DDG PALM SPRINGS & COACHELLA VALLEY DOCUMENTING GAY HISTORY SINCE 1994

DDG.GAY PALM SPRINGS 

February 

& COACHELLA VALLEY 

DOCUMENTING GAY HISTORY SINCE 1994 

The Biden-Harris Administration 

Joe Biden 

THE PRESIDENT 

Kamala Harris 

THE VICE PRESIDENT 

Mel Frank 2021 

INSIDE 

BIDEN NORMAL 

CCBC IS HIRING 

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL 

SCRIPTWRITERS 

WANT A VAX? 

EVICTION MORATORIUM EXTENDED 

RENT CONTROL 

PALM SPRINGS LEATHER PRIDE 2021 

TRUMP AND THE ARTS 

F**KED UP FUNNY

2 Desert Daily Guide always on line and soon in print (ASAP)

Expect Shut Downs, please contact location first. Delivery options available 3

DID YOU KNOW? 

Financial donations are what 

keep “food on the table.” We 

exist because of individual donors 

like yourself. No donation is too 

small, nor too big. Our yearly 

budget of $450,000.00 provides 

food and services to thousands 

of people. Churches, individuals 

and Foundations are what make 

ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project 

212-549-2500 

Adult Protective Services 

Hotline 

800 491-7123 

The (FCC) reserved the 211 dialing 

code for community information 

and services. 

Gay Men’s Health Crisis Hotline 

800 243-7692 

American Association of Poison 

Control Center (800) 222-1222 

Rape, Sexual Assault, Abuse, and 

Incest National Network (RAINN) 

(800) 656-HOPE 

See More in our Business Directory 



BUSINESS Directory 

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6 Desert Daily Guide always on line and soon in print (ASAP) 

Welcome at Tryst 

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Continued on page 16




This new column is dedicated to the 

following. 

How a normal president works. 

Statement on the 12th Anniversary of the 

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 

JANUARY 29, 2021 • 

Twelve years ago to the day, President 

Obama and I were a little over a week 

into our time in office. While we were 

working with Congress on what became 

the Recovery Act that kept us from 

another Great Depression, we got another 

groundbreaking and critical piece of 

economic legislation passed and to the 

President’s desk. I stood next to him and 

the incredible woman for whom the first 

law he would ever sign was named after, 

Lilly Ledbetter. 

Before she was a household name, she 

was like so many other women in the 

workforce – who worked hard, with honor, 

only to find out she was being paid less 

than a man for the same work. 

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act marked 

one small step to give women a fair chance 

to get ahead in this country. But we’re still 

far from full fair pay in the workplace — as 

we’ve seen in this pandemic and economic 

crisis. 

Women are disproportionately working 

on the frontlines caring for our loved 

ones and working to beat the virus, but 

they continue to earn less than their male 

counterparts. The pandemic is widening 

Biden Normal 

women’s income and wealth gaps, as more 

than two million have dropped out of the 

labor force, partly reflecting the increased 

domestic labor demands on women during 

the pandemic. 

Vice President Harris and I will lead an 

economic recovery that not only brings 

women back into the workforce, but 

that also breaks down barriers that have 

left women, especially women of color, 

unseen, underpaid, and undervalued. 

We applaud Senator Murray and 

Congresswoman DeLauro for 

reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, 

which will take critical steps to end pay 

discrimination and increase transparency 

by protecting workers from retaliation 

for simply sharing their wages with their 

colleagues. It will also ban employers 

from seeking salary history, so they have 

one less false justification for underpaying 

women and people of color. And, 

it will provide tools to hold employers 

accountable for engaging in systemic 

discrimination. We urge Congress to 

pass it and to go further to end pay 

discrimination –starting by dramatically 

increasing funding for enforcement so that 

employers are held accountable. 

We also need to take additional steps to 

help women have more choices to rejoin 

or stay in the workforce and to have more 

options for high-paying jobs. That includes 

by providing paid family and medical 

leave, making child care more affordable 


continued on page 22

Next Mass weekly Zoom Mass every Saturday at 430. 

