level as a way to stop isolation...

Your personal fall can be what drives you toward your professional win. As a story consultant, I like fiction that connects the central character's personal wound to the professional outcome; their personal dilemma is tied to their professional dilemma, so that accomplishing the external goal signifies a win on both...

The beginning of a new year fuels all of us. We are left feeling good after the holidays. We see January 1st as the beginning of a new chapter. Many of us set resolutions while others no longer believe in resolutions. Some of you reading this now might be thinking...

A story begins when the world of a central character is thrown out of alignment. This triggers a call to action. The central character takes action in pursuit of the goal that will bring his/her world back into alignment. Without a story, we the audience could not connect to the...

As a story/career consultant I am constantly designing frameworks and tools to help people understand how to tell their story in a way that results in their audience feeling their message.

There is no better feeling than when a story resonates in a way that strikes an emotional chord...

How do you go from having an unrealized dream to realizing your dream? I explore this concept in my upcoming book, Change Your Story, Change Your Life: A Path to Your Success.

Both in fiction and in life, you have a choice: you can be an active hero in your...

When it comes to your business or your life what is your message? This was the question in focus at the recent Experts Academy seminar. Eight hundred people gathered at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara to learn from one of the top business trainers in the world who teaches...

Sharing passion is the gift that connects us all. It is the glue that makes a dream a reality. When we connect with others who are where we want to be, we start to believe the dream is possible. All we need to do is define our dream and then...

The idea that we are all evolving or that we all have the ability to evolve to a higher consciousness is a hot topic in the media. Authors are taking us on a journey into a deeper awareness of ourselves. Lecturers are covering concepts like how to find joy and...

It is amazing how art inspires art, in particular when you attend a film festival, take in each artist's perspective, and you see what works and why it works. The experience awakens something inside of you that can help you further define your own art. This was an invaluable part...

We grow up being taught to believe external things will bring happiness. Many of us learn to equate our own happiness with the level of success we achieve and the external things that come with the achievement. If we meet the right person, if we have the perfect job with...

Higher consciousness: Is this a state that we will all become familiar with? Is it part of our destiny? As an author and a Story/Career Consultant, I study and am fascinated by the concept of how we move from ego into a higher consciousness that benefits the greater good both...

This is the dramatic question that I am exploring in my next book, Change Your Story, Change Your Life, which I am currently writing. I find that as a culture, we are obsessed with the idea of change or bettering ourselves. It is a prevalent subject in books (where the...

In any story, your primary goal as the writer is to make your audience feel you in your story. You can make your story more universal by looking at the goal and the stakes in story from an external, internal and philosophical viewpoint. In story as in life, as time...

Celebrating the New Year often symbolizes a fresh start and a new beginning for each one of us. We reflect on the year past and give gratitude for our successes, think about what we wanted to do but didn't or what we tried to do but perhaps didn't work out....

For the holidays, I love the idea of sparking, lighting and rekindling our spirits through feelings of connection with those around us. How do we take the time to connect when life is so busy and moving so quickly? For many of us, the holiday season is a blur because...

I'm currently writing my new book, Change Your Story, Change Your Life, where I explore the concept of shifting from ego to spirit during life's turning points. Learning how to move from the ego to the spirit is a daily practice for many of us.

The shift from ego...

A strong character can make all the difference in the world in a good story. Crafting a complex character that your audience connects with on a deeper level is the goal for every writer. How do you add depth to your character and your story? What makes the viewer feel...