Mark Sevi

The Impact of Filmmaker Ryan Coogler on Cinema

The Impact of Filmmaker Ryan Coogler on Cinema

Writer/director Ryan Coogler is having a moment. One that has lasted most of his career. From film school to multi-million-dollar movies there seems nothing he can’t produce that isn’t celebrated by critics and audiences alike. Ryan Coogler’s films have left a profound mark on contemporary cinema, merging powerful storytelling with cultural appeal. His work is […]

 Staff Writer

Laura Woodworth On Writing Christian Faith-Based Films

Laura Woodworth On Writing Christian Faith-Based Films

Laura Woodworth is a development executive for Cooke Media Group in Los Angeles, a freelance writer-producer-director and author in the Christian space. She shared her views on writing in this specialized field and making it accessible to a wider audience,   How do you define the faith-based genre?   Films with a faith element used […]

 Mark Sevi

What Make Gangster Films & TV Shows Work? (Part 2)

What Make Gangster Films & TV Shows Work? (Part 2)
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Gangster Films

Characters: The Criminals   The Godfather, perhaps the traditional gangster film most people know, features a family involved in organized crime. They were our focal points, our POV characters. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) was outside of this world – almost. Their daily lives involved weddings, funerals, dinners, business meetings and – murder. What must the […]

 Mark Sevi

What Make Gangster Films & TV Shows Work? (Part 1)

What Make Gangster Films & TV Shows Work? (Part 1)
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Gangster Films

It’s hard to imagine a more enduring genre film type than the gangster movie. Of course, traditional gangster films, as with most genre films, have mutated into powerful crime TV shows like The Wire, Ray Donovan, and The Sopranos or films like Proud Mary and The Departed, but the core elements are still there. Since 1931’s […]