Scott Myers

“Global box office to jump 33% to $37.7 billion by 2013: Pricewaterhouse Coopers”

On the heels of the previous post and at the risk of gagging on too much good news, check out this report: In an annual survey that will be released Tuesday, the accounting giant projects that worldwide consumer spending in filmed entertainment — a category that includes how much consumers spend

“Pair launches indie shingle DFIS”

It was literally just about a year ago that the sky was falling on the indie movie world — or at least that’s what folks in the know were saying here, here, and here. Combine that with the seeming evidence that serious adult dramas are on the decline ala here

Hollywood tales

Richard Brooks, a sharp-tongued ex-Marine, was adapting Evan Hunter’s bestselling novel Blackboard Jungle at Metro — William Wyler was scheduled to shoot it, but Brooks wound up directing as well. He’d heard a song on his car radio driving home one night from a poker game, and

Michael Douglas’ top grossing movies

Actor-producer Michael Douglas is the recipient of this year’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. And the Daily Variety offers a nice retrospective of Douglas’ top grossing movies. The list is as follows: Fatal Attraction: $157M Traffic: $124M Basic Instinct: $118M The War of the Roses: $84M Disclosure: $83M Romancing

Spec script sale:

Chockstone Entertainment lands comedy spec “Tapped Out” by first-timers James Sommers and Grace Church: Laffer revolves around an unemployed, down-on-his luck man whose life is turned upside down when he accidentally punches and knocks out an Ultimate Fighting champion and is challenged to one round in the

Elmore Lenoard’s 10 Rules of Writing

Barnes and Noble.com (of all places) hosts this interview with novelist and occasional screenwriter / TV writer Elmore Leonard. Leonard, whose stories have been adapted into several notable movies including 3:10 to Yuma, 52 Pick-Up, Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, and Out of Sight, is known for twisting plots,

NBC’s Writers on the Verge

For those of you living in Southern California, note that the deadline for NBC’s Writers on the Verge is coming up: Writers on the Verge is a 10-week program focused on polishing writers and readying them for a staff writer position on a television series. We are looking

On writing

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.”  — Issac Asimov Comment Archive

Weekend Funny: Charlie Chaplin blooper reel

It’s been fun finding and watching the various blooper reels posted here over the last couple of months. And today we end with one of the greatest physical actors of all time: Charlie Chaplin. This find was forwarded to me by GITS reader Shea Vitartas, so a big H/

TCM Classic Film Union

From Cynopsis: Time Warner’s Turner Classic Movies is launching its own online social network for cinefiles. The TCM Classic Film Union utilizes rare film photos and video clips to spur discussions about old movies and stars and allows members to trick out their profiles by adding thumbnail images and

The importance of character names

The Importance of Character Names A well-chosen character name can reflect their personality. When I was in Banff, Canada recently, I got into a discussion with two writers about the question: How important are character names? The question had arisen because one writer was working on a screenplay in

Interview — George Lucas

I just finished reading the book “What Happens Next” by screenwriter Marc Norman and it’s a hugely entertaining and informative book. I was particularly taken by the section wherein Norman spotlights three directors — Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas — and details the hardest single part of their

Spec script sale: “Beautiful Girl”

Per Variety, Screen Gems picks up spec thriller “Beautiful Girl” from writer Michael Cunningham: Story concerns a shy but brainy high school girl who returns for senior year after having slimmed down six dress sizes. She finds herself flirting with the handsome English lit teacher, but the mutual crush turns

Friday movie reviews

Imagine That (Paramount) Daily Variety (Joe Leydon) Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt) Los Angeles Times (Gary Goldstein) The Taking of Pelham 1–2–3 (Sony) Daily Variety (Todd McCarthy) Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen) Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan) New York Times (A.O. Scott)

Great Scenes: “Parenthood”

Riffing off a recent discussion here about the importance of giving a script a great opening, I was reminded of one of my favorite beginning scenes — from the wonderful comedy Parenthood (1989). While the movie follows multiple characters, the Protagonist is Gil (Steve Martin). And his character’s central theme

“The Beaver” and “Harvey”

Once again, I’m traveling so I won’t be able to get to my final script takeaway series re “The Beaver” for a couple of days. But as I was reading through the comments, it suddenly struck me: Isn’t “The Beaver” very much like the 1950 movie Harvey

Spec script sale: “The Originals”

Hollywood Reporter has this item: Universal and Imagine have picked up “The Originals,” a drama written by Bryce Dallas Howard and writing partner Dane Charbeneau that could serve as a directing vehicle for her father, Ron Howard. Now before you punch your computer monitor and cry out, “Why wasn’t

UCLA Screenwriters Showcase

Just came across this: UCLA is set to honor the Oscar-winning screenwriter of MILK at an upcoming film festival event that will feature staged readings of prize-winning student scripts… Don’t miss the next Dustin Lance Black or Mike Werb. UCLA alumnus Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-

More Jack London

Several people commented on and emailed me about this week’s On Writing quote from writer Jack London: “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” Well, GITS reader Judy Potocki forwarded me some photographs of Jack London’s Klondike cabin in Dawson

“How ‘The Hangover’ Got Made”

Fascinating backstory on the genesis of the screenplay for The Hangover courtesy of Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood. The movie had a big opening weekend ($45M), representing the 3rd highest launch of an R-rated movie. Where did The Hangover get its start? It all started with Chris Bender who

Screenwriting 101 — Walter Hill

“When I’m working alone, the old hard way. Longhand. Fountain pen. Legal pad. Thesaurus at my side. This last item, I’m not ashamed to say, is quite helpful — when you write screenplays, you don’t have a lot of room, and the stage directions can become onerously repetitive

“What if…”

I already posted on the two most important words in the story concept process. Well, “what if” strikes again: DreamWorks has picked up “The Defenders,” a family adventure project conceived by “Heroes” actor Masi Oka to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. D.J. Caruso is in negotiations

Hollywood tales

“John [Ford], dressed only in a bathrobe and chomping on endless cigars, dictated the script scene by scene. [Dudley] Nichols often found himself standing up and shouting to make himself heard. John’s typical response if they didn’t agree was that Nichols didn’t ‘understand the Irish temperment,’ or

Box office

Remember this headline: “Pixar art leaves profit watchers edgy”? Richard Greenfield of Pali Research downgraded Disney shares to sell last month, citing a poor outlook for “Up” as a reason. “We doubt younger boys will be that excited by the main character,” he wrote, adding a complaint about the lack

On writing

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.”  — Jack London Comment Archive