Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — September 24, 2011

— Herman Blume (Bill Murray), Rushmore (1998), written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. Rushmore suggested by Joe. Trivia: When Bill Murray first read the script, he thought it was so fantastic that he said he wanted

“How Hollywood Chooses Scripts”

Interesting article in The Atlantic about the Black List. Some excerpts: The Black List is the brainchild of former Universal development executive Franklin Leonard, who was frustrated with the needle-in-a-haystack process of finding the best unproduced screenplays. In a speech, Leonard described the maddening process of separating

Reader Question: What advice do you have for someone attending the Austin Film Festival?

From Ray: I’m going to the Austin Film Festival next month, as a total film industry newbie, just a fiction writer with a handful of publishing credits and a couple of scripts that still need polishing. What advice can you give for getting the most out of the experience?

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: October — Your Selections!

The GITS community has spoken and here are the selections for next month’s four genres: Family: Toy Story 3 Fantasy: Pan’s Labyrinth Horror: The Thing Science Fiction: Blade Runner [Scripts available through links above at myPDFscripts.com. I feel confident that site will host Pan’s Labyrinth and

Why We Write: Becky Hartman Edwards

During the last WGA strike, TV writers Charles “Charlie” Craig and Thania St. John started a blog called Why We Write. They posed that question to a number of writers and over a period of several months, posted their answers on the site. As far as I can tell, the

The Shawshank Redemption (September 23, 1994)

17 years ago today, The Shawshank Redemption was released. The movie basically tanked at the box office, but through repeated airings on TNT and exposure via DVD, it has become one of the most beloved films of all time, still the #1 rated film on the IMDB top 250 movies

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Good Will Hunting” — Dialogue

We wrap up our week long analysis of the script Good Will Hunting by considering its use of dialogue. There are the standard set of questions: * What do you consider to be the most memorable lines, either good or… not so good? Why did they work — or not — for you?

Great Characters: Carrie White (“Carrie”)

Carrie (1976) forever cured me of any instinct I might ever have to dump pig’s blood on someone I didn’t like. But I suppose that’s to be expected from a movie based on a Stephen King novel and directed by Brian De Palma (screenplay by Lawrence D.

Daily Dialogue — September 23, 2011

— Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), The Third Man (1949), screenplay by Graham Greene The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. The Third Man suggested by Deaf Ears. Trivia: The huge ferris wheel that Martins and Lime ride on in the

Myers & O’Flynn: “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor”

Because someone asked to hear a sample [based on this discussion], here is a song Pat Flynn and I performed back in 1979. That’s Pat on lead guitar and harmonies, me on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, live at Jake’s Abbey in Aspen, Colorado. Make Me A Pallet

Twitter

Just a quick reminder, you can follow me on Twitter: @GoIntoTheStory Also for all Hollywood lit sales (spec script, pitch, novel, non-fiction): @ScreenwritingMC

Reader Question: What about story structure for a short film?

From Ray: What advice can you give for short film structure? On the one hand I’ve got both Linda Cowgill and my writing prof from last semester saying you still need 3-act structure, just that the pieces will all be much shorter. On the other hand you’ve

GITS Script Reading & Analysis (October) — Science Fiction

In September, the GITS community chose four scripts in these genres: Action: Gladiator Comedy: Bridesmaids Drama: Good Will Hunting Thriller: The Silence of the Lambs In October, let’s cover four more genres: Family, Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction. Today let’s choose a Science Fiction script. It’s up

GITS!

Got a Tweet from Master_Mitchell who saw this license plate while driving around this weekend: When I started using GITS as a handle for the site, readers in the UK reminded me that in their neck of the woods, a “git” is a silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying, senile elderly

Why We Write: Cindy Chupack

During the last WGA strike, TV writers Charles “Charlie” Craig and Thania St. John started a blog called Why We Write. They posed that question to a number of writers and over a period of several months, posted their answers on the site. As far as I can tell, the

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Good Will Hunting” — Theme

Onto the subject at hand today as we continue our analysis: What are some of the key themes in the draft of Good Will Hunting we read? I don’t know what you think theme is about, but — as I articulated here previously — I think theme = meaning. And more pointedly,

The Business of Screenwriting: Chilled white whine

The Business of Screenwriting: Chilled White Whine On March 7, 1988, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. It lasted 155 days and is the longest work stoppage in Guild history. Having only joined the Guild one year previous, the experience was an eye-opener for me. Am I

Daily Dialogue — September 22, 2011

— Iris (Kati Outinen), Mother (Elina Salo), Stepfather (Esko Nikkari), The Match Factory Girl (1990), written by Aki Kaurismäki The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. The Match Factor Girl suggested by Joe. Dialogue On Dialogue: What a contrast in emotions from Iris holding

Reader Question: What responsibility does a writer have in dealing with experts during research?

From januaryfire: What are some ways to approach potential resources when doing research? Do you usually tell experts what the story is up front? Do you owe them some kind of credit if/when the film is made? What about historical fiction? I know that sounds dull, but I mean

Greg Russo: Tips on writing a contained thriller

We had an interesting reader question the other day from Debbie Moon on how to handle writing a contained thriller. You can read her question, my response, and some good suggestions from GITS readers here. However we just got done benefiting from the insight of screenwriter Greg Russo in this

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: October — Horror

In September, the GITS community chose four scripts in these genres: Action: Gladiator Comedy: Bridesmaids Drama: Good Will Hunting Thriller: The Silence of the Lambs In October, let’s cover four more genres: Family, Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction. Today let’s choose a Horror script. As a starting point,

Why We Write: Maurice Hurley

During the last WGA strike, TV writers Charles “Charlie” Craig and Thania St. John started a blog called Why We Write. They posed that question to a number of writers and over a period of several months, posted their answers on the site. As far as I can tell, the

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Good Will Hunting” — Characters

We continue our analysis of the script Good Will Hunting today by considering the characters in the story. Here is a list of most of the characters from the script in order of appearance: Will (flawed genius) Chuckie (best friend) Morgan (buddy) Billy (buddy) Lambeau (Math professor) Sean (therapist) Skylar

Spec Script Sale: “The 13th Man”

Royal Road Entertainment has acquired the thriller spec script “The 13th Man” written by Enio Rigolin. Per Deadline: The 2010 Black List selection centers on a mail clerk turned code breaker whoʼs thrust into the fledgling C.I.A. to stop an elite squad of Nazi saboteurs from destroying the

Script To Screen: “Moonstruck”

A pivotal moment in the movie Moonstruck (written by John Patrick Shanley). Setup: After a date, Ronny walks Loretta home. Or does he? EXT. RONNY'S APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHTShe looks. It's Ronny's building.LORETTA This is your place.RONNY That's right.LORETTA This