Call or 442-282-8333 or visit stgilesaltadena.org for more details. 


cover 

19. Biden 

13. Mel 

politics 

15. Successful Scriptwriter by Vic. 

10. Biden Normal 

19 Rent Control 

entertainment 

20 TRUMP AND THE ARTS 

14 Palm Springs leather PRIDE 

30 F**Ked Up Funny 

business 

06 Business Directory 

06 Featured Bar/Dining 

06 Resorts 

18 Massage 

16 CCBC IS Hiring 

health 

19 Eviction Moratorium Extended 

THIS MONTH 

February (do you see that extra “r”?) is one 

of the most frequently misspelled words in 

the English language. 

15 Successful Scriptwriters by Vic. 

SPECIAL DAYS 

Black History Month 

Valentine’s Day 

Return Shopping Carts to the 

Supermarket Month. 

February1870 

-The 15th Amendment guaranteedthe 

right of citizens to vote. 

20 TRUMP AND THE ARTS 


ONLINE

EDITOR NOTES 

Currently online only February 

As we went to print, I learned of Mel Frank’s 

passing. I do not have any details at this point. 

But Mel was a mentor to me and a number of 

people in Palm Springs. One of the oldest LGBT 

business owners. It feels like yesterday that I 

met him but was so many years ago. It was my 

at my first Desert Dailyb Guide 

presentation of our new web site 

at Heaven. Later he invested in 

a touchscreen kiosk i sold. And 

critical to the DDG survival. I once 

told him very soon this data will 

all be on a phone. He laughed 

and grabbed my arm in his loving 

way but without weight. And said 

“Hey, don’t say that “You will be 

out of work!”. 

Mel Frank 

Trump Passed 2021 

But we all learned to adapt. Truth 

be told, I stole him from another 

magazine in a very clever way. It 

was my integrity he would kid and 

I would say I worked your ego. 

Years later I invited him as my 

guest to the When I Rise Barbara 

Smith Conrad Gala hosted by our 

mutual friend Arlene Rosenthal. 

I called it the night I spend with 

living gods story. 

DDG Media Group/ 

Team DDG 

Art: Adams’s Art 

Desert Daily Guide 

adamsart@desertdailyguide. Opinions expressed in the DDG 

EDITOR: Will Paige 

com 

columns do not necessarily 

will@desertdailyguide.com 

reflect the opinion of the DDG, 

its staff, or its advertisers. DDG is 

EDITOR IN CHIEF: A, A, Advertising 

not responsible for claims made 

AA@desertdailyguide.com 

Digital or printed media packs available by its advertisers, or the products 

on request. 

or services they offer. Listings, 

Contributing Photographers: SALES: Will Paige 

pictures, or advertisements in 

Marko Russell, David Stanfield will@desertdailyguide.com 

the DDG should not be construed 

National Ad Representatives 

to represent or reflect the sexual 

Distribution 

Rivendell Media 

orientation of any business, its 

Magazine is delivered every week owners, or its staff. All events 

(212) 242-6863 

to select locations. Updated weekly , are subject to change without 

Contributing Writers 

Currently on lime only and free during notice. Any omissions of events 

COVID. 

are not intentional. © 2020 

Vic Gerami 

DDG Media Group , All Rights 

TheBluntPostWithVic.com 

Reserved. 


PALM SPRINGS LEATHER PRIDE 2021 

IMMEDIATE ANNOUNCEMENT 

Palm Springs Leather Order of The Desert is proceeding with planning to present 

Palm Springs Leather Pride 2021 during the period of October 28-31, 2021. 

Since COVID-19 continues to be a concern, it is necessary to delay a final decision 

about whether to present the event until July/August 2021 at which time we will send 

an update and post the decision on our websites and Facebook pages. 

