This is me dropping in to say hi, since I just joined your incredible community of entertainment professionals. I'm a screenwriter and novelist, and have been doing that pretty much full time for a very long time. I spent 15 years in Hollywood as a special effects sculptor on some the biggest films of the era, like Predator, Poltergeist 2, Aliens, Beetlejuice, Dracula, Star Trek, and many more. I was in China last year working on the newest John Woo film with Zhang Ziyi. Now I just love to tell stories, and help aspiring young writers. Although I do run writing workshops from time to time in Thailand, where I live, any advice I give here will be free and unencumbered by promotion. I've just won the category grand prize in two screenwriting contests this year, so would be happy to give tips, rather than tell people how to writer their scripts. I will be going to Laos later this year to help (gratis) Laos' first and only female director with her 2nd film. I'm writing a horror script now that I will shoot either in Thailand or Laos later this year or early next year, so all you eager filmmakers who want to get in on the ground floor (literally), can email me later. Okay, I think I've blabbed on long enough. Looking forward to seeing what you guys are up to.
1 person likes this
Fantastic post, Stuart. And one hell of a resume. Dig your style and your selfless spirit. Nice of you to use your expertise to teach. You're a true asset to this community.
1 person likes this
impressive amount of work and I have to applaud you for stepping outside the box creatively. It's hard to go from one field to another especially when you have had so much success and praise. Bravo sir.
1 person likes this
That is one impressive resume! Congrats on all of those accomplishments! I agree with Richard and think it's great that you pass on your wisdom to those of us who are working on getting started. See you around the Stage!
Thanks, everyone, for such a warm welcome. I guess I dove into the deep end yesterday as I spent way too much time on this blog. But I enjoyed every second. Lots of talented folks here. Alle, you're a treasure. I watched a bunch of your films. Great sense of humor, and apparently boundless energy. I had a real laugh with the "fairy" short because I met a fairy in an elevator in Bangkok. I took a picture of her at night with a 60 watt lamp. It's one of the best shots I have. As for my art and movie work, you can see a lot of that on my art website at www.studioSL.com. My novels and some screenplays are at www.stuartland.com. Please sign up for my soon to be released newsletter. Ciao.
Yes, sometime, many times, serendipity is the mother of invention, or creativity in our case. I will look at your other film, thanks. I'd post the fairy picture, but it's a semi nude, so probably not appropriate here. Thanks for visiting my art page and having cringing pleasure, lol! LIve TV? That's scary to me. I'm not so good in front of the camera (or microphone) as you, though an interview would be nice. I had to laugh upon reading your resume (in a good way) because the last time I saw so many credits from one person on a film was when I worked with James Cameron.
Ha! I'm not a huge fan of memoirs. I put all that angst into my fiction novels. I have no desire to relive my life over again. I worked a long time on two Jim Cameron films, and that was enough. Back then, he wasn't a a nice guy. Yes, I agree about art, but people are funny when it comes to dicks and tits. Always amazed me since I spent most of my life as a figure sculptor. I put a lot of my photographic artwork up on art sites and people just download my images and never pay for them. Now, I put watermarks all over them. Maybe I'll put up the fairy picture that way so you can see it. I'll let you know. Oh, I've been a party to tragic moments, though not as severe as losing a satellite. Almost everything we worked on for Predator, with the exception of my some of my stuff, got shit canned when they moved the whole production to another shop. Too much stuff ends up on the cutting room floor, including many of my credits. I describe a lot of that on my site.