Scott Myers

Reader Question: What are some key things to look for when rewriting a first draft?

Question from Sean: Hi Scott! I’ve recently finished a first draft of a script I’m working on (which came in at 118 pages — all hail pre-planning!) and I’m about to post it up on both GITS Club and OTT Films for critique. While that’s going

“‘Sucker Punch’: Zack Snyder says films with heroines still ‘a challenge economically’”

From Hero Complex: Traditionally, one of the barriers to teen female protagonists driving anything but romances has been the conventional wisdom in Hollywood that such characters alienate male audiences. That didn’t seem to be a problem for the Coens’ “True Grit,” however. Though the PG-13 film is built

Movies You Made: “Ett livsviktigt möte” (“A Life-Important Meeting”)

Long-time GITS follower Désirée Norland wrote the script for a short film: A film of a short script of mine has finally reached YouTube. As we “talked” (e-mailed) about it earlier I thought you might be interested to see it. The English title is “A vital meeting” and

Video interview: Barry Morrow

Today an interview in 8 parts with screenwriter Barry Morrow whose films credits include Rain Man, Race the Sun, and Mercy of the Sea, and TV movies Bill, Bill: On His Own, A Conspiracy of Love , and Christmas on Division Street. Part 1: Why tell stories Part 2: A great

Daily Dialogue — January 16, 2011

Red: I don’t think you ought to be doing this to yourself, Andy. It’s just shitty pipe dreams. I mean, Mexico is way the hell down there, and you’re in here, and that’s the way it is. Andy: Yeah, right, that’s the way it is.

Reader Question: What’s the best way to write cross-genre movies?

Question from Annika W: Everything I’ve been reading about what buyers want now says multi-genre has an edge over single genre, as audiences have become tired of genre formulas and now find them predictable. I agree. However, I watched a movie last night (Extreme Measures, written by Tony

“Amazon Studios Top 50 SHITTY SCRIPTS REVIEWED!”

Some hearty nameless souls have taken it upon themselves to track the goings-on with the whole Amazon Studios venture [I posted about them previously here]. I checked in with them recently and found this: The semifinalists were just announced yesterday by Amazon, and we are sort of pleasantly surprised

Saturday Hot Links

Back with another edition of Saturday Hot Links! This time with extra spicy sausage! We start with True Grit — subtitled! FlickeringMyth is currently doing a “blogathon” retrospective on the films of Peter Weir. Interesting analysis of Tron: Legacy. You want to see an infographic that shows all of Dexter’s

Written Interview: Francis Ford Coppola

Today’s interview in print is with Francis Ford Coppola from The99Percent.com. It’s an excellent, wide-ranging Q&A with the famed writer-director focusing on something fundamental to the creative arts: risk. Some key excerpts: Why did you choose not to teach a master class? For

Daily Dialogue — January 15, 2011

“Well hello, Mister Fancypants. Well, I’ve got news for you pal, you ain’t leadin’ but two things, right now: Jack and shit… and Jack left town.”  — Ash (Bruce Campbell), Army of Darkness (1992), written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is

Reader Question: How can a movie succeed if characters don’t have an arc?

Question from Jeff: I was discussing Life is Beautiful with a friend recently. It’s my favorite movie and I consider it a masterclass in film making. But I realized something strange. None of the characters has an arc. Neither the father nor the mother nor the son changes or

“Tells you what to write”

On Monday, I posted this analysis of the Coen brothers’ remake of the movie True Grit in terms of its story structure, referencing among other things ideas drawn from Joseph Campbell’s articulation of The Hero’s Journey. That elicited this comment from Dave who said: The structure is alot

“Is ‘Atrocious’ the Next ‘Paranormal Activity?’”

I guess we can officially consider it to be a new sub-genre: Found Film Movies. Moviefone wonders if a new Spanish movie Atrocious is the new Paranormal Activity: The Spanish-language “found footage” horror film marks the directorial debut of 27-year-old Mexican filmmaker Fernando Barreda Luna (remember

Exclusive GITS Q&A: Jeremiah Friedman & Nick Palmer (Part 4)

Back in September 2010, I posted this announcement about newcomers Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer who sold their spec script “Family Getaway” to Warner Bros.. Turns out the guys are fans of the blog and have been reading it for some time. Seeing as they are living out the dream

Great Characters: Maude (“Harold and Maude”)

In light of this week’s theme for Daily Dialogue — philosophy of life — I could think of no better choice for today’s Great Character series than Maude from the classic 1971 movie Harold and Maude. The IMDB plot summary: Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed

Daily Dialogue — January 14, 2011

“I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?’ So now I take great comfort in the general hostility

Analysis: “True Grit” (Part 4: Theme)

In order to learn the craft of screenwriting, you must immerse yourself in movies. One of the best things you can do in that regard is analyze the movies you watch. I like to view them through four ‘lenses’: Structure, Character, Dialogue, Theme.  As an example, I’m going to

Reader Question: Is it okay to take more time than normal to set up the story in Act One?

What if that script you’re writing insists on having a 30+ page first act? A reader question from Anug Mehta: Hi Scott, Most of what I have read on Acts division shows it typically like: 20:40–40:20, in 120-page script, with 40–40 being the middle

Shane Black on spec scripts

Just gone live Deadline article: Warner Bros has hired Shane Black to direct a live action adaptation of the Japanese manga series Death Note. Black will oversee a script that’s being written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, his accomplices on Doc Savage, a drama he’ll direct for

Exclusive GITS Q&A: Jeremiah Friedman & Nick Palmer (Part 3)

Back in September 2010, I posted this announcement about newcomers Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer who sold their spec script “Family Getaway” to Warner Bros.. Turns out the guys are fans of the blog and have been reading it for some time. Seeing as they are living out the dream

The Business of Screenwriting: God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason

The Business of Screenwriting: “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason” I’m at lunch with our agents in Beverly Hills. It’s February, 1987. The deal where Universal Pictures bought our spec script K-9 is finalized and my agents are setting up meet-and-

Daily Dialogue — January 13, 2011

“Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase ‘Form is emptiness.’ That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase “Emptiness is form.” One should not think that these are two separate

Analysis: “True Grit” (Part 3: Dialogue)

In order to learn the craft of screenwriting, you must immerse yourself in movies. One of the best things you can do in that regard is analyze the movies you watch. I like to view them through four ‘lenses’: Structure, Character, Dialogue, Theme.  As an example, I’m going to

Reader Question: How can you make up for sending out a script that stinks?

“How to respond to writing a stinker? Simple. Make the next script a great one.” Reader questions from James Tillery: Hey Scott I have two quick questions about your experience: You’ve said you didn’t have any other ready to go scripts when you sold k-9. Did that

Short Film: “Modern Times”

A sci-fi short filmed by a Scottish art director has become what The Hollywood Reporter calls the “year’s first hot short.” Ben? Craig, 37, used the short film, titled Modern Times, as an exercise in on-the-job training. The DIY filmmaker “relied on the goodwill of friends,