We are planning to bring back all your favorite events - pool parties, formal dinner 

and Mr. Palm Springs Leather contest. 

palmspringsleatherpride.org. info@pslod.org 


The Secrets of Successful 

Scriptwriters in Hollywood 

By Vic Gerami 

30-Year Industry Veteran, Jeff 

Kitchen, Explains 

the Art, Craft, and Business of 

Bankable Scriptwriting 

Palm Springs is often referred to as 

Hollywood’s playground. The city’s history 

of Hollywood connections dates back to 

the filming of the 1915 version of Peer 

Gynt, followed by Zane Grey movies. 

Studios discovered the wonders of location 

shooting in Palm Springs with vacant land, 

mountains, and boulders for Westerns and 

sand dunes for films about the Arabian 

desert. 

some formerly retired, are getting into 

writing. Some are veteran writers for 

Hollywood and/or Broadway, while others 

are newcomers. So, what are the most 

important things to consider for those who 

want to be scriptwriters/screenwriters? 

Alfred Hitchcock said, “To make a great 

film you need three things—the script, 

the script and the script.” But to craft the 

blueprint for a movie, TV show, or stage 

play is much harder than most people 

think. More special effects, gunplay, car 

chases, or laughs can enhance a good 

script, but by themselves they’re nothing. 

A script must get an audience up on the 

edge of their seats and keep them there, 

holding them in its thrall. That’s the job 

of a dramatist. Once you crack the script, 

everything else follows. 

Palm Springs is still thriving in the In the history of entertainment, a handful 

entertainment industry, with not just one, of names are uttered when industry 

but several annual film festivals. The city insiders speak of the best in any category. 

is also home to the Desert Screenwriters The Russian actor, director, and coach, 

Guild, an organization that brings Konstantin Stanislavsky, considered the 

screenwriters together from Hollywood father of modern acting is such a name. 

to Palm Springs and the surrounding He founded ‘method acting’ and his deep 

desert communities. With the influx of training inspired generations of great 

productions due to the popularity of actors. Many of the old school Hollywood 

streaming Expect networks, Shut Downs, many please desert contact residents, location writers first. were Delivery trained options as available 15 



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Painter 

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We remove trash 

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Call Red at 

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ATTRACTIONS 

Cabot’s Pueblo 

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Want a vax? 

You should! 

Check your current 

eligibility for COVID-19 

vaccines. 

California is launching a new tool to 

help you know when it’s your turn to 

receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Harnessing the innovative spirit of 

California, My Turn allows you to 

receive a notification via text or email 

when it’s your turn. This new tool will 

help us vaccinate every Californian as 

quickly as possible. 

Right now, eligible folks in Los Angeles 

and San Diego can begin scheduling 

appointments to receive the vaccine 

through My Turn. Online appointment 

scheduling for other groups and 

residents in different counties will be 

available in the coming weeks. 

For now, everyone can check to see if 

they’re eligible to receive the vaccine, 

and receive a notification via text or 

email when it’s your turn. 

Eviction Moratorium 

Legislation extends 

statewide through June 30, 

2021 and protects tenants’ 

credit 

Creates State Rental Assistance Program 

to allocate $2.6 billion in federal rental 

assistance dollars to assist struggling 

tenants and small property owners 

On Monday, Governor Newsom, 

Senate President pro Tempore Toni 

Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony 

Rendon announced an agreement on 

the legislation to extend the eviction 

moratorium established last year under 

AB 3088, which was set to expire at 

the end of the month. “Once again, 

California is leading the way by enacting 

the strongest eviction protections in 

the nation, which will provide relief 

for millions of Californians dealing 

with financial difficulties as a result of 

COVID-19,” said Governor Newsom. 

https://www.gov.ca.gov/ 

https://myturn.ca.gov/ 

Having trouble? Don’t have an email 

address or mobile phone? 

Call the CA COVID-19 Hotline at 

1-833-422-4255 (M-F 8AM-8PM, Sa-Su 

8AM-5PM) for assistance. 

