Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — February 25, 2013

INT. KATIE’S OFFICE — CONTINUOUS The office is small, cold and emotionless — with stacks of psychology books and files strewn about. An attractive young woman, KATIE (24), sits behind a desk reading a file while she eats a rather messy sandwich. Katie takes her job very seriously, but has not

Your Oscar ceremony comments

Post your thoughts here! UPDATE: Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for Argo. Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained. And very nice Tarantino zeroing in on the importance of characters. Congratulations! UPDATE #2: Go here for THR’s complete list of Oscar winners. Comment Archive

Statistics driven Oscar predictions

Franklin sends this along to help with your prognostications tonight:

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List)

Julia Hart’s original screenplay “The Keeping Room” put her on the Black List in 2012. The movie is in pre-production starring Olivia Wilde, Hailee Steinfeld, and Nicole Beharie, directed by Daniel Barber. In addition, Hart’s screenplay “Miss Stevens” recently landed Anna Faris to star and Ellen Page

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Midway in the Photoplay [Part 5]

If you are a screenwriter, you should know about Anita Loos. Loos was one of the most influential writers in the early stages of American cinema, associated with 136 film projects per IMDB. Married to writer John Emerson, the pair wrote one of the first books on screenwriting in 1920:

Screenwriting News (February 18-February 24, 2013)

Jack Amiel and Michael Begler sell music drama pitch “Straight No Chaser” to DreamWorks. Nicholas Celozzi sets up mobster project “The Legitimate Wiseguy” at Radar Pictures. Scott Cooper adapting drama novel “The Road Home” for Warner Bros. Ryan Engle adapting cartoon series “Ben 10” for Warner Bros. Adam Hemdy writing

Video Interview: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, John Lee Hancock and David Peoples

From the Austin Film Festival, twenty minutes with filmmakers Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, John Lee Hancock and David Peoples: http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf HT to Shaula Evans for the link.

Daily Dialogue — February 24, 2013

Alfred Borden: You went half way around the world… you spent a fortune… you did terrible things… really terrible things Robert, and all for nothing. Robert Angier: For nothing? Alfred Borden: Yeah Robert Angier: You never understood, why we did this. The audience knows the truth: the world is simple.

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Boy meets girl

As we wrap up a week’s worth of last laugh posts [thanks to Vic Tional], we move onto next week’s theme: Boy meets girl, courtesy of a suggestion by TaraPhelps. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL

Video: Academy Awards Best Picture winners retrospective

Something to get you pumped up about tomorrow night’s Oscar show! From Nelson Carvajal. HT to FirstShowing for the link.

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 6

Julia Hart’s original screenplay “The Keeping Room” put her on the Black List in 2012. The movie is in pre-production starring Olivia Wilde, Hailee Steinfeld, and Nicole Beharie, directed by Daniel Barber. In addition, Hart’s screenplay “Miss Stevens” recently landed Anna Faris to star and Ellen Page

Great Scene: “Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”

It’s one of my five favorite movies: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written by Stanley Kubrick & Terry Southern & Peter George, based on the book “Red Alert” by Peter George, and featuring terrific performances

Saturday Hot Links

Time again for another installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The 85th Annual Oscars Edition! THR: Ultimate insider’s guide to the Oscars. Why are the Academy Awards statuettes called Oscars. 5 historical Oscar controversies you probably don’t know about. The Oscar feud that spans 7 decades. 40 maddest

Written Interview: Will Reiser

Will Reiser wrote the movie 50/50, a semi-autobiographical look at his own experiences with cancer. An excerpt from an interview on LittleWhiteLies: When did you first have the conversation with Seth about turning your experiences in to a film? Seth and I had been best friends for a

Daily Dialogue — February 23, 2013

“Smile, you son of a bitch!” — Jaws (1975), screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb, novel by Peter Benchley The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is last laugh suggested by Vic Tional. Today’s suggestion by Teddy Pasternak. Trivia: According to writer Carl Gottlieb, the line “You’re gonna

Writers, a friendly reminder: Movies are a BUSINESS!

We sit in our offices or studies. Coffee shops or diners. Tapping away on our keyboards. Trying our best to wrangle magic. It’s what we do. Writers. Making something out of nothing. But here’s the deal. Hollywood doesn’t just buy something Hollywood buys great things. Commercial things.

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 5

Julia Hart’s original screenplay “The Keeping Room” put her on the Black List in 2012. The movie is in pre-production starring Olivia Wilde, Hailee Steinfeld, and Nicole Beharie, directed by Daniel Barber. In addition, Hart’s screenplay “Miss Stevens” recently landed Anna Faris to star and Ellen Page

Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 111–120

Jeff Lieber is a screenwriter and TV writer. His movie credits include Tuck Everlasting and he is currently an executive producer of the USA Network series “Necessary Roughness.” On Twitter (@JeffLieber), he has run a series of tweets called Showrunner Rules. For background on Jeff and this Twitter series, go

Movie Trailer: “Maladies”

Written by Carter A talented and successful actor retires at a young age due to a perceived mental illness. Now living in a small town with his deranged sister and his best friend, we watch as their Maladies intertwine. IMDB site Release Date: February 2013 (Germany)

Examples of voice-over narration and flashbacks that.. just don’t work

Okay, so I’m in full voice-over narration and flashback get-our-shit-together mode, prepping for a two-week series beginning next Monday. For background, go here, here, and here. The general idea: Let’s study movies that use voice-over narration and flashbacks well. Yes, that’s

Great Character: Dr. King Schultz (“Django Unchained”)

This month, the focus is on great characters from Quentin Tarantino movies. Today’s guest post by Jason Cuthbert features Dr. King Schultz from this year’s movie Django Unchained. With Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino has continued several of his tried and true traditions: sizzling dialogue that defines the story

Daily Dialogue — February 22, 2013

The aide wheels Salieri towards the door. Salieri gestures to Father Vogel. SALIERI: I will speak for you, Father. I speak for ALL mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint. He CHUCKLES, EXITS, PROCEEDS through a hallway of psychiatric hospital patients. SALIERI: Mediocrities everywhere,

The Black List is hiring

Here is a great opportunity for a talented, motivated person: The Black List is hiring a Los Angeles based non-titular employee who will work with founders Franklin Leonard and Dino Sijamic to continue to build the Black List. Job will include quasi-assistant work (schedule, travel, research, proofreading, etc.

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 4

Julia Hart’s original screenplay “The Keeping Room” put her on the Black List in 2012. The movie is in pre-production starring Olivia Wilde, Hailee Steinfeld, and Nicole Beharie, directed by Daniel Barber. In addition, Hart’s screenplay “Miss Stevens” recently landed Anna Faris to star and Ellen Page

Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 101–110

Jeff Lieber is a screenwriter and TV writer. His movie credits include Tuck Everlasting and he is currently an executive producer of the USA Network series “Necessary Roughness.” On Twitter (@JeffLieber), he has run a series of tweets called Showrunner Rules. For background on Jeff and this Twitter series, go