Justin Kownacki

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The Hollywood Sign over Los Angeles
Business Advice

11 Surprising Facts About How Movie Box Office Works

How Hollywood and America went crazy over box office reports… and why the numbers aren’t always what they seem.

By Justin, 5 yearsJune 6, 2018 ago
John Larroquette, Markie Post, Richard Moll, Harry Anderson, Charles Robinson, and Marsha Warfield as the cast of Night Court
Storytelling

In Defense of Night Court and Other Guilty Pleasures

Here’s why some media gets called a “guilty pleasure,” and why we need to stop saying that.

By Justin, 5 yearsApril 17, 2018 ago
Suzanne Ciani, the star of the documentary film A Life in Waves
Storytelling

8 Tips to Hook Your Audience

These tips will help your audience get interested and emotionally attached to your stories fast.

By Justin, 6 yearsAugust 2, 2017 ago
The STBD Cast from Season 4
Social Media

The Life and Death of the Web’s Longest-Running Sitcom, Something to Be Desired

In September of 2003, before the launch of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or MySpace — before you could watch a video on your iPod, much less on your cell phone — the first episode of a brand new, so-called “web series” was uploaded to the Internet. The writer-director of this web Read more…

By Justin, 10 yearsSeptember 22, 2013 ago
Armchair Sociology

Q&A Interview with Frank Rose, Author of “The Art of Immersion”

From the audience’s impact on the making of LOST to the eerie web promotions for The Dark Knight Returns, our media is becoming more immersive by the day. WIRED contributing editor Frank Rose noticed this trend and embarked on a years-long voyage to connect the digital dots.  His goal was Read more…

By Justin, 12 yearsSeptember 2, 2011 ago
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on AMC's TV series Mad Men
Armchair Sociology

What the Existence of Don Draper and Katy Perry Really Says About You

Why we need to stop living vicariously through our pop culture heroes and start living our own lives like we mean it.

By Justin, 12 yearsJune 16, 2011 ago
Storytelling

5 Reasons NOT to Listen to Your Audience

If you write, speak or perform for a living, you need an audience.  Without one, you don’t get paid.  (Hell, online, you still don’t get paid even with one.  But I digress…) Your audience is one way to validate your success as a communicator. But your audience is also a Read more…

By Justin, 13 yearsJune 14, 2010 ago
Armchair Sociology

Do You Want Them to Remember You Tomorrow?

When I was in art school, we had one English class. Our instructor wasn’t used to teaching art students, and she was confused by our habit of rewatching the same movies over and over again. “I don’t get why anybody would watch the same movie twice,” she told us. For Read more…

By Justin, 13 yearsDecember 2, 2009 ago
Armchair Sociology

The Death of Fun

Remember the ’80s?  Those were my formative years, so their influence is hard to shake, but I can’t help but feel like the ’80s were the last time in Western culture when fun was generally acceptable. I grew up reading comic books like Batman and Spider-Man, and watching cartoons like Read more…

By Justin, 13 yearsOctober 27, 2009 ago

Popular Posts

  • • What Makes Game of Thrones So Addictive?
  • • This Storytelling Flaw Ruined the New Star Wars Trilogy
  • • Why Does Every Marvel Movie Tell the Same Story?
  • • Cobra Kai: How to Build Character Through Conflict
  • • How Iron Man Created the Formula for Every Marvel Movie

Latest Posts

  • • Worldbuilding and Exposition: 6 Writing Tips from Dune
  • • Writing a Perfect Scene: Bunk vs. Omar in The Wire
  • • Screenwriting Lessons from ALIENS
  • • The Story Problem at the Heart of the Snyder Cut
  • • WandaVision's Biggest Question Gets Deep
  • • Why The Queen's Gambit Is Such Smart Storytelling

Frequent Topics

  • • DC
  • • Game of Thrones
  • • Marvel
  • • Star Wars

What Writing Skill Do You Want to Improve?

  • • Character
  • • Pacing
  • • Plot
  • • Story Structure
  • • Theme
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