Scott Myers

Written Interview: Max Adams (“Excess Baggage”)

The good folks at myPDFscripts.com have an interview out this week with screenwriter Max Adams. I only know of two writers who have won both the Nicholl and Austin screenwriting competitions: Max is one of them. She has one produced feature film writing credit (Excess Baggage), but has worked

Time for another round of reader questions

If you have any questions related to the craft or business of screenwriting, please post in comments. Or if you wish to remain anonymous, you may email me. Happy to give my humble two cents worth. If you haven’t checked out the archive of GITS reader questions and answers,

New web series: “Mortal Kombat: Legacy”

Check out this new webseries. Mortal Kombat: Legacy. It’s backed by Warner Brothers and has by far the highest production value of any webseries I’ve ever seen. It could easily compete with television. It also has Jeri Ryan, Michael Jai White, and that guy from Dollhouse in it.

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 5: Stakes

The first four posts of this series “Is my script big enough to be a movie?” are: Does my script have a big enough story concept? Does my script have big enough characters? Does my script have big enough set pieces? Does my script have big enough conflict? And now

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 15

Sometimes you see a news item that you flag simply because it’s just so… weird. Is this a movie story? ‘Hiccup Girl’ one of three charged with murder during robbery: ST. PETERSBURG — She was just 15 when a mysterious malady turned her into an international oddity: Jennifer Ann Mee

Great Characters: Colonel Hans Landa (“Inglourious Basterds”)

Colonel Hans Landa in the movie Inglorious Basterds (written and directed by Quentin Tarantino) is one of the most memorable Nemesis characters in recent cinema. As portrayed by Academy Award-winning actor Christoph Waltz, Landa is a chilling figure: An IMDB plot summary: In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee

Writing Question: Which screenplay do you wish you had written?

So many great movies. So many great screenplays. Which one — above all else — do you wish you had written? Sure, you can be a smart-ass and say The Last Boy Scout because it sold for zillions of dollars and in your fantasy all that money would go to you.

Spec Script Sale: “Gold”

Michael Mann and Paul Haggis are teaming up to direct-produce thriller spec “Gold” from writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman. Per THR: There may be gold in them thar hills for Michael Mann. The filmmaker is teaming up with Paul Haggis for Gold, a contemporary thriller in the vein

Screenwriter Roundtable: Jonathan Aibel, Greg Berlanti, Ehren Kruger, Christopher Markus, Ashley Edward Miller and Roberto Orci

Per THR, this exclusive roundtable: Writing a tentpole summer movie can mean huge rewards, but it’s also rife with extra pressures. An exercise in politics as much as creativity, these colossal productions often require a screenwriter to collaborate not only with directors and producers, but also with the toy

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 4: Conflict

Is my script big enough to be a movie?” A fundamental question a screenwriter needs to ask every time they start a writing project. I’ve put together 10 questions re the subject. Here are the first three we’ve already posed: Does my script have a big enough story

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 14

Here is a list of weird jobs that pay really well: Shot girl For a woman in her 20s, taking home between $300 and $600 a night is excellent pay, which is about how much shot girls make, The Wall Street Journal reports. They’re paid 25 cents for every

The Business of Screenwriting: Let’s Do Lunch!

In the Real World, lunch is a meal that people eat to provide their body and mind sustenance for the remainder of their work day. In Hollywood, lunch has virtually nothing to do with food… but everything else. What happens at a Hollywood lunch meeting? * You schmooze: You swap a

Some Ottawa love!

Okay, so I’m not above some self-promotion. Thanks to Ruthanne Reid who sent me this link to The Writers’ Room Ottawa blog which had some kind things to say about Go Into The Story today. An excerpt: Scott is one of the most generous teachers and writers in

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Transcribe Screenplays

Perhaps you’ve heard stories about how a young Felix Mendelssohn transcribed note for note musical scores by Johann Sebastian Bach, just to get the feel of how Bach wrote music. And about how F. Scott Fitzgerald transcribed the novels of writers he admired such as Charles Dickens to get

Cool “Super 8” viral campaign

Via SlashFilm: Today /Film HQ received a small unmarked envelope containing an old box of for a Kodak Super 8 cartridge (Type A). Must be some creepy viral for the Steven Spielberg-produced JJ Abrams-directed film Super 8. Makes sense, right? So…. inside the box was, as expected, a

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 3: Set Pieces

The first question we asked: Is my script’s story concept big enough? The next question we asked is Does my script have big enough characters? The next question: DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE BIG ENOUGH SET PIECES? This goes back to “Is there a movie here?” Does the script have

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 13

Interesting real-life story: Man’s wallet returned 40 years later: Rudolph R. Resta, 77, walked out of a wintry rain recently, through the revolving door of a largely empty Times Square office building, and into his distant past. He found his two sons, now in their 40s, when they

Screenwriting 101: Guillermo Arriaga

“I never outline the story, never. I once went to a seminar by one of these gurus of the screen, and this person said, ‘You must know everything about your characters.’ I thought, ‘Fuck, there’s no way!’ I want to have dark parts of my characters’ history so they

Will the ‘Arthur’ box-office results put the kibosh on ’80s remakes?

Potential fallout from the failure1of Arthur (2011) to come anywhere close to duplicating the business of Arthur (1981)? From the LAT: It’s probably too early in the remake renaissance to draw broad conclusions — or, for that matter, for studio executives to put all of their ‘80’s remakes on

Infographic: “I want to make a short film”

A larger version of the infographic here. If you want to see how to make an action movie, go here. If you want to see how to make a horror movie, go here.

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 2: Characters

The first question we asked: Is my script’s story concept big enough? Now another question: DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE BIG ENOUGH CHARACTERS? It’s easy to look at Indiana Jones, Rambo, and “Dirty” Harry Callahan and figure that they’re ‘big enough’ to deserve film treatment. But what about

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 12

Sounds like the beginning of a supernatural thriller: Boy struck by lightning: A 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning — at 13:13 hours on Friday the 13th, according to reports.  The teen was watching an air show at Lowestoft, England, when he was struck and was later treated

Hollywood Tales

“I was dreading yet another enervating and hopeless studio meeting, this one at Fox about developing a vehicle for a Brat Pack actor (one not that hot at the time, and since even colder). My writing partner, Mike Ferris, and a college friend of his turned director were also involved.

Daily Dialogue — April 12, 2011

“Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind. Mankind — that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our

“Handling Exposition”

Starting next Monday, I’ll be offering a 1-week online screenwriting course through Screenwriting Master Class called “Handling Exposition.”In Hollywood, there is a saying: “Exposition = Death.” That reflects the fact that nothing kills drama and/or the momentum of a script more than poorly executed exposition. A pair