Silent screen icon Norma Desmond finally agrees to an interview. I meet her at her Sunset Boulevard mansion. She sits regally by the decaying swimming pool. TOM LAZARUS: Miss Desmond, this is an honor. Thank you very much for this opportunity. N.D.: I owe it to the millions of fans who have […]
After more than two dozen requests, Norma Desmond, famed silent film icon and star of the Billy Wilder masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, finally agrees to an interview. I’m invited to her mansion in the ten thousand block of Sunset Boulevard. Her yard is a jungle and I’m surprised the City of Beverly Hills lets her get […]
429645233 +623951198 The more you write, the better your script. For more, read LAST WORD, by Tom Lazarus Michael Wiese Productions
Why did you write The Last Word? I’ve been teaching Advanced Screenwriting Workshop and Advanced Rewriting Workshop at UCLA Extension, Writer’s Program, for many years and have found that the workshop process, based on the writing of the screenwriters in class, is invaluable in terms of teaching screenwriting. These real world screenwriting problems and their solutions […]
I’ve been seeing a lot of L.A. Theater over the last couple years as I try my hand at writing for the stage and I’ve noticed that any number of the plays written by actors have had a tendency to go ‘off-message,’ that is, they go for the performance and the story suffers. I […]
When last you heard from me post the book signing riots that swept across Los Angeles– I had been saved from the antiquated three act structure of Syd Fields, Tiffany and the Redhead were spirited away and I was bagged by thugs. I awake in what appears to be some kind of huge formal […]
Paul Thomas Anderson is a terrific filmmaker. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, MAGNOLIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS, all wonderfully made films. THE MASTER, too, is pristinely made; epic in size and ambition, it’s a totally accomplished piece of filmmaking. The photography is exceptional. The performances are Oscar-worthy. The story is interesting. And the reviews in the New York Times, […]
I awake in a darkened classroom. What the hell is going on? It’s really creepy, something out of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. A bare bulb lights and swings back and forth. There are the two book groupies, Tiffany and the Redhead. Now, in the shifting light, they don’t look so innocent. They actually […]
I recovered from the book signing debacle in Larchmont. I sold a bunch of books but the money wasn’t enough to pay for replacing my shredded clothes and medical bills. But, it didn’t end there. My phone didn’t stop ringing. Book groupies! Who knew? I’m happily married. I want to make that clear. And I […]
Over the years, I’ve learned how to survive emotionally and psychologically in Hollywood so I didn’t end up floating face down in Norma Desmond’s swimming pool. (See SUNSET BOULEVARD, the movie. It’s fantastic. One of the top ten movies of all time.) I don’t get my ego strokes only if someone likes the script, […]
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