Hollywood on the Couch

The inside scoop on Tinseltown, USA.

by Dennis Palumbo

Dealing with Your "Inner Critic"

Among the majority of my creative patients — TV and film writers, directors, actors, etc., a primary concern is the struggle against their “inner critic.” By that I mean the persistent, sometimes harsh and almost always shaming “voice” that belittles or invalidates their work. Read More

The War Between Faith and Doubt

A misspent childhood watching Saturday morning cartoons has left an image indelibly imprinted on my memory: a character is in conflict between doing right or wrong, prodded to do good by a tiny angel whispering in one ear, while an equally tiny devil argues the opposite position in the other. Read More

Myths, Fairy Tales and Woody Allen

You know the scene: the opening sequence of Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. A glum Woody sits in a dark, dingy train car, along with other lost souls. Homeless, bewildered, vacant-eyed fellow passengers, powerless to alter their miserable lives. Read More

The "Buddy System"

At the end of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four, Dr. Watson announces to Sherlock Holmes that he's decided to get married.

"Honestly, I cannot congratulate you," Holmes replies, in his usual sharp-edged manner. He then tells Watson quite bluntly that all the marriage means to him is that he's losing a partner. Read More

Taking the Mystery Out of Writing Mysteries

Yes, viewers of mysteries and thrillers like tightly-plotted narratives, clever red herrings, and a certain element of surprise. And you should always strive to weave as many of these aspects into your whodunnit or crime script as possible. But these factors are not what makes an onscreen mystery memorable. Read More

Deadline Dread

Someone once said, "The problem with being a writer is that it's like always having homework due." Whether a screenwriter on assignment, a member of a TV series' writing staff, or a struggling writer who's promised his or her agent a terrific new spec pilot, everyone's faced a deadline at some point. Read More

Memo to a Young TV Exec

As a former Hollywood screenwriter, now a licensed psychotherapist who treats creative people, I hear jaw-dropping stories about the state of the entertainment industry every day in my practice. But I have to admit, this new anecdote gives me pause. Read More

Oscars and Emmys and Globes, Oh My!

As a psychotherapist who works with people in the Hollywood community, I'm aware of the external pressures that affect my patients. Things happen, like a writers or actors strike, from which some creative careers never recover. Read More

Going the Distance: How to Survive Writing a Screenplay

In the early 1960's, there was a hot art-house movie called The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. I think of this film sometimes when trying to help my TV and film writer patients working on long-form projects---miniseries, screenplays, cable channel movies, etc. Read More

Commitment to the Creative Life

As a psychotherapist, one of the themes that often emerges in my work with patients is commitment. In dealing with relationship issues, for example, the depth of a commitment is tested by fears about the future, questions about trust and fidelity, and concerns about the tension between dependence and independence. Read More

She's Your Agent, Not Your Mother

There's an old joke about the relationship between Hollywood writers and their agents: a veteran screenwriter comes home to find police and fire trucks crowding the street. As he scrambles out of his car, he sees that there's nothing left of his house but a pile of black dust and smoking embers. Read More

How to Survive Rejection

At some point early on in a Hollywood career--whether an actor, writer or director--a person has to come to terms with rejection. I ought to know. Prior to becoming a licensed psychotherapist, I spent 17 years as a screenwriter. Now, in addition to my private practice, I write novels and columns like this, so I certainly have a very clear view of rejection--I hate it. Read More