Scott Myers

Reader Question: What about a revelation flashback?

Open Forum question from Peter Dwight: I just wanted ask a question about Flashbacks twists. I went over previous posts on GITS, and found several posts involving them. The reoccurring idea is that it’s looked down upon, especially by readers. The type I’m interested in is the ‘revealing

Pitch Sale: “Puzzle Palace”

Summit Entertainment buys teen thriller pitch “Puzzle Palace” from writer David Guggenheim: “Puzzle” follows a kid who gets locked in a police station trying to steal evidence and has to escape crooked cops to get out. Guggenheim’s background: Guggenheim is the US Weekly editor with no prior screenwriting experience

“Ten rules for writing fiction”: Andrew Motion

Several GITS readers emailed me about a great series The Guardian ran recently: Ten Rules For Writing Fiction. Today we feature Andrew Motion: 1 Decide when in the day (or night) it best suits you to write, and organise your life accordingly. 2 Think with your senses as well as

Scene Description Spotlight: “The Matrix”

Still for my money, one of the best scripts for action-writing. The Wachowskis use the basic elements of visual writing — strong verbs and vivid descriptors — to create a visceral sense of time, place, and action. Here are two excerpts of the opening sequence where Trinity tries to escape Agent

Daily Dialogue — March 18, 2010

“You are by far the dumbest, most pathetic piece of maggot eatin’ shit that has every slid from a human being’s hairy ass… You’re an emotional fucking cripple. Your soul is dog shit. Every single fucking thing about you is ugly.”  — Marcus (Tony Cox) to Willie (Billy Bob

The Small Street Sounds Filmmaking Competition

Since several of the Movies You Made series were shorts, I thought some GITS readers might find this interesting: Call for Entries: The Smalls Street Sounds Filmmaking Competition Independent filmmakers everywhere are invited to listen out for inspiration and compete with short films inspired by the sounds around us The

Reader question: What should be on a one sheet?

There’s a traditional one-sheet. And a one sheet. I talk about both. A reader question from E.C. Henry: Currently I’m revamping my script marketing material (while working on three new scripts). So I was wondering if you could give me some pointers as to what I

“26 Things the Movies Taught You”

H/T to Jamie Schaffner for Facebooking me this list: 1) Large, loft-style apartments in New York City are well within the price range of most people — whether they are employed or not. 2) At least one of a pair of identical twins is born evil. 3) Should you

“Ten rules for writing fiction”: Michael Morpurgo

Several GITS readers emailed me about a great series The Guardian ran recently: Ten Rules For Writing Fiction. Today we feature Michael Morpurgo: 1 The prerequisite for me is to keep my well of ideas full. This means living as full and varied a life as possible, to have my

Screenwriting 101 — Ed Solomon

“The easiest thing to remember about writing comedy is if it generally makes you laugh, it has a better shot of making other people laugh. If it doesn’t make you laugh, but you think it will make other people laugh, it’s probably not going to.”  — Ed Solomon (Bill

Daily Dialogue — March 17, 2010

“Oh man, shut your anorexic malnutrition tapeworm-having overdose on Dick Gregory Bahamian diet-drinking ass up. Leave me alone!”  — Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), White Men Can’t Jump (1992), written and directed by Ron Shelton The Daily Dialogue theme this week is insults, suggested by DP. White Men Can’

Reader question: What about recommending a screenwriting class?

An Open Forum question via email from Joe Tone: I’m writing with what I hope is a pretty simple question: While I know screenwriting courses aren’t part of the mantra, I’m lucky to have the means and time to take one. So, naturally, I’m thinking about

Update: “The Rock ’n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher”

Film producer and screenwriter Gillian Fritzsche, who was featured here in a Q&A, emailed me with some good news about her new movie The Rock ’n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher: Just wanted to let you know that “The Rock ’n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher” made it

“Ten rules for writing fiction”: Michael Moorcock

Several GITS readers emailed me about a great series The Guardian ran recently: Ten Rules For Writing Fiction. Today we feature Michael Moorcock: 1 My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything

Pitch Sale: “The Last Witch Hunter”

Summit Entertainment buys action-horror pitch “The Last Witch Hunter” from writer Cory Goodman: The protagonist is one of the last remaining witch hunters, a breed that keeps the population of witches and warlocks in check. They are about to repopulate in a major way unless he can stop them.

Hollywood Tales

“I went to grad school for creative writing and one week, we had a seminar and John Irving came in, the novelist and screenwriter. I remember he told us he never begins a novel until he knows the very last line. We do the exact opposite. We don’t want

Daily Dialogue — March 16, 2010

“Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking…NERF HERDER!”  — Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Star Wars: Episode 5 — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, story by George Lucas The Daily Dialogue theme this week is insults, suggested by DP. The Empire Strikes Back suggested

“It Ain’t Pretty No More: See Paul Schrader’s Outline for ‘Raging Bull’”

[A detail from Paul Schrader’s outline for the screenplay of “Raging Bull.”] Per the NY Times Arts Beat blog: Once Robert De Niro gave his career-spanning collection of papers and artifacts to posterity, it was only a matter of time before the filmmaker Paul Schrader, his screenwriter on

Reader Question: How can a screenwriter find their own voice?

An Open Forum question via email from Mahmoud: How can a person finds his own voice and not copy other writers and artists? Insofar as we’re talking about mainstream Hollywood movies, I don’t consider screenwriting to be an art; I think of it as a craft. So while

Spec Script Sales 2009 Analysis: Genres

By my count, Hwood studios and prod cos acquired 68 spec scripts in 2009. Note: I acquired information from the Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, DoneDealPro.com, online tracking boards, various other movie blogs, and LA contacts. That said, these should not be considered ‘official’ stats, but best estimates given information

“Ten rules for writing fiction”: Hilary Mantel

Several GITS readers emailed me about a great series The Guardian ran recently: Ten Rules For Writing Fiction. Today we feature Hilary Mantel: 1 Are you serious about this? Then get an accountant. 2 Read Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you

Q&A: Manager-producer Dan Halsted

Back in January, 1987, the point person in the sale of the spec script K-9 to Unversal Studios was a young agent named Dan Halsted. We’ve stayed in touch all these years and I’m pleased that Dan agreed to answer some questions for GITS readers. First some

On Writing

“If I’m trying to sleep, the ideas won’t stop. If I’m trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness.”  — Carrie Latet Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — March 15, 2010

“You — you imbecile! You bloated idiot! You stupid fat-head!”  — Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), The Maltese Falcon (1941), screenplay by John Huston, based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett The Daily Dialogue theme this week is insults, suggested by DP. The Maltese Falcon suggested by Adam. Comment Archive

“Christopher Nolan takes flight with Superman: ‘We have a fantastic story’”

If you don’t visit the LA Times blog “The Hero Complex”, you’re missing out on some great stuff. For instance, this exclusive feature on Christopher Nolan as he preps to take on his newest project: Superman: The topic at the Batcave on Monday night was the future of