Author: Donald L. Vasicek

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute under the acclaimed Dov Simens and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He studied screenwriting at The Complete Screenplay, Inc., with Sally Merlin, daughter of the famed Hollywood Merlin family of screenwriters and writers, as his mentor. Don has taught, mentored, and is a script consultant for over 300 writers, directors, producers, actors and production companies. He has also acted in NBC’s “Mystery of Flight 1501”, ABC’s Father Dowling starring Thomas Bosley, and Red-Handed Productions’ “Summer Reunion.” These activities have resulted in his involvement in over 100 movies during the past 23 years, from major studios to independent films including MGM’s $56 million “Warriors of Virtue”, Paramount Classic’s “Racing Lucifer”, American Picture’s “The Lost Heart” and “Born To Kill” starring the Charles Bronson of Korea, Bobby Kim, and his internationally-known brother, Richard, who directed, Incline Productions, Inc.’s “Born To Win”, 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard II” starring Bruce Willis with Rennie Harlan as director, and Joel Silver as producer, Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Haunted World” with Emmy-nominated PBS Producer Alison Hill, and Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Faces”, “Oh, The Places You Can Go” and the award-winning “The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary film. Don also has written and published over 500 books, short stories and articles. His books include “How To Write, Sell, And Get Your Screenplays Produced” and “The Write Focus.” He has been a guest screenwriting and filmmaking columnist for Hollywood Lit. Sales, Moondance International Film Festival’s e-zine, Screenwriter’s Forum, Screenplace, Screenplayers.Net, Screenwriters.Net, Screenwriters Utopia, Spraka & Kinsla (Swedish), Inkwell Watch, and Ink On the Brain. Writing recognition includes Houston’s WorldFest International Film Festival, Chesterfield’s Writer’s Film Project, Writer’s Digest, The Sundance Institute, The Writer’s Network, and the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Guild, Inc. Don completed producing “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film project that includes the completed and award-winning documentary short, a book, a classroom video, Interactive Media, a study guide, and a lesson plans. The film is being distributed by Films Media Group. Don is on the board of directors of the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston. He is the founder and owner of Olympus Films+, LLC, a global writing and filmmaking company and a screenwriting volunteer on AllExperts.com. Don’s screenwriting agent is Robin Kaver of the Robert Freedman Dramatic Agency, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 2301 New York, NY 10036, 212-840-5751.
Posted on

How To Know When An Earthquake is Imminent

“…A Cal Tech seismologist was aware of the natural forces that are working slowly but inexorably under the earth, out of sight, unnoticed, setting off reactions and counterreactions in fragile earth faults deep in the bowels of the earth. There was no reliable way, despite all the scientific research, to predict them — except for the behavior of animals trying to escape the doomed area. Nobody but the horses, dogs, birds, fish, rats and cockroaches, fleeing their forest or city homes, seem to know with certainty when a temblor is about to strike, and then, alas, only a few hours before the event.

In Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the day before a major quake the forest became silent, and visitors wondered at the absence of the chirping birds. They didn’t wonder long. Twenty-four hours later a devastating life-threatening quake shook the wild nature preserve, uprooting trees and buildings and causing widespread damage. Showing some primal connection between animal life — closer to nature than man — and the natural forces brimming under the surface of the earth. And in its heavens.

-Dick Sutphen

Posted on

How Do You Start To Learn Screenwriting?

The first time I wanted to write a script,
I wrote it. I went to the local book store
and bought every book on screenwriting.
I studied the books and drafted a
screenplay. This led to a rewrite.
Rewriting is screenwriting. It’s like
sculpting. The writer refines and refines
always striving for perfection. Perfection
is relative, so, the writer must get to the
point where they are satisfied and then,
the writer should begin the process of
marketing the script.

I finished my first script in two weeks.
In one month, I had a WGA agent. In
six weeks, the script was being read
by someone at Disney. It was eventually
produced and aired on cable.

I created a job so that I could write. The
job was to sit for visitation at a mortuary.
It allowed me to study and to write.

If you are able to squeeze in one hour
each day to write, you will eventually be
able to write for more than one hour
each day. Like cleaning your teeth, set
aside a certain amount of time each
day, simply, to write, even if that is
only 30 minutes. The key, is to write
everyday at that time, even though,
at times, you may feel like it’s useless.
That is part of being a writer, to deal
with feelings of uselessness. It goes
with the territory. It is the writer’s
job to overcome that, as well as other
emotions that come up.

Writing requires creativity. Creative
people are usually on the edge of
emotion, most of the time. So, that
also usually goes with the territory
of writing.

I hope this has been of help to you.

Best Regards,

Donald L. Vasicek
The Zen of Writing and Filmmaking
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net

Posted on

Zen of Writing

Writing plays an integral role in our everyday lives. Writing is a means of communication. Writing helps identify who you are. Writing reveals your thoughts in physical form. Writing can make or break you, and you might not even know it. Writing can get you a job. Writing can cause you to lose a job. Writing records what you are thinking.

The Zen of Writing shows you how to put everything together so that you can effectively write, regardless of what you are writing, and to whom you are writing. Think in terms of who gave me the idea to write what I’m about to write. What was I doing at the time? Where was I? When did this happen? Why am I about to write about this subject matter?

Write down your answers. By writing down your answers, you are calling upon your subconscious mind, which works like a computer that takes in all of the information your five senses are giving you each breathing minute, to reveal your passion for the subject matter. Once you accomplish this, you will be able to determine how to most effectively write what you are about to write. Your passion for the subject matter is your theme for what you are about to write.

Utilize this theme by writing differents points-of-view that relate to your theme. By writing this way, you will make what you are writing multi-dimensional. By making your writing multi-dimensional, you enhance your writing and make it more effective and powerful.

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net