If you need assistance contact us or call 

211Expect Shut Downs, please contact location first. Delivery options available 19

ADAMSARTEXPOSE’ 

TRUMP AND THE ARTS HOW THIS PARALLELS WITH THE ARTS 

UNDER HITLER AND THE NAZIES 

REPORTER: Adam EMAIL: adamart@desertdailyguide.com Web: coming soon 

The year 2020 will be historically known 

as the year of the Covid Pandemic. All of the 

world had been drastically affected by the death 

of over one million five hundred thousand 

humans by the end of December 2020, and the 

complete disruption of life as it existed prior to the 

beginning of Covid. One positive event at the end 

of the year was the presidential election and the 

removal of Donald J. Trump. 

After the election of Trump in 2016, there 

was speculation that the arts would benefit from 

his administration. Trump was a disaster for the 

arts. He did provide ample reasons for artists 

of all categories to react against his tyranny. For 

which he provided his push back with Twitter 

threats, lies, and innuendos. His comments 

on Hamilton as “overrated” referring to media 

outlets that did not complement his treacheries 

he called, failures, and the administration’s 

attempts to defund arts organizations such 

as the National Endowment for the Arts, the 

National Endowment for the Humanities, and 

the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which 

helps fund PBS and NPR, just as a sample of the 

attempts at censorship and tyrannical control. 

There is one artist who has used his creative 

ability to the detriment of the country and society 

by embellishing the tyranny of Trump. One 

example of this Utah artist, Jon McNaughton, the 

exaggerated fantasy of Trump is his depiction of 

Trump riding a Harley with Melania riding behind 

him apparently at a Trump rally in front of the 

U.S. Capitol. Incidentally, the same building that 

was invaded by insurgents, promoted by Trump, 

after he refused to acknowledge his loss in the 

presidential election. McNaughton continues to 

use his artistic ability to attempt to defend Trump. 

These examples of Trumps’ war with the 

arts parallels with Hitler and the Nazis and the 

undermining of the arts during that period of 

history. For example, 

Hitler began his regime of terror by 

creating a rift in the art community. Ten days 

after becoming the chancellor of the National 

Socialist Party of Germany in 1933 he stated, 

that his “party wanted to burn out the symptoms 

of decomposition in literature, in theater, in the 

press.....in a word the whole culture, we want 

to burn out this poison” His reference to the 

progressive arts that did not comply with his 

psychotic xenophobia of Jews and others that 

were not Aryan. Hitler, himself had attempted 

to become an artist but had been rejected at art 

school in Austria. 

Reaction from artists was swift and 

continuous. Alec Baldwin on SNL, impersonated 

Trump providing a better personalization of 

Trump than Trump as himself. 

Nude life-sized statues of Trump with an 

extended stomach and small penis mysteriously By the end of 1933, Hitler has succeeded in 

appeared in 5 major cities. Night show talk hosts removing all Jews from Germany’s educational 

found continuous ways to expose his failures with and cultural system. At the end of 1935, Hitler had 

attempts to make them humorous. The disaster of removed all musicians, artists, architects, and all 

the Covid-19 Pandemic of which Trump’s lack of creative people who were not certified as Aryan 

response excelled in at least doubling the number (a member of the superior white race). Visual 

of deaths along with the trauma to the economy artists were ordered to represent situations in their 

which was disproportionately exaggerated in the art that only supported the Aryan superiority as 

arts. 

determined by Hitler and his cohorts. Those 

20 Desert Daily Guide always on line and who soon did in not print comply (ASAP) were ordered to stop creating

art. This was enforced by the artist’s residence 

being visited periodically to assure that they 

were not creating art. If it was determined 

that they were not complying they could be 

imprisoned or executed. 

The Bauhaus art community which is 

credited with the introduction of Modernism 

in design and architecture was constantly 

under scrutiny by Hitler. Walter Gropius one 

of the founders of the Bauhaus visualized 

this as an epicenter for the future of style and 

philosophy that today is still prevalent, This 

is evident during Modernism week each year 

in Palm Springs. Gropius was not a political 

person, he preferred to advance his ideas 

through a progressive social consciousness 

of improving the lives of working people 

by creating housing and workplaces that 

reflect healthy, safe, clean, well designed, 

and aesthetically pleasing environments. He 

stated, “Let us create a new guild of craftsmen, 

without the class distinctions that raise an 

arrogant barrier between craftsmen and 

artists.” 

was pounded into people repeatedly through 

various media. He said, “ the receptive powers 

of the masses are very restricted and their 

power of understanding is slight.” Is this 

statement reminiscent of the Trump? How 

many hundreds of times was the statement, 

“witch hunt” used, along with “fake news”, 

“deep state” etc. Repetition creates legitimacy, 

especially for tyrants. 

