Scott Myers

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival — April 8–11, 2010

For those of you who happen to be in North Carolina this weekend, you have an opportunity to see some excellent movies at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham. Begun in 1998, the Festival is one of the premier doc gatherings in the world. This year, two docs

Screenwriting 101: Alex Kurtzman

“One thing that has proven to be true for us [Kurtzman & Orci] over and over again is not to be married to our words, necessarily, but to be married to the spirit of the words. Because there’s a thousand ways you can express an idea.”  — Alex Kurtzman (Mission

Daily Dialogue — April 7, 2010

Meg Boyd: Is Washington winning dear? Joe Boyd: Noooo. Those damn Yankees.  — Meg Boyd (Shannon Bolin) and Joe Boyd (Robert Shafer), Damn Yankees (1958), play by George Abbott & Douglass Wallop, based on a book by Douglass Wallop Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable lines featuring the word “damn.

Steven de Souza: In person 4/7 at UCLA

From our good friend Shea Vitartas, this notice: We are putting on a free event at UCLA on Wednesday! Steven de Souza, writer of Die Hard, 48 Hours and Tomb Raider Cradle of Life is coming to UCLA Anderson to screen his Web Series. Steven is a Hollywood legend, and

“Branding Comes Early in Filmmaking Process”

It used to be writers were urged to be specific in their description to create more of a sense of reality as well as evoke more of a mood to their scenes. For example: * Instead of “he downs a beer,” try “he drains a PBR.” * Instead of “she lights a

Stories from Terry Southern, Part 2 (U.K. days)

More from screenwriter, novelist, essayist, and screenwriting instructor Terry Southern. After the success of Dr. Strangelove, Southern spent time in the U.K.: You spent a lot of time going back and forth to London during the height of the British film boom. After Strangelove, I started working pretty quickly

Exclusive GITS Q&A: Screenwriter Greg Russo

Exclusive Go Into The Story Q&A: Screenwriter Greg Russo On March 26, I was happy to report this: Here’s THR’s report from yesterday: Relativity Media has optioned the original screenplay “Down” from freshman scribe Greg Russo. Described by one person who read it as “ ‘Buried’ meets

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 6

Okay, so nobody picked Duke vs. Butler in the NCAA hoops finals, right? But what if somebody did? In fact, what if somebody picked all the games correctly — with a chance to win an ungodly sum of cash? Check this: ESPN’s Tournament Challenge is currently hosting 4.78 million

Spec Script Sale: “All You Need Is Kill”

As noted here in a report from Deadline Hollywood yesterday, Warner Bros. plunked down 7-figures to buy the action spec adaptation of a Japanese novel “All You Need Is Kill”: The world of Japanese literature can be alienating to western readers — primarily, I suppose, because most of it’s

Hollywood Tales

“When I decided to make the jump into screenwriting, within a month or two I was pitched four films. One was a film about El Salvadorian gangs in L.A. One was about girl gangs in East L.A. One was about deaf gangs — no joke — in New York. I

Daily Dialogue — April 6, 2010

“Oh my God. I’m back. I’m home. All the time, it was… We finally really did it. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”  — George Taylor (Charlton Heston), Planet of the Apes (1968), Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable

Warners Makes 7-Figure Spec Deal For Japanese Novel ‘All You Need Is Kill’

H/T to Nate Winslow for tracking this announcement on DH: In a deal that might get writers and their reps to reconsider the value of writing on spec, Warner Bros paid low-seven figures against a purchase price near $3 million for a Dante Harper-scripted adaptation of All

Attention Hollywood Writers!

From Nikki Finke reprinted in its entirety: These days when so many Hollywood writers have lost their deals and/or jobs, they need a an outside workplace. Unfortunately, one of those is in danger of closing after 6 years because the current economy has taken its toll. It’s theOffice

Stories from Terry Southern, Part 1 (Dr. Strangelove)

Way back in September 2008, I posted “Stories from Terry Southern”, some excerpts from the wonderful screenwriting book “Backstory 3” detailing Southern’s involvement with the movie Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb. I vowed to dip again into Southern’s amazing life story, then

“‘Inception’ breaks into dreams”

Geoff Boucher of the LA Times yesterday with this story on screenwriter-director Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Warner Bros. movie Inception. Some excerpts: “Inception,” the 39-year-old director’s seventh feature film and his first foray into science fiction, combines the perception riddles of “Memento” and the sheer scale

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 5

Today’s story idea takes a bit of explanation. The initial conceit came from this article [no longer available]. Today, February 8th, marks the centennial of Boy Scouts in America. Over the past century, more than 110 million boys, young men, moms and dads have been members of the BSA.

On Writing

“The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.”  — Norbet Platt Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — April 5, 2010

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”  — Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), Gone With the Wind (1939), screenplay by Sidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Notable lines featuring the word “damn.” Post your suggested “damn” movie lines in comments. Comment

Profile: Akira Kurosawa (Part 2)

Trevor Hogg at FlickeringMyth.com has posted Part 2 of his profile on famed Japanese writer-director Akira Kurosawa. An excerpt: “After the Pacific War, a great deal of noise began to be made about freedom of speech, and almost immediately abuses and loss of self-control ensued,” recollected acclaimed

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 4

Another value of plowing through current events for possible script story ideas is the fact that the events are… you know… current. If you can jump on it and knock out a script within 2–3 months, your story could be timely per buyers. For example, this story: The body

Video Interview: Edgar Wright

Empire magazine’s Chris Hewitt hosts an interview with screenwriter-director Edgar Wright. Wright’s movie credits include Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and the upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Future projects: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), The World’s

Daily Dialogue — April 4, 2010

Security Guard: You want another slice? Security Guard: No, I’m OK. Security Guard: What else is on Security Guard: Yeah, let’s see what else is on Security Guard: Where’s the TV guide  — The Truman Show (1998), written by Andrew Niccol The Daily Dialogue theme this week is

“Billy Wilder: an Annotated Webliography”

Well, this is just awesome. An excellent annotated ‘webliography’ of the great writer-director Billy Wilder at an equally excellent blog Shooting Down Pictures: This blog primarily serves as a repository for two projects. One is a short-term project (est. finish 2008), one is long term (i.e. lifelong)

“20 Most Satisfying Movie Happy Endings”

Another fun movie list from TotalFilm.com: 20 Most Satisfying Movie Happy Endings. Here are the first three: Rushmore (1998) The Ending: His play a triumph, and an imperfect but stable compromise reached with Ms Cross, Max Fischer looks ahead to young adulthood with a new girl on his arm

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 3

Here’s another reason you should look for movie story ideas wherever you can: You never know when inspiration may strike. Back in 1986, my only connection in Hollywood saw a news story about a local K-9 policeman and his canine partner. That news item changed his life — and