Scott Myers

Franklin Leonard on the Writer’s Life

As the seven lucky writers who participated in the 2016 Black List Feature Writers Lab made their way home this weekend, Franklin Leonard sent them each an email. Normally what he wrote is something he would communicate to the lab writers on our final night together, but this year Franklin

Free Screenwriting Resource: The Business of Screenwriting

Obviously you need to focus on learning the craft of screenwriting, but if you hope to sustain a career in the movie industry, it behooves you to understand key aspects of the business as well. That was the impetus for long-running weekly series The Business of Screenwriting and there

Classic International Movie: “Jules et Jim”

October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from Susan Winchell. Movie Title: Jules and Jim Year: 1962 Writers: François Truffaut and Jean Gruault (based on Henri-Pierre Roché’s 1953 semi-autobiographical novel) Lead Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre Director: François Truffaut IMDb Plot

Spec Script Deal: “Northeast Kingdom”

Paramount Pictures acquires drama thriller spec script “Northeast Kingdom” written by Alex R. Johnson. From Deadline: The story line is being kept under wraps on this one, but we hear that it’s a female two-hander revenge thriller. From Tracking Board: The story is a female-driven revenge thriller

Screenwriting 101: Mike Carey

“I tend not to read How-To guides. I’ve read a little bit of Syd Field, I’ve read a little bit of Vogler, and I’ve read a little bit of McKee on story. But at a certain point I tend to get discouraged and stop because I

Daily Dialogue — October 25, 2016

INT. BATEMAN’S APARTMENT- MORNING TRACKING through a huge white apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Manhattan. It’s decorated in expensive, minimalist high style: marble floors, a huge white sofa, a large Baselitz painting and expensive electronic equipment — the feel is oddly impersonal. INT. BATEMAN’S

A different approach to “theme”

Nearly everything I’ve ever read on the subject of ‘theme’ in relation to screenwriting has felt either confusing or impractical. What does theme mean? How should we understand it? How can we use it in our writing? The ironic thing is theme is incredibly important: * Important in helping us

Free Screenwriting Resource: Scene Description Spotlight

Learning the craft of screenwriting involves… well… everything. That includes something as basic as this: How to write scene description. You know, all those pesky nouns, adjectives, and verbs we use to convey action. Like this in Lethal Weapon: And jumps the railing. Plummets, head over heels like a rag

Classic International Movie: “Amarcord”

October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from Norma Parena. Movie Title: Amarcord Year: 1973 Writers: Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra Lead Actors: Bruno Zanin, Armando Brancia, Pupella Maggio Awards: 19 wins and 8 nominations including: Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film (1975); Silver Ribbon Awards (Italy), including

Writing Lessons from Black List Feature Writers Lab Mentors

Last week, I was one of 7 mentors for 7 writers selected for the 2016 Black List Feature Writers Lab. It was a remarkable week filled with fantastic activities, but the focus was the one-on-one writer-mentor sessions and group workshops which I led. Check out this list

On Writing

“Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you’re on your own. ­Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.” — Margaret Atwood

Daily Dialogue — October 24, 2016

Richard Vernon: Well, well. Here we are. I want to congratulate you for being on time. Claire Standish: Excuse me, sir. I think there’s been a mistake. I know it’s detention but I don’t think I belong in here. Vernon ignores her, carrying on with his speech.

Reader Question: What’s the best way to approach pitching?

From Anonymous, In the next month I will be pitching for the chance to write the script for an upcoming film. A producer, having seen some shorts and a webseries I made along with reading some spec scripts, has asked me to go along but this will be my first

Screenwriting News (October 17-October 23, 2016)

This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Michael Almereyda adapting “White Noise” for BB Film Productions. Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim adapting “Crazy Rich Asians” for Warner Bros. Pictures. David Coggeshall writing “Starfall” for Lionsgate. Laurence Coriat writing “Icarus” for Archery Pictures, Forthcoming Productions, and Start Motion Pictures.

Q&A (Video): “Moonlight” cast and crew

A post-screening Q&A with Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Trevante Rhodes and Writer-Director Barry Jenkins from the movie Moonlight: A trailer for the movie: Via the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

Daily Dialogue — October 23, 2016

Deep Throat: You let Haldeman slip away. Bob Woodward: Yes. Deep Throat: You’ve done worse than let Haldeman slip away: you’ve got people feeling sorry for him. I didn’t think that was possible. In a conspiracy like this, you build from the outer edges and go step

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Discipline

The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Discipline. “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) Discipline is an interesting theme. Who is doling out the discipline? Who is the recipient? Plus there is self-discipline. That should provide fodder for this week’s theme. The

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 260th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. 2017 Oscar Predictions: Best Adapted Screenplay. How Disney Companies Like Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm Maintain Their Creative Cultures. Wanda to Unveil Massive 40 Percent Incentive to

Interview (Written): Marianne and Cormac Wibberley

A Script magazine interview with husband and wife screenwriting duo Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, whose movie credits include National Treasure and its sequel, Bad Boys 2, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, G-Force, The Shaggy Dog, and I Spy. NM: How much research do you do when preparing to write

Daily Dialogue — October 22, 2016

“The organizing principle of any society, Mr. Garrison, is for war. The authority of the state over its people resides in its war powers. Kennedy wanted to end the Cold War in his second term. He wanted to call off the moon race and cooperate with the Soviets. He signed

Reader Question: Are there specific ways to simplify and focus a story?

A question from Zach: Anyone know of any specific ways to simplify a story? I feel like I lose touch with my main idea pretty quickly. There must be some comparable aspects between essays and screenwriting… Short of knowing the specifics of your situation, here are a few general thoughts.

Free Screenwriting Resource: 115 Words for “Walks” / 90 Words for “Looks”

Other than poetry, there may be no narrative platform where every word choice is as critical as it is in a screenplay. Whenever we write a scene, we use words to create images… because movies are primarily a visual medium. So when I teach and work with writers, I stress

Classic International Movie: “Seven Samurai”

October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from Will King. Movie Title: Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai). Year: 1954 Writers: Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni. Lead Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Yoshio Inaba. Director: Akira Kurosawa.

Script To Screen: “Pan’s Labyrinth”

The scene in the 2006 movie Pan’s Labyrinth, written by Guillermo del Toro, wherein the Protagonist (Ofelia) moves out of the Ordinary World and into the Extraordinary World, courtesy of the Trickster: Faun. Story Summary: In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army

Writing and the Creative Life: Look… don’t overlook

“We usually don’t look. We overlook.” — Alan Watts I write this post as much for myself as anybody else. I need to remind myself to stop. Step out of the maelstrom of modern life — email, text, cell phone, internet, social media — all of those trappings we associate with interconnectivity