A rewrite.

A rebrand and a new direction for my newsletter

tl;dr: “Motive, Means and Opportunity” is now “Stupid Idea Box” - new direction, same dimwit.

Read on to find out what to expect from this brand new newsletter, or I’ll get really cross.

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It’s been six months since Murder for Dummies was released - and I’m completely over the moon with the response our series has had. We’ve had over 1000 new subscribers to our YouTube channel since launch, with more joining every day, there’s delighted comments from new fans every week, we’ve won multiple film festival awards - it’s been a steady stream of enthusiasm for a project my friends and I just went ahead and made together.

All I ever wanted for this show was for it to find its audience. Despite never having had a marketing budget for the series, Murder for Dummies is slowly but surely still finding that audience months after it first came out.

If you haven’t watched it yet - start this week! It’s a blend of all my favourite genres - horror-comedy, murder-mystery, thriller - cunningly disguised as a true crime documentary.

I couldn’t be more proud of the show, or more proud of the friends we collaborated with to bring it to life. Later this year, we’ll be releasing making-of content for the series - and I’ll be sharing that here as soon as it’s ready.

But with Murder for Dummies now out there in the world, I wanted to turn this newsletter towards a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last few months: how and why it feels harder than ever to build a creative career - in all fields, but especially as a storyteller - and whether anything can be done about it.

If you work in the creative industries, or know someone who does, you know how rough things have been for the last couple of years. Getting anything made feels harder than ever. A lot of my friends and colleagues feel helpless and hopeless in the face of growth-addled tech companies who do not understand the value and human necessity of stories and art.

But as bleak as things are right now - and as much as I suspect they will get bleaker still before they improve - I think there’s hope for those of us who tell stories for a living, and hope for those who value TV and film as audiences and as creators.

I know this sounds like cult-speak - trust me, the aliens will come for us! - but I believe a better path forward for writers, artists and creators is on the verge of presenting itself. When the road we’re being led down by those in charge inevitably reveals itself to be a dead end, we will have the opportunity to change things for the better.

But what we’re going to need to do - both as creators and as an audience - is be prepared for that moment, and start bringing change about now.

(Look: if you’re going to join a cult, it might as well be the one with the good writers in…)

So this newsletter is now called Stupid Idea Box - named after a regular feature of the writers’ rooms I run - and it’s about how we might be able to survive the tumult we’re in, and - maybe - bring about positive change for creatives.

It’s also going to be a place for me to share specific ideas and thoughts on craft: whether it’s broader screenwriting advice and methods that have proven useful to me in my career, interviews with other creators I’ve worked with, or specific breakdowns of projects I’ve worked on - including as head writer of Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld (which came out on Netflix in December, and you should all go watch!), head writer of Dogs In Space, and - of course - Murder for Dummies.

Next week, my first proper new post for Stupid Idea Box will come out - and I’d be thrilled if you gave it a read.

If you’ve been a subscriber of the fairly-dormant Motive, Means and Opportunity newsletter up until now - thank you! Please stick around.

And if you’re new here: what a great time to sign up! If working in Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that everyone loves a reboot!