Cole Haddon

I didn't realize this was something he did up and down Broadway - thanks, man!

Interestingly, the identities of the subjects of this photo have never been conclusively identified. However, what is known is that the woman was grabbed and kissed without her consent. That’s important to consider, given how symbolic of American victory the image has become.

'V-J Day in Times Square', 1945.

📸 Alfred Eisenstaedt (German-American).

The 90s Were the Golden Age of Black TV...So What Happened? 📺 YouTube video by 5AM StoryTalk with Cole Haddon

The '90s was the Golden Age of Black TV... so what happened? 📺

DEI pioneer Karen Horne (former SVP of DEI, Warner Bros. Discovery) has some thoughts...🎙️

Hear the full story: pod.link/1807437928/e...

Jayne Mansfield, her daughter Jayne Marie, and their Great Dane Lord Byron in New York City, 1955.

📸 Unknown.

Me, too...as someone who also loves BABYLON!

“You have to be immensely daring, very skilled and imaginative and willing to tell everything on yourself. You're told time and again when you're young to write about what you know, and what do you know better than your own secrets?” — Raymond Carver

“20 years ago, you could sell a screenplay pitch on a badass title alone. Today? You can’t get paid with an A-list actor attached.” 🎬✍️

Today, I'm pulling back the curtain on the soul-crushing reality of development in 2026. A raw look at surviving a rigged system. 📉🪤

🎧📺 pod.link/1807437928/e...

Anatomy of 'The Code': Why I Walked Away from My Dream TV Project Screenwriters can learn a lot from my take on Greta Garbo’s war with the architect of the Hays Code—and what went wrong thanks to my reps

Why do dream TV projects fall apart? 🎬

Screenwriters can learn a lot both from this breakdown of my take on Greta Garbo’s war over the Hays Code—which had Lasse Hallström attached to direct—AND what ultimately went wrong with the project thanks to my reps.

A cautionary tale for screenwriters...

From the making of ALIEN (1979): Shooting the “space jockey” scene.

📸 Bob Penn.

The F*cked Up Amount of Work It Takes to (Not) Sell Something in Hollywood Today Or: that time a studio told me to spec a TV pilot for it even though I had an A-list actor attached to the project

You can read or listen to this 5AM StoryTalk audio essay at Substack, too!

“20 years ago, you could sell a screenplay pitch on a badass title alone. Today? You can’t get paid with an A-list actor attached.” 🎬✍️

Today, I'm pulling back the curtain on the soul-crushing reality of development in 2026. A raw look at surviving a rigged system. 📉🪤

🎧📺 pod.link/1807437928/e...

Biz Markie in London, 1988.

📸 David Corio.

“With writing, I need a lot of time to sit around and do nothing. But now that I have kids, I just don't have that luxury. I have a babysitter for three hours a day, which is how long I have to write.” — Sofia Coppola

Italian poster for SOLARIS (1972), one of the greatest science-fiction films ever made.

Tippi Hedren during the early promotion of THE BIRDS, 1962.

Photograph by Philippe Halsman.

“I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality.” — James Joyce“

Where I’m writing today: The Sporting Globe balcony in Ballarat. I’m trying to crack some new script ideas while waiting for THE BRIDE! to start next door.

And yes, the sky really is that blue today. I didn’t mess with the colors at all.

(Location: Ballarat, Victoria - Australia)

This is like walking in on your friend beating his wife to a pulp and deciding the only way out of this situation is to stomp on the wife's head, too, then help drag her corpse to the pick-up, drive it out to the woods, bury it & hit the bar before last call. I mean, what else are you going to do?

'Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1975', 1975.

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Photograph by Hervé Gloaguen (French).

What can’t Riki Lindhome do? She returns to the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast to reveal the seminal piece of art from her life that set her entire artistic journey in motion:

A CHORUS LINE!

Listen to the full bonus conversation here: colehaddon.substack.com/p/riki-lindh...

The Beatles photographed before their appearance on ABC Television’s “Big Night Out” at Didsbury Studio Centre in Manchester, 1963.

📸 Terry O’Neill.

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” — E. L. Doctorow

From the making of JACKIE BROWN (1997): Shooting the titular character’s iconic arrival at LAX - Brown, of course, played by the legendary Pam Grier.

📸 Darren Michaels.

I’ve known RIKI LINDHOME for 20 years and I’m still intimidated by her fearlessness as an artist.

In this 5AM StoryTalk ep, we discuss how hitting a Hollywood brick wall forced her to invent a multi-media career on her own terms. A masterclass for any artist.

🎧📺 pod.link/1807437928/e...

The Art of Being Ignored in Hollywood: Riki Lindhome on the "Freedom of No Opportunities" YouTube video by 5AM StoryTalk with Cole Haddon

Riki Lindhome calls it the "freedom of no opportunities" as an artist. It’s the moment you hit the brick wall and realize being ignored is your greatest competitive advantage - because that's when you start finding your real voice.

🎧 Listen to more at 5AM StoryTalk: pod.link/1807437928/e...

Nicole Kidman, 2013.

📸 Patrick Demarchelier.

“A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” — Jean-Luc Godard

These photographs are from its 1951 revival starring William Marshall, who would go on to perhaps more famously become Blacula in 1973.

Have you heard of the play THE GREEN PASTURES? It premiered on Broadway on February 26, 1930 — the first Broadway show with an all-Black cast. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and went on to tour the US, playing in a staggering 42 states before returning to NYC in 1935.

📸 W. Eugene Smith.