Ken Atchity Featured in November Episode of Fille Up Cup with Ashley Cau
This 2023 Movie Starring Jason Statham Is Currently #1 on Max (and Is Truly Terrifying)
Looking for a new film to watch during your next movie night? Allow us to introduce an action/sci-fi movie that deserves to be at the top of your watch list: Meg 2: The Trench. Let’s just say it makes the events in Jaws look like a cakewalk.
Serving as a sequel to 2018’s The Meg, Meg 2: The Trench currently sits at the number one spot on Max’s top ten movies list.
In this action-packed flick, actor Jason Statham plays the role of Jonas Taylor, who leads a research team on an ocean expedition five years after the events of the first film. But their voyage soon turns into a living nightmare when they encounter a group of great white sharks and other dangerous sea creatures. Can the crew make it out alive? Or will they lose their battle for survival?
Publishers Weekly's Book Life Reviews Eric Burns New Book When the Dead Talked... and the Smartest Minds in the World Listened
Historian Burns (author of 1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar) illuminates the story of psychics, seances, and the scientists who researched them in When the Dead Talked. Roughly covering the 1840s to the 1920s, Burns puts his talents as a researcher to use to recount the history of spiritualism, from the famous Fox sisters—entrepreneurial spiritualists whose late-in-life claims to have been deceptive Burns doesn’t quite buy—to Thomas Edison’s attempts to build a machine for communicating with the dead. Burns dives deeply into two scientific societies which attempted to prove the truth or fallacy of claims of communication with the dead, the Society for Psychical Research in England and its Ameican counterpart.
Burns concludes that their efforts, which ascribed validity to some psychic phenomena, deserve to be taken seriously today, arguing “To accept the notion that the smartest minds in the world, thousands of them, engaged in a conspiracy to delude lesser minds is a more preposterous assumption than accepting the veracity of the feats” of the spiritualists. Readers may not be as convinced as Burns of the validity of several of the phenomena that he recounts, even as he attempts to disprove common objections and appeals to the scientific probity of the investigators. But his expertise and skill as a historical storyteller is clear throughout. When the Dead Talked…
Burns’s deep research is combined with a familiar tone which welcomes the readeris extensively researched, with helpful bibliography and glossary, plus photos of his principal subjects, the psychics and skeptics who investigated them to participate in the same journey that he himself did from skepticism to openness to the reality of psychic phenomena. Readers fascinated by how scientists in the last half of the 19th century thought about psychic phenomena will appreciate Burns’s exploration of this fascinating history. Fascinating study of spiritualism and the scientists who found it credible.
Jason Statham triumphs on HBO Max with the most-watched action movie starring him!
Jason Statham has accustomed us to his roles as a tough character as in titles such as The Expendables, Crank or The Transporter. Now he gives up some of the limelight in this movie available on HBO Max which is a long awaited sequel where the real stars are sharks that were thought to be extinct since the time of the dinosaurs.
via
EXCERPT: Panic Attack by Dennis Palumbo
A shooter takes deadly aim, and throws a city into panic Psychologist Daniel Rinaldi is no stranger to trauma. A survivor of not one, but two attempts on his life by a deranged killer, the therapist also counsels trauma patients in his private practice, and contracts with the Pittsburgh Police to help victims of violent crime cope with their experience. When a sports mascot is gunned down mid-field by a sniper at a college football game he attends, Rinaldi becomes an accidental yet integral part of the investigation. To begin with, the victim in the costume is not the person who was supposed to be wearing it.
Thiller fans, don't miss the newest Daniel Rinaldi mystery: http://bit.ly/3q9WVh5
Kenneth Atchity's Suspense Thriller The Messiah Matrix FREE October 16 - October 20!
How to Turn a Book Into a Movie with Ken Atchity
Kenneth Atchity began writing stories as a child under his mother’s supervision. By the age of 16 he was a book reviewer for the Kansas City Star (no one at the newspaper realized how old he was when they hired him over the phone).
