Be sure to follow 5AM StoryTalk at Instagram where my readers/listeners across social media platforms and podcast players can collide and discuss the arts, recent articles and podcast episodes, and what my guests think about any number of subjects. Find me here: www.instagram.com/5amstorytalk...

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin compares ICE to Nazis in what appears to be a public acknowledgment that she also thinks the wrong side won WWII. The Trump Administration, folks.

Claudia Cardinale has left us at 87 years old. Some thoughts on the icon's work, from '8 1/2' to 'Once Upon a Time in the West', at the link...

Happy Birthday to "The Best of Both Worlds", a fab double episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation! Part 2 aired 35 years ago today. Stay tuned for a related announcement later today! I also discuss this story in 5AM StoryTalk with screenwriter @colehaddon.bsky.social #StarTrek #TNG

'Study for Aspects of Negro Life: An Idyll of the Deep South', 1934. Watercolor painting by Aaron Douglas (American).

Liz Craft & @sarahfain.bsky.social - showrunners (i.e., the 'Fantasy Island' reboot), authors, and podcasters (‘Happier in Hollywood’) - join me for an artist-on-artists conversation at the 5AM StoryTalk Newsletter this week. There's so much to learn from their multi-media journey!

One of the last pictures of Marilyn Monroe ever taken, from her final photo session before she died, 1962. Photograph by George Barris.

“I avoid all critical theory because I worry about it feeding into my work. I mean, I don’t worry about nonfiction in general feeding in—in fact, I hope it will—but I worry about criticism influencing me because it can create a vicious circle or something worse.” — Octavia Butler

Tell me you’ve never watched 'Star Trek' without telling me you’ve never watched 'Star Trek'.

In the latest 5AM StoryTalk Podcast minisode, we explore the question: How do we survive as artists today in this uncertain market and these uncertain times? I'll also share 5 essential lifestyle and financial tips I wish someone had given me when I decided to become a professional writer.

I’m not a big fan of nitpicking stories over so-called “logic holes” unless they disrupt the story, but this one made me chuckle.

The moments in life and art that matter most are very often the ones we can't explain, replicate, or ever hope to hold on to. Check out my latest pop-culture essay 'The Magic and Mystery of Ephemeral Things'...

Some of you replied to this post with some incredibly lazy attempts to dunk on Taika's films because you think that's cool. But he's referring to writing 1st drafts, which you can at least revise, rather than the imaginary scripts a lot of you will never write - or even attempt to.

Prince performing in Detroit, 1980. Photograph by Leni Sinclair.

“A bad script that’s written is still better than an amazing one that isn’t.” — Taika Waititi

I'm in Australia, and September 23rd will be over in six hours. If I'm still here after that, should I assume the Rapture was again erroneously announced...or did God conveniently schedule it to transpire according to the U.S.'s time zones?

Trump just declared anyone who opposes fascism is a member of a make-believe domestic terrorist organization he can order investigated, hunted down, and arrested. Well: I am antifa.

it's HAPPENING! I've revealed the subject of my next book and it's YES of course, it's a deep dive into #BattlestarGalactica! For that news and a few thoughts on the #BSG convention that just took place, read this! 💚🔥 www.moryan.com/its-official...

"Fuck you - make me!" The only rule any of us should follow when confronted by fascism.

Incredibly meta contemporary poster for Steven Spielberg’s film DUEL (1971). Art by Olivier Courbet.

This week on 5AM RealTalk, a 5AM StoryTalk plog, I tackle censorship in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the risk to artists for speaking up IRL and in their work, what Amazon 'reconstructing' Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons using AI really means, KPop Demon Hunters, and more.

Diahann Carroll, 1963. Photograph by Milton H. Green.

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
― William Faulkner

In 1987, when this interview was recorded, somewhere between 20 and 25% of Americans were functionally illiterate.

Christ, this hits so hard, @benleemusic.bsky.social. I've listened to it five times in a row now, crying most of the time. "What was all that dreaming for?"

'Back Alley', 1955. Location: Hong Kong. Photograph by Fan Ho (Chinese).

The paywall has dropped on this 5AM StoryTalk Podcast bonus episode with the brilliant @harthanson.bsky.social, creator of 'Bones'. Listen to him break down a seminal piece of art from his life - the pilot episode of 'Northern Exposure'. Listen here: pod.link/1807437928/e...

Scriptnotes co-host John August tells me about the worst experience of his screenwriting career. You can listen to the rest of my conversation with John at the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5...

Keep it up, guys. Then, take the fight to the rest of the corporations supporting this fascist administration.

Are you a screen/writer hoping to create within various genres? Well, I asked a host of prominent filmmakers, novelists and comic book creators from around the globe to weigh in about the value of genre storytelling and how these stories are still disrespected by many in the arts (because they are).

At the 5AM StoryTalk Newsletter, I curate a photo essay series from submissions by my readers and anyone else who wants to share something beautiful they encountered in our world. Check it out and, if you want to contribute to the next quarter’s edition, find the relevant email in the article.

From the making of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978): Shooting the iconic introduction of Superman to the people of Metropolis and the world. Photographer unknown.

Dolly Parton in Nashville, 1976. Photograph by Harry Benson.

Page 1 of Robert De Niro’s copy of the RAGING BULL (1980) script, covered in his scribbled notes.

Indiana Jones: OG Antifa.

How do we survive as artists today in this uncertain market and these uncertain times? This is the question I explore in the latest episode of the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast. I also share 5 essential financial and lifestyle tips I wish someone had given me with when I became a professional screenwriter.

Freddie Mercury having his famous mustache groomed by Steve Wood, 1982. Photographer unknown.

“Photography is truth. The cinema is truth 24 times per second.” — Jean-Luc Godard

“This isn’t the America I know” Black People:

This post made me think of the brilliant 'Mitchell and Webb' skit 'Are We the Baddies?' www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKc...

Guys, I don't vote for white supremacists or politicians who honor them. Which isn't going to be a problem for me since there isn't going to be a fair election in the U.S. for a very long time anyway. thehill.com/homenews/hou...

Stephen Colbert wasn't fucking around tonight. He went for it. This is the right kind of energy, Hollywood (and by Hollywood, I mean everyone not trying to suckle at the tit of a pumpkin-colored fascist).

Remember all the times Democrats said they couldn't blow up Senate rules to protect America's democracy because it would set a dangerous precedent that might put America's democracy at risk?

If you're concerned about what the apparent cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show means for Hollywood's relationship to fascism, you might be fascinated to know this isn't the first time its CEOs have climbed into bed with Nazis...

Japanese poster for THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958). Such a fun film. I even made a few references to it while working on a feature project for WB. If you want to learn more about the crazy that went into that project's early development, check out the next comment from me in this thread.

In the latest 5AM StoryTalk Podcast minisode, we explore the question: How do we survive as artists today in this uncertain market and these uncertain times? I'll also share 5 essential lifestyle and financial tips I wish someone had given me when I decided to become a professional writer.

Joan Crawford in Los Angeles, 1959. Photograph by Eve Arnold.

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” ― Marc Chagall

Antifa means "anti-fascist." What he means is, he's planning to designated anyone who opposes him as part of a "major terrorist organization."

What is your favorite shot in any Batman film and why is it this one?