Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Engagement Hits Home With Me

I’ve never understood America’s fascination with British royalty. But the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has captured my attention — along with the rest of the world. 

This past Monday morning when I glanced over the headlines I may have missed over the long Thanksgiving break, of course all the top stories were all about Prince Harry and Meghan.

My initial reaction was one of apathy. Why should we care what the British Royals are up to? What do these pending nuptials have to do with the everyday life of the average American? Hell, how does this engagement affect the everyday life of the average UK citizen?

Apparently, a lot of people do care about the Royals. An African-American female friend told me that her social media feed was buzzing with excitement about the history-making event: a black girl becoming a real-life princess. 

After talking to my friend, I decided to actually read one of the articles about the Prince Harry-Meghan Markle engagement. A New York Times piece revealed several things I didn’t know — mainly, that Meghan is American.

But the main detail in the article that jumped out to me is that Prince Harry and Meghan will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Essex once they’re married.

Reading this detail, I had a sense of deja vu and art imitating life. I flashed back to early drafts of my novel “The Chloe Chronicles” from the ‘90s. In that version of my novel, a character named Gigi, who is a mixed-race young woman like the main character Chloe, runs off and marries a duke she meets while the girls are attending a prep school in London. Where do Gigi and Duke D'Arbanville live after they elope? Essex.

Or maybe it was Sussex. It was one of those British places that end with “-ex.”

Why, you ask, did I write a plot line involving a young nobleman if I don’t care about royalty? Well, the Duke D’Arbanville character in the early draft of “The Chloe Chronicles” is a villain who abuses Gigi. I was trying to show that just because someone is rich and famous doesn’t necessarily make him “Mr. Right.”

My novel aside, another detail about Prince Harry and Meghan that is of even greater interest to me is that I am now seeing my own family reflected among British royalty. I'm an African-American man who grew up with three white stepparents and four biracial siblings. The fact that a young woman who resembles my sisters is marrying into arguably the most famous family in the world is pretty cool.

And seeing a cross-cultural union among such powerful people with a global profile is important in these times where we all seem to be so divided. 

So, as someone who never really cared much about the Royals, I guess I’ve come to realize that what they do and the example they set for the world is kinda important after all.

(I will be publishing a new, updated edition of "The Chloe Chronicles" in 2018. Check my website, Chrisbournea.com, for details.) 

Learn Screenwriting By Rewriting A Movie You Love

As a writer and filmmaker, I've always been inspired by movies like "Whiplash" about people overcoming obstacles to pursue dreams in the arts. 

Imagine my delight when, while attending the American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles earlier this month, I got the opportunity to rewrite a scene from "Whiplash." 

AFM brings together filmmakers and distribution companies from all over the world to strike deals. In addition to the business side of the movie industry, the conference also features a wide variety of workshops on everything from the art and science of pitching an idea to how to tap into the rapidly growing faith-based movie market.

During a workshop titled "Revision: Seeing Your Script With New Eyes," instructor Ken LeZebnik offered some very useful tips on how to tighten up a script. This was truly a master class, since LeZebnik is an instructor at the prestigious University of Southern California, director of Stephens College master of fine arts in screenwriting program, and a successful screenwriter and playwright himself.

I was part of a group of about 400 workshop participants who filled the cavernous conference room at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. LeZebnik passed out copies of a scene from "Whiplash," in which Miles Teller plays an aspiring drummer who will stop at nothing to be the very best at his highly competitive music school. He also nearly kills himself to win the approval of his drill sergeant-like instructor, played by J.K. Simmons in an Oscar-winning performance.

In the exercise, LeZebnik had us break off into small groups and analyze the scene, in which Simmons calls Teller to his office to discourage him from transferring to a different school. LeZebnik added extra dialogue that did not appear in the final "Whiplash" script, which was written and directed by Damien Chazelle (who went on to direct the equally riveting, Oscar-nominated "La La Land").

My fellow workshop attendees and I all came up with different ideas on how to prune the scene to its bare essentials, mostly by cutting extraneous small talk between the student and professor.  The single biggest takeaway I got from the workshop was LeZebnik's recommendation to begin and end scenes earlier. No matter how important you think dialogue is at the beginning and end of a scene, it can always be trimmed. 

