Networking Hollywood A guest post from Tom Benedek, longtime screenwriter (Cocoon) and co-founder of Screenwriting Master Class: SCRIPT WRITER CASE STUDY #1: “I am a natural enthusiast. An optimist. I love to imagine out my script projects. I savor my writing time. I enjoy rewriting. I love blank pages. And the
Zero Draft Thirty: Story Prep — Character Development It all started with this blog post in October 2015: Who’s with me to pound out a script in November? That led to this: Zero Draft Thirty: Write a Script in a Month Challenge. Every day for 30 days in November, I did a Zero Draft Thirty post with
Interview (Part 2): Adam Kolbrenner, Madhouse Entertainment This week, we are fortunate to have as our guest manager-producer Adam Kolbrenner from Madhouse Entertainment, an L.A.-based production and literary management company that works with screenwriters and writer/directors in the areas of film, television and new media. I will be posting the whole interview over
The Spirit Of The Spec (Part 2): You Act On Your Idea I had a conversation recently with a former studio executive turned producer in which I found myself talking about the “spirit of the spec,” essentially when a person chooses to pursue a project or goal entirely on speculation with the hopes of some eventual payoff. Not everybody would make that
Screenwriting 101: Billy Ray “Chinatown took 17 drafts. And none of us are as good as Robert Towne. Amadeus, I think, took 46. And none of us are as good as Peter Shaffer. All that means is the previous 45 of Amadeus, someone said, ‘Peter, you can do better.’ And I’m sure it
Daily Dialogue — August 23, 2016 Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I’m saying is, what are you prepared to do? Ness: Anything within the law. Malone: And then what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you
Zero Draft Thirty: Story Prep Fun With Index Cards! It all started with this blog post in October 2015: Who’s with me to pound out a script in November? That led to this: Zero Draft Thirty: Write a Script in a Month Challenge. Every day for 30 days in November, I did a Zero Draft Thirty post with
Interview (Part 1): Adam Kolbrenner, Madhouse Entertainment This week, we are fortunate to have as our guest manager-producer Adam Kolbrenner from Madhouse Entertainment, an L.A.-based production and literary management company that works with screenwriters and writer/directors in the areas of film, television and new media. I will be posting the whole interview over
Spirit Of The Spec (Part 1): You Get An Idea I had a conversation recently with a former studio executive turned producer in which I found myself talking about the “spirit of the spec,” essentially when a person chooses to pursue a project or goal entirely on speculation with the hopes of some eventual payoff. Not everybody would make that
On Writing “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.” — Beatrix Potter
Daily Dialogue — August 22, 2016 CODY: Uh, I don’t know. I guess I’d like — BIG Z: What you…what you want is something in between. Trust me, I’m the expert here, okay? CODY: Okay. BIG Z: So, uh, here are your shaping tools. Now, remember, the board’s already inside there, see,
Zero Draft Thirty 2016 Autumn Challenge: Story Prep It all started with this blog post in October 2015: Who’s with me to pound out a script in November? That led to this: Zero Draft Thirty: Write a Script in a Month Challenge. Every day for 30 days in November, I did a Zero Draft Thirty post with
Learn the craft Here’s one big problem with most of the screenwriting approaches I see floating around: Their focus is almost exclusively on writing a screenplay. Obviously this is important. You must be able to translate your talent, voice, and vision for a story onto the printed page. A script not only
Screenwriting News (August 15-August 21, 2016) This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Jeff Buhler writing “Blood” for Bold Films. Etan Cohen writing-directing “Holmes and Watson” for Sony Pictures Entertainment with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly attached to star. Cameron Fay writing feature adaptation of TV series “COPS” for Boies/Schiller Film
Interviews (Video): Seth Rogen (“Sausage Party”) An R-rated animated movie with a production budget of $19M which to date has grossed $55M. That’s Sausage Party, a project 10 years in the making. Here are the writing credits: Screenplay by Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir & Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, story by Seth Rogen
Daily Dialogue — August 21, 2016 Sutter walks with Aimee at an outside party. He produces a flask from his back pocket. Aimee: Ooh, can I try that. Sutter: I don’t know. It’s pretty serious stuff. Aimee: Just a taste. Sutter: You sure? Aimee: Yes. Sutter: Awright, here you go. Go for it. He
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Mentor The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Mentor suggested by Michael Waters. So many memorable Mentor characters in movies. They teach. Inspire. Give directions. Provide insight. And sometimes they have to get in the face of the Protagonist and lay down the God’s honest truth. Let’s see what
Saturday Hot Links Time for the 251st installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. Box-Office Analysis: ‘Suicide Squad’ and the Summer of Steep Second-Week Drops. Rising Box Office Masks Glut of Big-Budget Film Flops. Why DC
Interview (Video): Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) I was thinking about the TV series “Breaking Bad” the other day and started rooting around the Internet for interviews with show creator Vince Gilligan. Guess what I found? A lot of great videos! Here are some of them: If you’re a BB fan and you miss the show,
Daily Dialogue — August 20, 2016 Henry: I had an idea I’d be discovered after my death. Tully: You look well on the way. You might be on a deadline. Henry: Hey, what’s with this deadline crap, huh? Tully: Don’t you remember? You sent us dozens of stories. Why did you send your
5 Questions to Test Your Story Concept Keys to assessing the viability of your story ideas. If your goal is to traffic in mainstream, commercial movies, I cannot overstate the importance of your spec script’s story concept. As I detailed here, it is critical to the success of your original screenplay. So let’s say you
Script to Screen: “Witness” From the 1985 movie Witness [screenplay by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley, story by William Kelley and Pamela Wallace & Earl W. Wallace]. Setup: Samuel, a young Amish boy, is traveling with his mother. Needing to use the facilities, he enters the bathroom at a train station in Philadelphia.
Interview (Written): David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (“Game of Thrones”) A Deadline interview with David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, showrunners of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones”: Your background was books and features and you once said early on that your unfamiliarity with episodic TV sometimes left you short of scenes that had to be written hastily. What
Writing and the Creative Life: Why Staring Into Space Is an Important Strategy for Success “In the shower we are simply staring into space, washing our hair on autopilot. We aren’t checking our messages or Twitter feed, or writing a report. We’re just day dreaming.” Via Psychology Today: Think about the last time and place you got a great idea, or solved a
Daily Dialogue — August 19, 2016 OLD TIMER #2: How much has he had? CHESTER: None. That’s the first one. He hasn’t touched it, yet. He just likes to hold it. MARTY: Doc! Doc! What are you doing? DOC: I’ve lost her, Marty. There’s nothing left for me here. MARTY: Alright, that’
