Scott Myers

Tuesdays with Tom Benedek: Some thoughts on Friday Night Lights

The latest guest post from screenwriter (Cocoon) and long-time friend Tom Benedek: I will be teaching a TV Pilot Wrting Workshop online at Screenwritingmasterclass.com starting next week. In addition to working on 60 page original pilot scripts(or 30 or so pages for half-hour) we will be

Spec Script Sale: Untitled Cameron Crowe Project

Sony Pictures entertainment acquires an untitled love story spec script from writer-director Cameron Crowe with Emma Stone attached to star. From Deadline: …the project is a two-hander, and the male lead hasn’t yet been set, and the tone is reminiscent of past Crowe films Almost Famous and

Dispatch from The Quest: Jordan Earls

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the subject of character. That seemed to have put them in an especially reflective mood as most of them used their journal entries to ponder where they were in the process of learning the craft of screenwriting.

“Five lessons of ‘Total Recall’s’ disappointing box-office results”

The LAT’s Steve Zeitchik weighs in on the less-than-stellar opening weekend of Total Recall: When Universal moved “The Bourne Legacy” off this past weekend, blinking in its box-office staring contest with Sony’s “Total Recall,” it seemed a clear indication that the latter was primed for

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 4: Style

“The Quest” has entered Week 4! 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: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”

Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, novel by J.R.R. Tolkien IMDB site Release Date: 14 December 2012 (USA)

Writers on how they write: Orhan Pamuk

The Wall Street Journal had a great article last Friday: “How to Write a Great Novel”, reflections by 11 novelists on how they approach writing. Since the article is subscription only, I’ll feature one writer per day here, highlighting their process with a key excerpt from the article. Today’

Screenwriting 101: Peter Farrelly

“My goal always has been to write a comedy that could also make people feel something emotionally. All our comedies have a touch of, I’ll say, substance to them — and I’ll underline “a touch.” We’ve never really gotten heavy. But even Dumb & Dumber, which is a

Daily Dialogue — August 7, 2012

Teen #2: Uh, let me get a nickel bag. Jay: [singing] / Fifteen bucks, little man, / Put that shit in my hand, / If that money doesn’t show, / Then you owe me, owe me, owe, / My jungle love, yeah, / Owe-ee, owe-ee, owe, / I think I want to know ya,

Genre Essentials: Family — 10 Family Movies You Must See

The push to push you to learn what you need to learn to succeed as a professional screenwriter continues here at GITS. There is 1, 2, 7, 14, a simple formula to be a more productive and better screenwriter. There is Deep Focus: The Go Into The Movies Project, a

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 4: Style

“The Quest” has entered Week 4! 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

“Lost Sheep: Aspen’s Counterculture in the 1970s”

My good and longtime friend Kurt Brown plies his trade as a poet, author of such collections as Return of the Prodigals (1999), More Things in Heaven and Earth (2002), Fables from the Ark (2004), Future Ship (2007), and No Other Paradise (2010). However his latest literary effort is a

Dispatch From The Quest: Brandon Cohen

Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the subject of character. That seemed to have put them in an especially reflective mood as most of them used their journal entries to ponder where they were in the process of learning the craft of screenwriting.

“H+”: The future of web series?

In the past, I have featured web series, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything like “H+”: If we’re all going to our computers these days to watch content we used to only be able to access on a television, why not put the efforts (and money)

Movie Trailer: “The Words”

Written by Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal IMDB site Release Date: 7 September 2012 (USA)

Writers on how they write: Nicholson Baker

The Wall Street Journal had a great article last Friday: “How to Write a Great Novel”, reflections by 11 novelists on how they approach writing. Since the article is subscription only, I’ll feature one writer per day here, highlighting their process with a key excerpt from the article. Today’

On Writing

“The story…must be a conflict, and specifically, a conflict between the forces of good and evil within a single person.” — Maxwell Anderson Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — August 6, 2012

Louie: Five bucks. Frankie Machine: Last time it was two. Louie: That was more than six months ago before you went away. They keep raising the price on me. Frankie Machine: I keep doing that, I’d have to find something to take its place. Louie: The monkey is never

Create A Compelling Protagonist

In almost every movie, the most critical character is the Protagonist. * Typically the story is told through their perspective. * Their goal usually dictates the end point of the plot. * All the other primary characters are somehow linked to the Protagonist. * Normally they go through the most significant metamorphosis. * And the

The cast of “Back to the Future” 25 years later

Since we featured Marty McFly as this week’s Great Character on Friday, I thought it would be timely to check out this cast reunion video from 2 years ago: HT to Josh James for sending me this link.

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Character On The Screen [Part 2]

“Failure to concentrate on this essential of plot making (developing of character) has been responsible for the wishy-washy substance of countless pictures.” 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

Screenwriting News [July 30-August 5]

Cameron Crowe inks deal to direct untitled love story project he wrote for Sony with Emma Stone attached. A.J. Edwards to write-direct “The Green Blade Rises” with producer Terrence Malick. Shana Feste rewriting the remake “Endless Love” for Universal. Stuart Blumberg polishing untitled Luke Greenfield-Nicholas Thomas action

Daily Dialogue — August 5, 2012

“I’m finished.” — Daniel Plainview [Daniel Day-Lewis], There Will Be Blood (2007), Paul Thomas Anderson (screenplay), Upton Sinclair (novel) http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=DLZQc The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is subtext suggested by lizswan. Today’s suggestion by Teddy Pasternak. Trivia: The script originally

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Drug Deal

As we round out a week’s worth of dialogue focusing on subtext [thanks, lizswan, for the suggestion!, we move onto our next theme: Drug Deal, suggested by Jonathan Webb. Could be an action movie. Comedy. Drama. Horror. Whatever the genre, you may be faced with writing a drug deal

Scene Description Spotlight: “Jerry Maguire”

Writer-director Cameron Crowe, whose movies include Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Say Anything… (1989), Singles (1992), Almost Famous (2000), and Elizabethtown (2005), is known to write great dialogue. But if you study his scripts, you’ll quickly see how strong his scene description is — particularly in capturing the