Scott Myers

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 7]

Part 7: Attaching producers. I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them. In light of that fact, last year I interviewed a top

Daily Dialogue — March 28, 2013

Borat: [while driving] Look, there is a woman in a car! Can we follow her and maybe make a sexy time with her? Driving Instructor: No, no, no, no, no, no! Borat: A-why not? Driving Instructor: Because a woman has the right to choose who she has sex with.

Let’s Get That Party Started!

Some thoughts from Tom Benedek on an upcoming writing workshop he will be leading: Ideas are all important. The screenplay, how you write it, is everything. A bad idea, well-written, can be pretty good or even excellent. A great idea, never written, is just an idea. For many of

Spec Script Sale: “Eden”

Gold Circle Entertainment acquires science fiction spec script “Eden” written by Olatunde Osunsanmi. From THR: “Eden,” too, has an alien component to it as it is described as a modern day science fiction take on the Underground Railroad legend. In the case of “Eden,” rather than humans enslaving other humans,

Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 3

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 3 of our interview, we delve into some key themes and dynamics in “Somacell” including rehabilitation, conspiracy theories and the

“Everybody Wants to Kill Bruce”

Yesterday I posted “Pacino: Full Roar,” a video compilation of the actor… well… acting… loudly. Almost immediately after I tweeted it, I received this response from @NicklausLouis: “This is better: “EVERYBODY WANTS TO KILL BRUCE”. Without further ado, here is that video compilation: For more on the film and sound

GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 3)

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: “Planes”

Dusty is a cropdusting plane who dreams of competing in a famous aerial race. The problem? He is hopelessly afraid of heights. With the support of his mentor Skipper and a host of new friends, Dusty sets off to make his dreams come true. IMDB site Release Date: 9 August

‘Similar But Different’ (Part 3: Playing the game)

It may not be pretty, but screenwriters — professional and aspiring — have to deal with it: Hollywood’s default business model of ‘similar but different.’ * Movie studios want projects that are similar to movies that have been hits. Per their logic, this is a safe way to approach script acquisition and

Script To Screen: “The Big Lebowski”

The scene that kick-starts the entire plot from the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Setup: “Dude” Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. Here’s an early scene

Daily Dialogue — March 27, 2013

Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here? Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western. — The Blues Brothers (1980), written by Dan Aykroyd, John Landis The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is culture clash suggested by Debbie Moon. Today’s suggestion is by

The Quest Initiative: 55 days and counting!

There’s a lot of exciting things happening at GITS in the next 2 months: * I continue with my year-long commitment: 1 interview per week. What better way to learn the craft of screenwriting than from insights provided by established professional writers and those who have recently succeeded breaking

Hot Topics: The Black Board

A weekly update from Shaula Evans, moderator of The Black Board: This week at The Black Board we’ve been talking about the Business of Screenwriting: How to Get Better at Pitching How to Write a One-Page Synopsis How to write a treatment Is writing a good or bad

Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 2

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 2 of our interview, we dig into Ashleigh’s creative process relative to her big spec script “Somacell”: Scott: Let’

Pacino: Full Roar

Via IndieWire: Pacino can be wonderful when working small — see the first two Godfather films, the quiet parts of Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, his under-seen and perhaps forgotten Bobby Deerfield, and the more Willy Loman-like interludes in Donnie Brasco, in which Pacino is more likely to flinch

GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 2)

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: “Vehicle 19”

Written by Mukunda Michael Dewil A foreign traveler unknowingly picks up a rental car that will tie him to a web of corrupt local police. IMDB site Comment Archive

‘Similar But Different’ (Part 2: Retro)

With several remakes currently in movie theaters (e.g., The Thing, Footloose, The Three Musketeers) and a confluence of interesting articles of late, I decided it would be valuable to revisit a familiar subject that has a definite impact on a screenwriter’s life: Hollywood’s default business approach of

Screenwriting 101: Lena Dunham

“It’s amazing to me that Hollywood persists in writing these two-dimensional female characters who don’t really exist. No wonder it’s hard for actresses to find parts that are meaty enough to connect with. It’s important to me to create fully formed characters who don’t

Daily Dialogue — March 26, 2013

“Okay, after your classics, let’s listen to mine. Earth, Wind & Fire. It’s a killer.” — The Intouchables (2011), written by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is culture clash suggested by Debbie Moon. Today’s suggestion is by Teddy Pasternak. Trivia: With

Story Concepts That Sell

The foundation of any movie is the screenplay. The foundation of any screenplay is the concept. Therefore it stands to reason which story concept you develop and write as a spec script is a critical choice. And that is precisely why I created the upcoming webinar Story Concepts That Sell:

Interview: Ashleigh Powell (2012 Black List) — Part 1

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 1 of our interview, we delve into Ashleigh’s path to Hollywood: Scott: When did you catch the movie bug?

Spec Script Sale: “Incinerator”

Boies/Schiller Film Group acquires thriller spec script “Incinerator” written by Jay Eden. Logline: N/A. Eden is repped by Jeff Ross Entertainment. Note: Eden is a U.K.-based writer. By my count, this is the 19th spec script sale of 2013. There were 30 spec sales year-to-

GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 1)

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: “Welcome to Pine Hill”

Written by Keith Miller A recently reformed drug dealer, now working as a claims adjuster by day and bouncer by night, receives earth-shattering news, compelling to make peace with his past and search for freedom beyond the concrete jungle of New York City. IMDB site Release Date: 1 March