Scott Myers

How many spec scripts do you think will sell in 2012?

I’m not ready to lock down the final number for spec script sales in 2011, but as of right now it stands at 109. Let’s compare the number of sales since 2008: 2008: 87  2009: 68  2010: 55  2011: 109 At the end of last year, I had

How They Write A Script: Terry Southern

From the excellent book “Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1960s”: From 1962 to 1970, Terry Southern was the screenwriter who most embodied the sixties zeitgeist. He was an icon who entered the film world with underground cult status as the writer, behind Candy (co-written with Mason Hoffenberg)

Making Goals: 2012 [Part 6] — Schedule

We pick up from last week with our year-end attempt to help GITS readers set and achieve their writing goals for 2012. To revisit the process of self-reflection from last week, here are the links: Part 1: Looking Back Part 2: Assessing Where You Are Part 3: Where

On Writing

“Writing a screenplay must look easy, since everybody in America seems to have one in the works. It’s not easy at all; it’s comparable to constructing a cuckoo clock blindfolded… it’s like composing an elephantine, one-hundred-twenty-page haiku.” — Richard Rhodes [excerpted from “Advice to Writers”

Daily Dialogue — December 26, 2011

The Joker: Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got ‘em? [He grabs Rachel’s head and positions the knife by her mouth] The Joker: Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife. She was beautiful, like you. Who tells

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Parties!

As we wind our way toward New Year’s Eve and each of our respective celebrations, I thought why not have a week’s worth of notable dialogue from parties in movies? So you know what to do: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or a transcript. * Copy/paste URL

Terry Gilliam: “The Christmas Card” (1968)

Here is a 1968 short film created by Terry Gilliam: In 1974, Gilliam describes his animation technique used in making the film: HT to FilmmakerIQ for the links. Comment Archive

Written Interview: William Faulkner

A special Christmas present to the GITS community courtesy of Teddy Pasternak who found this interview with Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner. Here we get some insight into his rather tortured experience working as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Q: What do you think of movie scriptwriting? WF: A person

Daily Dialogue — December 25, 2011

“Just a minute… just a minute. Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. You’re right when you say my father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante Building and Loan, I’ll never know. But neither you nor anyone else can say anything against

Why I keep hosting this blog… and a Christmas wish for you

Because of emails like this: My name is Matti Pasanen and I’m a 22-year old student from Lapland, Finland. I study media, specializing in TV and movies at the wonderful school of Keski-Pohjanmaan Aikuisopisto. I’m currently a freshman but I have previous experience in the movie

Interview: Scriptshadow

My colleague Tom Benedek interviews Scriptshadow. Some excerpts: How did the Script Shadow blog evolve? It evolved when I realized how much there was to learn through reading screenplays. I was sitting there thinking, “I wish there was somebody out there when I first started out to tell me how

Saturday Hot Links

Welcome to another installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today accompanied by your grandmother’s holiday fruit cake… from last year! Today: The Writer Gets Notes On Film Script “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” Edition! Part 1 For all you sports loving couch potatoes: College Football Bowl Schedule. Jean

Written Interview: John Logan

From Movieline: The busy scribe [John Logan] has his name on a trifecta of acclaimed work this year, once again positioning the two-time Oscar nominee (for Gladiator and The Aviator) in the awards race for both original (Rango) and adapted (Hugo, Coriolanus) screenplay prizes. The fall whirlwind complements his

Daily Dialogue — December 24, 2011

Harry: Why the hell’d you take your shoes off? Marv: Why the hell are you dressed like a chicken? Kevin: I’m up here, you morons! Harry (Joe Pesci), Marv (Daniel Stern), Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), Home Alone (1990), written by John Hughes http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?config=

Reader Question: Is a Twitter ‘pitch’ protected by copyright laws?

A tweet from @AntoBlueberry: Do you think that writing a pitch on twitter can be considered copyright? Maybe you already discussed the thing… No, and to prove my point, I just stole your idea, AntoBluebbery, worked up a pitch based on it, and sold it for a million dollars! Just

Charlie Kaufman BAFTA lecture [Final]

Charlie Kaufman BAFTA lecture During the last two weeks, I’ve excerpted a recent lecture Charlie Kaufman gave at a British Academy for Film and Television Arts event. Here are links to the entire speech: For Part 1 of this series, go here. For Part 2, go here. For Part

15 Biggest Box Office Flops of 2011

Per THR: Many Hollywood studios will be all too happy to forget 2011, which witnessed a troubling dip in moviegoing for much of the year at the domestic box office. There were several high-profile flops that lost tens of millions, including “Mars Needs Moms” and “Cowboys & Aliens.” And,

Writing Goals: 2012 [Part 5] — Going Public

So after four days of looking at the Past, Present, and Future, and considering Practical Matters, the big day has arrived: Time to etch in virtual stone our writing goals for 2012. Oh, and one more little thing: It’s important that you go public with your goals. Today: Going

Great Character: George Bailey (“It’s a Wonderful Life”)

Who doesn’t remember this face? And this one? That contrast right there speaks to the heart of why George Bailey (played by my favorite actor of all time James Stewart) is a great character, representing the emotional core of the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life. A Protagonist

Daily Dialogue — December 23, 2011

LLOYD: Why don’t you just give yourself up? GUS: What’d you say? LLOYD: Well, you’re not going to kill an entire family. It’s over. I mean, you’re not the type. You’re a thief, not a killer. That’s obvious. GUS: I hate guys like

Reader Question: How can I tell if a story idea is better suited as a feature or TV?

Even with the blurring of lines between the two, there still are differences. A tweet from @beemarty: Help! Seen any resources to help decide whether a story idea is better suited to episodic or feature? :) A quick answer is to compare two numbers: 2 and 88. Two is the outside

2011 Report Card [The Wrap]: Walt Disney Pictures

Every year, The Wrap does a ‘report card’ on the box office performance of all the major Hollywood studios. Today: Walt Disney Pictures. Grade: C+ Disney downsized the number of films it released this year by 20 percent to just 14, yet global box-office revenue wasn’t that far

Charlie Kaufman BAFTA lecture [Part 8]

On September 30, 2011, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman gave a lecture at a British Academy of Film and Television Arts event. I thought his presentation offered such wonderful insights not only into Kaufman’s world view, but also the very act of creativity that we should go through the entire thing

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ movie looking for new writer

Back in November last year, you may remember this: Back in her high school days in a Delaware small town, Whit Anderson’s days were jammed with activity — academics and athletics were all-consuming and there was little time for empty entertainment. ”I didn’t really watch much television at

Movie Trailer: “Prometheus”

Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof Release date: June 8, 2012 [U.S.] IMDB website Comment Archive