Tuesday, November 20, 2018
And not just because I want him to direct one of my movies... or even say hello to me.Got a missive from reader "Laura" who asked:Ken, can you please give your opinion on what Steven Spielbe…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, November 16, 2018
For me, if there’s a Mount Rushmore of screenwriters it’s Billy Wilder, Larry Gelbart, Neil Simon, and William Goldman. And now all four have passed. William Goldman died yesterday. …
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 01:30PMMonday, November 5, 2018
I haven’t done this in awhile, so what the hell? Again, thanks to everyone who answered the call last week and gave me your feedback. I got a very interesting suggestion from reader Janet…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, October 25, 2018
It’s typical for a movie to take years to get made. Ken takes you through the saga of VOLUNTEERS, from the initial idea to all the studios, ups and downs, production, release, and ho…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 12:02AMSunday, October 21, 2018
Tourism is always big in Los Angeles. Local residents on the Westside are used to seeing kids stand out on Sunset Blvd. selling maps to the stars’ homes. Hollywood locals take it fo…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, October 15, 2018
Since a number of people who read my post yesterday asked about my brush with Jacqueline Onassis, I thought I would reprise a post I wrote on this a few years ago.Yes, I went to the theatre …
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, October 4, 2018
As a playwright, one of my main objectives is to see my plays produced. I have full-length, half-hour, and ten-minute plays. All comedies, some award winners. So in an attempt to make my …
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSunday, September 30, 2018
I've posted this before, years ago, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Do you remember a comedian named Gallagher? His basic act was smashing watermelons. When …
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSunday, September 23, 2018
Oh, the humanity! The heartbreak! Imagine if she had slept with a roadie. Or worse -- a writer.Let this be a cautionary tale. Never sleep with a celebrity until you'…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, September 15, 2018
TCM in tribute to Neil Simon played a number of his movies last night. A few years ago I hosted a month-long Neil Simon film festival on TCM. Although they didn't use my intros a…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, September 12, 2018
Lost in all the horrors of 9-11 is that I lost another dear friend who died on that date. Larry Gelbart in 2009. Were it not for 9-11 I might have saluted him every year on…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, September 4, 2018
Having a show on network televisionBeing on televisionRadioHaving a hit songBeing an NFL team in Los AngelesThe Rose BowlThe Polo LoungeAirline travelLibrary cardThe Universal TourMovie prem…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, September 1, 2018
This is another crazy story that happened along the way in our career. This was on a pilot rewrite.In 1976 there was a somewhat popular movie called MOTHER, JUGS, & SPEED about ambula…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, August 28, 2018
scene from GOING GOING GONEI love writing plays. It’s liberating to write whatever I want, characters of any age, and no network executive insisting I make my antagonist more “likeable…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, August 20, 2018
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG does pretty much everything right. It started in England and continues on Broadway. For all the heavy “important” plays that have come and gone over the past…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, August 17, 2018
Friday Questions everybody. Come and get ‘em.Dsull leads off with a question about the five sitcoms I listed as my all-time favorites. With the exception Seinfeld, all your favorite sitco…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, August 9, 2018
I was going to do a post about Kathleen Turner’s JEWEL OF THE NILE comments but with the Motion Picture Academy drastically changing Oscar rules I thought I would address that today and sa…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, August 3, 2018
What a concept! Friday Questions actually on Friday.Jim S has a question based on a recent podcast with casting director Sheila Guthrie (if you haven’t listened you’re missing out on tw…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, August 1, 2018
When first-run movies play in theaters (you remember theaters), they’re always preceded by four or ten trailers. And the trailers are always movies geared to the same people who came to s…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, July 25, 2018
Here was an interesting question posed to me as a writer – do I mind if audiences talk back to the actors during performances of my work? It’s a cultural issue. For some cultures it�…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, July 21, 2018
Memo:FROM: Christopher Nolan TO: President of Walt Disney PicturesSUBJECT: Re-boot of MARY POPPINSAfter watching the original 1964 movie once I know how we could improve this beloved chi…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, July 2, 2018
Here’s the REAL plot of caper movie, OCEAN'S EIGHT – a movie studio is trying to steal $100,000,000 from unsuspecting theatergoers.What a blatant cash grab. Award-winning actresses cas…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, June 21, 2018
Ken discusses how top comedy writers determine whether things are funny or not, and offers some helpful tips on how to make your writing and content much funnier. It’s another behind-the-s…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 12:02AMMonday, June 18, 2018
When Romcoms Go BadJust back from a couple of weeks in New York, Cleveland, and Grand Rapids – the typical east coast swing. In no particular order, here are some observations and thought…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, June 11, 2018
Greetings from Gotham. Congrats to THE BAND'S VISIT, which was the big Tony musical winner last night. I saw it and thought it was the right choice.I also saw, with great a…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, June 8, 2018
FQ’s are ready. Come get ‘em while they’re hot.McAlvie starts us off. I hate it when they colorize original b&w movies, because something I can't put my finger on what gets lost.…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, May 29, 2018
As I mentioned last week, I saw SUNSET BOULEVARD recently, Billy Wilder’s classic from 1950. You would think it won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It didn’t. Another worthy f…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, May 2, 2018
I’m always in awe of those technicians who set up the acoustics for major theatres like the Disney Hall in Los Angeles. It’s such a baffling science. Sound travels in mysterious ways …
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, March 12, 2018
When you make your travel plans, try not to fly to New York during a Nor’easter. Back from Fun City, where I was really lucky to get INTO Fun City. I had a play in the ANDTheatre Compa…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, March 10, 2018
Or should I say the "old" Annie Hall? A senior center in Manhattan has done a reboot of the Woody Allen classic ANNIE HALL. I'll pause here for a moment to say this is not a…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 09:00AMSunday, March 4, 2018
... than host of the Oscars?Jimmy Kimmel hosts his second Oscarcast tonight. (I will be reviewing it. Check out my podcast.) I thought he did a very good job last year, alt…
SOURCE: Ken Levine at 03:00PM 
