Scott Myers

Scene Description Spotlight: “Zombieland”

One of the most important things a writer wants to do when they begin a script is establish the story’s tone — and this is nowhere more important than with a cross-genre movie. A great example is Zombieland (2009). Written by screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, the movie

Saturday Hot Links

Back for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Hot Shit Rock And Roll Concert Movies Online For Free Edition! The Doors (1968) Why Tom Rothman is leaving Fox. Creativity Post: Creativity and IQ. TIFF 2012 first week sales roundup. Fujifilm to stop producing motion picture film. 10 contemporary

Written Interview: Frank Cottrell Boyce

Screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce (Hillary and Jackie, Millions) at a BAFTA appearance. An excerpt: I love rewriting. Writers complain a lot about rewriting. To me rewriting always seems like a fantastic privilege, a fantastic thing that you can get it right; you get the time to get it right. I

Daily Dialogue — September 15, 2012

JIMMY: Who’s this? VINNIE:This is Vinnie. JIMMY: Vinnie, what happened? Did we get straightened out? VINNIE: Well, we had a problem. We tried to do everything we could. JIMMY: What do you mean? VINNIE: You know what I mean. He’s gone, and we couldn’t do nothing

Genre Essentials: Thriller — 10 Thriller Resources [Blogs, Websites, Journals, Magazines, DVD Commentaries] You Must Track

When you are writing an original screenplay within a specific genre, you really should know the heart, soul and guts of that genre. This will inform every step of your creative and writing process: concept, character development, brainstorming, plotting, tone, style, atmosphere, voice, pace, and so on. There are certain

Update: Caine’s Arcade

Last April as part of the “A Story Idea Each Day for a Month” series, I posted this about Caine’s Arcade: A filmmaker Nirvan Mullick happened to be the first customer at Caine’s Arcade, comprised entirely of cardboard boxes, sundry items and a young boys imagination, housed at

Dispatch from The Quest: Brandon Cohen

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the subject of Time. Today’s dispatch: Brandon Cohen reflects on a different aspect of time in relation to screenwriting: This past week was our final week of Core, and I officially graduated! Unfortunately, there was no

“Death & Resurrection: A Rom-Com Memoir of the 2000s”

Billy Mernit, host of the excellent blog Living the Romantic Comedy, has been running an 18-part series [titled above]: It’s been a decade since it happened: the moment I lost my faith in romantic comedy. The genre I’d loved all my life was in crisis, and sitting

Go On Your Own Quest, Week 9: Prep

“The Quest” has entered Week 9! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s

Movie Trailer: “Lincoln”

As the Civil War nears its end, President Abraham Lincoln clashes with members of his cabinet over the issue of abolishing slavery. Screenplay by Tony Kushner IMDB site Release Date: 16 November 2012 (USA) Comment Archive

Movie Business: “Bummer 2012 Box-Office Raises Critical Questions for Movie Biz”

Each day at noon this week, I have been taking a look at the current state of the movie business: Monday: “Summer Movie Attendance Likely Lowest in Two Decades” Tuesday: ‘Marigold’ and ‘Moonrise’: Summer 2012 indie B.O. champs Wednesday: “Old People, Old Stars: Hollywood’s New Hot Demo Is

Great Character: Daniel Plainview (“There Will Be Blood”)

Today’s Great Character post is provided by longtime GITS follower Jason Cuthbert, another in this month’s focus on anti-heroes: In 2007, two rustic, western-related dramas, both ironically shot in Marfa, Texas and bathed in rural brown and country beige shared 8 Academy Award nominations going into

Daily Dialogue — September 14, 2012

Casey: Hello? Phone Voice: Hello. Casey: Yes? Phone Voice: Who is this? Casey: Who are you trying to reach? Phone Voice: What number is this? Casey: Well, what number are you trying to reach? Phone Voice: I don’t know. Casey: I think you have the wrong number. — Casey (Drew

Genre Essentials: Thriller — 10 Thriller Books [Non-Fiction] You Must Cover

When you are writing an original screenplay within a specific genre, you really should know the heart, soul and guts of that genre. This will inform every step of your creative and writing process: concept, character development, brainstorming, plotting, tone, style, atmosphere, voice, pace, and so on. There are certain

Spec Script Sale: “Black Box”

Universal wins bidding war for action thriller “Black Box” from writer David Guggenheim. From THR: After Air Force One goes down over America, an investigator’s life is put in jeopardy when he discovers that the plane didn’t go down due to technical issues, as was the official cause,

Dispatch from The Quest: Jordan Earls

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the subject of Time. Today’s dispatch: Jordan Earls gets into sci-fi hog heaven: Someone recently asked me about the differences between Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. She tried to tell me they’re

Spec Script Sale: “Epsilon”

Sony acquires sci-fi project “Epsilon” from writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. From THR: Epsilon is set after an initial robot rebellion ended in failure and Earth operates on almost no electronics. The remaining robots seek refuge on a space station and begin to raise their own human lab

Go On Your Own Quest, Week 9: Prep

“The Quest” has entered Week 9! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s

Spec Script Sale: “Rockets’ Red Glare”

Sony acquires action thriller “Rockets’ Red Glare” from writer Ken Nolan. From Variety: Story revolves around the CFO of a Mexican drug cartel who surrenders himself to a rural Texas border patrol agent, promising the delivery of $8 billion within 72 hours in exchange for immunity. The agent must keep

Movie Business: So who’s making mid-budget movies?

Each day at noon this week, I have been taking a look at the current state of the movie business: Monday: “Summer Movie Attendance Likely Lowest in Two Decades” Tuesday: ‘Marigold’ and ‘Moonrise’: Summer 2012 indie B.O. champs Wednesday: “Old People, Old Stars: Hollywood’s New Hot Demo Is

Spec Script Sale: Untitled McCormick Cop Comedy

Universal acquires an untitled cop comedy from writer Blake McCormick. From Variety: The pic follows two best friends who following a costume party dressed as cops are mistaken as real officers and forced to bring a dangerous criminal back to the station. This is a great high concept comedy. It’

The Business of Screenwriting: If you write a great script…

…Hollywood will find you. Sale. Option. Representation. Writing sample. Writing assignments. Any/all of the above. This is not a pipe dream or fantasy. This statement does not involve unicorns, leprechauns, or magic pixie dust. This is the damn truth. If you write a great script, Hollywood will find you.

4 spec script sales in one 24-hour period!

It’s extraordinary. I’ve done a quick review of the The Definitive List of Spec Script Sales [1991–2012] and I cannot find anything like this: Four spec script sales announced in a one-day period. Four spec script sales. Major Hollywood studios involved. Bidding wars. Seven figure deals.

Daily Dialogue — September 13, 2012

Annie: You didn’t ask about the kid, Francis. Francis: I was going to. So what is it, a boy or a girl? Annie: Dead. It’s dead. Never even got born, Francis, ’cause I was left alone. Did you hear me, Francis? Eight months. You know I… I slipped

Genre Essentials: Thriller — 10 Thriller Books [Fiction] You Must Read

When you are writing an original screenplay within a specific genre, you really should know the heart, soul and guts of that genre. This will inform every step of your creative and writing process: concept, character development, brainstorming, plotting, tone, style, atmosphere, voice, pace, and so on. There are certain