On Writing “If you don’t know what to write, talk to your subconscious, your story, or your God and ask, ‘What are you trying to tell me?’ Ask that question and wait. There will be an answer.” — Kurt Brown
Daily Dialogue — September 6, 2010 “Show me the money!” — Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise), Jerry Maguire (1996), written by Cameron Crowe The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases. Trivia: Cameron Crowe wanted his hero, legendary film director Billy Wilder, to play Dicky Fox. Wilder had agreed to think about it, but on the
“Why did so few specialty films cross over this summer?” Labor Day weekend marks the official end of Hollywood’s summer season, so time to do some analysis. Here’s a start from LAT movie blogger (24 Frames) Steven Zeitchik, focusing on how well specialty movies fared — or rather didn’t — this summer: Summer — that elusive, seductive damsel exiting the
“Star Wars, Episode 3: Backstroke of the West” (cont’d) Do you remember this: As a result of (A) a guy named Jeremy who (B) had some free time on his hands and © a pirated Chinese DVD of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, (D) the miracle of the “Internets,” and (E) my son Will who somehow found this site,
Live ScriptChat event tonight! 8PM GMT & 8PM EDT (U.S.) As a reminder, you’re all invited to a live chat event this Sunday, Sept. 5 to discuss the script Dune with the Scriptchat folks. Sunday, EURO chat 8pm GMT & USA chat 8pm EDT Why Dune? Because someone posited the idea that it might be an interesting exercise to
Video Interviews: Matthew Weiner (“Mad Men”) At the recent Emmys, Matthew Weiner won the Award for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for a “Mad Men” episode he co-wrote with Erin Levy called “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.” So a perfect opportunity to feature Weiner with several video interviews. Weiner’s TV writing credits
Daily Dialogue — September 5, 2010 Colonel Sandurz: Try here. Stop. Dark Helmet: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie? Colonel Sandurz: Now. You’re looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now. Dark Helmet: What happened to then? Colonel Sandurz: We passed then. Dark Helmet:
Telluride Film Festival, Day 1 Ah, the Telluride Film Festival. I attended it in 1987, but have visited the magical mountain town many times since 1978, first as a musician in local clubs and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (1979 and 1980), then as a spectator accompanying my good friend and former music partner Pat Flynn
Written Interview: Darren Aronofsky Today’s written interview is with screenwriter-director Darren Aronofsky. His writing credits include Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Below (2002), and The Fountain (2006). This interview is with MTV News. A few excerpts: MTV: I know you did a lot of research for “The Wrestler,” going to
Daily Dialogue — September 4, 2010 “I’ve got to stay here, but there’s no reason why you folks shouldn’t go out into the lobby until this thing blows over.” — Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx), Horse Feathers (1932), screenplay by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and S.J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone
“‘Black Swan’ And ‘The Wrestler’ Started Life As One Movie, Darren Aronofsky Says” Well, this is interesting: In some strange parallel universe, one in which filmmaker Darren Aronofsky made some of his choices a little bit differently, “The Wrestler” and his upcoming follow-up “Black Swan” exist as a single film, one about the coupling of a wrestler and a ballet dancer. Bizarre?
The Genre-Thon Project: Your Suggestions Wanted! So I had this crazy idea: What if every so often here at GITS, we do a 1-week / 7-script read-a-thon, but — and here’s the hook — all the scripts are in one genre. Action, comedy, thriller, sci-fi, etc. Could even be narrower: Dark Comedy, Romantic
NPR & Storytelling, Part 5: A Prairie Home Companion Here in the United States, National Public Radio broadcasts several great series that feature stories and storytelling, and as such are an excellent resource for writers. Each day this week, I’ll look at a different series that is aired on NPR. Today: “A Prairie Home Companion” (produced by Prairie
Great Scene: “Kramer vs. Kramer” Two scenes making french toast provide signposts to measure the nature of a father-son relationship. Here is an IMDB plot summary of the 1979 movie Kramer vs. Kramer, screenplay by Robert Benton, based on a novel by Avery Corman: A just divorced man must learn to care for his
Daily Dialogue — September 3, 2010 Rob: Top five things I miss about Laura. One; sense of humor. Very dry, but it can also be warm and forgiving. And she’s got one of the best all time laughs in the history of all time laughs, she laughs with her entire body. Two; she’s got
Live ScriptChat event, Sunday, Sept. 5 As a reminder, you’re all invited to a live chat event this Sunday, Sept. 5 to discuss the script Dune with the Scriptchat folks. Sunday, EURO chat 8pm GMT & USA chat 8pm EDT Why Dune? Because someone posited the idea that it might be an interesting exercise to
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: What to do after you finish your first draft Okay, so you’ve just typed FADE OUT of the first draft of your latest screenplay. What’s the first thing you do? Celebrate and get drunk? No, that’s the second thing you do. The first thing you do is print out a copy of your script, stick it
37th Telluride Film Festival slate announced Lots of docs at this year’s Telluride Film Festival: 37th TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2010 FESTIVAL LINEUP Telluride, CO — Telluride Film Festival (September 3–6, 2010), presented by the National Film Preserve is proud to announce its 2010 Festival program. Twenty-four new feature films presented by their creators
Introduce yourself! This year I started a tradition proclaiming the first day of the month to be GITS’ official “Hey, Newbies And Lurkers, Come Out And Play!” day. Obviously I missed doing it yesterday on September 1, so let’s celebrate it today. Apparently people keep finding the site because in the
NPR & Storytelling, Part 4: Fresh Air Here in the United States, National Public Radio broadcasts several great series that feature stories and storytelling, and as such are an excellent resource for writers. Each day this week, I’ll look at a different series that is aired on NPR. Today: “Fresh Air”. From the series’ website, here
The Business of Screenwriter: Get a damn good lawyer! The most expensive lesson I ever learned in Hollywood. It’s September, 1999. My wife and I are at a party in Pacific Palisades to welcome families who are new to Wildwood School, where our then only son goes to grade school. A typical beautiful southern California night, schmoozing with
Daily Dialogue — September 2, 2010 “The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands. It’s a good non-specific symptom; I’m a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but, uh… you get a nervous mother, you could
The remake of “Arthur:” “Much Taller, Still Plastered” In this era of Hollywood’s obsession with remakes, it was inevitable that they would eventually hit on a redo of the 1980s comedy hit Arthur. For those who don’t remember the movie, here is a plot summary from IMDB: Arthur is a happy drunk with no pretensions at
NPR & Storytelling: The Moth Radio Hour Here in the United States, National Public Radio broadcasts several great series that feature stories and storytelling, and as such are an excellent resource for writers. Each day this week, I’ll look at a different series that is aired on NPR. Today: The Moth Radio Hour (produced by The
Screenwriting 101: Dale Launer “Over the next six or seven years I honed my writing skills to a point where I actually sold a screenplay: Ruthless People. It was made and became a bona fide box-office hit, and it got pretty good reviews. The reviews would often mention a scene or a moment
