All posts by Will Goldstein

Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of Taken Films. He holds an MFA in Film Production from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. He wrote a book that you haven't read. It's called 'My Blood Feet.'

Posted On November 1, 2016By Will GoldsteinIn Internet, The Scene

Come Play! With Janny Jelly

Tired of watching remixed, dubstep cat videos? Yes. You are. Well, good news! Janny Jelly is now a permanent fixture of the YouTube-o-sphere, here to offer a demented substitute for your feline video fixation. We had a chance to speak with creator Allie Jennings about the project. Q: What exactly is Janny Jelly? A: Janny Jelly is a children’s show for lost adults. In this web series, Janny Jelly hosts a children’s TV show- seemingly similar to classic favorites like Blue’s Clues or Sesame Street — and though she mightRead More

Posted On October 15, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 31

Record 31: Monterey, Sunday, July 5th, 2015. Day. Old John does his crossfit exercises on the wharf’s edge. He does them at sunup, not only for the sake of adding a, yes, hint of drama to the retelling of his daily crossfit undertaking, but, he will tell you, because he is infatuated with the sun, and its location relative to him mid-burpee. When asked why the sun is so arresting to him, he will tell you to think of a world with no natural light. A world artificially lit inRead More

Posted On July 10, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 30

Record 30: Temecula, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. On the weekends we ride our Schwinn mountain bikes through the park and smile. Mother is the leader of the Schwinn bicycle trips and she signals where to turn left and where to turn right. She does this because she is the leader, and leaders of Schwinn bicycle trips know where we turn. We all smile. And follow. We sip from our individually customized plastic water bottles during our rest period at the alcove, shaded by California sycamore trees. Father explains toRead More

Posted On May 19, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 29

Record 29: San Francisco, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. Here ye here ye all you radders ‘n rollers! Dat Bar: BAR is straight opening its doors TONIGHT for an unofficially and totally incomparably lit 4th of July after-soiree! That’s right, it’s that summer season of sippin’, so trip on in for a coupla brews and kickback with Dat Bar: BAR’s in house groove dude, DJ dubblaLICKAbron! He’ll be lettin that bass drop all nite dear brahs and brahdesses, and word on the street is DJCM’s crushin’ the illest brat-pop dubwaverRead More

Posted On May 7, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 28

Record 28: Sacramento, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Night. The locker room is a church at halftime. Winning or losing, it doesn’t matter. It’s where we come together for reassurance. For motivation. Hope. At least, this is what I’m told I should believe. There’s the smell of sweat. Old Spice. Axe body spray nonsense. Cedar from the open window. But this is all familiar. Tonight, there’s a sting in the air. Something sour in the space between our heads and the cement ceiling. My players, the kids, they’re sucking air inRead More

Posted On April 25, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 27

Record 27: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. Today 4:34 PM haha gurl i just puked onn some kids bugs bunny stuffed animal thing lol…relax tho. i bought her a new one 😛 n e way imma hit up superman soon, at like sundown cause we wanna see th fireworks (aiden said their still lighting frieworks off tonight even though the 4th was yesterday) so if u dont wanna go thats cool, but just tell me whats up. u didn’t show up for tatsu an i knowRead More

Posted On March 23, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 26

Record 26: Bakersfield, Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. On Fridays this summer we go to the Aquatic Center where I do activities in the pool. Today is a Friday and so today I am having my swimming lesson while my mom and Francis eat hot dogs and drink diet soda at the barbecues. They are wearing their swimsuits but they don’t get in the pool very often, and it makes me wonder why I have to be the family swimmer. Right now I’m on my stomach with my arms stretchedRead More

Posted On February 14, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 25

  Record 25: Malibu, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. in the coffee bean today. it’s the afternoon. i don’t feel well. there’s a crumbling that starts in my forehead. it spreads to the back of my skull, and charges down my spine like lightning. i don’t want to lose again. last game was a wrecked train. 42-6. and it was cuz of me. coach said. i remember this and feel upset. today is another day. i drink my venti iced white mocha latte and do my stats homework that iRead More

