Archive - 5AM StoryTalk

How to Survive the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Life of an Artist

Twenty-five filmmakers, authors, and comic book writers from around the globe weigh in about how they endure the self-doubt and grueling anxieties of…

Jan 16, 2024 • Cole Haddon

How to Become a Better Filmmaker by Studying Fine Art

Let's look at 22 examples of directors visually referencing paintings and consider what you can learn from their example

Apr 16, 2025 • Cole Haddon

A Eulogy for Everything We Never Were (and Never Will Be Again)

The story of how writing a screenplay about 'The Diary of Anne Frank' convinced me it was time to leave America for good

Oct 12, 2024 • Cole Haddon

60 A24 Screenplays to Download and Study

There's no American film studio/distributor with a better 21st century track record, which is why I curated this collection of scripts for its arthouse…

Jan 28 • Cole Haddon

Guys, What If Peak TV Broke Our World?

Or: How the relentless proliferation of 'content' on our TV screens has helped turn our reality into a lonely, anxiety-inducing multiverse of shit

May 18, 2024 • Cole Haddon

How to Cope with Rejection in the Arts

More than 20 filmmakers, novelists, and comic book writers from around the globe weigh in about how to survive the endless rejection that comes with…

Jul 23, 2024 • Cole Haddon

David Bowie on the Two Biggest Mistakes Artists Make

In a soulful interview from 1997, the rock icon offered some brief, but essential advice about how to create great art

Oct 7, 2024 • Cole Haddon

What About 'The Sixth Sense's' Other Twist?

The famous climactic reveal about Bruce Willis’s character isn’t the film’s most important twist

Oct 7, 2023 • Cole Haddon

America Has a White Liberal Problem: Notes From a Screenwriter's Self-Exile

In the wake of Renée Nicole Good's murder, can we finally talk about why Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and other so-called liberal institutions…

Jan 12 • Cole Haddon

How to Survive the Future as an Artist

A host of filmmakers, novelists, and comic book writers from around the globe discuss how hopeful/despondent they feel about what's next for their…

Dec 17, 2024 • Cole Haddon

50 Essential Scripts to Download and Study If You Want to Be a Screenwriter

I've curated an epic tour through 75 years of screenplays - across a range of genres - that helped me become a well-rounded professional screenwriter…

Sep 10, 2025 • Cole Haddon

25 Time-Bending Scripts to Download and Study

If you've ever wondered how to play with time in your screenwriting, don't worry, 5AM StoryTalk has got you covered

May 27, 2024 • Cole Haddon

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