Scott Myers

Billy Wilder: “The Art of Screenwriting” [Part 4]

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

“I often think of the space of a page as a stage, with words, letters, syllable characters moving across.” — Susan Howe

Daily Dialogue — February 4, 2013

EMILY: What in the hell do you want? You set people up to disappoint you… and they always do, don’t they? WHEELER: I never set anybody up. That’s just the way it is. If you have anything to say to me, say it! You’re the lawyer, honey.

Super Bowl Movie Ad Reactions!

Post your reactions to the many Super Bowl movie ads airing today! Which ones work. Which ones don’t. Post links to sites where they are airing like this one for Star Trek Into Darkness. But please, don’t spill the virtual bean dip! Enjoy the commercials… er, game! UPDATE:

Interview: Sean Robert Daniels (2012 Nicholl Winner)

Sean Robert Daniels’ original screenplay “Killers” is a taut, finely crafted thriller that won him a 2012 Nicholl fellowship. And for those of you toiling away on spec scripts outside the United States, Sean can be an inspiration for you as he lives 10,364 air miles away from Los

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Midway in the Photoplay [Part 2]

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 (January 28-February 3, 2013)

Max Borenstein adapting sci-fi thriller novel “Mona” for New Regency. John Brancato and Michael Ferris adapting thriller book “Truth Never Dies” [aka “Influence”] for Mad Chance. Steve Conrad adapting dark comedy graphic novel “Pyongyang” for New Regency. Chad Feehan adapting crime thriller novel “The Man From Primrose Lane” for

Spec Script Sale: “Blood Drive”

Sentinel Pictures acquires action thriller spec script “Blood Drive” from writer Christian Parkes. From Variety: Story centers on an everyday guy with the rarest of blood types who is suddenly and unexpectedly forced to deliver his very own, freshly stolen kidney to an infamous criminal whose life depends on it.

Video Interview: Shane Black

From the Austin Film Festival, twenty minutes with screenwriter-director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang): http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf HT to Shaula Evans for the link. Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — February 3, 2013

“Bodhi, this is your fucking wake-up call man. I am an F-B-I-Agent!” — Point Break (1991), screenplay by W. Peter Iliff, story by Rick King & W. Peter Iliff http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=GYS2 For the actual clip, go here. The Daily Dialogue theme

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Falsely accused

Out with agents [thanks, Teddy P] and in with next week’s theme: Falsely accused, suggested by churnage: The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from MovieClips or YouTube. I’d also ask you to

Interview: Sean Robert Daniels (2012 Nicholl Winner) — Part 6

Sean Robert Daniels’ original screenplay “Killers” is a taut, finely crafted thriller that won him a 2012 Nicholl fellowship. And for those of you toiling away on spec scripts outside the United States, Sean can be an inspiration for you as he lives 10,364 air miles away from Los

Great Scene: “Die Hard”

Compare script to screen for the explosive rooftop sequence. Hard to believe, but it was all the way back in 1988 that the action movie Die Hard was released. It grossed $138M worldwide — not bad for a movie with a production budget of just $28M. People forget, but Bruce Willis

Saturday Hot Links

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Hot Links! Today: Star Wars: The Backstroke of the West Edition! Puppy Bowl IX starting lineup. Interview: Tim Burton. More Burton: Watch John Lasseter harass him in 1980 [video]. How to make mathematically perfect nachos [HT to @FranklinLeonard and @StayPuft]. Where to watch the

Written Interview: Ryan Cogler (“Fruitvale”)

Entertainment Weekly features one of the breakout stories from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, the movie Fruitvale and its 26 year-old writer-director Ryan Cogler: Seven days ago, Coogler was a complete unknown, a former college football player turned USC film student who’d captured the attention of Forest

Daily Dialogue — February 2, 2013

EXT. SALE HOUSE — BACK YARD — LATER Carolyn stands by the pool next to two fortyish WOMEN. CAROLYN: You know, you could have some really fun backyard get-togethers out here. WOMAN #1: The ad said this pool was “lagoon-like.” There’s nothing “lagoon-like” about it. Except for maybe

Interviews!

You may have noticed, we’ve been fortunate to have interviews each week this year: January 7–11, 2012: Michael Werwie, 2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List. January 14–19, 2012: Allan Durand, 2012 Nicholl Winner. January 21–26, 2012: Adam Kolbrenner, Manager-Producer, Madhouse Entertainment. This week, Sean Robert

Interview: Sean Robert Daniels (2012 Nicholl Winner) — Part 5

Sean Robert Daniels’ original screenplay “Killers” is a taut, finely crafted thriller that won him a 2012 Nicholl fellowship. And for those of you toiling away on spec scripts outside the United States, Sean can be an inspiration for you as he lives 10,364 air miles away from Los

John August introduces Courier Prime

When your job basically involves staring at a monitor screen all day — specifically at the letters in your words — over time, little things can become big things Like fonts. I have never much cared for Courier Final Draft, but it is the modern version of the standard Courier font for

Movie Trailer: “The East”

An operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations. Written by Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij IMDB site

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Groundhog Day” — Dialogue

This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, screenplay by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, story by Danny Rubin. The movie received the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. You may download a copy of the script here. Today we discuss the script’s

Great Character: Lt. Aldo Raine (“Inglourious Basterds”)

This month, the focus is on great characters from Quentin Tarantino movies. Today’s guest post by Jason Cuthbert features Lt. Aldo Raine from the movie Inglourious Basterds. Screenwriter and director Quentin Tarantino spent almost a decade crafting and perfecting the epic scale script for Inglourious Basterds, his biggest box

Daily Dialogue — February 1, 2013

The Joker: I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know… You know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when

Stories do not need a Nemesis character

I’ve addressed this subject before, but since it came up yesterday in the Pixar and the Craft of Storytelling class, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review these ideas again. One of the class participants Patrick O’Toole posted this in the forums: It’s amazing

Interview: Sean Robert Daniels (2012 Nicholl Winner) — Part 4

Sean Robert Daniels’ original screenplay “Killers” is a taut, finely crafted thriller that won him a 2012 Nicholl fellowship. And for those of you toiling away on spec scripts outside the United States, Sean can be an inspiration for you as he lives 10,364 air miles away from Los