POLAIK, The Teacher...Blake Cassleman

Up next, Blake Casselman--he's my next POLAIK (Profile Of Local Authors/Artists I Know...). I can, with confidence, say that if I have never met and gotten to know Blake, many of my blog posts over the last eighteen months would have been different, very different.

Let me explain.

I first met Blake back in 2012 at a LTUE conference. I decided to attend a class on screenwriting. I had some experience in screenwriting. I had written a short screenplay that was turned into a short film. I had even won some awards. That day I walked into the classroom and met Blake and Michaelbrent Collings, both extremely talented individuals who have had a huge impact on my writing career.

Because I attended that class and had done a little screenwriting, I was invited to attend the Utah Film Writer's Group that met in SLC twice a month. Because I attended (sporadically...) those meetings, I was asked to attended something on a slightly larger scale--Salt Lake Comic Con and I've been asked back each time.

That's how Blake has affected my life. He's allowed me to meet some of the most amazing authors and artists.

And Blake takes a back seat to none of them!

He's written many many full-length movie scripts, many many short stories, and he's even co-written a graphic novel, Devil's Triangle, and it's good!

But take all these talents that are crammed into this one person and for all of that, he's as good or better a person. Because of all the shows I've done I haven't had a chance to spend a lot of time with Blake lately. He's been very busy as well. Thankfully both of us were panelists at this year's LTUE Symposium--we even shared a panel where we discussed the amazing works of Philip K. Dick. It was great just to sit and hear him and the other talents authors and panelist chat about an author we all admire.

Blake is a writer, a screenwriter, a producer and everything else that needs doing when creating a film. He's also an instructor, something I believe suites him well. He knows his stuff and his nature is such that he enjoys seeing others succeed. He teaches at the Salt Lake Screenwriting Seminars. 

I can't say enough good things about Blake. After all, he's given me so many great blog post topics about which to write. Thanks, Blake, for everything!