Scott Myers

“I Will Not Read Your F***ing Script” — Dr. Seuss style

It’s the gift that keeps giving! The original Josh Olson bromide here. Now this: I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script By Steve Jarrett Inspired by an essay by Josh Olson With apologies to Theodore Geisel… I will not read your fucking script I will not read it in

Questions and Answers, Part 1

Several questions from the last open forum here. Tomorrow I’ll answer the rest: From Lalithra Fernando: Do you have any tips/suggestions/advice regarding writing short film scripts? Any particular distinctions from a feature length script aside from length? I’m going to define short as something from 1–

“Larry Gelbart: The Mold Was Just Broken”

As noted here, veteran TV and screenwriter Larry Gelbart died last Friday. There have been some nice tributes written about him over the weekend. Here is my favorite — from writer and Huffington Post contributor Robert J. Elisberg: Some days, you wish you didn’t answer the phone. Today was that

“‘Toy Story 3’ backstory revealed by Pixar’s John Lasseter”

“Hero Complex,” the super LA Times movie blog, has this report: When it came time to create the third installment of the “Toy Story” saga, John Lasseter gathered members of the creative team who worked with him on the groundbreaking computer-animated film — Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter — and retreated

On writing

“A movie is not a book. If the source material is a book, you cannot be too respectful of the book. All you owe to the book is the spirit. Everything else — just tear that motherfucker apart.”    — Richard Price

Daily dialogue — September 14, 2009

“Life is what happens to you while you’re waiting for your ship to come in.”  — Glory (Uma Thurman), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), written by Richard Price Comment Archive

Reflections on Stanley Kubrick

The final part of our tribute to Stanley Kubrick. First an excerpt from a 1999 Channel Four (UK) documentary featuring Stephen Spielberg, Sydney Pollock, Tom Cruise, and Nicole Kidman: Next a 13-minute documentary excerpt called “The Art of Stanley Kubrick”: And we end with two stories from writer Stephen

“The Making of THE SHINING” (by Vivian Kubrick)

As we continue to remember Stanley Kubrick today, here is something very cool: “Stanley Kubrick allowed his then-17-year-old daughter, Vivian, to make a documentary about the production of THE SHINING. Created originally for the British television show BBC Arena, the documentary offers rare insight into the shooting

Video interview: Stanley Kubrick

Today we honor Stanley Kubrick. Noted as a film director, Kubrick also co-wrote most of his movies including The Killing (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket

Pitch sale: “Mourning After”

Three prod cos — Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, A Bigger Boat, and GreeneStreet Films — have joined together to buy “Mourning After”, a supernatural thriller pitch from screenwriter David Loughery: Loughery is currently penning the screenplay, set in contemporary San Francisco and centering on a man who falls in love with a beautiful

“Adobe Story: From Script to Screen”

A H/T to GITS reader Kevin Wild who sent me this link to an interesting new screenwriting software. Per Kevin: New Adobe online screenwriting software? This has serious potential, especially for collaborative projects. It’s about time someone stepped up to give Final Draft some competition. This is compatible

Jerusha & Jerod Hess (Gentlemen Broncos)

You probably love the movie Napoleon Dynamite (2004). And likely you know some of the movie’s storied background: How actor Jon Heder was paid $1,000 to play the lead role (the movie grossed over $40M); how the movie was edited on a Macintosh using Final Cut Pro; how

Video interview: Shane Acker

The animated movie 9 opened on 9/9/09 and is playing in theaters now. It’s based on this short animation piece which was written and directed by Shane Acker: http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x1jl41_9-nine-shane-acker-short-animation_creation 9 Nine Shane Acker Short Animation

“9/11 widow: Do I really want the truth?”

Over time, I’ve read innumerable accounts about the events of 9/11/2001 in New York City and its effects on people. This one in Salon.com, told by 9/11 widow Alissa Torres — “Do I really want the truth?” — is particularly gripping: For the past eight years, I’

RIP: Larry Gelbart (1928–2009)

Very sad news. The LA Times is reporting that prolific TV and screenwriter Larry Gelbart died this morning at his home in Beverly Hills: Jack Lemmon once described the genial, quick-witted Gelbart as “one of the greatest writers of comedy to have graced the arts in this century.” Gelbart’

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is kicking off today. TIFF has become one of the largest and most important film festival’s, but this year’s even takes on special significance because of the crap global economy. IndieWire is the best resource for TIFF coverage. In this article, for example,

15th Annual Austin Film Festival

GITS reader Kevin Wild alerted me to the fact that the Austin Film Festival has released its panel schedule here: THURSDAY, 10/22 A Shot of Inspiration Giving up on writing is not an option. Come and listen to Dan Petrie., Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop, The Big Easy) and “Mad

Great Scene: “Night Shift”

“What are we really talking about here? What’s the essence of what we’re talking about? I’ll spell it out for you. PROSTITUTION!” One of the classic 80’s comedies is Night Shift (1982), written by the prolific screenwriting team Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, and directed by

Question: “What are the qualities of a marketable script?”

An open forum question from Anonymous: What are the qualities of a salable/marketable idea that would garner buzz for an aspiring writer? By “idea,” I’ll take that to mean spec script. And instead of me blathering on, I’ve got two quotes from professionals who were kind enough

Spec script sale: “Supermax”

Halle-freaking-lujah! Finally a spec script sale. Columbia Pics plunks down a reported six figure to buy horror-action spec “Supermax” from writers Christopher Allen Nelson and Matt Rouse: “Supermax” takes place in a Maximum Security Prison for the Super-Natural as a skilled guard must join forces with

“I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script”

A H/T to GITS reader Paul Sanford who forwarded me this link to a Village Voice piece by screenwriter Josh Olson with the provocative title “I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script.” Here are some key excerpts: I will not read your fucking script. That’s simple enough, isn’

How They Write A Script — Philip Dunne

Today some words of wisdom from screenwriter Philip Dunne. A veteran of the Hollywood “studio system” , Dunne had a long and prolific screenwriting career from 1932 to 1965. Writing credits include The Count of Monte Cristo (1932), The Last of the Mohicans (1936), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), and

Daily dialogue — September 10, 2009

“I thought you were sexless. But you’ve just become a woman. And do you know how I know that? Because you like me tied up! All women, whether they wish to admit it or not, would like to get men into a tied-up situation.”  — Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence

Question: “How to work with a manager / agent?”

An open forum question from Ted Nussbaum: I was curious about the etiquette and “rules” of submitting work to industry contacts when one already has representation. My situation is this: I have a manager and while he’s been diligent about submitting my work, there are times when he’s

The Bitter Script Reader + Hollywood Roaster

What’s better than pimping a good screenwriting blog? Pimping two good screenwriting blogs! I checked into The Bitter Script Reader recently and found this: Ever wonder what happens if you fail to follow the formatting rules I often warn about? You become fodder for jokes like this one at