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

Some movies don’t just entertain you — they get into your creative DNA. These are a few of the movies that blew my Gen X mind and still influence the stories I tell today.From Sergio Leone’s *Once Upon a Time in the West* and *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* to *Midnight Run*, *It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*, *Cannonball Run*, *Flash Gordon*, *The Last Dragon* and the original 1986 *Transformers: The Movie*, I look back at the films that stuck with me — and why.Along the way, I started noticing a recurring idea that keeps showing up in both the movies I love and my own writing: shifting alliances. Enemies become allies. Partners become adversaries. And sometimes the person who drives you absolutely crazy is also the person whose strengths perfectly complement your own.I also get into the power of music and sound, memorable movie openings, coherent action, and how some films become permanently connected to the people we first experienced them with.Basically, these are movies that blew my mind before I realized they were teaching me how I wanted to tell stories. - Part 1...Find me at: storyray.comDARIUS LOVES, a short story.

Why do some people have such a difficult time accepting race-swapped or gender-swapped versions of characters they grew up loving?

I started thinking about something deeper: people who grew up identifying with heroes who rarely looked like them may have developed a different relationship with fictional characters than people who almost always saw themselves reflected on screen.

Maybe the negative reaction isn’t simply about racism and hate. Maybe it’s also about a limited world view created when society was inherently different. Maybe it’s nostalgia rooted in racial hierarchy? In this video I explore a possible alternative to racism and bigotry.

This is my perspective. Let me know yours in the comments.

Find me at: storyray.com

Stay tuned for OmegaConquest® re-relaunch.

omegaconquest.com

In this video I expose one story element that didn't quite work in an otherwise good entertaining summer blockbuster movie. As a long time Spiderman fan, it's hard to find fault with a whole lot of web slinging and butt kicking, but this one problem with the story stuck with me.Warning video contains SPOILERS

Find me at: StoryRay.com

Are #screenwriting contests like Nicholl Fellowship and Sundance actually selecting the BEST writers and BEST screenplays?Every year, aspiring screenwriters spend money entering contests and fellowships hoping this will be the thing that finally opens the door.There is a major difference between saying a program has a specific taste and saying it objectively discovers the “best” writers.That difference matters.In this video, I talk about the cottage industry built around the dream of becoming a screenwriter, why “it’s all subjective” usually gets said AFTER the money has already been collected, and why writers should be careful not to confuse so-called prestige with truth.It is about seeing the reality of the game writers are paying to play.Let’s talk about it.

For a deeper dive check out my post on Substack.