Scott Myers

Do you know how to craft a story?

Writers use a lot of different words for the process of figuring out a story. You break a story. You crack a story. You wrangle a story. Those verbs give you a pretty good idea of the fundamental challenge a writer faces when writing a story. It ain’t easy.

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Continuity (Part 1)

“The continuity writer visualizes the story in a series of scenes.” 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

Screenwriting News (May 28-June 3, 2012)

Jim Byrkit and Alex Manugian (Rango) to adapt “Fraggle Rock” for New Regency. David Chisholm (The Wizard) to write “City of Night” for Meyers Media Group with Carl Franklin attached as director. Katie Dippold and John Reynolds scripted “Killer Rebound Guy” for Josephson Entertainment lands Taran Killam from SNL. Joe

Video Interview: Rod Serling

Since I am reprising the Rod Serling series of video clips, something I do every year, today we have some longer interviews with the famed screenwriter and TV writer. 1959 interview with Mike Wallace: There’s a special treat at the end of Part 3. Don’t say I didn’

Daily Dialogue — June 3, 2012

INT. NIGHT. JAPANESE RESTAURANT A Japanese MAITRE D’ greets Sonny, Donnie, Nicky and Boobie at the door. MAITRE D’: Good evening. Please step this way. The Maitre d’ ushers them inside. Donnie lingers behind, NERVOUS… NICKY: My wife says it’s very in, Japanese. She heard it on John Gambling.

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Pity party

After a week of lies [thanks to a suggestion by BilleJeanVK], next week we visit with characters who are confronting some harsh truths… or at least they think so. Theme: Pity party! Suggested by Teddy Pasternak, we are looking for memorable movie moments that feature a character or characters who

Update: Jason Scoggins and FilmFunds

Interesting and good news re friend of the blog Jason Scoggins: Launched last summer at the Toronto International Film Festival, FilmFunds offers filmmakers a platform to promote their wares and connect with financiers. The site allows filmmakers to upload their projects so that film fans can sample them, give feedback

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “(500) Days of Summer” — Tweet-Cast Transcript

On Wednesday, May 30, we had a live Tweet-Cast of (500) Days of Summer. What’s a Tweet-Cast? At 8PM Pacific, people from around the world pushed Play on an electronic device and watched the movie, then commented on it on Twitter. Involved in the commentary were professional

Scene Description Spotlight: “Avatar”

There are many reasons to read and analyze the script to Avatar (2009), at last count about 2.7 billion of them by one measure. Today let’s focus on what screenwriter-director James Cameron does with scene description, specifically how he introduces us to a new world — Pandora. EXT.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Doc Watson Memorial Edition Disney names Alan Horn as its new studio head. “Hatfields & McCoys” draws a record 13.9M viewers for History. This is unbelievable. Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter album project is over $1,000,000. 15 of

Written Interview: Makers and Stars of “The Wire”

Oral History: “The Wire” Deep background on stellar TV series with actors, writers, and producers. I’m reprising this post from 2012 because I was thinking about ‘The Wire’ last night and remembering just how damn good it was. If you are a fan of “The Wire,” the best TV

Daily Dialogue — June 2, 2012

Robbie Turner: [glares at Briony] What is she doing here? Cecilia Tallis: She came to speak to me. Robbie Turner: Oh, yes? What about? Briony — 18 years old: The terrible thing I did. [Robbie moves around the room, putting his hands in his pockets and taking them out again, still

Story Ideas: Gender-Bending

First an update on “Go Into The Story: The Quest,” then another tip on how to generate story ideas. As of the time I prepped this post, there have been 593 individual submissions, many with multiple loglines. I have been a really good boy and steadfastly kept to my pledge

Reader Questions?

Haven’t done this for awhile. If you have any questions about screenwriting, I’m happy to provide my two cents. And oftentimes the comments from members of the GITS community offers even more insight. So here is a chance to get any nagging questions about the craft you have

Rod Serling: “The Silence”

GITS reader David A sent me a link to an amazing set of videos, a sit-down conversation with TV and screenwriter Rod Serling. Most well-known for the long-running TV anthology series “The Twilight Zone” (148 episodes, 1959–1964), has over 70 writing credits including the screenplays for

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “(500) Days of Summer” — Dialogue

This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The script was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay. You may download the script legally from the Fox Searchlight website here [draft dated April

Great Character: Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (“Apocalypse Now”)

A mythical figure who lives up to and exceeds the myth, Colonel Walter Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando in the stunning Vietnam 1979 movie Apocalypse Now [written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola] is one of the most memorable characters in cinema history. Here is a plot summary from

Daily Dialogue — June 1, 2012

Luke: Ben! Why didn’t you tell me? You told me that Darth Vader betrayed and murdered my father. Obi-Wan: Your father… was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and “became” Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was

“Go Into The Story: The Quest”: The producing component

First a quick update about “Go Into The Story: The Quest.” As of this moment, there have been 502 individuals who have submitted loglines, some with multiple stories. That is already more than I projected for a grand total and we’re less than 72 hours into the submission process.

Story Ideas: Halliwell’s Film Guide

Here’s a post that goes all the way back to November 2008. Some excerpts: My big tip: Halliwell’s Film Guide. Here’s a description: For those unfamiliar with the annual, Halliwell’s is a long running series often praised for being the biggest and best film guide and

Movie Trailer: “The Bourne Legacy”

Screenplay by Tony Gilroy and Dan Gilroy IMDB site Release Date: 3 August 2012 Comment Archive

Rod Serling: Does espousing a cause lose character credibility

GITS reader David A sent me a link to an amazing set of videos, a sit-down conversation with TV and screenwriter Rod Serling. Most well-known for the long-running TV anthology series “The Twilight Zone” (148 episodes, 1959–1964), has over 70 writing credits including the screenplays for

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “(500) Days of Summer” — Themes

This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The script was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay. You may download the script legally from the Fox Searchlight website here [draft dated April

The Business of Screenwriting: Your first big paycheck

It is March, 1987. I am here, the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Blvd. It’s 1PM. I am meeting one of my agents for lunch. For dessert: My first big check for the sale of the spec script K-9. Up through mid-February, I continued to do my nightly

Daily Dialogue — May 31, 2012

DOROTHY: Excuse me, I’m wondering if you can help me? I’m looking for the Russian Tea Room. GEORGE: This is the Russian Tea Room. DOROTHY: Oh, my stars, so it is. This is really embarrassing. GEORGE: (slightly nervous) Yeah… well… this is it. He goes in. Dorothy sweeps