Maria Alex Beech 🐝

A big thank you to @MarkPellington for including me in this very special project. Let’s do this! Still pinching myself that this is happening: screendaily.com/news/diane-kea…

Finland is offering artists up to €3,800/month to slow down and just make work. No exhibitions required, no performances. Just you, a quiet countryside residence, and two uninterrupted months. The Saari Residence 2027 is open to artists, writers, poets, translators, composers and curators of all nationalities. Collective applications (up to 10 people) are also welcome. Deadline is 31 March 2026 and it’s free to apply. Full details on koneensaatio.fi/en/saari-resid…

@CaracasChron It just needs a better score.

🫓 Venezuela is expensive and its political comedy is no exception. Chacao mayor Gustavo Duque shows off the latest in neighborhood watch.

@unikunka It was spectacular.

The second season of THE PITT is excellent. What a great episode tonight.

Last night #ThePitt sealed itself as one of the best shows ever. What a gorgeous, timely episode. I’m still stunned.

La Policía Municipal de Madrid publicó el video de Paco, el perro héroe que realiza reanimación (RCP) a un oficial en un simulacro. ¡Está robando corazones en todo el mundo! ❤️🐶 #PacoElHéroe

A dancing humanoid robot got a little too funky during a performance in Cupertino, California and had to be restrained by staff after knocking items off a table.

Honored and excited to be a juror in this very cool first-ever film festival: awardswatch.com/san-quentin-fi…

As someone who staffed on 2 network procedurals — THIS! I I learned SO MUCH: writing perfect structure, writing for production and budget. How to execute network notes. How to handle last minute changes. What can and can’t be done in post. Network writers know how to do it all!

When I was working on Sideways (which was adapted from a book), I asked the director, Alexander if the book were any good. "No it sucks. You don't adapt great books. You adapt shitty books that have an interesting premise, or a kernel of something that you can exploit and improve. Good books don't make good movies. You have to build a screenplay from the ground up. And nobody is gonna be mad at me for changing the details of a Rex Pickett novel. But God help you if you try to change 2 words in the Lord of the Rings." Brilliant dude.

@Instacart uses bots to give the semblance that they’re addressing customer concerns but notice how this account gives everyone the same case reference number. #Badbusiness

This ended up being a bust. I’ve dmed back and forth for days. A new worker makes a new “ticket” every time and then asks for more and more personal information. It feels like a run-around @InstacartHelp @Instacart. It’s a shame that you don’t value loyal customers.

@quickchatrep8 You all are turning this into a joke.

A mother in the church mom attends has a child with stage 4 cancer. We sent them groceries earlier this week. Today I checked in and realized that only 1/2 the order was delivered. @Instacart refuses to reimburse us or send the rest (there’s a photo) bc we missed 3 day window. 🖕

@quickchatrep8 I already dmed you all after the first request. What’s up with all of this?

Ryan Coogler told the HBO Max #Sinners social team: “Whatever you do, I’m good with.” While most studios take 3mos to approve a post, @ninaserafina was able to post in real time. Goes to show the trust he has in his people, from cinematographers and casting directors, to marketers 🔥

Ryan Coogler wrote a period film, about blues music in a decling industry to honor his uncle. I hope this #Sinners journey teaches you to stop chasing trends, listening to the doom scrollers, and what doesn’t work and can’t happen, & write the story that moves you.

@Instacart @InstacartHelp Done. I dmed you.

@alexbeech Hi there! We are happy to look into this for you. DM us @InstacartHelp, so that we can assist.

@LukeBarnett It was my favorite, too. It’s almost too good for 2026.

My only real Oscars critique: there was basically no mention of TRAIN DREAMS. My favorite film of the year, nominated for Best Picture. Felt like the movie didn't even exist. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I can't say enough...

Now that the Oscars are over remember if you start writing your screenplay right now, you can finish in a few months. Wait another few for someone to read it. Spend about a year on notes. Get an actor attached, do their notes for a year or so. Find a director, do their notes. Go into production and if you did all that at an unbelievably high level you can be at the Oscars in 2032.

@Variety Our production company Neighborhood Pictures sold our follow doc Legal Queens to CheraTV and less than a month later we were in production for 80 episodes. (Of course we planned the show for years.) We’re still in post. It’s been a lot of fun.

Producer Tommy Harper says shooting vertical microdramas is the “complete opposite” of big productions like “Wednesday”: “It takes two years to get the script right, a year or two to shoot and another year to promote. The opposite with this. I was on the phone this morning asking, ‘Can we shoot in six weeks?’ My producer for verticals said, ‘Yeah, we’ll be ready.’” Variety’s Next Generation Entertainment Podcast Brunch at #SXSW is presented by Google TV.