Tony DuShane, Writer/Podcaster/Teacher: Write a movie that you love, that is why we go to see movies where the movie just hits you in the heart and you’re like Oh my god! That movie is great, even if it’s Pretty Woman.
Film Courage: How do you search for those beautiful moments in the midst of tragedy?
Tony: I find the tragedy first. I think the tragedy is what guts me. Then I try to find meaning in the tragedy, meaning in my tragedies and it’s hard to find meaning in the tragedy. Since Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, I’ve written two other books where I went even deeper into tragedies and one I checked myself into an outpatient hospital program because I was suicidal. I’ve had to learn to pick my tragedies and then also give them time I think. I wasn’t giving my tragedies enough time. But the beauty of tragedy is we all have tragedies. We connect on it and I think as humans we connect more on not just the tragedy, but how we got out of the tragedy. Even in film, it’s like you put your character into conflict then we want to know how are they going to get out of the conflict? How are they getting out of that little tragedy moment in a scene and then that’s what shows character building. I feel like we’re character building around each other when we do have tragedies in our lives, when we can we find our ways to pull out of it and then survive and then go Wait a second, okay how does this work for me in being with other people?…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk by Tony DuShane – Check out the book on Amazon:
BIO:
Tony DuShane is the author and award-winning screenwriter of Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. The book was published by Soft Skull Press and the feature film, directed by Eric Stoltz, was released in 2018 and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. His journalism and essays has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Penthouse, The Rumpus, The Believer, and other media outlets. He teaches writing at UCLA Extension and his journalism has appeared in Mother Jones, The Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. He hosts the literary podcast Drinks with Tony every Wednesday.
CONNECT WITH TONY DUSHANE:
Drinks With Tony Podcast on Podbean
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