Scott Myers

Trey Gunn: “Original Voice

John Casu passed along this video: The best musicians are the ones who have found their ORIGINAL VOICE. These musicians find either 1) a lifetime of happiness, 2) market success or 3) both. For this month’s Happy Hour we are proud to bring you Trey Gunn, a globally accomplished

Great Scene: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”

Fight scenes. Whether swords or knives, guns or fists, lasers or kung fu, fight scenes are a staple of the movies. One problem: They’re so common, what can a screenwriter do to distinguish theirs from all the previous examples? William Goldman came up with an unexpected twist with this

Saturday Hot Links

Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Rock and Roll Looooong Jam Session Edition! WGA announced its TV nominations this week. National Board of Review Awards announced. The complete 2013 Sundance Film Festival lineup. 19 films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival were Kickstarter projects. The

Written Interview: Lena Dunham

An interview in Esquire with screenwriter (Tiny Furniture) and creator of the HBO TV series “Girls”. Excerpt: ESQ: Your boyfriend [in “Girls”] is an asshole, but you seem to like him. I don’t mean your character. I mean you, as the writer of the script. LD: I have no

Daily Dialogue — December 8, 2012

INT. SAVOR ROOM — DAY William runs, searching. At last finds the room, and enters. INT. LANCASTER ROOM — DAY Huge room — full of press. Row after row of journalists, cameras at the front, TV cameras at the back. Anna clearly gives press conferences very rarely, because this one is positively presidential.

THR: Agents Roundtable

From the Hollywood Reporter: Nowhere is gender disparity among Hollywood’s corporate ranks more painfully acute than inside the top talent agencies, where the percentage of women agents can dip as low as 15 and nary a female CEO can be found. Sure, women have made huge strides as network

Rise of the female action movie role?

Bella from the Twilight series. Katniss from The Hunger Games series. Hanna from Hanna. Are we witnessing a demonstrable rise of female action leads? That’s what this Guardian article posits: “Twilight has done so much to change the culture of Hollywood and it does not get the acknowledgement it

Spec Script Sale: “Family Vacation”

Paramount’s Insurge acquires thriller spec script “Family Vacation” from writer Eric Reese. No other details available. Reese is repped by CAA and Gotham. By my count, this is the 93rd spec script sale in 2012. At this point last year, there were 102 spec sales. Spec script sales are

“Surfacing moments”

Writer Anne Beattie said this: “People forget years and remember moments.” I believe this is nowhere more true than in movies. In terms of a movie or screenplay, moment has a precise meaning: A specific point in time, the present time, that is of particular importance in the overall series

Movie Trailer: “Upstream Color”

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Written by Shane Carruth IMDB site Release Date: March 2013 (USA)

The Theology of Screenwriting, Part 15: Grace

This week I continue to explore theological themes in relation to screenwriting, considering them metaphorically because in my view, we see these themes in movies all the time. By understanding them, we can use these theological themes to enhance the meaning and depth of our stories. For background on the

Great Character: Ralphie (“A Christmas Story”)

This month’s Great Character theme: Christmas. Today: Jason Cuthbert’s guest post features Ralphie from the 1983 movie A Christmas Story [screenplay by Jean Shepherd & Leigh Brown & Bob Clark, based on a novel by Jean Shepherd]. The season of giving, or in this case — receiving, just does

Daily Dialogue — December 7, 2012

Adam: Hey, it’s Adam. Katherine: Adam? It’s midnight. What’s going on? Adam: Oh, probably having a nervous breakdown. I think I just fractured my larynx. Katherine: I’m really, really glad that you called. Adam: I just want it to be over. I’m so fucking tired

Don’t Play It Again, Sam!!!

My email was inundated with people sending this WSJ article. For almost as long as there have been movies, there have been sequels. “The Godfather,” “Star Wars,” “The Lord of the Rings,” the Twilight series — if there’s anything Hollywood likes more than a blockbuster, it’s the follow-up

Spec Script Sale: Untitled Robert Lynn Project

Davis Entertainment acquires an untitled action spec script written by Robert Lynn. From THR: Fox has picked up an untitled action spec from scribe Robert Lynn. John Davis is attached to produce via his Fox-based Davis Entertainment banner. our editor recommends The logline is being (frustratingly) kept under wraps.

THR: Director’s Roundtable

From THR: In 1997, independent filmmaker Gus Van Sant directed an unknown actor-writer named Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting, which launched Affleck and his buddy Matt Damon to stardom (and won them a screenplay Oscar). Fifteen years later, Van Sant, 60 (Promised Land), and Affleck, 40 (Argo), arrived

“Surfacing motifs”

Whereas a talisman is a physical object that takes on symbolic or emotional meaning, motifs are distinct in relation to screenplays in that they are more conceptual in nature, falling into three categories: * Dialogue (words) * Music (sounds) * Visual (images) Motifs are not only recurring narrative elements, but also ideas that

Movie Trailer: “Star Trek Into Darkness”

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt

The Theology of Screenwriting, Part 14: Doubt

This week I continue to explore theological themes in relation to screenwriting, considering them metaphorically because in my view, we see these themes in movies all the time. By understanding them, we can use these theological themes to enhance the meaning and depth of our stories. For background on the

The Business of Screenwriting: Withdrawing screen credit and pseudonyms

Let’s begin this post with a quote from arguably the dean of contemporary American screenwriters William Goldman: “Nobody sets out to fuck up your movie. It’s not like the director or the star wake up in the morning and say, ‘Let me screw up this scene. How can

Daily Dialogue — December 6, 2012

MICHAEL: What’s up? JULIANNE: Shhh. Up the white steps now. Together. The gazebo floor has been covered with hardwood. The perfect place. For a wedding dance. And Julianne… turns, suddenly. He almost runs into her. She is staring up at him, so strangely, their bodies only inches apart. He

Here’s one way to write a first draft

I get emails… Hi Scott, My name’s Matthew Launder, I’m an aspiring screenwriter from Aurora, CO, and I love your co-op blog with the Blacklist; I think it’s a fantastic resource for writers, so thank you! Before I was 21 (only 18 months ago), I recreationally

Dispatch from The Quest: Jordan Earls

The Quest participants have been hard at work pounding out a first draft of their original screenplays, but Jordan has found the time to compose a dispatch for us: I’ve missed the weekly podium and rambling about whatever pops into my head. I was recently diagnosed with ADD by

“Surfacing talismans”

Recalling the definition of a story talisman — “A physical object that takes on symbolic or emotional significance” — the first order of business in trying to surface them is simply be aware of the items that emerge in your brainstorming and story crafting process. Let’s say you are writing a

Movie Trailer: “Beautiful Creatures”

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town. Screenplay by Richard LaGravenese, novel by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl IMDB site Release Date:13 February 2013 (USA)