We are very lucky to have avoided the 

disaster of becoming puppets of the Trump 

tyranny and his supremacist, misogynistic, 

xenophobic, psychosis. How close we were, AT 

LEAST 70 MILLION VOTES REFUTING IT. 

The participation of art and artists in helping 

to prevent this catastrophe and is underlying 

the presence of the best of humanity. 

An anonymous statement describes 

Gropius and the arts during the reign of 

Hitler as, “Gropius’s aim was to introduce 

soul into the age of the machine. The Nazis’ 

was to introduce the machine into the soul.” 

Hitler’s aim was to completely control the 

populace, the arts were a constant irritation 

to his goal. He understood that propaganda 

was most effective when the same message 


Biden Normal 

and schedules more predictable and 

flexible, and building training pipelines 

into high-paying jobs. It also includes 

raising the minimum wage and boosting 

pay for those in the care economy – 

including child care workers, home health 

aides, and pre-school teachers. And, we 

must make it easier for workers to organize 

and bargain collectively, a critical path to 

reducing the wage gap for women. 

As we do this work, we urge employers 

across the country to partner with us 

and take immediate action to change 

the culture and pay practices that foster 

discrimination. 

We cannot move forward while leaving 

half of our country behind. I hope there is 

a bill that comes to my desk for me to sign, 

with Vice President Harris standing next 

to me as we ensure that women are valued, 

appreciated, and given the fair shot they 

deserve. 

President Biden Announces New Steps 

to Boost Vaccine Supply and Increase 

Transparency for States, Tribes, and 

Territories 

Executive Order on Reforming Our 

Incarceration System to Eliminate the 

Use of Privately Operated Criminal 

Detention Facilities 

Memorandum Condemning and 

Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and 

Intolerance Against Asian Americans and 

Pacific Islanders in the United States 

Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, 

Jr. Call with President Vladimir Putin of 

Russia 

Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

Call with Chancellor Angela Merkel of 

Germany 

Also... 

Remarks by President Biden at Signing 

of Executive Orders Strengthening 

Americans’ Access to Quality, Affordable 

Healthcare. 

Executive Order on Strengthening 

Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act 

Remarks by President Biden in Signing 

of Executive Order Reversing the 2018 

Transgender Military Ban 

What I’m doing is enabling all qualified 

Americans to serve their country in 

uniform, and essentially restoring 

the situation as it existed before, with 

transgender personnel, if qualified 

in every other way, can serve their 

government in the United States military. 

Statement by President Joseph R. 

Biden, Jr. on International Holocaust 

Remembrance Day 


tenantstogether.org 

List of Rent Control 

Ordinances by City 

Only 28 out of 482 cities in California 

have strong tenant protections. The 

statewide rent cap passed in 2019 

is a solid start, but does not go far 

enough to stop displacement and 

evictions. 

Palm Springs: Not a lawyer but this 

old renter rates them a “needs TLC” 

City of Palm Springs Tenant Protections 

The information below is provided 

by Tenants Together, based partially 

on research conducted by the Urban 

Displacement Project, and was last updated 

in October 2018. For complete information 

on the City’s tenant protections, please visit 

their website here. 

Disclaimer: This website is for general 

information and none of the information 

provided constitutes legal advice. In 

addition, please note that ordinances 

are periodically updated, modified, or 

interpreted by regulations. We recommend 

contacting the City for the official version 

of its law in the event that you intend to 

rely on this information. 

Rent control is effective at keeping people 

in their homes. Rent control policies 

limit rent increases and provide greater 

housing stability for tenants. Rent control 

ordinances in California allow landlords to 

set the initial rent in any amount, but limit 

rent increases after a tenancy begins. 

