Scott Myers

Written Interview: Elizabeth Meriwether (“New Girl”)

From WGA.org: When Elizabeth Meriwether was studying English and theater at Yale, she grew fairly accustomed to bleary-eyed all-nighters. Now that the 30-year-old screenwriter and playwright has her own WGA and Golden Globe Award-nominated TV show, Fox’s “adorkable” comedy New Girl, starring Zooey

Daily Dialogue — January 7, 2012

Paul Vitti: I couldn’t get it up last night. Ben Sobel: You mean sexually? Paul Vitti: No, I mean for the big game against Michigan State. Of course, sexually! — Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro), Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), Analyze This (1999), screenplay by Peter Tolan and Harold Ramis and Kenneth

Story Question: Why do so many stories involve taking a journey?

Over the holidays, I had the chance to step back from my writing and take a macro view of story. During that process, I reflected upon some of the most fundamental narrative themes and dynamics always from the perspective “why”? Here are two questions I’ve already posed for your

“The Winners and Losers at the 2011 Specialty Box Office”

IndieWire with a wrap-up of the 2011 specialty box office. Winners: France, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” “Buck,” “Pina,” films starring Michael Fassbender, and “The Tree of Life.” Losers: Beavers and Monkeys, “Into the Abyss,” films starring or directed by Paddy Considine, “Margaret” and “Fireflies in the Garden.” To read

Movie Trailer: “ATM”

The trailer for ATM was just released today: The movie is written by Chris Sparling (@ChrisSparling). Chris, who also wrote Buried, was kind enough to answer questions re that movie in a recent series of GITS Script Reading & Analysis posts. You can read that analysis and Chris’s comments

Dispatches From The Front Line: John Geraci

Here is another in a new GITS series Dispatches from the Front Line [description below], a first-person account from John Geraci about his attempts to break into the entertainment business: Scott- I love GITS, check it several times a day and always find something to think about in it.

Scene Description Spotlight: “Titanic”

Before Avatar went on to gross $2.72B worldwide, writer-director James Cameron created another movie phenomenon called Titanic (1997) which grossed a mere $1.84B worldwide. One key to the success of Titanic was its appeal to adolescent girls, a significant number of them attending the movie multiple times.

Great Character: Gollum (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy)

He’s one of the most fascinating characters in contemporary literature, perhaps the ultimate Trickster figure: Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings,” the epic fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Per Tolkien Gateway: Originally known as Sméagol, he was later named Gollum after the disgusting gurgling noise he made

Daily Dialogue — January 6, 2012

Dr. Ray Stantz: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here. Walter Peck: They caused an explosion! Mayor: Is this true? Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it’s true. [pause] This man has no dick. — Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Walter Peck (William

Follow your bliss

“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet

Story Question: Why is death such a prevalent dynamic in stories?

Over the holidays, I had the chance to step back from my writing and take a macro view of story. During that process, I reflected upon some of the most fundamental narrative themes and dynamics always from the perspective “why”? Yesterday in this post, I asked, “Why are there so

“What Ails Hollywood? Six Movie Experts Weigh In On a Cure”

From The Wrap: At the dawn of 2012, TheWrap asked six industry experts what the future holds for Hollywood and what, if anything, can prevent the business from being a casualty of the digital revolution taking place around it. Wall Street expert Harold Vogel, analyst and author Edward Jay Epstein,

“The Dark Knight Rises” meets “The Lion King”

Once again, I don’t know where people come up with these ideas, but this mash-up of TDKR audio and TLK video works remarkably well: Seriously, I think there’s some guy living in a basement of a house in Topeka, Kansas who sits around all day, smoking pot

2012 WGA Feature Film Nominations announced

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight Young Adult, Written by Diablo

Scene Description Spotlight: “Lethal Weapon”

There have been many forces of nature impacting screenplay style over the years, but there are only a very few actual screenwriters to whom we can point as having a singular influence on the narrative form. Shane Black is one of them. Back in the late 80s and early 90s

The Business of Screenwriting: They don’t think like you [Part 2]

Note: To understand this post, you need to go back and read last week’s entry here. After we sell the spec script K-9, we are ushered around town for meetings. This is what happens when you are the ‘flavor-of-the-week’ as producers and studio execs want

Daily Dialogue — January 5, 2011

Dr. Rumack: Can you fly this plane? Ted Striker: Surely you can’t be serious? Dr. Rumack: I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley. — Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen), Ted Striker (Robert Hays), Airplane (1980), screenplay by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.

Story Question: Why are there so many Protagonist orphans?

I was browsing through a mental list of movies recently and it’s amazing how many of them feature orphaned children or young adults. Among the ones that sprang to mind: Harry Potter, Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz), Snow White, Heidi, David Copperfield, Cinderella, Bilbo Baggins, Little Orphan Annie.

The ten best studio films of 2012?

Indie Wire’s Sophia Savage predicts the 10 best studio films of 2012. Here’s her list: 10. “The Great Gatsby” — Warner Bros, December 25 9. “World War Z” — Paramount, December 21 8. “Gangster Squad” — Warner Bros, October 19 7. “Dark Shadows” — Warner Bros, May 11 6. “Les Miserables” — Universal,

More homages to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”

So I posted this yesterday: And that led to GITS readers offering up yet other homages to Raiders. HT to Elissa for finding this: Speaking of loving tributes to Raiders, have you seen Indyanimation? It’s the entire opening sequence done shot for shot in stop-motion animation. The sets

Scene Description Spotlight: “The Shawshank Redemption” [Part 2]

Following up on the previous post, the original script divides the scenes with Andy outside the house where his wife is having sex with her lover and Andy’s courtroom cross-examination into two separate sets of scenes. But in the movie, writer-director Frank Darabont chose to intercut the

Script To Screen: “The Wizard of Oz”

From the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, screenplay by Noel Langley & Florence Ryerson & Edgar Allan Woolf, adaptation by Noel Langley from the book by L. Frank Baum. Setup: The Wicked Witch has Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion cornered. Here is the script version of the scene:

Daily Dialogue — January 4, 2012

Harvey: Guns or knives? Butch: Neither? — Harvey (Ted Cassidy), Butch (Paul Newman), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), written by William Goldman http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?config=http://config.movieclips.com/player/config/embed/jts9/%3Floc%3DUS&endpoint=http://movieclips.com/api/v1/player/test/action/

Craft: Loglines to Beat Sheets

From elevator pitches to development meetings to conference calls with talent, a screenwriter’s ability to share stories in a variety of narrative forms is both a valuable and necessary skillset. In the upcoming 1-week Screenwriting Master Class online course “Craft: Loglines to Beat Sheets” [January 16–22], you

Raiders of the Lost Archives

This is pretty remarkable: Shot-by-shot comparison of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” vs. scenes from 30 different adventure films made between 1919–1973. Where does someone even come up with an idea like that? Hats off to StooTV for this video as it shows how great filmmakers draw