Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue theme for this week: Hotel Check-Ins

This suggestion from Teddy Pasternak is an interesting one: hotel check-ins. On the one hand, it’s pretty obscure and there’s a decent chance a screenwriter could go through their entire career and never once have to write such a scene. But if you do, wouldn’t you

“Terrible Two: 10 Film Sequels You’ve Never Heard Of”

I normally feature this type of thing in Saturday Hot Links, but this one from Flavorwire really caught me by surprise, so many sequels I’d never heard of before. Thought you might find it equally surprising. Here they are: S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale (2009) Romy & Michele:

1700?

Got a couple of emails alerting me that we’re currently sitting at 1,699 members of the site via Google Friends Connect [that box at the top of the website’s right-hand column]. Who is going to be #1700? Of course, this is part of the “GITS March

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 7]

More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Q: Mr. Wilder, have you found the dual role of producer and director too much for one man? Wilder: It is too much if it’s just the two of

Audio Interview: Francis Ford Coppola (Toronto International Film Festival)

Nice catch here from the always excellent NPR show “Fresh Air”: In September, Francis Ford Coppola spoke to Cameron Bailey, the director of the Toronto International Film Festival, in front of a sold-out audience at TIFF’s Bell Lightbox multiplex. During the discussion, Coppola also took questions from audience

Video Interview: Andrew Stanton

Writer-director Andrew Stanton is one of the original members of the so-called Pixar “Brain Trust.” His screenwriting credits include Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Monster’s, Inc., Wall-E and now the live-action John Carter [which he is also directing]. Here

Daily Dialogue — November 27, 2011

“A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town.” — Harry Bailey (Todd Karns), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and Frank Capra, story by Philip Van Doren Stern The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is toasts. Trivia: James Stewart

Hollywood’s blood money: Vampire Movies

Interesting article from Variety: With a $283 million worldwide opening weekend, “Twilight’s” vampires have once again reminded us that there’s plenty of life in the undead. While Anne Rice’s books helped Hollywood focus on the sexual-romantic angle of vampires, film and TV plans for the coming

“The Fate of the 2011 Box Office: The Six-Week Nailbiter”

From THR: Hollywood has spent most of 2011 trailing last year’s numbers at the domestic box office. But with a big boost from a vampire wedding and six weeks of highly anticipated movies about to hit theaters, there’s a real chance of beating 2010’s record take of

Movies You Made: Post your info here

Just a quick reminder that for the last few weeks, I have been spotlighting movies members of the GITS community have made, so if you have a short film or feature length movie you’d like to see here on the blog, please post pertinent info in comments: brief bio,

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 6]

More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Q: After working on a script, have you ever found yourself on a set improvising dialogue or departing from the script when something doesn’t work? Diamond: Never, never, never.

Saturday Hot Links

Welcome to another installment of Saturday Hot Links, this week slathered in giblet gravy. Today’s theme: The coolest stop motion shorts you’ve ever seen! We start with 10 amazing cut paper diorama artists. Joss Whedon with important news: “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will be back! Hollywood’

Written Interview: Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller (“The Muppets”)

Today’s written interview [from Collider] is with Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel who co-wrote the screenplay for The Muppets (Segel also co-stars). An excerpt: Question: Was getting The Muppets back together the idea you had from the start? JASON SEGEL: I must say that a lot of

Daily Dialogue — November 26, 2011

“True love is hard to find. Sometimes you think you have true love and then you catch the early flight home from San Diego and a couple of nude people jump out of your bathroom blindfolded like a damn magic show ready to double team your girlfriend.” — Mitch Martin (Luke

Daily Dialogue theme???

As we wind down a week’s worth of toasts, what about next week? If you’ve had an idea for a Daily Dialogue theme kicking around in your brain, now’s the time to suggest it. It’s your chance to be firmly established in blogging immortality! Comment Archive

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Panic Room” [Action Thriller]

We recently completed Round 11 of our weekly GITS Script Reading & Analysis series: #1: Gladiator (Action) #2: Bridesmaids (Comedy) #3: Good Will Hunting (Drama) #4: The Silence of the Lambs (Thriller) #5: Toy Story 3 (Family) #6: Pan’s Labyrinth (Fantasy) #7: Blade Runner (Science Fiction) #8: The Thing

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 5]

More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Wilder: I ran into Scorsese New Year’s Eve, and he had just done Taxi Driver. We talked about a half hour, and he was talking about simplifying. It’s

Movies You Made: “Gourmet” by Dan Hodgson and Jamie Coggans

From filmmakers Dan Hodgson and Jamie Coggans, their short film Gourmet: Ryan is a feckless 30 something living in London and dreaming of better things. His circle of associates comprises of his Geordie sex shop owner boss, a boorish flat mate and his one and only female friend, Anna. His

How They Write A Script — Ernest Lehman [Part 2]

Lehman with Alfred Hitchcock on location during the shooting of NORTH BY NORTHWEST 1958 Today we continue with screenwriter Ernest Lehman. These excerpts from “Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Era,” edited by George Stevens, Jr., are all about how Lehman worked with Alfred Hitchcock in writing

Great Characters: Del Griffith (“Planes, Trains & Automobiles”)

Typically Trickster characters are master shapeshifters, switching ‘masks’ from one scene to another. Part of this dynamic is a reflection of their personality. However from a writing point-of-view, the main point in this regard is tied to the character’s narrative function: By shifting from the Protagonist’s

Daily Dialogue — November 25, 2011

Gardner: Here’s to us, by God! To us, and that… and privileges of youth. Here’s to us and what we were. Philip: And what we’ll be. Gardner: And what we’ll be. — Gardner (Kevin Costner), Philip (Judd Nelson), Fandango (1985), written by Kevin Reynolds The Daily Dialogue

Happy Thanksgiving!

To those GITS readers in the U.S., here are a few clips from Thanksgiving theme movies, my way of wishing you all a great day with your family and friends: What are your favorite Thanksgiving movies? And while we’re here, a question for all the writers out there,

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 4]

More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Q: How involved do you get, Mr. Diamond, in casting and other matters after the script is done? Diamond: Oh, I throw out ideas, and sometimes they’re listened to

Movies You Made: “New Faith” by C. Stoute

From filmmaker C. Stoute: This was the first film I made with the knowledge and purpose that I wanted to be a director. So I wrote about what I knew, medicine. But it wasn’t until after I completed the script that I saw it was about the relationship between

How They Write A Script: Ernest Lehman [Part 1]

Ernest Lehman was one of the most critically lauded and commercially successful screenwriters in Hollywood. In a writing career that spanned three decades, Lehman wrote many notable movies including Sabrina (1954), The King and I (1956), North by Northwest (1959),West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), and