Rent control is often combined with 

eviction protections, known as “just cause 

for eviction,” to make sure that landlords 

do not get around the rent increase limits 

by simply evicting tenants arbitrarily 

and bringing in new tenants. Just Cause 

protections provide basic fairness and 

prevent retaliation, discrimination, and 

harassment proactively. 

City WITHOUT RENT CONTROL but 

are still covered by this link. 

“https://www.tenantstogether.org/covid- 

19-tenant-defense” 

Emeryville 

Fairfax summary coming soon 

Glendale 

Maywood 

San Diego 

San Rafael summary coming soon 

Unincorporated Marin County summary 

coming soon 

Union City 

This project is a collaboration between 

Tenants Together and the Anti-Eviction 

Mapping Project. 

More on our colaboration with this work 

in next the next issue. 

Stay Tuned! Stay Informed! 

Tenants Together is a statewide coalition 

of local tenant organizations dedicated 

to defending and advancing the rights 

of California tenants to safe, decent, and 

affordable housing. 



GROUPS/ORG/HELP 

LGBT 

COMMUNITY 

CENTER 760-416- 

7790 thecenterps.org 

AMERICAN CANCER 

SOCIETY 800-227-2345 

AMVETS: 

Veterans club 

760-324-5670 

Coachella Valley Sexual 

Assault Services Rape 

Crisis Center 

(760) 568-9071 

DESERT LEGAL AID: 

760-832-9770 

DESERT 

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS: 

desert-stonewall.org 

DESERT WINDS freedom 

Band 

760 776-2700 

GAY ARTISTS - 

760 835-0727 

Gay Book Club of PS— 

write to 

bookclubofps@yahoo. 

com 

Transgender community 

transcc.org 

PALM SPRINGS GAY 

MEN’S 

CHORUS 

760-219-2077 

PALM SPRINGS LEATHER 

ORDER OF THE DESERT 760 

272-5553 

PALM SPRINGS PRIDE 

pspride.org 

Prime Timers of the Desert 

760-424-8014. 

NATURIST DAY PASSES 

Gay Men CCBC Resort 

Family DeAnza Desert 

Sun Resort 

Starland 

Community Desert 

retreat 

All listings are 

now free to all 

current and past 

advertisers 

By way of thanks to 

their support for us 

over the years. 




playwrights, and now writers emerge from 

film schools and writing classes. One of 

the top-rated dramatic writing teachers 

working today is Jeff Kitchen. 

Jeff to discuss his career, his techniques, 

and Scriptwriting Mastery, his new 

training program, a comprehensive digital 

apprenticeship for writers. 

VG: With the increase in production due 

to streaming services such as Netflix, 

Amazon Prime, and Hulu, plus ‘reality’ 

entertainment now a fixture in the 

21st century, how do you see the state 

of scriptwriting and screenwriting in 

Hollywood today? 

JK: It’s a truly great time to be a writer 

today because there’s such an explosion of 

opportunity. Producers have repeatedly 

told me they’re starving for people who 

can write scripts that work, so if you want 

a career then master your craft. Dramatic 

writing is notoriously difficult and tricky, 

but newcomers often think it’s easy. It’s 

hard work, but if you can show up with 

deep skills as a storyteller and substantial 

craft as a dramatist, then you can forge a 

career for yourself. The door is wide open 

Jeff was classically trained as a playwright and studios want to try new things because 

and for thirty years he’s trained thousands the whole game has changed. So, make 

of writers from Broadway to Hollywood. bold choices and dazzle them with your 

Among his former students are multiple vision—but make sure it works on the 

Oscar and Emmy nominees, showrunners page. That’s your job as a scriptwriter— 

and directors, writers, and producers. to tell a good story and to make it work 

Author of Writing a Great Movie: Key dramatically. 

