The dog dies! Spoiler! ;)

When we saw it, there wasn’t a dry eye. One little girl near us was sobbing. It is a universally touching movie about love, death and the patience born out of a pet’s unconditional love for and trust in his people.

Seriously, this movie does exactly what it is supposed to do and as you so succinctly put it, "provide a 'safe' place for viewers to experience scary / violent / sad / whatever moments."

Over the years, the movies I remember most are the ones that made me scared, cry or be angry – the emotional movies.

A couple of weeks ago, you featured this interview with Ray Bradbury. In it he discusses writing his short story “The Lake” about a little girl he knew and his first real experience with death. In the interview he says, “ when I finished the short story I burst into tears. I realized that after 10 years of writing I’d finally written something beautiful. I turned a corner into my interior self. I wasn’t writing exterior stuff; I wasn’t writing for the right or the left or the in between. I was writing for me. And I discovered that was the way to go.”

Bottom line is he wrote a very personal story; something that was undoubtedly therapeutic and cathartic. That is what I’m striving for.

My question about the timing of the release you answered quite well with the economic implications. “This is a time of year where people have time and like to go to movies.”

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Tom

Tom, thanks for transcribing that quote from Ray Bradbury as I was struck by it, too. As important as it is to consider screenwriting theories, track market trends, and understand the mindset of Hwood buyers, it is absolutely critical for each writer to find something in the stories they write with which they resonate emotionally. As Bradbury says, that is the way to go.