Ken started in the film industry after working as a professor for 17 years because he wanted to work on the creative side of story rather than the critical side. He came up with an idea that turned into 16 films and never looked back. His company has developed over 30 films and published over 150 novels. Ken has a reverence for stories and the art of storytelling that shines through in this interview.
Listen to interview
- The way to sell a story to its largest audience is to write a book and make a movie out of it. You can also do it the other way, and write a book based on a movie.
- The power of having a story that is both a movie or TV show and a book is that you have two separate audiences that discover the story and each of them will seek out the story in the other medium.
- People who read the book first will watch the movie or TV show, and people who watch the TV show first will buy the book.
- To make your story into a movie or television show, it has to be highly dramatic and have a universal message that a large audience can connect with.
- A good treatment can sell them with the idea of your novel even if your novel is missing some basic elements of a good Hollywood screenplay.
- A treatment is a brief written pitch that shows the movie that exists in the story. Ken’s book on treatments can be found in the Links and Resources section below.
- After you’ve written your treatment you should reach out to a contact in Hollywood.
- If you don’t know anyone directly to you don’t have any friends who might be able to connect with someone one place to look is writers conferences. You can go to writers conferences and sign up for a lecture from somebody who is connected in Hollywood and that will give you a point of contact.
- When you meet your point of contact simply ask them for their advice. Don’t ask them to buy your story idea. Give them the elevator pitch of your story. If they’re excited by that give them a copy of your treatment and they’ll look at it seriously. Often if they aren’t interested for some reason they may be able to point you in the direction of somebody who might be.
- Don’t offer to buy them lunch. Just ask for five minutes of their time.
- You should be able to tell people what your story is about one or two sentences. If it takes longer something is wrong with your story.
- The pitch for under siege starring Stephen Seagal was Die Hard on a boat.
- the pitch for Splash starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah was: It’s a fish out of water story only she’s a mermaid.
- The secret to a good pitch is to make it short. Make it something that leads the person you’re talking to to ask questions.
- If you’re in a producer’s office in Hollywood and they ask you five questions about your story, they virtually invested in your story already.
- The most important character in every story is the audience. Always pay attention to the audience. Always be thinking about where the audience’s attention is at.
- Structure your story for your audience.
- How to engage your audience when they aren’t responding to the story you’re telling.
- After you’ve sold your story stop talking.
- Never bring notes to a pitch meeting.
- Stories are about humanity.
- Storytelling is about capturing the audience in a relationship with you that leaves the rest of the world out.
- The audience lives inside your story. That’s why it’s so important to not have anything in the story that takes them out of the story.
- The most important thing when selling your story is to keep the audience on the edge of their seat all the way through the pitch. If you can do that chances are very good story will sell.
- Ideas themselves don’t make movies. Good storytelling makes movies. Writing a good story shows that you’re a good storyteller.
- There are no new stories. It’s how you tell the story that makes the difference.
- An idea can’t be protected. Only written documents can be protected. If you have a good story idea at least write a treatment of it so it can be protected.
- The human race runs on stories.
- Storytelling is a sacred vocation.
- Before the written word storytelling was how civilization got passed down from generation to generation.
- Storytellers were a protected class of citizen in ancient times.
- Storytelling is our primary way of holding reality together.
- The myth of the starving artist is just another destructive story we tell ourselves. It’s a story rooted in victimhood, and no good protagonist is ever a victim for long. Western culture prefers stories of heroes who overcome their obstacles.
- Salvador Dali once said: The difference between a madman and myself is I am not mad.
- The only difference between an artist who is seen as crazy and an artist who is seen as a genius in success.
- The only way to combat the naysayers in your life is simply keep writing.
- As a writer always remember that your calling is writing. Keep a sense of perspective when people try to tear you down.
- Start writing more it will get rid of all these moods you’re having.— Ray Bradbury
- You have to have the story you’re telling nailed down, but you also have to have your personal story nailed down as well.
