Scott Myers

“Using the Net to advance your writing career”

From a confab sponsored by the WGAw. Screenwriter, director, and blogger John August included on the panel. Any writers out there making money via the Web? Comment Archive

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 11

There’s that new TV series on NBC starring Sarah Jessica Parker “Who Do You Think You Are?”. The show’s hook is genealogy, digging into a celeb’s family tree. I’ve heard genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the U.S.. So when I saw

Video Interview: Joel and Ethan Coen

Rare footage, 3 minutes with the Coen brothers from the mid-80s discussing their first movie Blood Simple. Not surprised to hear they were big fans of writer James M. Cain who wrote some terrific novels including “Double Indemnity in Three of a Kind” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Daily Dialogue — April 11, 2010

“Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! I’ve grown accustomed to her face.”  — Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), My Fair Lady (1964), screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner, book of musical play Alan Jay Lerner, play by George Bernard Shaw Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable lines featuring the word “damn.” My

“How Nature Inspired the Alphabet”

Okay, I admit it: I’m a language geek. Proof? I love stories like this: 32,000 years ago, ancient humans gathered in a cave in Lascaux, France, where, by firelight, they created the first hand-drawn forms — scenes depicting man’s relationship with the natural world. The favorite subject

“66 Great Movie Taglines from the Last 30 Years”

From Ad Week. Here are some of them: The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)  “The longer you wait, the harder it gets.” Alien vs. Predator (2004)  “Whoever wins, we lose.” Alien3 (1992)  “The bitch is back.” Arachnophobia (1990)  “Eight legs, two fangs, and an attitude.” Armageddon (1998)  “Earth. It was

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 10

There’s a great American Public Media radio show called “The Story with Dick Gordon.” It’s produced by our local NPR station WUNC. I was driving around one day and heard this story: Madelyn Greco and Scott Fray were recently in Las Vegas for the first ever North American

Written Interview: Nicholas Sparks

At WGA.org, this interview with novelist and now screenwriter Nicholas Sparks: The author of The Notebook and A Walk to Remember is a happily married father of five, and a man of nearly military precision, earnest specificity, and mogul drive. He’s more diligent overachiever than lovesick romantic lead.

Daily Dialogue — April 10, 2010

Jules: Describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like! Brett: What? Jules: Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more God damn time!  — Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), Pulp Fiction (1994), written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, stories by Quentin Tarantino and

Pitch Sale: “My Ex-Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me”

Paramount buys comedy pitch “My Ex-Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me” from “Community” co-exec producer Hilary Winston. Per Jay Fernandez at the “Risky Business” blog: The “Bridget Jones’s Diary”-style story is inspired by Winston’s own romantic misadventures (the book’s full subtitle is: “And Other

“Top 10 Recut Movie Trailers on YouTube”

Who knew there was an actual site named Mashable.com? There is and here is their “Top 10 Recut Movie Trailers on YouTube”: The recut trailer has become an art form in its own right, with the trend to mix-up existing trailer or film footage to give the montage

Stories from Terry Southern, Part 5 (The Magic Christian)

More from screenwriter, novelist, essayist, and screenwriting instructor Terry Southern. Today Southern discusses his involvement with the movie The Magic Christian (1970). Here are more excerpts from Backstory 3: Your next big project was The Magic Christian. That project had been in gestation for about four or five years before

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 9

Today’s story idea is certainly topical and likely on the minds of many young people: “Student Debt”: $527 billion. That’s how much money Americans owe in student loan debt. Last school year alone, U.S. students took out about $95 billion in loans. And, according to the latest

Great Scene: “Magnolia”

The ‘frog storm’ near the end of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 movie. This is actually more of a great sequence: The frog storm near the end of Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie Magnolia (1999). Written and directed by Anderson, it is a complex movie with multiple storylines, so here

Daily Dialogue — April 9, 2010

“Hey, you! Get your damn hands off her!”  — George McFly (Crispin Glover), Back to the Future (1985), written by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable lines featuring the word “damn.” Back to the Future suggested by buccaneer. Comment Archive

Awesome short movie: “The Gift”

Evidently several studios are bidding on its rights: Part of the Philips Cinema TV YouTube network. Reminiscent of Panic Attack, another short film that spawned huge interest and a deal in Hwood. What do you think of The Gift? UPDATE: GITS reader Jason was kind enough to send what is

Stories from Terry Southern, Part 4 (Easy Rider)

More from screenwriter, novelist, essayist, and screenwriting instructor Terry Southern. Today Southern discusses his involvement with the movie Easy Rider (1969). Here are more excerpts from Backstory 3: Wasn’t it during the making of Barbarella that you first began working on Easy Rider? Yes. Very early on it was

“The 29 Greatest ‘Twin Peaks’ Moments”

On April 8, 1990, exactly 20 years ago today, ABC debuted a new TV series called “Twin Peaks”: Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation, headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), of the brutal

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 8

From GITS reader James Tichenor, a story worth considering: “Long-lost brothers discover they’re neighbours”: After years of trying to find each other, two long-lost Newfoundland brothers have discovered they live just metres apart in Corner Brook. “He was across the road. I could not believe it. That

Scene Description Spotlight: “Pulp Fiction”

Quentin Tarantino is noted — among other things — for his ear for great dialogue. However in Pulp Fiction (1994), it’s worth noting that with key characters, he generally introduces them with scene description specific to who each character is. Here is how the script’s first scene describes two characters

Daily Dialogue — April 8, 2010

“I don’t want Fop, god dammit! I’m a Dapper Dan man!”  — Everett (George Clooney), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), written and directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, based on the epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable lines featuring the

“Premature Sequelization: Sequel culture runs amok. And this time it’s personal.”

Fresh on the heels of the news that there are at least 86 movies in various stages of development, pre-production, and production in Hollywood, comes this: Time was, months or even years might pass before a studio decided it was interested in a sequel to a popular film. But

Wanted: Daily Dialogue Theme-Of-The-Week

Got an email from Ryan Mullaney: First of all, love your site. Amazing resource and lots of new info daily. Great job on keeping it active. I just dread being away from the internet for a day or two and having to play catch-up! Anyway, here’s an idea

Stories from Terry Southern, Part 3 (Candy)

More from screenwriter, novelist, essayist, and screenwriting instructor Terry Southern. Today Southern discusses his involvement in two rather scandalous movies Candy (1968) and Barbarella (1968): Before Candy was directed by Christian Marquand, you were involved in the adaptation as a coproducer as well as writer. Yes, the first plan for

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7

How about a possible family film “Duck Teaches Disabled Boy To Walk”: When Finlay Lomax had a stroke after his premature birth, doctors said he’d never walk again. No doubt you’ve heard that line before, but have you ever heard of a duck being the one to prove