Interview (Part 6): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Great Scene: “The Silence of the Lambs” Two flashbacks to Clarice as a young girl are critical to the narrative. Plus, the script for a third flashback which was never shot.
Video: 10 Screenwriting Tips from Ruben Östlund Insights into the craft from the writer-director of Triangle of Sadness.
Page One: “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019) Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, inspired by the article “Can You Say… Hero?” by Tom Junod, based on the work of Fred…
Reader Question: How to convey a character’s emotional state in scene description? How much latitude does a screenwriter have to editorialize in scene description?
Interview (Part 5): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Great Scene: “The Shawshank Redemption” Red’s parole board scenes — three of them — are their own mini-story.
Writing and the Creative Life: 4 Tips On Creativity From The Creator Of Calvin & Hobbes I saw this article in Fast Company a while back and in reading it, I realized how important comic strips have been in my adult life…
Writing on Assignment In Hollywood, it’s known as an O.W.A.. In the film school at DePaul University, it’s called SCWR 305 405.
Interview (Part 4): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Great Scene: “Shakespeare In Love” A revelation scene from the Academy Award winning screenplay and movie Shakespeare In Love (1998), written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.
The Business of Screenwriting: Chilled Whine On March 7, 1988, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. It lasted 155 days and is the longest work stoppage in Guild history…
Page One: “28 Weeks Later” (2007) Screenplay by Rowan Joffe & Juan Carlos Fresnadillo & Enrique López Lavigne & Jesús Olmo
High Concept vs. Strong Story Concept What should you be looking for when generating story ideas? A conversation I had in one of my recent online classes.
Interview (Part 3): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Character Type: Addict “The struggle between self-control and the pull of the addiction. It represents conflict on a fundamental level, powerful physical needs…
Great Scene: “Schindler’s List” There are many scenes from the 1993 film Schindler’s List that are seared into my memory, but perhaps the most haunting one involves the…
Spec Script Deal: “Undo” New Line Cinema acquires the action thriller spec script “Undo” written by Will Simmons. Via Deadline:
Interview (Part 2): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.
Great Scene: “Saving Private Ryan” Captain Miller finally reveals what his job is back home. Some interesting changes from script to screen.
Screenwriting 101: David Hare “The hardest thing in film is distinguishing between good and bad input. The whole point of writing screenplays is to provide a platform…
Page One: “21 Jump Street” (2012) Screenplay by Michael Bacall, story by Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill, television series by Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Cannell
Spec Script Deal: “Weapons” New Line Cinema acquires horror thriller spec script “Weapons” written by Zack Cregger. Via Deadline:
