Great Scene: “Thief” What makes a great movie scene? Why do they work? What are their narrative elements that elevate them to greatness? Let’s face it: In a…
The Business of Screenwriting: Bidding War They don’t happen in Hollywood as often as they used to … but a hot spec script can still generate interest with multiple buyers.
Page One: “47 Ronin” (2013) Screenplay by Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini, screen story by Chris Morgan & Walter Hamada
Script Analysis: “Aftersun” — Part 3: Character A week-long analysis of the screenplay for the critically acclaimed horror-thriller. Download. Read. Discuss.
Hollywood Tale Peter Jackson had been developing Lord of the Rings at Miramax when one day he was called into a meeting where they informed him they…
Character Development for Writing TV Writing episodic television is its own unique thing and different in many respects to feature-writing. However, when it comes to character…
Script Analysis: “Aftersun” — Part 2: Plot A week-long analysis of the screenplay for the critically acclaimed horror-thriller. Download. Read. Discuss.
Spec Script Deal: “Seismic” Netflix acquires thriller spec script “Seismic” written by Greg Russo. Via Deadline:
Screenwriting 101: John Swartzwelder This insight comes from longtime The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder.
I just got done reading the script while watching the movie. One comment I can make in reference to the scene-by-scene breakdown: There are several scenes, moments, even characters cut from the film…
Style = Voice Style goes beyond mere “scene description.” My one-week online class focuses on expressing your voice on the page. It begins February 27th.
Script Analysis: “Aftersun” — Part 1: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown A week-long analysis of the screenplay for the critically acclaimed horror-thriller. Download. Read. Discuss.
Great Scene: “Sunset Blvd.” It’s one of the most famous endings in Hollywood film history: Sunset Blvd. (1950), co-written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, their…
On Writing “You can’t write for other people. You can’t write for the left or the right, this religion or that religion, or this belief or that…
Page One: “A League of Their Own” (1992) Screenplay by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, story by Kim Wilson & Kelly Candaele
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Read your dialogue aloud This is truly one of the easiest things you can do to improve your dialogue writing: When you finish a draft of your script, read aloud…
Go Into The Story Interview: Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Character Type: Advocate “The Advocate taps into powerful psychological and emotional strains at work in our collective psyche. The hope there are good people out…
Interview (Video): M. Night Shyamalan An hour-plus conversation with the writer-director of Knock at the Cabin.
Page One: “A Dangerous Method” (2011) Screenplay Christopher Hampton, play by Christopher Hampton, book by John Kerr
Hollywood Tales “The Conversation was an original screenplay written probably in the mid-sixties. It’s difficult for me sometimes to place these scripts…