- Writers write. That’s what they do.
- The only way to be sure they will succeed as a storyteller is to keep telling stories until you succeed. You have to persist as long as it takes.
- The only way to fail is to give up. If you don’t give up you will eventually succeed, or die trying.
- As a writer you’re living a dream life. Millions of people dream of having the courage to do what you’re doing. If you die without any external success, you still died in the middle of living a dream life. Is there anything better than that?
- The sure fire cure for writers block: never sit down to write until you know what you’re going to write about.
- The good thing about writing is that it’s a democratic art form. Anyone can write. It’s not limited to a specific social class or morality.
Basic Elements of a Hollywood Story
- A protagonist we root for and identify with.
- An antagonist for the protagonist to struggle against.
- A visible goal that the protagonist wants to achieve.
- Obstacles for the protagonist to overcome.
- Follow the three act structure. Make sure your story has a beginning, middle and end.
- Make sure that your story has a big climax. Hollywood movies need big climaxes.
- Make sure your story has a satisfying ending. If the ending to your room a satisfying the moviegoer won’t care how much it costs. If the ending is satisfying to be saying to themselves, That was a waste of $12!
Read more
Literary Titan Gives Kevin Spark's id: A Novel Five Star Review!
id: A Novel, by Kevin Spark, is an immersive entry in the genre of psychological thrillers and creates an intricate narrative largely centered around a unique setting – a zoo. The story has a cast of diverse characters; one standout character is that of Detective Hopper.
Spark masterfully delves into the murky underworld of drug trafficking and animal fighting, providing a penetrating examination of the criminal psyche. In an intriguing twist of biblical interpretation, the novel employs the story of Adam and Eve to illuminate themes of sin and innocence, with Eve emerging untainted from the materialistic world while Adam bears the burden of a dark past. Adding an extra layer of complexity, Dr. Shelley, a psychiatrist, navigates the labyrinthine corridors of memory, thereby propelling the narrative forward.
The subtle writing style of Spark piques the reader’s curiosity by giving just enough information to imply a rich backdrop, resulting in a narrative layered with intrigue and depth. Numerous subplots dovetail seamlessly with the main narrative, enhancing the texture of the story. The characters’ pasts emerge as crucial aspects of their present lives, though their full stories remain tantalizingly veiled.
As is typical of the psychological thriller genre, the narrative occasionally veers into violent and macabre territory. The reader is invited on a disquieting journey through a landscape punctuated with dark thoughts and unsettling experiences. Scenes of action and violence are vividly portrayed in unflinching detail, laying bare the stark realities of life.
Despite the shadowy ambiance, the story is meticulously plotted. The characters are flawed, complex, and realistic, making for intriguing studies in character development, albeit sometimes evoking figures difficult to discern in everyday life.
I would heartily recommend id: A Novel to those with a keen interest in criminal psychology or the enduring impact of past traumas on one’s life. However, those of a more sensitive disposition should be forewarned: the explicit descriptions of violence, detailed exploration of psychological depths, and the characters’ darker musings may be unsettling.
id: A Novel leaves an unforgettable impact. The characters and their dilemmas infiltrate the reader’s subconscious, resurfacing in thoughts long after the final page is turned. The novel itself seems to emulate the intricacies of the subconscious mind, revealing fragments of events while preserving an air of mystery until the very end.
Pages: 332 | ASIN : B0BKH85WVM
Improve Your Storytelling!
Sign Up For This Brand New Online Course From Author And Hollywood Producer Ken Atchity Designed to Improve Your Storytelling.
Here's What To Expect
Master the Essential Building Blocks to a Successful Story.
Learn the Mechanics and Techniques of Storytelling.
How to Write a Treatment that Guides you Through your First Draft and Identifies Soft Spots in your Story.
Understand the Rules of Revision
Learn the Secrets of the 3-Act Structure.
Pay upfront or utilize our payment plan to pay as you learn!