Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — Septebmer 21, 2011

— Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner), Ellie (Elie Docter), Up (2009), screenplay by Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, story by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson & Thomas McCarthy The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. Up suggested by Jack Brandtman. Trivia: If Carl’s house

Reader Question: What to do when a manager responds, “I liked the writing but…”

Get ready for some cold, harsh truth about Hollywood passes. From Courtney Chambers: You’ve been through the trenches so I hope you can shed a little light on the subject. If a manager — (I don’t query agents) Responds with, “the writing is great,” (happens every time) Then – “I

Exclusive GITS Q&A: Greg Russo (Part 2)

Today Part 2 of the interview with screenwriter Greg Russo who has sold two spec scripts — “Down” and “Autobahn” — in the last 18 months. “Down” is a contained thriller: “A newly married couple are trapped in an elevator with a mysterious stranger.” In a way, “Autobahn” is a contained thriller

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: October — Fantasy

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 Fantasy script. As a starting point,

Why We Write: Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris

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” — Structure

Welcome to Week 3 of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series. This week we will be analyzing the 3/14/1997 draft of “Good Will Hunting” (written by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck), your choice for the Drama genre. If you haven’t had a chance to read the

Troubleshooting: Site and content access issues

As with any transition, there are technical issues. As I noted when I announced the partnership with the Black List, this transition would be an iterative process, one involving lots of steps, changes, improvements, etc. For example, the entire Black List site is going through a significant redesign and that

Screenwriting 101: Ernst Lubitsch

“It is the task of the [screenwriter] to invent little pieces of business that are so characteristic and give so deep an insight into his creatures, that their personalities clearly and organically unfold before the eyes of the audience so that the latter feel that the actions of these people

Daily Dialogue — September 20, 2011

— Charlotte Andergast (Ingrid Bergman), Eva (Liv Ullman), Autumn Sonata (1978), written by Ingmar Bergman The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. Autumn Sonata suggested by Teddy Pasternak. Trivia: This was the only film that the two Bergmans made together. They shared the same

Reader Question: How to manage time and characters in a contained thriller?

From Debbie Moon: I’m writing a contained thriller that involves a number of people being trapped in a single location (a diner), firstly by a storm and then by, well, the antagonist. And having seven or eight people trapped in a single location is killing me! I have to

Exclusive GITS Q&A: Greg Russo (Part 1)

In March 2010, I posted this: Broke the news Wednesday night here: “Down” to Relativity is 1408 in an elevator — written by first timer — greg russo Now here’s THR’s report from yesterday: Relativity Media has optioned the original screenplay “Down” from freshman scribe Greg Russo. Described by one

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: October — Family

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 Family script. We could opt for

Why We Write: Kalinda Vazquez

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

Billy Mernit with some inside info on “Bridesmaids”

There may be no person in Hollywood who knows more about rom-coms than Billy Mernit. At his wonderful blog Living the Romantic Comedy, Billy has been dispensing wisdom about this particular sub-genre since 2005. His book “Writing the Romantic Comedy” is universally lauded as the definitive text on

Doonesbury

I have followed “Doonesbury” since the Washington Post Watergate days. Its writer Gary Trudeau spoke at my college graduation ceremony. I even have a signed poster from the HBO TV series “Tanner ‘88” which Trudeau wrote for Robert Altman. The inscription: “All best and cheers from Gary Trudeau (‘70). My

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

Welcome to Week 3 of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series. This week we will be analyzing the 3/14/1997 draft of “Good Will Hunting” (written by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck), your choice for the Drama genre. If you haven’t had a chance to read the

Popcorn Fiction: “Dead Places” by Irene Turner

A new short story from Popcorn Fiction hosted by screenwriter-novelist Derek Haas: I am quite excited to introduce you to a new Popcorn Fiction author this morning: Irene Turner. Her story, “Dead Places,” will be a delight for genre fans… it centers on a woman who has to deal

On Writing

“If you want to be a writer, then just be a writer. Be one every day, all day.” — Jason Aaron

Daily Dialogue — September 19, 2011

— Private Trip (Denzel Washington), Colonel Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick), Glory (1989), screenplay by Kevin Jarre, based on the book “Lay This Laurel” by Lincoln Kirstein and “One Gallant Rush” by Peter Burchard The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is non-verbal ‘dialogue’ suggested by Saint. Glory suggested by Laura

Friends links

All sorts of interesting bits of business with the transition to the new site. Here’s one that’s a total bummer and a complete mystery: For whatever reason, all of the Friends links got eaten. Don’t know how. Don’t know why. Friends links just vanished. I was

Christopher Nolan’s hand drawn map of “Inception”

So yesterday I featured hand written notes by J.K. Rowling for “HP: The Order of the Phoenix.” This inspired Nate Winslow to track down Christopher Nolan’s hand drawn map for Inception: For a closer look at the map, go here. Now compare to this infographic: For my detailed

Plausibility in storytelling

Contagion is currently in movie theaters (written by Scott Z. Burns, directed by Steven Soderberg) and it’s an excellent movie. One of its most impressive aspects is how the filmmakers really strove to make the story plausible. Based on articles I’ve read from the science community, they do

“Sony slates a big bet on dramas for adults”

Well, well. It may not be a conscious part of the business plan — or perhaps the first comment below is a smoke screen and it actually is by design — but it looks like at least one studio in Hollywood has decided that there is value in targeting moviegoers over the

How Albert Brooks got cast as the villain in “Drive”

From a Backstage interview: Everyone wants to take credit for casting you in “Drive” how did the role come to you? Albert Brooks: I don’t know whose initial idea it was. And Ryan’s not joking. Nicolas takes credit for it now; even Bryan Cranston says, “I told them!

Video Intervew: Christopher Lloyd (“Modern Family”)

My whole clan loves “Modern Family.” It’s the first TV series in like… forever… we all watch together. Here are some interview clips with series co-creator and show runner Christopher Lloyd: HT to the remarkable @webacion for sourcing these and many other links.