About

I had my first painting exhibit in high school. I dropped out of art school after a year and half and moved to Greenwich Village to live the life of an artist and went crazy.

Psychoanalysis changed my life and I got a job in ad agency cutting mattes and emptying the water of the art directors in art department. After a few months, I was promoted to compiling the daily movie listings for the newspapers, which led to becoming Account Executive on a few small theatrical chains. After a year, I was recruited by 20th Century-Fox to be their Assistant Advertising Manager. After a few years, another ad agency asked me to become the Account Executive on the MCA/Universal account. A big deal.

After a year, the agency lost the account and MCA hired me and my whole department of twenty to continue the work we were doing. We expanded into doing album covers and I was nominated for a Grammy for album cover design.

I moved back to New York as a Partner in a small motion picture boutique…and failed miserably prompting another cross- country journey to start up a small film company with my brother Paul for Psychology Today making educational films. Four years and multiple film festival awards later for the films I wrote and directed, I left that company to try and make it writing for film and television.

Over the course of the next years, I had nine feature movies and six movies of the week produced from my screenplay and teleplays. I also worked on nine series as Writer/Producer.

To become a director, I pitched a script to Playboy for me to direct. They had me do a short to see if I could do it and that was the beginning of nine-year relationship where I wrote and directed four feature movies and developed my own series which I exec produced, wrote and directed. It was a hit for five years.

During this time, I was teaching Screenwriting at UCLA Extension and ended up happily teaching for over twenty years. Over that time, I wrote three books on screenwriting.

Next, I began writing and directing theatre, which I continue to this day and wrote and directed a number of full length plays and lots of short plays. I wrote and directed two original evenings of music with Stevie Stern. The highlight of this period was the production of my original play THE PRINCES OF KINGS ROAD, which garnered terrific reviews and sold-out performances.

As I continue in the theater, I’m also focusing on making quirky little videos and over the last few years and more than forty videos later, my odd little videos have won five film festival awards.

Tom Lazarus

March 1, 2023

Check out my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/lazarustom1/videos

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Reviews for The Last Word

“Some of Hollywood’s most successful writers whisper about learning it from Tom! His approach is unorthodox, but crystal clear and on the money. A master at teaching the elusive art of good screenwriting. The Last Word is his best book yet.”
Sid Ganis, producer and past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,

"If you’re sitting down to write your first screenplay, you need to read this book. If you’ve written a couple of screenplays and are still trying to break in, you need to read this book. Hell, if you’ve been earning your living writing screenplays for the past six years, you should read this book. Informative, provocative, illustrative — all the qualities of the great teacher Tom Lazarus are right here. Indispensable for anyone who writes or is thinking about writing movies."
Scott Frank, screenwriter: Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report,

“Smart, funny, and helpful to the max, this cleverly organized book of tips for the professional and would-be professional writer by veteran writer/producer Tom Lazarus demonstrates why his screenwriting classes at UCLA Extension fill with wait lists. A stellar read and recommended for every screenwriter's bookshelf.”
Bonnie MacBird, screenwriter: Tron, Emmy-winning producer, and former Universal Studios feature film story exec,

“A terrific guide for beginners.”
John Badham, Director,

“Serves up a delicious feast of what writers most need but seldom get – the truth. Want praise for every page you write? Ask Mom. Want to learn, grow, and become a top screenwriter? Take a deep breath and read “The Last Word.” It’s an enormously practical, lucid, spot-on book that will make you a stronger writer."
Eric Edson, screenwriter, professor, author of The Story Solution,

"Spells out the basics of screenwriting in a clear and concise way. Ignore the words of Mr. Lazarus at your peril. This book is simple, to the point, and invaluable.”
Matthew Terry, filmmaker/screenwriter/teacher – reviewer,

“Golden nuggets which every screenwriter needs to heed. I will recommend this book to every one of my clients.”
Stan Williams, Author of The Moral Premise,

“Really good advice delivered in a really practical way. Shows you bad writing and improved writing, and the light bulb goes on. Seeing the mistakes other writers make gives insights into the writing process that you don't often find. It promotes letting go of that critical voice that says ‘I’m no good at this’ or ‘who does he think he is?’ so you can take advantage of good feedback. This is a book I will keep on my bookshelf!
Kim Hudson, Speaker, Author, Script Consultant – Archetypal Structure,

“Provides a realistic, no-nonsense glimpse at what writers can expect when an agent, producer, or studio exec is considering your script for representation or purchase. Author, instructor, and screenwriter Tom Lazarus gives us a handy, but practical A to Z approach on some of the most common storytelling roadblocks that can spell the difference from a "pass" to a "sale" in a competitive marketplace!
Kathie Fong Yoneda, consultant, workshop leader, author of The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider's Look At Getting Your Script Sold and Produced,

"Tom Lazarus serves up non-nonsense story development notes in a clear, authoritative voice. He's the kind of ally smart writers want as they confront the bare page."?
David McKenna, Author of Memo from the Story Department,

"The Last Word takes screenwriting books to the next level. Think of this as going to grad school. Tom Lazarus has walked the halls of Hollywood in both film and television and knows how things work."
D.B. Gilles, author The Screenwriter Within, 2nd Edition,

Tom Lazarus

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Tom Lazarus

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Subscribe to LAZARUS RISING:

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