Scott Myers

On Writing

“Rigidity is the mother of rigidity. It’s very exciting to be ridiculous. I wish I could be even more so than I am. Jump! Jumping is a lifeline, not the suicide or the predictable. It brings you to life. Take the character and put him where he least wants

Popcorn Fiction: “Veronica Majeure” by Brian Helgeland

New short fiction at screenwriter Derek Haas’ website Popcorn Fiction: A contract killer gets stuck in Dublin after a job in this smart little crime piece from screenwriter Brian Helgeland. Helgeland’s screenwriting credits include L.A. Confidential and Mystic River. The Popcorn Fiction website is here.

Daily Dialogue — September 20, 2010

Bobby: I’d like a plain omelet. No potatoes. Tomatoes instead. A cup of coffee and wheat toast. Waitress: No substitutions. Bobby: What do you mean? You don’t have any tomatoes? Waitress: Only what’s on the menu. You can have number two, a plain omelet. It comes with

Steve Martin Tweets

From this afternoon, a series of Tweets from Steve Martin: Very short Tweet session today, but I need your help…. Please, if you’re driving, don’t do this. Or hand your phone to a passenger, or just toss it out the window. Open the window first, though. Okay, here’

Profile: Steven Spielberg (Part 4)

Our friend Trevor Hogg is back at FlickeringMyth with another profile, this one on Steven Spielberg. Here is an excerpt from Part 4: Cinematically adapting a book by novelist Michael Crichton (The Great Train Robbery) about genetically-recreated dinosaurs running amok on a commercial animal reserve resulted in a movie

Wrap-Ups: Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Day 10: Trends & Faves [TheWrap] Surveying the landscape, indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt spoke to Cameron Bailey about what the festival co-director felt was “a turnaround in the sales climate,” with 18 films selling as opposed to only 12 last year. David Poland, of course, takes a contrary

Video Interview: Erroll Morris & Werner Herzog

This is outstanding: A sit-down conversation at the recent Toronto International Film Festival featuring Erroll Morris and Werner Herzog. Erroll Morris only has one writing credit, but it’s a brilliant one: The Thin Blue Line (1988). However it make shock you to learn that Herzog has 51 writing

Daily Dialogue — September 19, 2010

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”  — Jack Twist (Jake Gillenhaal), Brokeback Mountain (2005), screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, based on a short story by Annie Proulx The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases. Trivia: The original short story by Annie Proulx was published

Top 7 Movie Monologues About Business

It’s not often nowadays that a movie has a great monologue or frankly any monologue at all. Perhaps it’s because monologues are in some ways a throwback to cinema’s roots in stage plays and the further movies get away from those roots, the less likely to have

Audio Interview: Screenwriter Alex Garland and novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (“Never Let Me Go”)

A 69-minute Creative Screenwriting podcast: Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith listens in as Jeremy Smith from Ain’t It Cool News guest hosts and interviews novelist Kazuo Ishiguro and screenwriter Alex Garland about Never Let Me Go For the podcast, go here. The movie’s office Fox Searchlight site here.

Saturday Hot Links

Here are today’s hot links: Pixar doing a live-action movie and another superhero film? Says so right here [H/T to Rob Fuller for the link]. Be still my beating heart! Can it be true? A new Monty Python movie… sort of? FilmmakerIQ witrh Top 7 New York

Written Interview: Aaron Sorkin

With The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, opening soon (October 1) and David Hare’s recent praise for “Mad Men” and the quality of writing on American TV, I thought it would be nice to revisit another terrific television show from the last decade “The West Wing” with this

Daily Dialogue — September 18, 2010

“He slimed me!”  — Dr. Peter Venkman (Billy Murray), Ghost Busters (1984), written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases. Trivia: Though never referred to in the script, the green ghost the guys bust in the hotel was dubbed “Onionhead” by the

“Lord of the Rings by George Lucas”

LOTR with Jake Lloyd? Hayden Christenson? Check it out: And this interview with the creator of “LOTR by George Lucas” Frankie Frain from the documentary “People vs. George Lucas”: And some footage from the documentary: Comment Archive

“20 Most Entertaining Celebrity Thesis Statements”

I received an email recommending this post: If you think about it, there’s no reason why we should short-change celebrities and underestimate their intelligence. After all, they have the determination, work ethic and street savvy to take on Hollywood and win us over. But becoming a rock star

David Milch: “The Writer’s Voice” (Part 5)

Here is Part 5 of “The Writer’s Voice,” a series of presentations given by TV writer David Milch at the WGA Theater in 2001 as excerpted from the journal “Written By”. In final installment, Milch looks at the apostle Paul — as a writer: Let me hasten to say I’

Great Characters

Over 100 of the most memorable movie characters of all time. If you are looking to spark your own character development, why not find inspiration in the Great Characters series? A great way to brainstorm. Mix and match. Gender bend. Genre bend. Give yourself a creative jolt! Sally Albright (When

Daily Dialogue — September 17, 2010

“It’s alive! It’s alive!”  — Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive), Frankenstein (1931), screenplay by Garrett Fort & Francis Edward Faragoh, adapted by the play by Peggy Webling, from the novel by Mary Shelley The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases. Trivia: After bringing the monster to life,

David Hare raves re “Mad Men”

Perhaps some of you have seen this Guardian piece by noted playwright, TV writer, and screenwriter David Hare. If you haven’t, read it. If you have already, read it again: In a hilariously combative interview in the London Evening Standard last March, the best-selling author Lee Child argued

David Milch: “The Writer’s Voice” (Part 4)

Here is Part 4 of “The Writer’s Voice,” a series of presentations given by TV writer David Milch at the WGA Theater in 2001 as excerpted from the journal “Written By”: I’m sure that a lot of you want to know what gets you “in” [the entertainment industry]

The Business of Screenwriting: Everybody gets rewritten in Hollywood

And by ‘everybody’, I mean EVERYBODY! After Universal Pictures buys the spec script K-9, we owe them a rewrite. We work through their notes (that’s a whole other story) and pound out a new draft in about two months. A week or so later, we get a call

Daily Dialogue — September 16, 2010

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning!”  — Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duval), Apocalypse Now (1979), written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases. Trivia: George Lucas was originally set to direct “Apocalypse Now” from a screenplay by

“Everything is a remix”

This is absolutely worth watching, not only for music lovers, but also per Hollywood’s long history of recycling plots and its current obsession with remakes, sequels, and taking pre-branded brands (e.g., Battleship, Sherlock Holmes) and making ‘new’ entertainment. Everything has been done before. Generating ‘fresh’ story concepts

“TV’s Top 50 Showrunners”

THR with this overview. Here are a few writers on the list: Shawn Ryan “Terriers” (FX), “Ride-Along”?(Fox) Ryan admits he is a glutton for punishment. “Terriers” kicks off this month, while a second new show, “Ride-Along,” arrives in February. That’s on the heels of his 2009–

Writing guidelines from an 8 year-old

A few years back when my son Luke was about 8 years old, we created a writer’s group. The name of it has drifted from my mind along with our attendance at the group’s sessions. It had the initials “WWW” and I remember it went something like “The