Everybody has an ego, screenwriters included.But I believe there’s an important difference between an ego that is anchored to the work, the money, or some tangible consequence, and an ego that is anchored primarily to opinion.In this video, I continue my conversation about script-reader's outsized egos and look at another powerful gatekeeper in modern screenwriting: the manager.I talk about how representation changed around the late 1990s and early 2000s, how managers became an unofficial necessary step between writers and the industry, and how the old process of paid development increasingly gave way to writers doing rounds of speculative rewrites before anyone actually buys the script.Writers have egos. Producers have egos. Everyone involved in filmmaking has an ego.My argument is simple: if you’re going to have influence over the creative process, your ego should be anchored to something besides your opinion.

You can find me at: StoryRay.com

Hollywood loves to celebrate the people who make it. But what happens when the system controls who gets the opportunity to compete in the first place?Let's call it Cousy-ism: when someone appears excellent compared with the competition available to them, while people with equal or greater talent are systematically excluded from competing at all.Using Bob Cousy, Jackie Robinson and the integration of professional sports as a jumping-off point, I look at the question: Does talent alone determine who gets through the door, or does the system also select for people willing and able to make themselves fit inside the smallish spaces provided for them?This isn't about tearing down the people who succeeded. It's about remembering the talented people who never got the opportunity.Nobody should have to make themselves small in order to do big things.Follow my free Substack at: Jamal Green Substack https://storyray.substack.com/Omega Conquest® - coming soon.

When does nostalgia stop serving the story and start replacing the story?We love the movies, characters, music and worlds we grew up with. Studios know that. And increasingly, those memories have become some of the most valuable intellectual property in Hollywood.In this video, I look at nostalgia bait, endless reboots, legacy characters, the Easter Egg Economy, and why recognizing something we already love can sometimes substitute for discovering something genuinely new.The problem isn't nostalgia. Nostalgia can be powerful, emotional and fun.The problem is when it becomes the entire business model.Because every movie we’re nostalgic for today was once something audiences had never seen before.At some point, somebody still has to create the next myth.

Find me at: StoryRay.com