Scott Myers

Black List intern opportunity

Here’s a note from Franklin Leonard: We’re looking for interns! Black List interns will assist our technical and editorial team (including official screenwriting blogger Scott Myers) on a variety of projects, including but not limited to data entry and film industry research. This is an excellent opportunity for

Scene Description Spotlight: “Inglourious Basterds”

Today let’s consider the narrative voice of a drama: Inglourious Basterds, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. This excerpt comes at the end of the opening sequence where German Colonel Landa has calmly and coolly scared the crap out of French farmer Perrier, who as the pair have been

Screenwriting 101: Javier Grillo-Marxuach

“[A] long time ago, I came to the realization that a script is more than just ‘a blueprint to a film.’ To truly be a successful manifestation of the form, a script needs to be a work of art in and of itself. It requires the same strict integrity of

Daily Dialogue — January 3, 2012

Blonde Treehorn Thug [holding bowling ball]: What the fuck is this? The Dude: Obviously you’re not a golfer. — Blonde Treehorn Thug (Mark Pellegrino), The Dude aka Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), The Big Lebowski (1998), written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?config=http:

My wishes for you in 2012

[Because some of you may have missed this post on New Year’s Eve, a reprise]. It’s the waning hours of a year notable for many developments on the screenwriting front. While movie ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada dropped to their lowest level since 1996, major

Writing Goals: 2012

For the last two weeks of 2011, I ran a daily series called Writing Goals: 2012. Here is one more opportunity for you to reflect on who you are as a writer, where you want your writing to take you personally and professionally, and set specific goals to help get

“Pixar films don’t get finished, they just get released”

Letters of Note is a wonderful site I’ve featured before. It has a simple mandate: “Letters of Note is an attempt to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos.” Here is a great example forwarded to me by Franklin. Mid-2008, hoping at best to receive

Scene Description Spotlight: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”

Arguably the dean of contemporary American screenwriters William Goldman sold the first spec script in the modern era: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). That combined with Goldman’s involvement in numerous movies, both credited and as a script doctor, leads me to one inescapable conclusion: Any study of

On Writing

“The fewer the words used, the more concentrated the attention; and the greater the concentration, the greater the power.” — David Lambuth, excerpted from “Advice to Writers”

Daily Dialogue — January 2, 2012

Tracy: Do you know you have an animal growing out of your pants? Dooley: Thanks, hon. I also have a dog here. — Tracy (Mel Harris), Dooley (James Belushi), K-9 (1989), written by Steven Siegel & Scott Myers The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is snappy answers to dumb

Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Snappy answers to dumb questions

Here it is, the beginning of the New Year. Gives us a chance to come up with a really special DDT to kick off the year Twenty Dozen [ht to @ChuckWendig for that moniker]. My suggestion: Adults talking to babies. But I’m sure you can come up with something

The Official 2012 GITS Spec Script Sales Prognostication Contest List!

We begin the New Year with something… er… new. The Official 2012 GITS Spec Script Sales Prognostication Contest or as we refer to it around the Myers household O2012GSSSPC [much easier to remember, don’t you think?] For the OP re the contest, go here. Here are the sales totals

“Why 2012 will be year of the artist-entrepreneur”

Interesting article from GigaOm: While 2011 was a big year for political unrest, another uprising was afoot in the world of content creators and artists. Everywhere you look, artists are taking more control over their own economic well being, in large part because the Internet has enabled them to do

1, 2, 7, 14

Here is a simple formula about three things — Read Scripts. Watch Movies. Write Pages. — you need to do to expand and deepen your understanding of the screenwriting craft. 4 numbers for you to remember: 1: Read 1 screenplay per week. Pick out your favorite movies. Or do a genre study

Daily Dialogue — January 1, 2012

“I forgot my mantra.” — Party Guest (Jeff Goldblum), Annie Hall (1977), written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is parties. Trivia: One of Jeff Goldlum’s first movie roles. Dialogue On Dialogue: As a writer of comedies, you kill to have an instinct

My wishes for you in 2012

It’s the waning hours of a year notable for many developments on the screenwriting front. While movie ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada dropped to their lowest level since 1996, major studios, mini-majors and producers acquired spec scripts at a rate nearly double the previous year.

“My Life on Spec: The Writing of Sideways” by Rex Pickett

There is a series currently running at the social network site Stage 32 featuring first-person posts about the movie “Sideways” by the novel’s author Pickett. It’s a great read and very much like the tone of the movie: funny and thoughtful. The series is in six parts.

IndieWire: “40 New Faces of Indie Film in 2011”

IndieWire with its “40 New Faces of Indie Film in 2011.” Here are the writers: WRITER/DIRECTOR: Richard Ayoade, “Submarine” While Ayoade has made quite an impression on British television (and any American that began watching his recent hit series “The IT Crowd” after Netflix recommended it based on an

Saturday Hot Links

Back for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The How Not To Open A Bottle Of Champagne Edition In LA and looking to drop a wad for dinner this New Year’s Eve? THR recommends these five eateries. The Silence of the Lambs and Forrest Gump among 25 films

Audio Interview: Alexander Payne

Scott Feinberg [THR] with an audio interview of writer-director Alexander Payne. Some highlights per Feinberg: During our time together, I was particularly struck by the fact that Payne, despite having co-written several of the most celebrated scripts of all-time, doesn’t seem to think very much of

Written Interview: Judd Apatow

Variety interviews writer-director Judd Apatow: CG: What do you think the success of “Bridesmaids” will do for female-driven comedies? JA: It’s made it pretty clear that there’s a gigantic market for movies like “Bridesmaids” and movies that star women or are intended for a female audience.

Daily Dialogue — December 31, 2011

Sally kisses Marie then walks away. Then she sees Harry arriving, still puffing. Then Harry sees Sally as well. Harry: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And the thing is, I love you. Sally: What? Harry: I love you. Sally: How do you expect me to respond to

“The Underwater Realm”: The story behind the story

I can’t think of a better way to round out the year than with a story like this. David M. Reynolds, the director of a short I featured here about a year ago, got in touch with me to let me know the film had been submitted to a

2012 movie preview

Nice article at Box Office Mojo: With the U.S. box office poised to finish down around four percent year-over-year for 2011, Hollywood is setting its sights on 2012 with the hope that grosses can at least stabilize in the next 12 months. Similar to 2011, the upcoming

Alternative theories for B.O. decline

Following up on this post — A Year of Disappointment at the Movie Box Office — here are two more articles to throw into the mix. From the LAT, a discussion of the concept “multiple” and why many recent movies are not working in that regard: In fact, average opening weekend ticket