Dear Friends of:  I just returned from Los Angeles after 17 days mostly promoting The Moral Premise by (1) helping Jack Hafer produce a segment of the Biola Media Conference, (2) giving a couple Moral Premise Workshops, (3) being honored as the guest of a networking event on the CBS Studio lot by The Greenhouse -- my thanks to Shun Lee and his team for his enthusiasm, humor and promotional assistance, and (4) visiting with a number of past and present story consulting clients, acquaintances and friends (including my high school locker partner, Phil Bray, from 47 years ago). With TV scribe Monica Macer. At the Biola conference's morning General Session I was privileged to interview TV scribe Monica Macer (right) (Lost, 24, Prison Break) and musician-music producer-film director, Steve Taylor. (Steve, I'm so sorry we didn't get a picture of us together.)  Monica and Steve have agreed to do extended interviews with me that will appear later on The Great Conversation in Cinema Blog.  With DeVon Franklin in his office in the Thalberg Building on the Sony Ent. Pict. lot.  DeVon Franklin, a VP of Development and Production, invited me to lunch at the Sony lot and I was able to pitch and deliver a script and treatment for a couple movie ideas. DeVon and I are fans of each others' books. His book is Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without losing your True Self that I highly recommend. He discovered The Moral Premise when it was recommended to him by Will Smith back in 2008. A few days after our luncheon we met in his office where we signed each others' books for ourselves and for friends. With The Blums in front of the St. Luke parish hall that they labored with others to see built.  I want to especially thank Temple City councilman Carl Blum and his wonderful wife Jeanette and their daughter Julie for letting me stay in a house they're renovating for Julie to live in with her caregiver.   I've stayed twice with the Blums and can highly recommend Temple City. It's only 4 square miles in size just five miles from the foot of Mt. Wilson. You can see the famous 100+ year old observatory (a white dot at the top of the mountain) from their street and they have a very rare redwood tree growing behind their garage. I discovered on this trip that The Blums are well-known in their community for the elaborate productions of plays in their backyard that their teenage children (Kathy, Veronica, Carl the 4th and Julie) staged and which were attended by hundreds. I saw video tape of Veronica (as Peter Pan) flying in on a wire and then flying off to the treetops with Peter and Wendy). They raised thousands for charity through their summer long projects dubbed by the press as The Hart Street Players. Amazing stuff for a backyard production -- but then Hollywood is nearby -- what'd you expect.  The Blums are fans of our work at Nineveh's Crossing. With John Ware (L) and Brian Bird (R) on the CBS Studio City Lot during the Biola Media Conference.  Pictured here is producer-writer friend Brian Bird (R) with John Ware (L), founder and president of the 168-Film Project, a annual film festival open to anyone, in any location around the world, in which prizes are awarded for the best short film written and completed within 168 hours. John gave me a DVD of the top entries (amazing work), and a beautiful color brochure describing all 73 successful entries from this  year's efforts. John and Brian encouraged me to promote the competition back here in Michigan and see if the state with two-hands might make some entries in next year's contest. Sounds like a plan. You don't have to be in L.A. to participate. And it's wonderful to be back in (cold) Michigan with my beautiful wife Pam. Sincerely, Stan Williams Pam and Stan aboard Family Ties on the Detroit River

Steve Taylor & Monica Macer Interview

Here is an interview I conducted with rocker-film director Steve Taylor and TV writer Monica Macer at the BIOLA Media Conference in 2012. The video quality is pretty bad, but the content may still be of interest to some.  Steve, known more for his rock than his films, and Monica is a well respected writer in TV.

Monica Macer and Steve Taylor bios

We welcome Steve Taylor and Monica Macer to the Biola Media Conference stage on May 5, 2012 for the morning General Session of The Great Conversation in Cinema. 

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STEVE TAYLOR is a filmmaker with a past. After graduating from Colorado University in Boulder, his career in music garnered him multiple Grammy nominations as a recording artist, producer and songwriter. In 1997 he founded Squint Entertainment, whose roster included Sixpence None The Richer, Chevelle, Burlap To Cashmere, Waterdeep and hip-hop collective L.A. Symphony. His debut feature film, The Second Chance, was distributed theatrically by Sony Pictures Releasing in 2006. His second feature as director/co-writer, Blue Like Jazz, is based on Donald Miller's New York Times bestselling memoir. It debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in March and was released theatrically in April via Roadside Attractions. Steve lives in Nashville with his wife, the artist D.L. Taylor, and their daughter Sarah.

MONICA MACER is a graduate of Vassar College, Monica started her career in theater in New York City as a playwright and director.  After moving to Los Angeles, she  worked both as an assistant at Nickelodeon Movies and as a Creative Executive with the Walt Disney Company.   After leaving Disney, Monica landed the writers assistant position on the Fox show "24." After two seasons at "24," Monica got her big break as a staff writer on the first season of the ABC hit show "LOST."  She’s also written for Fox’s "Prison Break,” NBC's "Knight Rider" and MTV's "Teen Wolf."  Most recently, she served as co-producer on this season's NBC show "The Playboy Club." Her extracurricular activities include being an entertainment mentor for KOREA CREATIVE CONTENT AGENCY and a member of the TV track faculty for Act One. On the home front, Monica is married to actor/filmmaker Sterling Macer, Jr. and they are the proud parents of daughter Dylan Soon-Marie Macer.