Public domain, story copyright, and intellectual property laws affect the stories about Middle Earth that Amazon can tell. Could this explain why the show is suffering? — Is Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power an adaptation, or a new story? That’s a perceptive question! As of today, only the first four episodes have dropped, and my wife and I have been watching…and cringing a lot. Still, as a screenwriter, the choices the showrunners…

Apple may be great at designing phones and laptops, but they’ve got some bugs with their streaming service. — Intro As a filmmaker and storyteller, I’ve got several subscriptions to streaming platforms. However, I’ve never before had AppleTV+…until recently, that is. We bought new iPhones to replace our dying models, and with them came a free three month trial of AppleTV+. Not bad! However, as a UX professional I’ve found…

3 Reasons why Fantastic Beasts 3 was disappointing, and how you can avoid similar story issues in your own screenplays. — I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Still, Fantastics Beasts 2 was incoherent at times. The newest installment, The Secrets of Dumbledore, was a disappointment. My gripes with this story fall into three categories: Context Stakes Payoff If you’ve already seen the film or don’t care about spoilers, watch the…

Originality for storytellers is always attainable, according to the master of macabre. Here’s why. — Creativity is the idol of many artists and storytellers. They crave originality like water, and are their own worst critics when what they imagined doesn’t come through on the page. I can relate, believe me.… One of the greatest storytellers, however, wasn’t afraid of running out of creative juices. Edgar…

I’m learning 3 languages simultaneously. Here’s how I feel about this mobile app’s user experience: — I love language learning—and I use technology to help me. Specifically: Duolingo. I work as an Experience Strategist at Method (referral link). When I had first begun my exploration of language learning apps, I compared Duolingo and Rosetta Stone from a UX onboarding perspective: The UX of Mobile App Onboarding: Rosetta Stone vs. Duolingo While app onboarding might feel like an unimportant, one-time process, my comparison of two popular language learning…uxplanet.org

Writers everywhere swear by this software—but why? — Is Final Draft Really the Best? Love it or hate it, Final Draft is considered the industry standard in Hollywood. Why is that, and should you consider switching? Now, of course, no one will ask you what software you wrote your script on when you submit it to a festival or production company. However, given…

I’ve written exclusively on Medium about my journey to becoming a self-taught UX strategist. Here are all of my articles in one place: — This is your one-stop shop for all the UX articles I’ve written on Medium; I’ve been published in places like UX Planet and The Startup. I’ll continue to add to this list as I write more helpful articles for the designer in all of us. How My First UX Design Project Failed Perfectly

The screenplay for this action hit and Christmas favorite has a lot to teach us about characterization! — I’ll say it here: Die Hard is hands-down my favorite Christmas movie. Still, Die Hard is more than just the best Christmas movie for adults ever made. It’s also got a screenplay with a TON of great storytelling and screenwriting gems! So, let’s dive into 3 scenes in this decades-old…