6 Comments
Oct 20, 2022Liked by Adam Mastroianni

Neal's profile is what led me to your newsletter Adam and I'm grateful for that. Your writing is both light-hearted and thought-provoking, which I enjoy. I've learned not to pay too much attention to reviews (except the flattering ones, of course!) precisely because we do all think differently. But more than that, if I let a review frame my decision to experience something, I miss out on the opportunity to make up my own mind. Which, of course is a precious gift in itself. ☺️

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Thanks for the shout-out. Interviewing you was much fun!

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Dec 17, 2022Liked by Adam Mastroianni

I was laughing out loud, so glad my son recommended your writing, kudos!

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Hi Adam,

I think this one should be easy for you. This is not anything about psychology, instead, could we talk about "tense"? That's right, tense. Seriously, I've this feeling in my gut that you might like to talk about this. Please try to reply this as as comprehensive as possible, as I honestly wish to learn from you. Tell me, how do you judge which tense to use (specially, I'm referring to "present" & "past"). I surfed through your text, mostly you resort to "present", except on the section, "Making a movie"

Quote:

I always "assumed" that movies are shot in chronological order so that the actors feel the right emotions at the right times.

So, here, you have used "past" tense (I used quotation here because this editor doesn't allow any other highlight features, other than "quotation"). Do you mean this is only your old thought? Or for any other specific reason(s)?

Thanks for the time.

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I have an old college friend who stumbled on to the path and has spent her whole life in the "Business" (and when I say the Business, I mean the "Industry").

1) Her personal experiences with Dennis Dugan (which are similar to what I infer from your essay) rank him as a deranged clown of a movie-maker. This was mildly demoralizing, because she had something of a crush on Mr. Dugan when he played "Richie Brockelman" on "The Rockford Files".

2) The gypsy lifestyle of movie making will not disappear as long as the Industry will chase tax breaks and government handouts to anywhere in the world in order to make their film.

3) A movie she was part of landed in the city where I lived. Thru her, I was an Extra (the new term didn't exist) at a big convention scene. The shiny sparkle of novelty tarnished to dull somewhere around the ten-hour mark. I can rank the experience as "been there, completely done with that."

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