Scott Myers

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Scenery for Scenarios

“The matter of economy in settings is perhaps the very last thing that enters the mind of the amateur photodramatist — one big reason why many scripts are returned.” If you are a screenwriter, you should know about Anita Loos. Loos was one of the most influential writers in the early

Screenwriting News (July 2-July 8, 2012)

Damon Beesley and Iain Morris to write untitled coming-of-age comedy for Paramount. Kasi Lemmons adapting Langston Hughes gospel-musical “Black Nativity” for Fox Searchlight. Hanna Weg adapting the 2007 novel “The Septembers of Shiraz”.

Video Interviews: Wes Anderson (“Moonrise Kingdom”)

Multiple interviews with writer-director Wes Anderson about his newest movie Moonrise Kindgom: More interviews, including a 40 minutes press conference at Cannes with the entire cast, below the fold. I can’t recommend Moonrise Kingdom enough. It is a delightful movie — whimsical, funny, touching, along with the usual visual

Daily Dialogue — July 8, 2012

Ben bursts into the room. BEN: That’s it. I’ve had it with you! VITTI: What happened? BEN: What happened? I just saw a man fall seven stories into a platter of poached salmon! That’s what happened. VITTI: Did he break anything? BEN: Yes. Everything! They’re still

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Departure

As we hit the end of our rope with this week’s DDT of gallows humor [suggested by churnage], it’s time for next week’s theme: Departure as suggested by MatchesMalone. A quick goodbye, a final farewell. Adieu and godspeed, swan song and toodle-oo. What are some memorable

Original ‘Spider-Man’ Trilogy in Six Minutes [Video]

Via /film: Kees van Dijkhuizen has taken it upon himself to revisit Raimi’s original [Spiderman] trilogy. Watch his 6-minute montage of highlights from the Tobey Maguire movies — yes, even the disappointing last one. Comment Archive

Scene Description Spotlight: “The Dark Knight”

Today we shine the spotlight on a great piece of screenwriting, the screenplay for The Dark Knight, co-written by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan. If you want to understand the value of subplots, this sequence provides a mighty big one: Cross cutting between storylines to generate increasing tension. Sequence set-

Movie Trailer: “Compliance”

Written and directed by Craig Zobel IMDB site

Saturday Hot Links

Welcome to another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Full Length Charlie Chaplin Movies Online For Free Edition! We start with Modern Times: If 3-D movies weren’t bad enough, now there are going to be movies in 4-D? Six personality traits associated with longevity. Per BoxOfficeMojo:

Written Interview: Don Winslow (“Savages”)

Excerpts from a “Scott Butki’s Book Time” interview with writer Don Winslow whose novel Savages premieres this weekend. How did this story come about? Was the plan always for your next book to be a prequel to Savages or did it just work out that way? I always knew

Daily Dialogue — July 7, 2012

“Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend.” — Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park (1993), screenplay by Michael Crichton and David Koepp, based on a novel by Michael Crichton http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=HSKMm The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is gallows humor suggested

“How I Write A Script” [Parts 1–10]

It’s one of my most popular series [How I Write A Script], but I have never put all the 10 links together into one post. So here it is: Part 1: Story Concept Part 2: Brainstorming Part 3: Research Part 4: Character Development Part 5: Plotting Part 6: Outline

Reader Question: How does a 15 year-old go about getting experience screenwriting or directing?

Reader Question: How does a 15 year-old get experience screenwriting or directing? Nowadays with digital filmmaking, the mantra is: Do something! From Lence1818: Scott, my question is how would a young person, such as myself, go about finding internships and other opportunities for screenwriting or directing? Ones that don’

32-Year-Old Actor Interviewing Himself at Age 12 [video]

Via THR: Talk about the interview of a lifetime. Thanks to the magic of VHS and a lot of patience, 32-year-old actor Jeremiah McDonald has unveiled a short YouTube video that was 20 years in the making. In the video, present-day McDonald is seen having a realistic

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Free Association

You’re stuck on a scene. You’ve tried to write it 10 different ways, but nothing seems to work. Hell, it’s possible that the more you’ve been at it, the worse the writing seems. There are a lot of things you can do: go for a jog,

Movie Trailer: “Quartet”

Screenplay by Ronald Harwood, based on his play IMDB site Note: Dustin Hoffman’s directing debut.

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Star-Casting

The Variety report of the spec script sale yesterday — “Sunny and 68” — had this bit of business: O’Connor, whose “Pride and Glory” was released this past weekend by Warner Bros., said he and Tambakis wrote the script, a drama with comedic overtones, with [Vince] Vaughn in mind for the

Great Character: Vivian Ward (“Pretty Woman”)

Recently I asked if there were members of the GITS community who would like to participate with guest columns. Today’s Great Character post is provided by longtime GITS follower Jason Cuthbert. When it comes to romantic comedies, a prostitute is usually the last love interest that we would expect

Daily Dialogue — July 6, 2012

Henry, Jimmy and Tommy are digging up Billy Batts’ decomposed corpse. Henry is coughing from the stench, while the others don’t appear to be bothered. Tommy DeVito: Hey, Henry, Henry, hurry up, will ya? My mother’s gonna make some fried peppers and sausage for us. Jimmy and Tommy

Some things never change: Movies, art, and commerce

So writer and GITS reader Mike Montgomery sent me this priceless item: A 1930 memo from David Selznick, then a story editor at Paramount Studios before moving on to become a successful producer at MGM. In this memo, Selznick provides his comments about a screenplay written by the famous Russian

How They Write A Script: Anna Hamilton Phelan

Anna Hamilton Phelan has been a working screenwriter since 1985 with numerous writing credits including Mask (1985), Gorillas in the Mist: The Dian Fossey Story (1988), and Girl, Interrupted (1999). These excerpts are taken from a wonderful book called “The New Screenwriter Looks at the New Screenwriter,” by William Froug,

The Definitive List of Spec Script Sales: 1991–2012 [Every Link]

For your convenience, here is every link for The Definitive List of Spec Script Sales from 1991–2012 including some notable sales before 1991. Before 1991, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Personally I

Movie Trailer: “The Sessions”

Written by Ben Lewin IMDB site Release Date: 3 January 2013 (Germany)

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Snacks

So it’s like maybe 15 years ago and I’m reading an interview with noted playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon. And in this interview, Simon confesses that one way he forces himself to write is the judicious use of snacks. That’s right. Snacks. I don’t have the

The Business of Screenwriting: Movies are a director’s medium

“But that’s the whole point of the goddammed movie! That would be me, shouting in a cramped conference room in the Beverly Hills offices of Castle Rock Entertainment. “I disagree.” That would be the movie’s director. We are gathered for a pre-production meeting on the movie called