A movie exec and a toon duck give a film critic offers he can’t refuse. 2,741 words. Illustration #1 by Thomas Wearing. Illustration #2 by Mark Fearing. I had been waiting a long time for this. Freiburg Studios was not in the habit of letting film historians go rummaging through their archives. Of course, all their pre-war […]
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TV and film collide on a serial murder case with the LAPD and a detective turned screenwriter. 4,813 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming. Jim Brandt was too old for this shit. He should be home in bed with his wife, not stuck in a car on an LAPD stakeout. Detective Dana Hansen sat in the passenger seat, sensitive […]
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A French director fond of filming nudity in his yard battles his new neighbor for the sake of art. 3,614 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming. Among the many achievements in my life, there are two of which I am most proud: my moustache and my films. My moustache no one can argue with. It is […]
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The apologizing comedian Tommy Dash is back boasting about his new gig with a TV sitcom. For now. 3,716 words. Illustration by Mark Fearing. Happy New Year. Happy High Holidays. I’m planning a real show business Yom Kippur fast. I’m going to try and go 24 hours without having to eat shit. I missed the Emmys. […]
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Premieres for studio tentpoles are no big deal in Hollywood. But this afterparty was out of the ordinary. 2,325 words. Illustration by John Mann. “Amazing. Truly amazing,” publicist Roxane Silver praised as she stood in the vastness of the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. “It really does look like a 19th Century Siamese palace.” […]
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Not all filmmakers want their best work to be seen publicly. For good reason. 3,364 words. Illustration by John Donald Carlucci. After 10 years, he ruled as the most sought-after director in Hollywood, but he remained a complete unknown. No critic could tell you his name, no double-dating teenager had ever glimpsed one frame of his work. […]
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A struggling writer hopes to start a script for a famed director before their careers flatline. 4,370 words. Illustration by Fates Crew. After the cheapest available 12-hour two-stop flight from JFK, Paul Slater walked out of the LAX terminal stiff and exhausted. A computer bag slung over his shoulder, he pulled a roll-a-way suitcase and moved towards the curb and the Totaled Car Rental courtesy van. […]
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Is it the dying exec’s cancer or conscience playing tricks on him? Or too much TV? 2,716 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming.
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An aging actress ends her career in Palm Springs only to hope it’s the start of a comeback. 3,973 words. Illustration by Mark Fearing. Marcy Gray (née Madeleine Greenspan) had slept with a number of men for more or less professional reasons. From the perspective of time, however, she had to admit that she hadn’t slept […]
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The manipulative movie executive who got away with murder is back – and even more desperate. 4,366 words. Illustration by Mark Fearing. Griffin Mill was broke, he was down to his last six million dollars. No one knew he was broke, not Lisa, his wife, not June, his first wife, not even his lawyer, but the nine million […]
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A producer, writer, and songstress whose careers are slipping away find one another. 4,265 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming. Dan Schneider was feeling desperate. It was Labor Day and he had gone into the office because he didn’t know what to do with himself. Looking at the four walls of his rented executive suite, bare save for three […]
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