Tools for Successful Screenwriting, Jeff 

has trained development executives at VG: What are three things that you would 

all the major Hollywood studios, who tell writers who want to get into script or 

they consistently say he teaches the screenwriting specifically? 

most advanced development tools in the JK: 1) MASTER YOUR CRAFT. The craft 

industry. With aspiring screenwriters of the dramatist is about adapting a story 

flocking to LA each year to pursue their for a theatrical performance—whether as 

dream, I wanted to interview one of the a film, TV show, or on stage. You’ve got to 

leading dramatic writing teachers and tell a good story and it must be actable and 

coaches Expect in Shut the business. Downs, I please sat down contact with location grip an first. audience. Delivery options available 27 


Dramatic writing is generally considered deepen and broaden your inner resources. 

the most elusive of all the literary 

Listen for the stories that percolate all 

mediums, so you need solid skills if you around you, and then make them your 

want a writing career. There are certain own. Producers are starving for original 

distinctions that help make the skills work creative material, so grow your own and 

and if you muddy those distinctions every put it out there. The more craft you have 

time, they become inconvenient, then you as a dramatist, the bolder the story choices 

lose their power. Scripts are more you can make. 

constructed than written, so mastering 3) BE TENACIOUS AND SAVVY. Making 

plot construction and dramatic principle a living as a writer is no easy feat. You need 

is crucial. You must be able to wade into grit and you need perspective. You need to 

the chaos of story creation and structure it know how to handle rejection because it’s 

into compelling dramatic plot, no matter a huge part of the game. Wanting to never 

what the genre. It’s like being a helicopter have your writing turned down is like 

pilot—hard to learn, but once you do you being a boxer and expecting to never get 

can always find work. 

punched. Learn to take care of your inner 

2) FIND YOUR OWN VOICE. Write a lot. needs so you can survive emotionally. 

Don’t get sidetracked by distractions or Understand that your writing won’t be a 

rejections. Dig deep into your own creative fit for everyone. Think about movies you 

reservoir and keep cranking out scripts, loathe that other people think are genius. 

but don’t be a robot. Don’t just copycat It can take time to find the people who fit 

trends because that’s what there’s too much your sensibility. Find your own creative 

of already. Always look at things through rhythm so you can keep to a pace that 

the eyes of a writer, turning things over works for you. Cultivate your creativity. 

in your mind and playing What If. Put You’ve also got to think strategically and 

yourself in other people’s shoes and think work smart to create a career. The ability 

about what you would do in their place. to collaborate (I don’t mean co-writing but 

What if you are a ghost with unfinished interacting professionally with others) is 

business? What would it feel like? How crucial because you end up working with 

could you affect the world of the living? so many people, and if you don’t play well 

What if you’re a corrupt politician who with others, they won’t want you back. 

found one honest thing worth fighting for? I heard one casting director say that she 

What if you’re lost in the woods and know would never work with this particular 

you’re going to die? Listen to your inner person again “because life is too long.” Be 

voice. You are a distinct person with your professional, reliable, and consistent— 

own take on situations. What do you bring someone that other people want to work 

to the table? What do you love? How are with. 

you wired and how are you warped? The VG: What is the greatest misconception 

deeper you go into your own particular about scriptwriting? 

taste and energy, the less you imitate 

others. 28 Desert Read Daily all the Guide time so always that you on line and soon in print (ASAP) 


JK: That a good story automatically makes 

a good movie, TV show, or play. A story 

must be dramatized so that it works as 

a performance medium. In the theater 

they have a good saying for it. They say 

the story might sound good around a 

campfire but it’s not stageworthy—it’s not 

capable of being performed so that it grips 

an audience. A good script is consistently 

dramatic, with no flat sections, which 

means you keep the audience on the 

edge of their seats for most of the show. 

Consistent coherent compelling Dramatic 

Action is the secret ingredient. Dramatic 

Action is not car chases and shootouts; it’s 

a state of action that you put the audience 

in, wondering how things will turn out, 

what comes next, how it will end. So, it’s 

not just storytelling. You need storytelling 

skills as big as you can get them, and you 

also need substantial craft as a dramatist. 

