Just like there is a consensus why Super Mario World tops most the lists of the best video game that has ever been made, and we agree on the brilliance of the holy trinity A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now and The Shawshank Redemption, we also know collectively there is one action movie that tops them all: Die Hard. They may not be your personal favorites. Maybe not even make it to your own top ten. But we kinda agree that on average, these works of art are the best in their ki

Apparently, America is now a kingdom. How did it get here? I offer Americans an outsider view  from those who’ve lived under kings. The honest kind that might hurt. And it’s all about the story you tell yourself. How did we get here? Even now that the dust has settled, to those who have actually read it , The Supreme Court immunity decision is still beyond shocking . Or is it? Many people across the world have recognized for some time now that America does not have true separ

Creative endeavors are extraordinary hard to do. So, sometimes, us creatives and artists get blocked. We call it 'Writer's Block' but it can be applied to all arts, from visual to music to writing, film-making, photography... the lot. Whatever the art or creative profession, the story is simple. We get stuck, we get blocked. So, how do we become unstuck? The answer is: getting our lives in order. In other words, writer's block has nothing to do with your art. But everything w

The power of the mind is truly phenomenal. And one of the most powerful things to do with this power, is to visualize outcomes before they are there. Athletes do it, just before they need to perform, and win because of it. Actors do it just before they step on stage, and nail their performance due to it. People in burnout and depression do it, and find themselves healing quicker. And you too, can use visualization to get an incredible creative project or story out there. Like

Today, a simple post with a series of very important definitions and descriptions related to storytelling, as follow up to The Nine Very Best Quotes on Storytelling , and their deeper meaning. All descriptions below are an excerpt of The Whole Story - The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling , and are my own definitions based on storytelling theory and my own experience in crafting stories. The wordings are meant for all types of story, including novels, documentaries, film and gen

A while back I had the pleasure and honor of attending Story masterclasses by the incredible Robert McKee. For those of you who don't know him: he is the master behind Hollywood. All, and I do mean all the greatest directors, actors, scriptwriters... hell even your average gopher owe him a debt of gratitude for his lessons on how to make compelling stories in film. So for this one-off blog post, focused on only the very best and most useful explainers to the best quotes on s

It's all the rage in certain, mostly affluent circles: manifesting. For some, it's a holy grail. For others, pure nonsense. The truth lies as always, somewhere in the middle. So today you will get the brutally honest reality about something that is real, and that really does work... just not always in the way many people will tell you. Ready? Now let's start by calming your mind... Image by Lance Gambis, find t-shirts and wall pictures here : The premise of manifesting The ba

So much about our mental health is about physicality . Solutions to stress are no different. If we want to reduce stress in our lives we focus on the causes of it. That's very much good of course! Yet so much of our stress can already be relieved if we accept that it is a physical thing too. Your body is just producing as little too much cortisol. The good news is that cortisol can be reduced instantly. How? By doing explicitly physical things. Such as... Shaking is my perso

Throughout the ages, our lives have been filled with constant trials and tribulations. As a result, our entire biological make up is geared towards dealing with adversity. So, as a physiological necessity, our minds do not recognize things that do not hold challenges. The brain literary does not register adversity-less messages: no neurons are firing, no sparks are connecting, no memories are formed. In storytelling terms it means our minds are built to spot friction and conf

Right now, you are in survival mode. Your body and mind are embracing your lizard and monkey brains to rewire a few things for the better. By now you'll also have noticed how excruciating that process is. It's called a burnout for a reason. And to add a little more sarcasm here: burnout ain't for the faint of heart. You have a long, hard road ahead of you. The less you think and the more you feel, the shorter the road. So, be like an animal and embrace your survival mode full

Why are artists more prone to creative anxiety and even burnout symptoms than others? It's simple really, artists are both more vulnerable in their characters, as well as putting themselves in more vulnerable positions. It may sound strange, but from a psychical perspective, artists experience the same as soldiers, policemen or health workers with trauma: they have been put in a situation where there body makes a lot of stress hormones . In the artists case, this is often vol

This burnout thing… why do I feel so bad? That’s the question we all ask ourselves. I can’t answer this for you of course. What I can do however is that your bad feeling really is a paradox. You need to feel bad. It’s crucial for your recovery and growth. Feeling bad is your oxygen, your fuel, your signal, your fire and your primary incentive to change things. Embrace the fact you feel bad or anxious or stuck as the signal that's telling you how to get back out. In other word

This is my favorite burnout topic: the couch potato. Essentially I’m encouraging you to be one and to feel bloody good about it. Your body and your mind are extremely tired when suffering from burnout symptoms or creative anxieties that overwhelm you. They are burned out. Get it? That's the story. You need to refuel them both. Put on a few new tires. Check the oil. And to do that properly, you need to stay in that garage for a while. The most common complaint from burnout vi

My favorite pod-caster, actor and comedian Marc Maron , has a lifetime full of experience with anxiety issues. In the creative industry and the arts, anxiety is common due to the fact that artists show their vulnerable side, which exposes them to criticism from their own inner critic and outside ones. In one of his podcasts however, a listener came with some unsolicited advice for Marc: stop using the word anxiety and replace it with 'nerves'. Is he right? Today we discuss th

The Dune films by Denis Villeneuve are exceptionally good. And anyone familiar with the books by Frank Herbert knows that they are even better. But why is that exactly? What's the whole story? The deeper reason is that Dune's tale is very thought-provoking and as such is fascinating to explore, with ideas that have many real world implications. Fair warning, spoilers ahead and make sure you've experienced the story... and now without further ado, let's set things off with a b

Every large corporation on our planet was once a startup with an innovative vision. They became so successful, the end result is a big company in the now. Yet, however forward-thinking when they started out, by far their greatest challenge is to keep that innovative spirit alive, now that they've often bceome more conservative. The key to doing so is in the story they tell themselves . Today, we discuss the crucial identity narrative . For business survival. A Tale of Respons

We don’t know. That’s the truth. At the very bottom, the only truth that counts is this: no one knows what artificial intelligence will bring. No one knows what positives and negatives are coming. The real story of AI? We. Just. Don’t. Know. That’s the premise of this article. Anyone who says otherwise right now, is full of horse-dong. Thankfully, we do know one thing. We know a little something about who is building it: ourselves. So, strap yourselves in really tight, and le

You are not going to like this. But it’s the truth. That anxiety you feel? When you’re releasing that art thing or that creative project of yours? It never fades. I know, I know, it’s not what you wanted to hear. But there is a silver lining: that anxiety has a function. Without it, you wouldn’t be an artist actually. Allow me to explain. In our Amsterdam music app group, one of the singers recently told us that she was viciously attacked online after posting a video of her s

Many of us can get disheartened in the storytelling professions. So this is a simple blog to boost your moral. There is always demand for a good story. So hang in there and read this article every time you feel down. Here goes... Storytelling is a demand-driven market. There is always – and I really mean always – demand for good storytellers. Despite appearances, good stories are in short supply. Just think of this: Hollywood on average produces somewhere between 500 and 700

One of the key aspects to a successful creative career is owning (up to) what you bring out. I call this creative agency or ownership: a culmination of everything you can and cannot do with your own output. And on each step - big or small - you will always face the same choice: do I keep my agency, or give it away? To anwer that question, I'm going to scare the living bejesus out of you. Flipping the script Just now, I had a really nice lunch with a very good young writer. S