Cole Haddon
@colehaddon
Novelist, screenwriter, art fanatic. Created "DRACULA" for NBC/Sky, wrote PSALMS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD & more. 📖 🎧 📺 5AM STORYTALK NEWSLETTER & PODCAST: 🎧 5AM STORYTALK PODCAST:
Screenwriter LIZ HANNAH shares how David Bowie’s legendary personas gave her the creative freedom to take massive risks in her scripts for 'The Post', 'Lee', and 'The Girl from Plainville'. 🎧 Listen to the rest of this 5AM StoryTalk conversation: colehaddon.substack.com/p/bonus-podc...
"A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.” — Orson Welles
Jimmy Stewart, newly home from WWII, sets up a date to go fishing as his father chats with a customer at their family hardware store, 1945. 📸 Peter Stackpole
I'm so fucking depressed I have to vote for Democrats in November. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the two parties are the same. I'm just saying America lacks a party capable of actually leading it into the rest of the 21st century.
“Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration?" — Ann Patchett
'Untitled', 1968–71. Location: Chicago. Photograph by Ernest Cole (South African).
“I write books to relieve myself of pain. That’s the prime motivator to write.” — Bret Easton Ellis
Even before this, I refused to speak to people who were wearing Meta glasses. You know, just because they were obviously assholes. But this general avoidance is now a rule. If you wear Meta's Pervert Glasses, I don't want to be around you. Nor should anyone else. Because you're probably a pervert.
For RIKI LINDHOME, her one-woman musical DEAD INSIDE was a personal reckoning with the fear of being "enough" by herself after years of creative partnerships. 🎧📺 Check out the rest of 5AM StoryTalk's conversation with Riki: colehaddon.substack.com/p/riki-lindh...
From the making of METROPOLIS: Brigitte Helm in between takes as the Machine-Human, one of her two roles in the film. 📸 Unknown.
Cyborg anthropologist AMBER CASE discusses the Ancient Greek ideas of Kronos and Kairos time to illustrate how technology has failed to deliver on the promise to free up time in our lives. 🎧 Listen to 5AM StoryTalk's entire conversation with Amber: colehaddon.substack.com/p/new-podcas...
“Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don’t like — then cultivate it. That’s the only part of your work that’s individual and worth keeping.” — Jean Cocteau
5AM StoryTalk hosts a monthly "arts seminar". It's a space for my readers to discuss (with me and each other) the arts, craft and business, and the challenges they’re facing on their creative journeys. Exclusive to paid supporters of this newsletter. colehaddon.substack.com/p/monthly-ar...
Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh, and Michael Keaton on the set of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993), which Branagh also directed. 📸 Unknown.
I spoke to Mitch McConnell for about 20 minutes today and he said he’s doing great. He added that it’s really hot where he is, hellfire hurts more than he thought it would, and a demon cockroach is now living in his rectum.
“The thought, when written down, becomes less oppressive, but some thoughts are like a cancerous tumor: you express it, you excise it, and it grows back worse than before.” — Vladimir Nabakov
Actor and comic book creator DAVID DASTMALCHIAN breaks down the 5-dimensional brilliance of Herbert's DUNE. I agree with every word he utters, but I might be biased - DUNE is my favorite novel. Listen to 5AM StoryTalk's entire conversation with David: colehaddon.substack.com/p/david-dast...
Peter Jackson acting like a giant kid with a miniature set from his film BRAINDEAD (1992). 📸 Unknown.
"Writing is the most intimate part of filmmaking. It's just you and your honesty." – Chloé Zhao
Aussie musician @benleemusic.bsky.social shares the moment when he was "given permission" to have a "magnanimous agenda" in his art. It's a lesson that might change how you think about your own creative work, too. Listen to 5AM StoryTalk's chat with Ben: colehaddon.substack.com/p/new-podcas...
“Other people have hang-ups about what’s literary or genre or whatever, and that’s sort of not my problem. You’re supposed to write what you have to write.” — Colson Whitehead
“I feel confident imposing change on myself. It’s a lot more fun progressing than looking back. That’s why I need to throw curveballs.” — David Bowie
The brilliant David Simon, creator of “THE WIRE” and slayer of online trolls, was interviewed by Ari Shapiro of NPR a few years ago. Simon gave one of my favorite responses to questions about AI and screenwriting. Source: www.npr.org/2023/05/19/1...