This blog post is part of a series about my experience at the 2017 AFM. To view the video version of this blog post, click here. 

To read the first blog in the series about a panel discussion with Oscar winner Geena Davis talking about the status of women in film, click here. 

(Chris Bournea is the writer/director of the forthcoming documentary "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring.")

A Surefire Way To Increase Screen Time For Female Characters

Here's one surefire way to increase screen time for female characters in film and television:

Before casting, creative teams should go through their scripts and simply change some of the male characters to female. 

Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actress Geena Davis offered this solution during a Nov. 5 panel discussion on the status of women in film during the 2017 American Film Market. The panel also featured filmmaker Jen McGowan ("Kelly & Cal") and producers Catherine Hand and Jim Whitaker (co-producers of the forthcoming movie "A Wrinkle In Time" directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Oprah Winfrey).

Changing a male character to female has been done before to great success. Whitaker shared that the lead character in the 2005 movie "Flightplan," which he produced, was originally written as a man. But when Oscar winner Jodie Foster expressed an interest in the project, Whitaker and others backing the movie gladly changed the protagonist to a woman. They even kept the character's masculine-sounding name "Kyle Pratt" at Foster's suggestion.

"Flightplan" went on to earn more than $100 million at the worldwide box office, proving that movies with female leads can be blockbusters.

In addition to the success of female-led movies like "Flightplan," much of the conversation at the panel discussion centered on the pioneering research conducted by the Geena Davis Institute for Gender In Media. Davis shared that the institute has found that despite gains in recent years, the problem of fewer roles for female characters persists in everything from children's programming to grown-up action movies.

Not only do women get less screen time and fewer lines of dialogue, Davis said, but when female characters are onscreen, editors tend to cut away to the reaction of male characters rather than focusing on the women talking.

This issue is of particular interest to me, since I directed the forthcoming documentary "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring," which portrays a little-known chapter in women's history.

The pervasive problem of inequity in Hollywood unfortunately doesn't seem to going away, but it's good to know that people like Davis, Whitaker and the other panelists are working to bring about parity.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about my experiences at the 2017 American Film Market. The annual conference brings together filmmakers and film buffs from all over the world to sunny Santa Monica, Calif.

To view the video version of this blog post, click here.      

What I Learned From Making A YouTube Video Every Day

Throughout October 2017, I participated in a challenge to make and post a YouTube video every business day. The challenge was organized by Tanya Alvarez of OwnersUp, a site that provides support and motivation to entrepreneurs, and video blogger Jen Morilla of  The Social Girl Traveler.

Prior to taking part in this challenge, I already had a YouTube channel (accessible by clicking here), but I only posted sporadically whenever an idea for a video popped into my head. The experience of having to post every day for the OwnersUp challenge really helped me up my game (pun intended).

Here are three takeaways from participating in the OwnersUp YouTube Challenge:

Takeaway No. 1: You Can Do More Than You Think

The demands of modern life make it seem next to impossible to get everything done on our overloaded to-do lists and still have time for a personal life. Before the YouTube Challenge, I never thought I could have squeezed in making and posting a new video each day.

But I decided to keep it short, sweet and simple. I made quick videos of three minutes or less with my iPhone, using iMovie to edit. Not exactly masterpieces, but it got the job done.

Takeaway No. 2: There's A Happy Medium Between Perfectionism And Doing The Bare Minimum

Participating in the YouTube Challenge showed me that I can produce quick, simple videos on the fly. But the challenge also helped me realize that I need to be more strategic with my YouTube channel.

Instead of randomly making videos on any topic that suits my fancy, I need to first research how much public interest there is in a given topic. In other words, I need to be more user-focused and less self-focused: how can I match my video ideas with what viewers want?

I also need to upgrade my channel art and graphics, profile photo, etc., to present a more polished, professional image. 

There is the danger of over-thinking and over-producing videos, as was pointed out by my friend and fellow OwnersUp YouTube Challenge participant Nina Froriep of Clockwise Productions. 

