Scott Myers

Great Scene: It’s A Wonderful Life

A fine example of subtext is this memorable scene from the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). It’s Mary and George on the phone together with their ol’ pal George Wainwright. And while they’re talking about business opportunities, what are they really talking about? INT. SAM&

Daily Dialogue — December 18, 2009

“All of a sudden you’re taking an interest in what I do? You have an opinion about my life *now*? Okay, you listen to me. I am getting married the day after tomorrow and you are going to come to my wedding and you are going to sit there

Question: Is [writing] ignorance bliss?

Open forum question from The Bitter Script Reader: Is ignorance really bliss? That is to say, if you knew when you were starting out just how tough a business this was, and all the struggles a single project goes through, would you have still had the faith and will to

“Star Wars” acapella tribute by Moosebutter

I’m probably way behind the cultural curve on this one, but my son Luke dialed me into this video and it’s pretty damn clever: Anybody hip to Moosebutter? Comment Archive

Spec Script Sale: “The Panopticon”

Nice holiday gift to writer Craig Rosenberg as Lionsgate buys sci-fi thriller spec “The Panopticon”: Lionsgate acquired the project as a spec, and will finance the film and control worldwide rights. The plan is to put it into production next year. In “The Panopticon,” a salesman receives a pre-

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Altered States

Mark Twain is supposed to have said, “Write drunk, edit sober.” And I suspect throughout history, a goodly percentage of writers have never strayed far from some sort of hooch, firewater, or cobra piss. Understandable I suppose because a few glasses of vino can shut up our Internal Editor — “You

Scene Description Spotlight: “Alien”

Since we featured Wall-E last week, and co-screenwriter Andrew Stanton acknowledged his inspiration for the ‘haiku style’ approach he took to scene description from reading the script to Alien, I figured we should take a look at what Walter Hill and David Giler did with their final draft.

Reader Question: Do I continue with a 5th draft or start writing a new script?

Question from Jerry: Scott, First time question asker, long time blog reader; What is your approach for rewriting scripts? Do you go from draft to draft immediately or do you take time between each draft? I ask because I’m in the middle of a 5th draft, but I have

What are your predictions for the WGA best screenplay nominations?

I received an email from GITS reader Mahmoud today. After noting that early on last year, he had predicted “that Slumdog Millionaire would sweep the whole awards and it happened.” Armed with that success, Mahmoud sent me his predictions for this year’s best screenplays: Best Original Screenplay 1.The

Watch Movies. Read Scripts. Write Pages.

When I came up with this screenwriting mantra back in 2009. I received an email yesterday from a student who began writing in high school and is now studying at a community college. She has written “a few” spec scripts. Her basic inquiry was where to go with her spec

“12 Selected for Sundance’s Screenwriters Lab”

Sundance announces the 12 “up and coming filmmakers [who] have been tapped to participate in the Sundance Institute’s annual Screenwriters Lab”: Lance Edmands (writer/director) / Bluebird (U.S.): In the frozen woods of an isolated Maine logging town, one woman’s tragic mistake leads to unexpected consequences. Craig Zobel

Daily Dialogue — December 16, 2009

“I noticed something. For some reason, probably because I was too stoned to talk, everywhere I went people would talk to me. Tell me everything. Their problems, their inner most thoughts. Sometimes they needed advice, but most of the people just wanted someone to listen.”  — Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean), Mumford

Question: How to handle insert shots?

Open forum question from E.C. Henry: My question this week for you Scott is, how do you format insert shots in spec script format? For the benefit of all, from one of my screenwriting reference books, I submit the following definition of what an insert shot is: “An insert

Quentin Tarantino’s top 8 films of 2009 (so far)

Courtesy of THR: Are you surprised that a certain Paramount sci-fi summer blockbuster is #1 on his list? Comment Archive

“Box-office revenue up for 2009”

Showy piece yesterday in the L.A Times, echoing what we post here last week. Per the LAT: Despite a recession that has led to drops in nearly every category of consumer spending, box-office revenue is up 8.6% so far this year in the U.S. and Canada

Clyde Phillips leaving “Dexter”

AHHHH!: Talk about leaving on a high note. The ratings record-breaking “Dexter” finale Sunday, which capped the Showtime drama’s highest-rated season, also marked the last episode for the show’s executive producer/showrunner Clyde Phillips, who is departing the series. So that was the real season-ending

67th Golden Globe nominations

Per their website: For screenplay: 12. BEST SCREENPLAY — MOTION PICTURE a. NEILL BLOMKAMP, DISTRICT 9 TERRI TATCHELL b. MARK BOAL THE HURT LOCKER c. NANCY MEYERS IT’S COMPLICATED d. JASON REITMAN, UP IN THE AIR SHELDON TURNER e. QUENTIN TARANTINO INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS The rest: 1. BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA

Hollywood Tales

“I moved out here (Los Angeles) because I had sinusitis, and the doctor recommended a warm climate… The people I knew here were the people I played polo with in the East before the Crash. I was unhorsed by the Crash. Actually, I tried to get a job in a

“Cable Ratings: ‘Dexter’ Finale Shatters Showtime Records”

Not surprised: The season four finale of Showtime’s Dexter shattered records for the pay cable network Sunday, Dec. 13. The episode became the most-watched episode of an original series in network history, posting a 71% gain over the season three finale with 2.575 million viewers at 9

Question: What about public domain films?

Open Forum question from 305 wwriter: I know public domain books are fair game for adaptation, but can public domain films be used in the same way? First, a definition: Public Domain refers to the body of creative works and knowledge in which no person, government or organization has any

WGA noms for TV,

The 2010 nominations for everything but movies: DRAMA SERIES Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, George Mastras, J. Roberts, John Shiban, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC Dexter, Written by Scott Buck, Charles H. Eglee, Lauren Gussis, Clyde Phillips, Melissa Rosenberg, Wendy West; Showtime Friday Night Lights, Written

How They Write A Script: Jay Presson Allen

“She is one of a handful of first-rank screenwriters of the post-1960s who also happens to be female. This has figured into her trademark of flamboyant female characters, stories that often focus on divorce and marriage or explosive relationships, family matters (including the pilot episode of the prestigious

It’s On The Grid

Jason Scoggins is a man wearing many hats. He’s a manager: Jason Scoggins is a manager and partner at Protocol, a Beverly Hills-adjacent literary management and production company. He represents writers, directors and producers of film and TV alongside Protocol’s founding partners Brian Inerfeld and John Ufland.

“Muppet fur flies over Jim Henson script”

A most interesting read in the LA Times blog Company Town about the screenplay “The Muppet Man,” written by first-timer Christopher Weekes. The script, which sits atop the recently released Black List (2009), is caught up in some controversy: Weekes was discovered by managers Britton Rizzio and Kelly McCormack

On writing

“There’s a Persian proverb — ‘When the heart is willing you’ll find a thousand ways, and when it’s unwilling it will find a thousand excuses.’” — Randall Wallace