Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — February 28, 2010

The Caller: You’re in this position because you’re not telling the truth. Stu: No, I’m in this fucking position because YOU HAVE A GUN!  — Stu (Colin Ferrell), The Caller (Kiefer Sutherland), Phone Booth (2002), written by Larry Cohen This week’s Daily Dialogue theme is telephone talk,

Written Interview: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio

This one is from the vaults, originally posted 3/28/09. Since Rossio came up this week in a discussion about his idea of “character patterns”, I thought it would be helpful to re-post this as it has links to several E&R interviews and features. Since the

Written Interview: Robert Mark Kamen

“Wax on. Wax off.” For movie fans from the 80s, that dialogue is immediately identifiable as coming from The Karate Kid (1984). The screenplay was written by Robert Mark Kamen who has gone on to a notable career as a screenwriter including such movies as Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), A

Written Interview: Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island)

Today’s written interview is with screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis. The sole writer credited on the recently released hit movie Shutter Island, WGA.org provides some info on Kalogridis’ background: Like anyone who has survived over a decade and a half in the screenwriting trade, Laeta Kalogridis is both humble and

Daily Dialogue — February 27, 2010

[Rod has just told Jerry he will keep him as his agent]  Jerry Maguire: That’s, that’s great. I’m very… happy. Rod Tidwell: Are you listenin’? Jerry Maguire: Yes! Rod Tidwell: That’s what I’m gonna do for you: God bless you, Jerry. But this is what

Special 5-part series next week!

Next week along with the regular fare on GITS, we’ll be having a special 5-part series: “What the acting craft can teach writers about the writing craft.” I was inspired to pursue this recently when I posted “27 Golden Rules of Writing”, found on the “The Dialogue” series

Producer David Brown remembered by screenwriter Tom Benedek

On February 1, 2010, famed Hollywood movie producer David Brown died at his home in Manhattan. He was 93. Brown’s producing credits are numerous including Jaws (1975), The Verdict (1982), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), The Player (1992), A Few Good Men (1992), Angela’s Ashes (1999), and Chocolat (2000)

Rob’s Finds

And now another tour through the mental meanderings of GITS contributor Rob Fuller as exhibited in what wild things he found this week on the Web. We start with this juicy nugget: “13 Hitchcock Films That Were Never Made”: Even legendary directors like Alfred Hitchcock don’t always get their

“How Writers Create Their Fiction”: Nina Schuyler

I uncovered this month-long NPR series “How Writers Create Their Fiction”, originally run in November 2006. I found many of the ideas presented by the various writers to be informative and inspirational, so we’ll be featuring one writer from the series per day during February.    Today’s writer

Great Scene: “Withnail and I”

It’s Withnail taking on Danny the Headhunter in a verbal joust. One of my absolute favorite comedies is Withnail and I (1987). Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, the movie features amazing performances by several actors including Richard E. Grant as Withnail, Paul McGann as I (Marwood), and Richard

Daily Dialogue — February 26, 2010

Jill Johnson: [picks up phone, thinking it’s Curt again] Leave me alone! Sgt. Sacker: Jill, this is sergeant Sacker. Listen to me. We’ve traced the call… it’s coming from inside the house. Now a squad car’s coming over there right now, just get out of that

“Why I Write” (GITS Reader Post): Jeff Eyamie

It’s been inspirational watching this blog evolve into an online community of writers for and about screenwriting and the creative life. From Jeff Messerman starting up The GITS Club peer review site to Rob Fuller becoming our first contributor with “Rob’s Finds” (Fridays at 2PM EST), a weekly

“Shit My Dad Says”

So you’ve probably heard about the Twitter phenomenon which is @shitmydadsays currently with 1,192,000+ followers. Perhaps you’ve read this: “When Moving in with Your Parents Can Land You a Book Deal”: Having to move back home at the age of 28 almost universally signals defeat. Images

Movies You Made: “Survive the House”

Back on January 4th, I posted this: If you’ve been involved in the production of an original movie, short or full-length, would you please post in comments some background about the movie, its IMDB link (if available), a VIMEO or YouTube link (if available)?  I thought it would

“How Writers Create Their Fiction”: Laura Lippman

I uncovered this month-long NPR series “How Writers Create Their Fiction”, originally run in November 2006. I found many of the ideas presented by the various writers to be informative and inspirational, so we’ll be featuring one writer from the series per day during February.    Today’s writer

Scene Description Spotlight: “There’s Something About Mary”

There are many funny scenes in the Farrelly brothers’ movie There’s Something About Mary, but the “franks or beans” scene is right up there as one of the most memorable: INT. BATHROOM - TWILIGHTTed dabs his head with a tissue, then moves to the toilet. As he TAKES A LEAK

Daily Dialogue — February 25, 2010

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career.

The GITS Club news: Welcome a new moderator!

It was back around the start of the New Year that Jeff Messerman approached me about creating a GITS peer review site. I listened to Jeff’s ideas about creating a place where writers could go to receive honest, informed feedback on their writing in a supportive environment — and immediately

“Character patterns”

In this post the other day — Rod Serling talking about character motivation — Zach asked this in comments: Terry Rossio talked about the idea of Character Patterns in a recent interview…Scott or anyone else know what a Character Pattern is? That would be Terry Rossio of the screenwriting duo Elliott

“Upping The Craft: Susan O’Connor On Games Writing”

H/T to GITS reader Alex Yalen for this interview with video game writer Susan O’Connor: Veteran video game writer Susan O’Connor believes that there’s a lot of room to improve the writing in games — and she would know; she’s been involved in many of the

“How Writers Create Their Fiction”: Kaui Hart Hemmings

I uncovered this month-long NPR series “How Writers Create Their Fiction”, originally run in November 2006. I found many of the ideas presented by the various writers to be informative and inspirational, so we’ll be featuring one writer from the series per day during February.    Today’s writer

Screenwriting 101: John Michael Hayes

“I prefer to start a screenplay and go through the whole first draft in one fell swoop. To get all the emotion, color, drama, melodrama, purple prose, and everything else that I can put into a story. Because I know that, during subsequent script conferences with the director and the

Daily Dialogue — February 24, 2010

“Hello?… Uh… Hello D- uh hello Dmitri? Listen uh uh I can’t hear too well. Do you suppose you could turn the music down just a little?… Oh-ho, that’s much better… yeah… huh… yes… Fine, I can hear you now, Dmitri… Clear and plain and coming through

Congratulations, Jeff Messerman!

Talk about good karma! Long-time GITS follower Jeff Messerman, who on his own initiative started and moderates The GITS Club, our peer review site, recently received some great news: I got not one, but two writer-for-hire jobs… Been cultivating this one for a long time. First one

“The Dialogue Series”

When I first started this blog and began my quest to aggregate as much content about screenwriting and screenwriters as I could find, I quickly discovered “The Dialogue Series”. Very simple premise: A sit-down interview with a professional screenwriter, each DVD about 75–90 minutes in length. The series