GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Dialogue Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Dialogue This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2007 movie Michael Clayton written by Tony Gilroy. You may download a copy of the shooting script here. Today we discuss the script’s dialogue: * What do you consider
Great Character: Arthur Edens (“Michael Clayton”) The Trickster is often the most interesting character in a movie. That stands to reason. They switch ‘masks’ with ease, changing allegiances with the snap of a finger, ally… enemy… enemy… ally… testing the mettle of the Protagonist and generally forcing the P to peer deep into their soul to
Daily Dialogue — March 30, 2012 Juno MacGuff: Yeah, you just take Soupy-Sales to prom I can think of so many cooler things to do that night. Like, you know what Bleek? I might pumice my feet, uh, I might go to Bren’s Unitarian Church, maybe get hit by a truck full of hot
“Bully Free World” There is a new documentary Bully, written by Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen, directed by Hirsch and Alicia Dwyer. It opens in select theaters in NY and LA this weekend. Here is the trailer: Here are some production notes on the movie: This year, over 13 million American kids will
Spec Script Sale: Untitled Katie Dippold Project Chernin Entertainment acquires untitled female buddy cop action comedy from writer Katie Dippold. Dippold, a writer and producer on “Parks and Recreation,” is repped by WME and 3 Arts. By my count, this is the 30th spec script sale of 2012. Last year this time, there were 24 spec sales.
“I Met the Walrus” Thanks to Ted Hope for posting this link. Being a huge John Lennon fan, I’m shocked I’d never seen this or even heard of it before. In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced
Transcript: Live-Tweet Simulcast “Michael Clayton” It came together very quickly arising from a suggestion on Monday by two screenwriters John Gary [@johngary] and Scott Frazier [@ScreenWritten], but by all accounts the live-tweet simulcast last night of the movie Michael Clayton was a success. For those who missed it, go below the fold to access
Q&A: Script reader D.C. Mar In relation to the film business, Hollywood’s gatekeepers are script readers. Therefore it behooves a writer to understand at least something about who these people are, how they do their job, what their mindset is… and what they look for in a script. So I was happy to be
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Theme Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Theme This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2007 movie Michael Clayton written by Tony Gilroy. You may download a copy of the shooting script here. Today we discuss the script’s themes. There are several of
The Business of Screenwriting: Movies don’t owe anybody a living This is actually a lesson I learned before I became a screenwriter. After I graduated with an M.Div. from Yale and turned my back on an academic career — although I didn’t know it at the time, only thought I was taking a year off before I went on
Daily Dialogue — March 29, 2012 Cher: We got another notice from the fire department saying we have to clear out that bush. You said you’d get Jose to do it. Lucy: He your gardener, why you don’t tell him? Cher: Lucy, you know I don’t speak Mexican. Lucy: I not a Mexican!
Live tweeting “Michael Clayton” tonight! As part of this week’s script reading and analysis of Michael Clayton, screenwriters F. Scott Frazier [@ScreenWritten], John Gary [@JohnGary], and I will be live-tweeting the movie tonight at 8PM PDT / 11PM EDT [U.S.]. What do I mean? How do you participate? At precisely that designated time,
“How Creativity Works” [video] Via BrainPickings. A related article from CreativityPost: Creativity is the Key Skill for the 21st Century. Comment Archive
Ghetto Film School Franklin turned me onto the Ghetto Film School: In June 2000 Joe Hall founded The Ghetto Film School (GFS) to connect talented young people to artistic, educational and professional opportunities in the world of film and video. Since that time, more than 400 students have participated in GFS programs and
Q&A: Anonymous Movie Marketing Executive Back in 2009, I was fortunate enough to be able to interview a marketing executive at one of the major Hollywood studios. What does marketing have to do with screenwriting? A lot more than you might realize as you will see in this interview. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Characters Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Characters This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2007 movie Michael Clayton written by Tony Gilroy. You may download a copy of the shooting script here. Today we discuss the script’s characters. Here is a list
Script To Screen: “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” An early draft of the script depicts a different ending than the movie. This is an unusual Script To Screen entry. The screenplay is an early draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, screen story by Ted Elliott
Daily Dialogue — March 28, 2012 “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests — we did. [winks at Dean Wormer] But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick
In memory of Billy Wilder Billy Wilder died 10 years ago today. There are many remarkable aspects to Wilder’s career as a filmmaker, but perhaps the thing that stands out most is the breadth of stories he was involved in as a writer. Look at this partial list of writing credits: Ninotchka (1939) The
“Arguably the best line in movie history” Earlier today, screenwriter Chris Sparling [Buried, ATM] tweeted this: “Arguably the best line in movie history” with a link to this scene from the 1989 cult classic Big Man on Campus aka The Hunchback of UCLA starring Alan Katz in the title role as Bob Maloogaloogaloogaloogalooga. The specific line of
Q&A: Manager-producer Dan Halsted Back in January, 1987, the point person in the sale of the spec script K-9 to Unversal Studios was a young agent named Dan Halsted. We’ve stayed in touch all these years and I’m pleased that Dan agreed to answer some questions for GITS readers. Some background:
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Structure Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” — Structure This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2007 movie Michael Clayton written by Tony Gilroy. You may download a copy of the shooting script here. Today we discuss the script’s structure. Three-act structure? A
Screenwriting 101: James M. Cain “A thing was said at this story conference that made an impression on me. A young guy named Joe Sistrom was Paramount’s producer on this picture [Double Indemnity]. He was bothered that in the script and to some extent in the book, this guy hit on the scheme for
Daily Dialogue — March 27, 2012 Mrs. Flax: I am sick and tired of being judged by you. You’re a kid. Okay, when you become an adult you can live your life any way you want to. But until then, we’re gonna live my life my way. Start packing. Charlotte: No! Mrs. Flax: I
Toph Eggers responds On March 9, Salon ran a piece [“Hollywood’s Worst Screenwriter Strikes Again”] by Toph Eggers which you can read here. As Eggers, himself having written three movie projects, took some shots at a fellow screenwriter, many in the online screenwriting community voiced their displeasure with the article. I responded
