Scott Myers

Screenwriting 101: Gore Verbinski

“It’s very important to me that when you watch the movie, any character is a door, and I want to it to feel like if you open that door you’d see a whole movie about that character. So wrinkled hands, dust under the finger nails, they have to

“Sex Tape” (cont’d): How to make a conceit big enough to work as a movie?

So the other day, I posted this about the latest spec script sale “Sex Tape”: A married couple who get a night off from their kids, get adventurous and decide to spice up their lives by making a sex tape. When they wake the following morning, the tape is missing,

25 things every writer should know

The other day I posted this: 25 things you should know about storytelling. It’s a terrific list, one of the best I’ve seen about writing, posted by author Chuck Wending on his blog Terrible Minds. For those who might have missed the OP, here is the list again:

Don’t text in movie theaters!

You have been warned! Pure awesomeness from the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. Texters of the world, here’s a clue: We cinema fans go to a theater to be transported into the movie’s universe. Whenever your shiny little smartphone screen lights up in the darkness, your distraction yanks

GITS International Week, Day 2: Scandinavia

In any given month about 15% of traffic on GITS is from writers who originate outside the United States. So I thought it would be a nice idea to provide an opportunity for our internationally based writers to give a shout-out to each other and to those of us

Hollywood Tales

“Screenwriters are like little gypsies swimming in an aquarium filled with sharks, killer whales, squid, octopuses and other creatures of the deep. And plenty of squid shit.”  — Joseph Wambaugh, from “Writers on Writing”

Who am I?

I just saw Kung Fu Panda 2 this weekend with Luke. The focus of the Themeline (the emotional plot of the story) was a question of Po’s identity. In the first movie, we learn that Po, a panda bear played by Jack Black, is the ‘son’ of Mr. Ping

Popcorn Fiction: “NRMF!” by D.B. Weiss

Another short story from Popcorn Fiction, the great site hosted by screenwriter-novelist Derek Haas: It’s Monday, which means another piece of Popcorn Fiction in your inbox. I know we have our crime fans, and our sci-fi fans, and our horror fans as regular readers here, but I’

Three 80’s reboots from the makers of MTV’s “Teen Wolf”

How about some satire to start the new week? From Nerve: MTV’s Twilight-influenced remake of Teen Wolf premieres tonight, but it’s not the only ’80s teen classic that’s making a comeback in updated form. Luckily for you, we at Nerve got our hands on three exciting

Movie Trailer: “Super 8”

A new one: Movie opens this weekend. Who’s pumped to see Super 8? UPDATE: The MTV Movie Blog people studied the latest trailer and uncovered 5 new clues to the plot. Comment Archive

GITS International Week, Day 1: The U.K. and Ireland

In any given month about 15% of traffic on GITS is from writers who originate outside the United States. So I thought it would be a nice idea to provide an opportunity for our internationally based writers to give a shout-out to each other and to those of us

On writing

“I’m not happy when I’m writing, but I’m more unhappy when I’m not.”   — Fannie Hurst

Spec Script Sale: “Sex Tape”

Sony Pics buys comedy spec script “Sex Tape” from writer Kate Angelo in seven-figure deal. Per Deadline: A married couple who get a night off from their kids, get adventurous and decide to spice up their lives by making a sex tape. When they wake the following morning, the

25 things you should know about storytelling

In wandering around the web, I’m sure you, like me, bump into a lot of lists about writing. Some are better than others. And a choice few are pure gold. This list — “25 things you should know about storytelling” — is pure 24 karat. Some background on its author Chuck

Why everyone wants to have sex with vampires

This is both funny and insightful: http://cdn-i.dmdentertainment.com/DMVideoPlayer/player.swf Adolescents and vampires. Is it a sex thing? A not have sex thing? Empowerment? Immortality? Dealing with puberty? Seriously what the hell is the deal with vampires and teenagers? Comment Archive

Video Interview: David Simon

Years ago I read a fantastic non-fiction book: “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets”. Per Wikipedia: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is a 1991 book written by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon describing a year spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department homicide squad. The

Showrunner Transcript: Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarachy”)

In conjunction with the annual broadcast network upfronts, New York magazine is running a series called “Showrunner Transcripts.” We have been featuring one each day for the last two weeks on GITS. What’s a showrunner? For a primer, you can go here to Wikipedia. The short answer: “The person

Written Interview: James Wan (“Insidious”)

Today’s interview is with writer-director James Wan at MovingPicturesNetwork. An excerpt: The initial triumph of “Saw” led to Wan and Whannell being crowned the godfathers of torture porn, which opened up certain doors in Tinseltown but also closed many others. “Leigh and I have always said, we’re

Writing Question (Part 2): It’s five years from today…

…and you’re a success as a writer. What did you do to succeed? How did you structure your life to enable you to succeed? What practices did you employ to get where you are now? Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue theme for next week???

Let’s start off from scratch, a blank slate, tabula rasa. What is a great theme for Daily Dialogue? Think of something you feel the GITS community would enjoy. Something that has at least 7 good examples. Something from which we can learn something about the craft of writing dialogue.

The National Spelling Bee… and you!

From Slate: Last night, Sukanya Roy, a 14-year-old from Pennsylvania, won the 84th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling cymotrichous, a Greek-descended word meaning “having wavy hair.” Are your orthographic skills better than an eighth grader’s? Try our mock spelling bee and find out.

How They Write A Script: Leigh Brackett

“She wrote that [The Big Sleep] like a man. She writes good.” — Howard Hawks, quoted in “Hawks on Hawks” The “she” to whom Hawks was referring was screenwriter Leigh Brackett. Brackett, whose career spanned four decades, demonstrated incredible breadth in terms of genres with writing credits on movies as diverse

Showrunner Transcript: Jason Katims (“Parenthood,” “Friday Night Lights”)

In conjunction with the annual broadcast network upfronts, New York magazine is running a series called “Showrunner Transcripts.” We will feature one each day for two weeks on GITS. What’s a showrunner? For a primer, you can go here to Wikipedia. The short answer: “The person who is responsible

Great Characters: R2-D2 (“Star Wars”)

Who doesn’t love R2-D2? The plucky “astromech droid” has a significant role in each of the six Star Wars movies. Indeed it’s arguable the entire saga hinges on this one character. As Wikipedia notes about the first movie Star Wars, Episode IV — A New Hope: Princess Leia

Writing Question (Part 1): It’s five years from today…

…and you’re a success as a writer. What does that look like? What are you doing? In what ways are you successful? Comment Archive