Screenwriting News (March 25-March 31, 2013) Jay Eden sells thriller spec script “Incinerator” to Boies/Schiller Film Group. Donald Martin and Barnet Bain adapting children’s book “Milton’s Secret” for Hulo Films with Bain to direct. Brian Miller adapting science fiction drama novel “All Our Yesterdays” for Gold Circle Films. Dan Nowak sets up untitled
Video Interview: John Wells, William Broyles, Jr., and Herschel Weingrod From the Austin Film Festival, twenty minutes with filmmakers John Wells, William Broyles, Jr., and Herschel Weingrod: http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf HT to Shaula Evans for the link.
Daily Dialogue — March 31, 2013 Buggin’ Out: Yo, Sal, we’re gonna boycott your fat pasta ass. Sal: You’re gonna boycott me? You haven’t got the balls to boycott me. Here, here’s your boycott, up your ass. You’ve got a boycott. — Do the Right Thing (1989), written by Spike Lee The
“Finding Joe” This is a nice find, a 2011 documentary by filmmaker Patrick Takaya Solomon. Some of you may find the movie too New Age-y, but if you can get past that, this homage to Joseph Campbell [whose 109th birthday it was this week] and exploration of the Hero’s Journey
Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 6 Ashleigh Powell hit it big in 2012 when she sold her dystopian thriller “Somacell” to Warner Bros, officially marking her entry into the ranks of professional screenwriter. Today in Part 6, Ashleigh talks more about the craft of screenwriting. Scott: What do you think about when you’re crafting and
Great Scene: “Fight Club” One of the most effective ways to begin a script is to start at the ending. And one of the best scenes that opens with the ending is in the movie Fight Club. Adapted for the screen by Jim Uhls from a novel by the notable writer Chuck Palahniuk, Fight
Movie Trailer: “Birdemic 2: The Resurrection” My son Luke, the Spiritual Godfather of GITS, informs me that Birdemic: Shock and Terror, one of the worst reviewed movies of all time, has a sequel coming out in April: Birdemic 2: The Resurrection. Feast your peepholes on this cinematic magic! Written by James Nguyen A platoon of eagles
Saturday Hot Links Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Joseph Campbell 109th Birthday Celebration Edition! Ain’t It Cool News Harry Knowles: The cash-strapped king of the nerds plots a comeback. The 5 best uses of music in Coen brothers films. An interactive analysis of J.R.R.
Written Interview: Karen Croner and Jean Hanff Korelitz (“Admission”) Here’s an unusual interview: A screenwriter who adapted a novel talking with the novelist. In this case, the former is Karen Croner and latter is Jean Hanff Korelitz, and the movie in question is Admission. An excerpt: Jean Hanff Korelitz: Serious writers pretend they don’t care about film
Daily Dialogue — March 30, 2013 Fielding Mellish getting off the plane in the USA disguised as the President of San Marcos. The interpreter: [in English] I am Mr. Hernandez, the official interpreter! Senator: Welcome to the United States. The interpreter: [in English to Fielding] “Welcome to the United States.” Fielding Mellish: [in English] Thank you!
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Death This week’s theme — Culture Class suggested by Debbie Moon — has been an interesting choice and thanks for all your recommendations. Now it’s time to think about next week’s theme: Death suggested by SandbaggerOne: “It was the salmon mousse!” Obviously we could find literally thousands of examples as
Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 5 Ashleigh Powell hit it big in 2012 when she sold her dystopian thriller “Somacell” to Warner Bros, officially marking her entry into the ranks of professional screenwriter. Today in Part 5, Ashleigh sheds some light on her approach to the craft of screenwriting. Scott: How about some craft questions? Ashleigh:
GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 5) Twice last year, we did a live Tweet Chat with three people you should follow: Amanda Pendolino [@amandapendo], Nate Winslow [@nate_winslow], and The Bitter Script Reader [@BittrScrptReadr]. For the next two weeks, I will be reprising posts I ran on the blog including the transcripts of those conversations. Read
Movie Trailer: “Revenge for Jolly!” Written by Brian Petsos A man recruits his cousin to find out who is behind his dog’s suspicious death. IMDB site Release Date: 21 April 2012 (USA) Comment Archive
‘Similar But Different’ (Part 5: Psychological Journey) In the first three parts of this series — here, here, and here — we explored Hollywood’s default business strategy of ‘similar but different’ from the vantage point of movie studios. In the fourth post here, we shifted the perspective to the writer’s side of things by considering powerful tools
Great Character: Jessica Rabbit (“Who Framed Roger Rabbit”) This month’s theme: Femme fatale. Today’s guest post by Jason Cuthbert features Jessica Rabbit from the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? In 1988, the screenwriting team of Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shrek the Third) adapted Gary K. Wolf’s 1981
Daily Dialogue — March 29, 2013 EXT. DANIEL’S BUNGALOW — WESTCHESTER — LATE AFTERNOON Farhad watches in his rearview mirror as Daniel’s truck glides down the street and pulls into his driveway, giving a little toot of his horn. INT. DANIEL’S BUNGALOW — CONTINUOUS Lara runs to the window, sees that … LARA: Daddy’s home! EXT.
“The Golden Age for Writers” I missed this article in Esquire when it came out last November, but it popped up on my Twitter feed and it’s pretty startling on the face of it. Writers have always been whiners. For nearly a hundred years, since at least the time of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the
Spec Script Sale: “Ink and Bone” Dimension Films with a preemptive purchase of thriller spec script “Ink and Bone” written by Zak Olcewicz. From THR: The horror thriller concerns a female book editor who is assigned to help a reclusive horror writer finish his latest book only to discover the writer is being held prisoner in
Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 4 Ashleigh Powell hit it big in 2012 when she sold her dystopian thriller “Somacell” to Warner Bros, officially marking her entry into the ranks of professional screenwriter. Today in Part 4, Ashleigh shares what it was like to sell a spec script and make the Black List. Scott: What was
Every Woody Allen stammer from every Woody Allen movie So earlier this week, we got to see a video compilation of Al Pacino in full roar mode. Then there was Everybody Wants to Kill Bruce. Now there’s this: HT to Teddy Paternak for surfacing this video compilation. It’s actually a great walk down memory lane of Allen’
GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 4) Twice last year, we did a live Tweet Chat with three people you should follow: Amanda Pendolino [@amandapendo], Nate Winslow [@nate_winslow], and The Bitter Script Reader [@BittrScrptReadr]. For the next two weeks, I will be reprising posts I ran on the blog including the transcripts of those conversations. Read
Movie Trailer: “Turbo” Screenplay by Darren Lemke, Robert D. Siegel and David Soren A freak accident might just help an everyday garden snail achieve his biggest dream: winning the Indy 500. IMDB site Release Date: 17 July 2013 (USA)
‘Similar But Different’ (Part 4: Archetypes) In the first three parts of this series — here, here, and here — we have been exploring Hollywood’s default business strategy of ‘similar but different’ pretty much on their side of the playing field. Now it’s time to move the ball to our (i.e., writer’s) side. As