But I think the sweet spot may be posting one well-researched, well-produced video a week. I can also leave room to be flexible and produce spontaneous videos when inspiration strikes.

Takeaway No. 3: Don't Be A Passive Consumer

The biggest takeaway from the YouTube Challenge is not to be a passive video viewer. Before taking part in this challenge, I'd never "like" or comment on videos I watched. But I've learned that giving constructive feedback really helps those who take the time to produce content that I enjoy and find useful. 

Constructive feedback not only helps content creators attract new subscribers, but also gives them encouragement that people appreciate what they have to offer.

To view my video on this topic that I made for the OwnersUp YouTube Challenge, click here. 

How To Revise Your Manuscript

I'm in the process of revising my novel, "The Chloe Chronicles," which will be re-released in early 2018.

One tip I've picked up that helps a lot with revising is to take index cards and go through every scene in every chapter of your manuscript. Write down a summary of what happens in that scene and whether or not it can be cut.

You can use software that helps you generate note cards like Final Draft. Or you can do it by hand using index cards that you can buy for a stack of 100 for $1 at a grocery store or an office supply store. 

Once you have all the scenes written down, spread them out on the floor, tape them to a wall or put them on bulletin boards or poster boards. Look over all the index cards, which will give you a bird's-eye view of all the scenes in your manuscript. 

You'll begin to see patterns: some scenes are repetitive. Or you'll see that a particular scene isn't really necessary and you can reduce it to a one- or two-sentence summary and merge it with another scene.

Using the "Index Card Method," I've already cut down 100 pages from my novel from its previous length of more than 600 pages. This method also works with screenplays, stage plays and any kind of written material.  

It's really hard work to cut scenes from a story that you love and cherish and that you worked and slaved over. But like Stephen King says, sometimes you have to kill your babies.

To view the video version of this blog post, click here.

Author Shares Amazing Story of Escape From False Imprisonment

I had the privilege recently of speaking with "Thirteen Nasty Little Snakes" author Victor Levenstein. He will kick off the 2017 JCC Jewish Bookfair with an appearance at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus, 1125 College Ave. , on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.

In "Thirteen Nasty Little Snakes," Levenstein shares his amazing story of being falsely convicted, at age 21 in the 1940s, of plotting to assassinate Russian dictator Joseph Stalin. Levenstein, one of 13 students who were falsely convicted of the crime, was sentenced to exile in Siberia for the rest of his life.

Levenstein, who is now 94, goes on to describe how he managed to escape this draconian sentence and later restarted his life in the United States, along with his wife, Dora, and son, Matvey, in the 1980s. To read my interview with Levenstein in ThisWeek News, click here. 

Want To Meet Real 'Wonder Women'? Watch 'Lady Wrestler'

"Wonder Woman" is one of the biggest movies of not only the summer of 2017, but the whole year. The blockbuster superhero movie starring Gal Gadot in the title role has raked in more than $800 million at the worldwide box office and is now available on home video. 

I've been a "Wonder Woman" fan ever since I was a kid in the '70s and the popular television show with Lynda Carter was all the rage. If you're a "Wonder Woman" fan like me and you're interested in a real story about female empowerment, see the forthcoming documentary "Lady Wrestler," which I wrote and directed. 

Like "Wonder Woman," "Lady Wrestler" centers on the story of women who are thrust into a male-dominated world where they must overcome challenges, defeat opponents and show incredible strength and courage.

Like Diana Prince in "Wonder Woman," lady wrestlers like
Ethel Johnson, Babs Wingo, Marva Scott and Ramona Isbell were naïve young women who became unlikely "warriors." Like Diana leaving her sheltered island home Themyscira to embark on adventures in the larger world, the lady wrestlers ventured beyond their sheltered small town of Columbus, Ohio, in the 1950s and '60s. The women competed in matches internationally, from Japan to Latin America to Australia.

And like Diana Prince in "Wonder Woman," the lady wrestlers had dual identities. The women led conventional family lives outside of the ring and sometimes didn't even telling those closest to them about their dangerous line of work, so as not to worry them.

For more information about "Lady Wrestler" and when the documentary will officially be released, visit Ladywrestlermovie.com.