comedy

The countdown continues!

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**Disclaimer – this post is for the most part promoting stuff I’m doing, especially the second one, so it won’t be shared to some of the usual social media platforms because they frown on that sort of thing and I do my best to not be a rabble-rouser**

And with that out of the way…

Here’s a pair of brief but very, very important announcements:

-One week from today is the great unveiling of The Maximum Z 2025 Script Showcase! A thrilling assortment of screenplays, TV scripts and short scripts* from an exceptionally diverse cadre of skilled and savvy writers.

If you’re among those who has NOT sent in the info for your script, you have until Thursday 18 December to do so. All the details can be found here. Please make sure to read them carefully and be diligent about following the instructions.

*no webseries submissions as of yet, but it could still happen

-The crowdfunding campaign to raise post-production costs for my thrill-omedy short film SHECKY is up and running. The editing and sound departments are working their magic, and the latest cut is looking mighty good.

There are tier rewards, including invaluable feedback on scripts, directors reels, and acting reels. Great stuff all around.

If you’re a fan of indie filmmaking, terrible jokes, and supporting the screenwriting community, then I sincerely hope you can help out by chipping in a couple of bucks.

Thanks.

Planning ahead

Maximum Z action, Austin Film Festival, comedy, contests, determination, feedback, notes, perseverance, persistence, rewrite, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, strategy , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The aftermath of last week’s post about my more-than-questionable notes from Austin, along with a few sets of quality notes from actual humans, AKA trusted colleagues, on that script and another one, has made me realize that both scripts are pretty good, but have a lot of potential to be much, much better.

A lot of my focus these days is regarding the new action-comedy spec (which has seen some good progress over this past week), but after much consideration, I’ve concluded that it would be in my best interest in 2026 to not only get that one into fighting shape, but to also do some major work on the other two.

These rewrites will be especially challenging because this is when “kill your darlings” and “embrace the change” will be at the forefront of this strategy. I’m going to get in the mindset of being totally willing to make whatever changes are needed – but nothing too drastic. I don’t want to lose what was appealing about them in the first place.

There are still some notes to come in, but come January 1st, each day will see some kind of work on one of those scripts. Until then, it’s all about the new spec with the hope that I have a semi-decent outline by the end of this year.

Another aspect of this undertaking is totally skipping contests. I’d already drastically cut back, so this isn’t too much of a change. Better to have some really solid scripts ready for the following year, or at least as better samples for my manager to put out there.

I was initially hesitant to give this a try, but a very talented writer I know gave this a try and had some pretty amazing results. Not that I expect the same, but there’s no reason this will not only help my scripts improve, but also my overall writing skills. And it’s significantly better than not doing anything.

Fingers, as always, will be firmly crossed.

And not one moving box in sight

Maximum Z action, comedy, determination, development, encouragement, ideas, perseverance, persistence, screenplay, screenwriting, script, setting, spec, story, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After much frustration with figuring out the outline of the action-comedy spec, a startling realization developed:

where the majority of the story takes place was wrong

I’d been so obsessed with trying to make the setting work within the context of the story that I ignored the question of whether it was the right setting in the first place.

As it turns out – nope.

There was also the detail that the original location idea was way too similar to one of its comps. I was more focused on how to make mine different, when it should have been “how can I make this similar, but VERY different?”

This is a specific kind of story, so I needed a location that was the most appropriate AND that offered the most opportunities for scenes and sequences in Acts 2 and 3. Several options were weighed. And since this is action AND comedy, I needed somewhere where both could be adequately accommodated.

I wasn’t concerned with logistics or how realistic it would be, and wanted somewhere that would feel like the perfect fit. The primary question was: what works best for this story?

More options explored. Which offered the most opportunity to not only tell this story, but the most fun way/ways to do so?

Cue the light bulb.

A location that’s very unique, holds what seems like a vast selection of potential scenes and sequences, and definitely checks off the action and comedy aspects.

A lot of my ideas for what could happen in the previous location were tailored to that location. This new one is very different, so many of those were scrapped (while keeping the concepts in reserve, just in case). A new list is still being assembled, with many feeling right for the story and having a strong “haven’t seen that before” kind of vibe.

This was also beneficial because I’d been having trouble figuring out the specifics of the ending, and the new location offered up a few ideas – many of which would also not have worked before.

It’s still a work in progress, but coming up with this new wrinkle has really made a difference. Confidence levels continue to climb.

Happy Halloween and have a great weekend.

Does it have to be a light bulb?

Maximum Z action, comedy, determination, development, frustration, ideas, patience, perseverance, persistence, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The title of this post is the punchline to the classic joke “How many studio execs does it take to change a lightbulb?”

In other words, “How about this other option (that probably has nothing to do with the original concept)?”

I bring this up because the struggle with developing the action-comedy spec continues, now with the added concern that too many aspects of the story are too similar to other more well-known films. That is something I’m definitely trying to avoid, hence the struggle.

It goes without saying that the last thing I want is for somebody to read this and think “This is just a ripoff of _____”, so recent brainstorming sessions have all been about coming up with alternatives that still work within the concept of the story but are also unique enough so as to feel like a fresh take.

Another key part is that the details that need this attention are a key part of the story, so if they don’t work, the rest of it more or less falls apart – which is also something I’m hoping to avoid.

I’m not crazy about how challenging this one is or how long it’s taking to develop, but I’d much rather take the time to really fine-tune things and make sure everything works on all the appropriate levels than crank something out and not be happy with it.

I also wholeheartedly accept that no matter what the final choice is, it’ll involve a lot of rewriting to accommodate it. Then again, the overall story is still a work in progress, so either way there’s a lot of writing in my future.

Despite all of this, I’m still psyched about the story and really am having fun with putting it together. It’ll be quite interesting to see what the end result is.

Re-establishing a foothold

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A bit more of progress on the outline for the action-comedy spec, including coming up with some much-needed story details.

Things had been feeling very rudderless as I struggled to figure things out, and the pressure I was putting on myself wasn’t helping. So I did the most sensible thing and took a step back with a focus on the basic foundations of the story.

What needs to happen? What building blocks have to be in place? Is there enough “there” there to make this a workable story? Would everything work the way I’m hoping it does?

I wrote out the most basic outline I could think of, including combining pre-existing plot points with potential alternates (or at least additional details), and laying things out in a “A leads to B, which leads to C, etc.” sort of way.

This resulted in a bit more clarity regarding the progression of events as well as the filling-in of a few more blanks between all of them. Having a better idea of how the path should look tends to yield better results.

It’s not a lot, and there are still many gaps to be filled, but it’s a start of sorts and it definitely helps. Just overcoming this can be considered a victory in terms of writing and confidence in the ability to move things forward.

There are a lot more steps to go, but this feels like things are getting back on track and I hope to keep the mini-momentum going.