Scott Myers

Hollywood Tales

“I worked as an intern-slash-reader at a little Paramount production company during my first semester of graduate school, and the contrast between the crappy scripts I read there and the great scripts I read for class was really illuminating. And encouraging on some level. I knew I could

Daily Dialogue — December 21, 2010

“Merry Christmas… shitter’s full!”  — Cousin Eddie Johnson (Randy Quaid), Christmas Vacation (1989), written by John Hughes To see the actual clip, go here. The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Christmas. Christmas Vacation was suggested by Chris Drzewiecki and Ryan Mullaney. Trivia: The movie is based on John

A book review I wrote: “Hollywood Science”

I was asked by the Journal of Screenwriting to do a review of the book “Hollywood Science: Movies, Science & the End of the World” by Sidney Perkowitz, a physics professor at Emory University. I enjoyed the book quite a bit and for those of you interested in science fiction

Another list: Viewfinder (for directors)

And one more list to the… well… list of… well… lists. Last week Deadline broke this story about Viewfinder: Deadline doesn’t post anonymous lists. But it turns out there’s sort-of The Black List for “aspiring” filmmakers (Iñárritu?), put together by Patrick Chu of Montecito Picture Company and

Joseph Campbell quotes: Day 1

From Monday, December 20-Sunday, January 2, I’m going to post a Joseph Campbell quote each day at 9AM PST. Why? Because the end of the year is a time to reflect on our lives — what we do and what we hope to do, who we are and who

Popcorn Fiction: “Impulse Kill” by John Patrick Nelson

Another piece of short fiction from screenwriter Derek Haas’ site Popcorn Fiction: A new story is up on Popcorn Fiction. “Impulse Kill” by John Patrick Nelson focuses on a small-town sheriff who is having trouble disposing of a dead body. It seems the places he picks are already being

On writing

“Poets need not go to Niagara to write about the force of falling water.”  — Robert Frost Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — December 20, 2010

“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!”  — Santa Claus (Jeff Gillen), A Christmas Story (1983), screenplay by Jean Shepherd & Leigh Brown & Bob Clark, based on a novel by Jean Shepherd The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Christmas. A Christmas Story suggested

Producer Spotlight: Paula Wagner

Another in a series of occasional posts on notable producers. After your agent and/or manager, there’s probably no bigger champion for a writer’s story than a producer, so it behooves you to understand how their mind works. Today spotlight producer: Paula Wagner. Here is her mini-bio

Indy Mogul

Received an email from the folks at Indy Mogul and I checked out their website. Good stuff. Indy Mogul is the network dedicated to film fanatics and aspiring auteurs alike. Our shows are focused on DIY filmmaking, cheap special effects, movie reviews and conversations with high profile filmmakers and special

Movie trailer: “I Am”

In 1988, an acquaintance from my college days at the University of Virginia showed up in Los Angeles. His name was Daryl Richman and I guess you could say he was an unofficial ‘campus pastor’ in the 70s. He asked to meet with me which we did in my office

Video Interview: Simon Beaufoy

Terrific new video series at BAFTA.org: 6 lectures on screenwriting by notable screenwriters. I’ll be featuring each over the next six weeks.  Today: Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy. Beaufoy’s screenwriting credits include The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours . An excerpt from the lecture: For more of the

Daily Dialogue — December 19, 2010

EMPEROR: If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed. Young fool… only now, at the end, do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision. LUKE: Father, please. Help me. EMPEROR:

Saturday Hot Links

Here are today’s hot links! And what better way to start than with Christian Bale singing “The Powerpuff Girls” theme song: Salon with memorable film and TV Shakespeare adaptations. The top 10 movies of 2010 per Twitter. And per Roger Ebert. And while we’re at here is the

Written Interview: Steve Lisberger (“Tron”)

A bonus interview today with Steve Lisberger who wrote and directed the original Tron (1982). Some excerpts: This [TRON: Legacy] is the germ of an idea that’s been around for 20-some-odd years, and it’s finally coming to fruition but the atmosphere today is entirely different with

Written Interview: Richard Regen

This week’s written interview comes via DoneDealPro: Richard Regen is a screenwriter and journalist who lives in New York with his wife and two sons. After getting his BA at Skidmore College and MA at NYU, he spent three years working on Capitol Hill. In D.C., Regen started

Daily Dialogue — December 18, 2010

Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death. Westley: No. To the pain. Prince Humperdinck: I don’t think I’m quite familiar with that phrase. Westley: I’ll explain and I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon. Prince Humperdinck:

Update: “Bill Warrington’s Last Chance”

You may remember this from back in August: At the age of 6, James King announced his intention to become a novelist. And in his 50s, that was still the plan. Yes, he paid the bills (and two college tuitions) with his day job writing corporate training materials. But every

“The Inception of Movie Editing: The Art of D.W. Griffith”

I watched D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance recently — the first time since college — and was once again blown away by the movie’s visuals. Then I stumbled upon this blog post from Michael Joshua Rowin: This past summer audiences marveled at the complex structure of Inception, a film containing dreams

The GITS Club Treatment Challenge: Volume 1: “House on Wheels” — My Analysis

For our inaugural The GITS Club Treatment Challenge, we have “House on Wheels” by Brock Weaver. You may download the treatment here. Here’s the logline: After a near death experience, a once famous novelist, attempting to salvage his relationship with a former lover, agrees to employ a promising young

Great Character: Inspector Jacques Clouseau (The “Pink Panther” series)

How else to honor writer-director Blake Edwards who died this week than to shine a spotlight on a great comedic character he created (along with Maurice Richlin): Inspector Jacques Clouseau: Played brilliantly by Peter Sellers (let’s set aside Alan Arkin and Steve Martin’s reprisals of the role)

Daily Dialogue — December 17, 2010

Angel Eyes: Two can dig a lot quicker than one. Dig. (to Blondie) Angel Eyes: You’re not diggin’. Blondie: You shoot me, you won’t see a cent of that money. Angel Eyes: Why? Blondie: I’ll tell you why. (kicks open grave revealing skeleton) Blondie: ‘Coz there’s

Sequel to “Sequels”

As a sequel to this — Are sequels killing Hollywood? — we have this: ‘Bad Santa’, ‘Shakespeare in Love’, ‘Swingers’ Sequels Being Planned: Miramax and The Weinstein Co. have announced plans to team up on producing sequels to many of Miramax’s biggest films. Obviously we’re already seeing the beginnings of

Three video compilations of familiar movie dialogue

From HuffPo: As you might remember from our “You Look Like Sh*t” movie megacut, Hollywood characters tend to be pretty forthright and explicit with each other when it comes to personal appearance. But death is an altogether more delicate matter. It’s not easy to look someone in the

Update: Amazon Studios

I don’t know who these folks are, but this post seems like the most comprehensive critique of Amazon Studios. Here’s an excerpt: If you’re an aspiring screenwriter you’ve more than likely heard that Amazon.com has formed a movie studio and are giving away a LOT