Scott Myers

Movie Trailer: “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”

A young Pakistani man is chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family’s homeland. Screenplay by William Wheeler, screen story by Ami Boghani, novel by Mohsin Hamid IMDB site Release

Wanted: 5 best examples of flashbacks

On Monday, I presented this conundrum: Hollywood conventional wisdom is that voice-over narration and flashbacks are a no-no, yet some of the greatest movies ever produced use these narrative devices including The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Goodfellas, The Silence of the Lambs, and Rashomon. My conclusion: Voice-over

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 2]

The Emergence of the Spec Script Market [1942–1990] Spec scripts, that is. 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

Daily Dialogue — February 21, 2013

POLK: He’s gone. Hooker opens his eyes and slowly drags himself up off the floor, spitting out a little rubber bladder, filled with blood, that he’s had in his mouth. Gondorff does likewise. Niles, Twist, Singleton and the rest of the boost begin to laugh and shake hands,

One key to handling exposition

Yesterday I featured what may be an example of the worst exposition ever, a humorous frame for a serious subject: If exposition is necessary, yet also can grind a story’s momentum to a screeching halt, how to handle it? First, let’s get specific about certain types of exposition

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 3

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 91–100

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: “Somebody Up There Likes Me”

Written by Bob Byington A comedy about a man, his best friend, and the woman they both adore watching their lives fly by. IMDB site Release Date: 11 March 2012 (South by Southwest Film Festival)

Wanted: 5 best examples of voice-over narration

Yesterday I presented this conundrum: Hollywood conventional wisdom is that voice-over narration and flashbacks are a no-no, yet some of the greatest movies ever produced use these narrative devices including The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Goodfellas, The Silence of the Lambs, and Rashomon. My conclusion: Voice-over narration

Script To Screen: “Galaxy Quest”

A scene from the 1999 science fiction comedy Galaxy Quest, screenplay by David Howard and Robert Gordon, story by David Howard. Setup: The alumni cast of a cult space TV show appear at a convention to sign autographs for adoring fans: With curious glances to this similarly uniformed group, the

Daily Dialogue — February 20, 2013

CHUCK: There’s something I gotta confess, something I gotta tell ya. Listen to me, Penny… You’ve known me for a long time. PENNY: As the host of the Dating Game, the- CHUCK: Yeah yeah yeah PENNY: Gong Show, Rah-Rah Show… CHUCK: Yeah yeah yeah, listen listen listen…

Worst exposition ever?

I just got done teaching a one week class called Handling Exposition, so perhaps my senses are on Acute Awareness this week, but I think I may have found the worse exposition ever. It’s from an episode of the 70s TV series “The Six Million Dollar Man” and features

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 2

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 81–90

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: “Fast & Furious 6”

Screenplay by Chris Morgan Agent Hobbs enlists the aid of Dom and team to help bring a rival gang, led by Owen Shaw, to justice. In exchange for clear records, they must put an end to their schemes, no matter how personal the cost. IMDB site Release Date: 24 May

Series on voice-over narration and flashbacks

So we all know the conventional wisdom is both voice-over narration and flashbacks are no-nos in screenplays. Indeed the Robert McKee character in the movie Adaptation flat-out states: God help you! It’s flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write voice-over narration to explain the thoughts

Screenwriting 101: Kyle Killen

“Usually it’s about hiding whatever you wrote. The first time through people tend to tell each other what the scene is about, and in life we don’t really talk that way. We talk around things, at things, and about things, without ever overtly stating them. Life has a

Daily Dialogue — February 19, 2013

[after seeing Coughlin die, Doug — still wearing his BPD uniform — hops into one BPD cruiser parked nearby with its engine running. He closes the door and drives off. He parks in front of Fergie’s shop, and enters, caught by a surveillance camera] Doug MacRay: Rusty, something went wrong. Come

Are you good at writing characters?

Do your characters come to ‘life’ when you write them? Do they feel real, compelling, and lift up off the page? Do they make sense and work together to support your story? Do you know how to discover what each of their narrative functions is? In sum, are you good

Interview: Julia Hart (2012 Black List) — Part 1

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

2013 WGA Awards

Per THR, here is the complete list [winners in bold]: FILM CATEGORIES ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Flight, written by John Gatins; Paramount Pictures Looper, written by Rian Johnson; TriStar Pictures The Master, written by Paul Thomas Anderson; The Weinstein Co. Moonrise Kingdom, written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola; Focus Features Zero

Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 71–80

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: “The Monk”

Screenplay by Dominik Moll, Anne-Louise Trividic, novel by Matthew G. Lewis Madrid, in the seventeenth century. Abandoned at the doorstep of a monastery, Ambrosio has been brought up by the Capucin Friars. After becoming a friar himself, he becomes an unrivaled preacher whose sermons draw crowds and earn him

Billy Wilder: “The Art of Screenwriting” [Part 13]

My favorite writer-director is Billy Wilder. Consider just some of his movies: Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), an oeuvre that demonstrates an incredible range in a filmmaking career that went from 1929

On Writing

“Writer’s block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows.” — Joseph Campbell Comment Archive