Posted On January 27, 2015By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 24

Record 24: Death Valley, Saturday, July 5th, 2014. Day. John Shane sits in a cowboy-cool diner in Death Valley. The sun hangs low in the sky. He knows this, because he can see the sky outside the window. The window has smudges on it. And like a rush, he remembers: this is a dream. This never happened. Nothing is real, except smudged windows and cowboy diners. “Why am I here?” John thought, in his head, where thoughts the coffee shop, the wooden booths and sawdust floor. Slow spinning ceiling fansRead More

Posted On December 27, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 23

  Record 23: San Diego. Friday, July 5th, 2013. Day. There was a jacuzzi at the bed and breakfast that no one used. It sat in its faux-plastic glory beneath a stained red awning, shriveled and crusted from rainfall and neglect. The water was the coolest blue you could imagine. Like 5 star hotel swimming pools. You could see to the bottom without debris clouding your vision, or obstructing your view in any way. That’s what Maddie thought. That’s what Maddie told Cool Josh the night before the wedding, inRead More

Posted On November 24, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Miscellaneous, Ramblings

Born on the 5th of July: Part 22

Record 22: Palm Springs, Thursday, July 5th, 2012. Day. Jake and his bro Ajax rode golf carts on the casino’s course every Thursday at 8pm. They never played golf. Casino and hotel patrons would often ask: “why?” The question was a fair one, says this guy here. Jake and Ajax, they didn’t like to respond to any such inquisition. Instead, they’d glare at the casino and hotel patrons from the casino and hotel bar, and when perturbed by dyspeptic tourists or slot-addicted regulars, they’d ask: “What are you doing inRead More

Posted On November 6, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Buzzworthy, Issues, Lifestyle, The Scene

Wayne Brady is Sad Too

In the past year, the entertainment industry has suffered the loss of renowned comedians and thespians (you know who they are). In response, general depression awareness levels were heightened on a national level. The societal fear of losing another entertainment icon (if you’re a millennial like I am, you miss the hell out of Peter Banning) has rattled the most durable of psyches, prompting those who suffer, primarily those inhabiting the vicious world of entertainment, to open up about their illness. Comedian Wayne Brady is the latest to go candid.Read More

Posted On November 2, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Buzzworthy, Issues, The Scene

Justice for Scott Johnson

On December 9th, 1988, 27-year-old Scott Johnson, a gay American mathematician, was found dead and naked on the rocks near Blue Fish Point in Sydney, Australia. No unusual conditions were noted. It was reported a suicide. A judge corroborated this theory. Scott’s older brother, Steve Johnson, thought differently. After hiring a private investigator, it became clear to Mr. Johnson that suicide was most likely not the case. Instead, it was discovered that Blue Fish Point was, in fact, what was known in Sydney as a ‘gay beat’, which is toRead More

Posted On October 28, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Movies

Indie Filmmaking: BREAD AND BUTTER

Independent films don’t get the attention they deserve. Sound familiar? It should. Indie directors, producers, writers, and aficionados have been shouting this since the Sundance Film Festival hit the scene back in the late ’70s, with the intention of showcasing and promoting independently made films. Sadly, aside from the few cinematic darlings that are fortunate enough to earn a theatrical release, many great independent work goes unnoticed, while Transformers 11 makes 9 billion dollars and furthers the great reign of vacuous thrills and bad 3D. Luckily for us, there areRead More

Posted On October 22, 2014By Will GoldsteinIn Internet, The Scene

Your News, in List Form: Part 2

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the prevalence of lists in current internet news media. News, (popular culture aside), it seems, has begun to appear more accessible to readers in this particular format. Why is that? I conducted a brief study, emailing folks a link to two articles discussing marriage in the 21st century. One article was presented in list-form. The other was not. I asked them to tell me which article they’d rather read. The result? 70% of people preferred the article in list-form. When askedRead More