Interview (Written): Michael Showalter The director of The Big Sick, written by Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon.
Black List writers on the craft: Characters (Part 3) Over the years, I have interviewed over 40 Black List screenwriters. This month, I will run a series featuring one topic per week related…
Screenwriting Lessons: “The King’s Speech” — Part 3: Talismans Five-part series exploring lessons from David Seidler’s Oscar winning script.
Script To Screen: “Beetlejuice” A memorable scene from the 1988 movie Beetlejuice with some significant changes from script to screen [screenplay by Michael McDowell and…
Daily Dialogue — June 21, 2017 [singing] “Born free, as free as the wind blows As free as the grass grows Born free to follow your heart”
Black List writers on the craft: Characters (Part 2) Over the years, I have interviewed over 40 Black List screenwriters. This month, I will run a series featuring one topic per week related…
Tim, I read your Suzanne Sullivan post, all the way through it. Rejection is a strange thing. It can be debilitating. It can be motivating. It can also take a long time to see what it means in the long…
Paul, here’s to stopping birthday celebrations! I love Breaking Away, one of my favorite movies. It was one of the very first screenplays I read (way back in 1986). It’s an apt metaphor…
Screenwriting Lessons: “The King’s Speech” — Part 2: Metamorphosis Five-part series exploring lessons from David Seidler’s Oscar winning script.
Screenwriting 101: Jeff Nichols “Find a way to get around linear thinking. Stories, even ones with jumbled timelines and time periods, are linear. They start, stuff…
Jonathan, I think there’s a lot to be said for the value of age and the quality — at least… I sold my first screenplay when I was 34. Ava DuVernay (director, Selma) didn’t pick up a camera until she was 30. Sometimes life gets in…
Reader Question: How insane is it for a 46 year-old to try to start a Hollywood writing career? It’s crazy, but then it’s crazy for ANYONE to expect to break into Hollywood.
Black List writers on the craft: Characters (Part 1) Over the years, I have interviewed over 40 Black List screenwriters. This month, I will run a series featuring one topic per week related…
Screenwriting Lessons: “The King’s Speech” — Part 1: Sympathetic Protagonist Five-part series exploring lessons from David Seidler’s Oscar winning script.
On Writing “When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, a surgeon’s probe. You wield it…
Reader Question: Could you explain how writing credits work? Peering into the mystery of screenwriting credits.
Interview (Written): Sam Patton The director of Desolation, a project discovered on the Black List website.
Interview (Video): Zal Batmanglij & Brit Marling Writers. Director. Actor. The Sound of My Voice and The OA.
Daily Dialogue — June 18, 2017 Clarice: Starling. Lecter: Well, Clarice, have the lambs stop screaming? Clarice: Dr. Lecter? Lecter: Don’t bother with a trace, I won’t be…
