LET'S START WITH THE COPYWRITING...
I WON A KEY ART AWARD IN 2009 and was nominated in 2008. For almost 10 years I worked as a copywriter and producer for a busy, award-winning trailer shop in the world of motion-picture advertising. That's where I learned to:
• write scripts that clients buy and editors can cut.
• distill stories down to their essence...or essences.
• generate volume and variety.
• give clients more than what they asked for, to give them what they want.
• find the funny in comedically challenged projects.
• continue to re-imagine long-standing projects over long periods.
• write tight, snazzy, bulleted lists.
LONGER A/V SCRIPTS ARE SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT.
They're as much about the ideas and structure as they are about the words. But you knew that.
All told, I have extensive experience writing in virtually all marketing short forms including:
Teasers ■ Trailers ■ TV Spots ■ Interstitials ■ Web ■ Upfronts ■ Print ■ "Edutainment"
■ Dialogue for talent and character ■ Cross-promotional materials ■ Sizzles for corporate
TELEVISION &
SCREENPLAYS
In my current role as Creative Director for Deacon Entertainment, I’ve been writing creatively a lot on company film and television projects. With a partner I’ve co-written an original thriller, co-rewritten two comedy screenplays, and we fleshed-out an extensive TV sit-com presentation based on the real life experiences of Obama insiders. On my own, I expanded a one-sentence pitch into a full treatment which got a Lifetime original movie set up. And as a group we’ve written dozens of paragraph-long series pitches for cable networks including OWN, ESQUIRE, and NFL Network. I’ve njoyed using the screenwriting chops I developed early in my career when a spec feature script got me the chance to write a network one-hour drama for ABC and a pilot for MTV. And after working in trailers and ads for so long, in my long-form writing, I’m now much more skilled at making scenes, jokes and moments really land
PRESENTATIONS &
WHITE PAPERS
In 2011 I worked with Academy-Award winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim on an extensive treatment/presentation for a television documentary project which ultimately aired in the summer of 2013 on CBS as TEACH. In my role at Deacon, I’ve written white papers, pitches, documents and prepared multiple Powerpoints, many for a corporate consulting client. Two of the white papers were successful in convincing our client to green light two separate projects, each of which required a substantial capital investment.
...AND I PERFORM
I write short comedic essays that I perform at shows throughout Los Angeles. Some favorite venues include: Don’t Tell My Mother, PEZ: The Personal Ezzay Show, Sit-n-Spin, Tell It! and A Very Special Episode. A few years ago I finally had the guts to try my hand at stand-up and, over the course of a year, performed all over town including at The Improv, and The Comedy Story. In 1999 I was able to get through to a producer on This American Life and pitched her a story that they used for “Act three of our program. Act three.” After the interview I told Ira Glass that speaking with him made me feel culturally validated.
