Is the screenwriter thinking about the script or how it could help her bank account? 3,019 words. Illustration by John Donald Carlucci. Coverage by Michaela Gruen. Let me guess. She moved to L.A. right after graduating from Smith or Wesleyan. I was close: Skidmore. My agent sent over the book, Callie Growing Up, and the coverage. “Take a look, Mina,” he said. […]
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A successful actor discovers the consequence of appearing in too many crappy movies. 3,245 words. Illustration by Mark Fearing. Only a dozen people remained dancing, drinking, and trying to score as music echoed around the club. Kal Bobby sat alone with a smile on his perfectly tanned face. It was the wrap party for Kal’s […]
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A young and impressionable journalist falls for a famous 1980s film director. But is it love? 4,699 words. Illustration by John Donald Carlucci. Later, when I thought about the body of work that had made him famous — his oeuvre, as the fawning critics put it — I was stupefied that I had ever let […]
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Amazingly, Tommy Dash is still employed by the TV sitcom. Now the foul-mouthed comic is acting on it. 3,484 words. Illustration by Mark Fearing. Before we begin, congratulations to my show business friend Chris Rock, who is going to host the 88th Academy Awards. I’ve known Chris since he was a Jheri-curled 18-year-old. In 2005, […]
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Nobel Prize-winning author and screenwriter William Faulkner concludes his short story about a Hollywood scandal: the 1930s tycoon goes to court where his starlet daughter is on trial. Last of two parts. 5,129 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming. His mother lived in Glendale; it was the house which he had taken when he married and later bought, […]
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Two child actors are up for the same film role – much to the dismay of their momagers. But one mother has second thoughts. Last of two parts. 3,610 words. Illustrations by John Donald Carlucci. The ER doctor lifted Sam’s shirt and looked to Susan for explanation. Raised welts covered Sam’s back, already purpling. “Sam? What happened?” Sam […]
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A mother brings her young son to Hollywood hoping he’ll make it as a child actor. Then she starts to rethink everything. First of two parts. 5,983 words. Illustrations by John Donald Carlucci. Like so many things in Los Angeles, the rain was fake. That didn’t make it any less wet as it pounded onto the […]
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An unscrupulous film producer commands her assistant to lie at a major studio meeting. That’s not all she does. Part Two of Working From Home. 3,118 words. Illustration by John Donald Carlucci. Scott I used to wake up at dawn and walk down Barham Blvd, past Forest Lawn Cemetery, to the gates of Warner Bros, then double […]
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A Hollywood premiere for the most expensive horror film made in years has unintended consequences. 2,381 words. Illustration by Thomas Warming. It was the one of the worst flu seasons on record and the shots turned out to be useless because they didn’t include protection against influenza A (H3N2), the particularly virulent strain going around. Public […]
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