Valerie Kalfrin: In Tampa, Florida.

Valerie Kalfrin

Respect the story; prioritize the rest. Writer/director Grant Pichla shares these and other lessons learned from shooting his feature #MakingTime in two days in my recap of The Filmmakers Podcast via ScreenCraft. https://screencraft.org/2019/07/15/how-to-shoot-a-feature-film-in-two-days/...

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Valerie Kalfrin

“To me, tenacity is what really separates people who are able to get their films out there.” -- Bert Marcus, creator of the documentaries The American Meme and Champs, talks about finding inspiration and earning subjects' trust via The Filmmakers Podcast. More in my story today at The Script Lab. #f...

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Valerie Kalfrin

So thrilled and proud to share this #Alien40 piece at RogerEbert.com today about Ripley and the inimitable Sigourney Weaver. Her relatable strength and determination helps me be brave. Whatever insecurity she has isn't like acid. It doesn't eat her away. https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/ha...

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Valerie Kalfrin

Christopher Vogler (The Writer's Journey) has been immersed in stories for so long, he can spot plot patterns on the fly and archetypes in real life. "Your obligation as an artist is to break the pattern." More in my piece at The Script Lab. https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/11011-...

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Valerie Kalfrin

Clarify a character's specific goal in a specific setting, says #screenwriting professor David Howard: "Most of my students at USC at first rebel against it. [But] it’s that specificity that enables universal connection.” More in my @TheScriptLab piece: https://bit.ly/2IB38Aj...

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Valerie Kalfrin

Older viewers may sense where "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" is headed well before the ending, but it doesn’t make the story any less resonant once it gets there. These films have always been about the tricky emotional territory of growing up, making this final film in the franchise a...

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Valerie Kalfrin

A female investigator has two duplicitous mentors: One, a secretive supervisor; the other, a criminal who’s a necessary ally. Each uses her to his own ends. Sound familiar? I find similarities in character dynamics, visuals, and themes between "Silence of the Lambs" and "Sicario" today at RogerEbert...

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Valerie Kalfrin

The indie drama All These Small Moments has some good performances, but the story feels more like a collection of bits than a cohesive whole. More in my review at Film Racket. https://filmracket.com/all-these-small-moments/movie-review...

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Valerie Kalfrin

"[W]riting is not an act of creation; it’s an act of choice. ... it doesn’t just flow out of the pen or keyboard fully formed; each work is built concept by concept, beat by beat, word for word.” Learn more about this and other advice from veteran TV writer Nell Scovell (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,...

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Valerie Kalfrin

"Bumblebee" energizes the Transformers franchise with a teenage girl at the wheel and eighties nostalgia. More in my review today at CC2K. http://www.cc2konline.com/2018/12/26/bumblebee-revs-up-the-transformers-......

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Valerie Kalfrin

One of those times where I'm reviewing the same film for two different outlets. Here's my Film Racket take on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If you love comics or Spidey, check out this delightful film. It's a joy. https://filmracket.com/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse/movie-review...

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Valerie Kalfrin

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is a wildly entertaining and visually inventive animated adventure that untethers the beloved wall-crawler from his well-worn mythology and introduces a web of possibilities and heroes—including a biracial teen from Brooklyn with a brain for science and a talent f...

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Valerie Kalfrin

Creed II gives its charismatic protagonist more of his father's baggage--I'd love to see Adonis step fully into his own spotlight--but it explores well how the past shapes who we become. Plus it creates an endearing onscreen family in Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, and Sylvester Stallone. More i...

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