Scott Myers

“Beanie Baby Hunger Games”

The first of a zillion spoofs: Via Flavorwire.

What of Lionsgate post-”Hunger Games”?

Peter Bart weighs in on Lionsgate’s fate: If “The Hunger Games” is the megahit it seems to be, its release could trigger an event in Hollywood that hasn’t happened in several generations: the birth of a new major studio. All that depends on the definition of “major.” Based

Q&A: Mary Coleman, head of Pixar’s story department

One of the most popular GITS interviews I have done is the conversation I had with Mary Coleman, senior development executive at Pixar Films. 12 movies, 12 number one hits. That alone is reason enough to dig into Pixar’s creative process. As you will discover in this wide-ranging

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton”

Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton” This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for Michael Clayton [written and directed by Tony Gilroy]. The 2007 movie received 7 Academy Award nominations including Best Writing, Original Screenplay, as well as a nomination for the WGA Award

On Writing

“Front-rank characters should have some defect, some conflicting inner polarity, some real or imagined inadequacy.” — Barnaby Conrad

Daily Dialogue — March 26, 2012

“My oh my, you’re pretty ferocious for a mom’s concern, aren’t ya? The rest of the time you’re just some good-looking, sweet-talking, charm-oozing, fuck-happy fellow with nothing to offer but some dialogue. Dialogue is cheap in Hollywood Ben… why don’t you

Are moviegoers in the U.S. and U.K. this different?

So here is the U.S. version of the new Prometheus trailer: And here is the U.K. version: If you screen them back to back, you see they approach their task of conveying their marketing message very differently… which leads GITS reader The Bark Bites Back to ask: Here’

George Lucas: Art-house director?

From Slate: A long time ago, in a galaxy that had never seen Star Wars, George Lucas was an art-house filmmaker. Now, through the wonders of cyberspace, you can watch most of his early shorts online. 6.18.67 Look At Life 1.42.08 Freiheit Electronic Labyrinth THX

The politics of “The Hunger Games”

When a movie catches lightning in a bottle like The Hunger Games has done exhibited by on opening weekend of perhaps $140M in domestic box office, you can be sure that everyone in Hollywood will have an opinion about it. Here are a few of them: THR: “In an extremely

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Crisis and Conflict

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 pair wrote one of the first books on screenwriting in 1920:

Screenwriting News

Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase are writing a comedy script together. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talk “Game of Thrones,” Season 2. Paige Cameron (Hills Like White Elephants) hired to adapt an untitled Salvador Dali project for Imagine. David Elliot & Paul Lovett (G.I. Joe: The Rise of

Video Interview: Tony Gilroy

To give you a taste of Week 17 of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis [starting tomorrow] in which we will be reading Michael Clayton [you can download the screenplay here], today’s video interview is a half-hour conversation with that movie’s writer and director Tony Gilroy. Recognized

Daily Dialogue — March 25, 2012

“I’m sorry, Wyatt. Sorry for being such a shit to you for all these years. And gee… well… I want you to know… I love you.” — Chet Donnelly (Bill Paxton), Weird Science (1985), written by John Hughes http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=anED The Daily Dialogue theme

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Snark

This week it’s been about people saying they’re sorry, courtesy of the suggestion by John Arends to focus on dialogue featuring apologies. Next week? We turn from sweet to sour with Gabe’s suggestion: Snark! As far as I know, snark is the combination of “snide” and “remark”

Scene Description Spotlight: “Cast Away”

The screenplay for the 2000 movie Cast Away was written by William Broyles Jr. One of the big challenges he faced once the story transitioned to the island was creating a specific sense of place, not only the actual topography, but its atmosphere. Here are some scenes just after Chuck

Update: “Schmucks With Underwoods”

Longtime GITS friend and former moderator of The GITS Club Mike Scherer has created a new online resource for the screenwriting community called Schmucks With Underwoods [I posted on it here back in January]. Here’s a recent note from Mike: Okay, people. Put on your thinking caps, pull out

Saturday Hot Links

Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Rare Screen Test Edition! $32.6B. That was the global box office total in 2011. Foreign B.O. up 35%! 1/3 scale TIE Fighter for sale on Craigslist [photos]. Inspired by the Black List, NYU announces its Purple List,

Written Interview: Gary Ross (“The Hunger Games”)

An informative interview at /Film with The Hunger Games co-writer and director Gary Ross: /Film: While HUNGER GAMES is three books, I sort of saw your movie as two movies, because you’ve got the pre-games and the games. Can you talk about how, if at all, you

Daily Dialogue — March 24, 2012

“I just want to apologize to Mike’s mom, Josh’s mom, and my mom. And I’m sorry to everyone. I was very naive. I am so so sorry for everything that has happened. Because in spite of what Mike says now, it is my fault. Because it was

GITS Script Reading & Analysis, Week 17: “Michael Clayton” [March 26–30]

Our next selection started with an observation from screenwriter F. Scott Frazier in a response to a GITS reader to the recently published Screenwriters Roundtable: Hey, definitely check out the script for MICHAEL CLAYTON. I feel like I learned more from that script about how to physically write scenes and

“Touch”: Fox Show Will Start Worldwide

This is interesting. From yestertoday’s NYT: Television shows typically have their debuts in the United States first and arrive in other countries later — sometimes months or even years later. But this week, News Corporation is staging a worldwide premiere of “Touch,” a new drama starring Kiefer Sutherland that celebrates

Q&A: Screenwriter Pen Densham (“Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” “Moll Flanders”

In January 2011, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pen Densham. Here is some background: Pen Densham is a successful award-winning screenwriter, producer, and director, with an extensive track-record in film and television. Pen is responsible for writing and producing some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, such as

Spec Script Sale: “Mojave”

Atlas Independent to produce crime thriller spec script “Mojave from writer William Monahan, who will also direct the film. Plot: N/A. Production to begin in August in Southern California. Monahan is repped by WME. By my count, this is the 29th spec script sale of 2012. There were 20

Andrew Stanton, Part 10: “The Clues to a Great Story” (TED Talk)

A few weeks back our featured video interview was a TED Talk given by Andrew Stanton, one of the key members of Pixar’s ‘brain trust’ whose screenwriting credits include Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Wall-E and the current live action

Great Character: Grandma (“Parenthood”)

We have all written characters like this. Balding Cop. Bank Teller #2. Vomiting Teenager. Not primary characters who appear in multiple scenes and are intimately tied into the events of the Plotline. Not even secondary characters who may have their own small subplot. I’m talking about tertiary characters who