VG: Your digital apprenticeship program, 

script.kitchen, offers Scriptwriting 

Mastery, a high-intensity training 

program for serious scriptwriters. What 

are some of the benefits of your program 

and how does it help writers in their 

career? 

JK: I teach seven of the most powerful 

dramatic writing tools in the industry and 

my students are rigorously trained in them 

by constantly building multiple scripts. 

They work hard to master each tool and 

principle, and then to merge them all into 

one fluid capability. The entire program is 

laser-focused on teaching the craft of the 

dramatist. This two-year training program 

will turn them into a seasoned professional 

scriptwriter, ready to tackle any project 

in any genre. They’ll be trained how to 

trap a protagonist in a dilemma to create 

riveting dramatic action; how to develop 

dynamic, complex, flawed characters that 

feel familiar; how to put their finger on 

the theme that’s emerging through the 

complete action of a story rather than 

the theme they insist it must be; how to 

jumpstart a story, utilize all its native 

elements, and amplify its strengths; how 

to use the power of logic to fuse all the 

elements of a story into one main action; 

how to dramatize every part of a story so 

none of it is flat dramatically; how to make 

the audience the central focus of all their 

work; and how to work from the general 

to the specific as they construct their plot 

and flesh out its details, keeping only that 

which is necessary to propel the story 

forward. The main thing I teach is how to 

engineer a script properly before you write 

it, and the way I teach it is by a rigorous 

apprenticeship built around constantly 

working on multiple scripts of all genres. 

For more information about Jeff Kitchen 

and Scriptwriting Mastery, please visit 

http://script.kitchen 

BIO: Vic Gerami 

Vic Gerami is a journalist, columnist, 

media commentator, and the host of his 

prime-time program THE BLUNT POST 

with VIC (TBPV) on Independent + 

Progressive Radio KPFK 90.7 FM (Pacifica 

Network). Vic is also the editor + publisher 

of The Blunt Post. 


Fucked UP Funny 

OUR DISREGARDED 

FORMER PRESIDENT. 

The Donald has not stopped yapping. But 

his platform is gone from most reputable 

media sources. And his approval rating is 

tanking. Now only Qanon followers and 

Christians seem to sing his praises. 

#socialdistancingif 

But when Screen Actors Guild announced 

they would deplatformed him he wrote the 

silly revenge letter on the next page. The 

child wrote this very sane perfectly written 

letter, probably a person that thinks they 

are a Baron. 

Many in this community are SAG 

union members, I’m sure they will get a 

chuckle. 

One of his banned platforms weighed in. A 

Twitter user proposed creating a “petition 

to digitally replace trump in ‘Home Alone 

2’ with 40-year-old Macaulay Culkin.” 

“Sold.” Culkin wrote in response. 

In addition to the tweets, a petition on 

Change.org asks Disney to replace Trump 

with President-elect Joe Biden. 

Bad idea was it to sing “Happy 

Birthday” while washing your hands? 

Someone in China expect a gift. 

Ran out of toilet paper and started using 

lettuce leaves. Today was just the tip of 

the iceberg, so my tomorrow romaines. 

Mums always told us we wouldn’t 

accomplish anything by lying in bed all 

day. But look at us now, saving the world 

like John Lennon! 

Being quarantined with a ex lover is like 

having an insane parrot glued to your 

shoulder you still have to feed. 

Trump has reached Machine Gun Kelly 

fame. The gangster from Memphis not 

raper Richard Colson Baker was born on 

April 22, 1990, in Houston to missionary COVID means never having to say “I 

parents. Who chose an actual gangster wouldn’t touch you with a six-foot pole” 

as his role model and identifies as an 

anarchist. But then there is the spat with The World Health Organization 

M&M. I have no idea but its between two announced that dogs cannot contract 

idiots with fake names. Who cares! COVID-19. Finally we know it was 

30 Desert Daily Guide always on line and WHO. soon in WHO print let (ASAP) the dogs out.

DDG PALM SPRINGS & COACHELLA VALLEY DOCUMENTING GAY HISTORY SINCE 1994

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