Scott Myers

“How Much Should We Practice?”

GITS reader Matias Caruso sent me this email: Hello Scott, A writer from Argentina here. I’m writing you because I just read a scientific study which appears to confirm that, just like you always say, reading scripts and watching movies is as important as writing in order to become

Update: Web Series

Pretty much from the start-up of this blog, I’ve been tracking web series, primarily because I keep hoping the economics of it works out to create more opportunities for writers to write and get paid for it. Two things make me wonder if things have turned the corner

Written Interview: Stephen J. Cannell

In honor of Stephen J. Cannell, veteran TV writer, producer, screenwriter, and novelist, who died yesterday, I am featuring interviews with him today and tomorrow. Cannell’s TV credits span from episodes of Ironside in 1971 to Silk Stalkings in 1999. He produced, created, or co-created 43 TV shows

Daily Dialogue — October 2, 2010

“It’s the LeBaron.”  — Jeffrey Lebowski — The Dude (Jeff Bridges), The Big Lebowski (1998), written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is character’s first lines suggested by Judith. Trivia: Nearly all of the visible symbols in The Dude’s second dream sequence

Filmmakers to Watch

I posted a Q&A about Film News Briefs here, a free online information service covering business trends in Hollywood including film, TV, and the Web. They’ve started a new monthly feature for email subscribers (it’s free) in which they spotlight 4 up-and-coming filmmakers. Here

Daily Dialogue: Monty Python week!

On October 5, 1969, the first episode of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” aired on BBC. Just imagine what our world would have been like without that show, that collective talent, and of course their movies. So next week the Daily Dialogue theme will be notable Monty Python quotes. Here’

Who wrote this?

Excerpt from a job cover letter by a to-be famous writer: As far as I’m concerned, it’s a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally

“Studios, Be Very Afraid: It’s a Horror-Movie Traffic Jam”

Because of Halloween, movie studios typically target October as a month to release horror movies. But this year, they’ve gone pretty much crazy as this article in TheWrap points out: ’Tis the season to be frightened. Hoping to cash in on the Halloween zeitgeist, Hollywood studios are flooding the

R.I.P.: Stephen J. Cannell

THR reports: ’21 Jump Street’ producer Stephen J. Cannell died Thursday night at his home. He was 69. The Emmy winner, who was also behind “The A-Team” and “The Rockford Files,” “passed away at his home in Pasadena on Thursday evening due to complications associated with melanoma. He was

Writing Mantra: “Read scripts. Watch movies. Write pages.”

Last week I posted this about one of my favorite writing mantras “Trust the process.” I received a number of emails and comments asking if I had other ones. The answer is yes, I do. Some of them practical, some of them ‘spiritual.’ So each day this week, I have

Great Characters: Nurse Ratched (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”)

In the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on a novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman) there are many standout characters including, of course, Jack Nicholson who won an Oscar in his role as R.

Daily Dialogue — October 1, 2010

“Hello, old man. How are you?”  — Harry Lime (Orson Welles), The Third Man (1949), written by Graham Greene The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is character’s opening lines suggested by Judith. Trivia: The ending was the subject of contention during production. Surprisingly, Graham Greene, known for his bleak,

Blog post from Kyle Killen re the fate of “Lone Star”

In its entirety: Lone Star Loves You, Even From The Grave Wednesday was the first time I’d been in Austin on a weekday in almost six months. One of the twins woke me by saying “No one watch Daddy’s show?” I said, no, I’m afraid not. The

“Zuckerberg! The REAL Social Network Movie”

http://www.babelgum.com/embed/6002714 The Social Network, which opens October 1 on 2,700+ screens in the U.S. and Canada, currently has a 97% favorable rating on RottenTomatoes (59 critics “fresh,” 2 critics “rotten”). Who’s going to see it this weekend? Comment Archive

“Mined to death’? ‘X-Men’ director says Hollywood is killing the superhero movie”

From The Hero Complex (LAT): The clock is ticking on the superhero craze in Hollywood, according to Matthew Vaughn, the director now filming “X-Men: First Class” for Fox in London. “It’s been mined to death and in some cases the quality control is not what it’s supposed

Spec Script Sale: “Snow White and the Huntsman”

THR reports that Universal won a bidding war for an action retelling of the “Snow White” fairy tale by writer Evan Daugherty: As evidenced by the title, the new take sees an expanded role for the Huntsman — in the fairy tale, he is ordered to take Snow White into the

The Business of Screenwriting: They don’t think like you [Part 2]

Hollywood studio executives can have a different way of seeing the world. Note: To understand this post, you need to go back and read last week’s entry here. After we sell the spec script K-9, we are ushered around town for meetings. This is what happens when you

Daily Dialogue — September 30, 2010

“What do you say to three shillings… and we forget the name?”  — Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert The Daily Dialogue

“In this war, movie studios are siding with your couch”

The major movie studios are making noises about this as a means of increasing revenue: Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. are in talks with the largest cable TV systems to offer films for as much as $30 per showing soon after they run in theaters. The studios

The Guardian and Observer Film Season: name the films challenge

There are 26 movie references hidden within this short film. Can you name them? http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed For more, go here. H/T GITS reader Russell Nichols for sending me the link. Comment Archive

“‘Lone Star’ Creator on His Show’s Future (and Mel Gibson’s Movie)”

From TheWrap: Can Kyle Killen catch a break in this town? Killen, creator of the new Fox series “Lone Star,” saw his show go from critical darling to cancellation candidate in the span of less than 24 hours after its premiere episode Monday drew staggeringly low ratings. Killen spoke with

Writing Mantra: “The story rules”

The first and last commandment of writing. I’m a big believer in prep-writing: Generating story concepts, brainstorming, developing characters, research, plotting, outlines. If the final draft of a script is the tip of the iceberg, all the preparation that goes into the process before we type FADE IN

Screenwriting 101: Chris Weitz

“That’s the problem I find in most of the scripts that I read. If it’s a comedy, people will sacrifice the consistency of tone for something funny because obviously it’s a comedy, it’s supposed to be funny — but that can lead to a weird jarring of

Daily Dialogue — September 29, 2010

“Where are those transmissions you intercepted?”  — Darth Vader (David Prowse / James Earl Jones), Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), written by George Lucas The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is character’s opening lines suggested by Judith. Trivia: At one point, George Lucas planned for the characters

IMDB turns 20

I often joke with friends and students that I wish I could have an IMDB chip implanted in my brain, mostly because I’m constantly coming up with movie references in my conversations, lectures, and blog posts that require me to visit that website. Why can’t I just blink