Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — June 23, 2016

GOOFY: You’re doing the right thing, son. MAX: Yeah, I know, but she’ll probably never talk to me again. GOOFY: Well, if she doesn’t, maybe she’s just not the one for you. MAX: That’s what I’m afraid of. Max walks to the door of

Happy Birthday, Billy Wilder!

Billy Wilder is my favorite writer-director and although he died in 1999, I think it’s appropriate to celebrate today which would have been…

Screenwriting ‘Hats’: Actor

When we write a screenplay, I like to think of the process as one in which we wear several ‘hats’. Primarily, of course, we wear our writer…

Screenwriting ‘Hats’: Actor

When we write a screenplay, I like to think of the process as one in which we wear several ‘hats’. Primarily, of course, we wear our writer ‘hat’, where we get in touch with our vision for each story and give evidence on the page to our unique voice. That

Happy Birthday, Billy Wilder!

Billy Wilder is my favorite writer-director and although he died in 1999, I think it’s appropriate to celebrate today which would have been his 110th birthday. Wilder’s list of movie credits is astounding — check out his IMDb page — showing incredible range. To me, The Apartment is as

Video: “The Evolution of Pixar”

With Finding Dory now in theaters to a record-breaking box office performance, this video hit online a few days ago: “The Evolution of Pixar”: I love Pixar for many reasons, but primarily because they are 100% committed to Story. If you don’t believe it, check out my March

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 16

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

Great Scene: “Double Indemnity”

Great dialogue often makes a great scene. And some of the best dialogue in Hwood movie history exists in older movies — like this one Double Indemnity (1944), currently the #47 most popular film on the IMDB.com top 250 list. This scene occurs early in the movie where Walter Neff

Daily Dialogue — June 22, 2016

Jonah: I think he’s doing the dice thing too much. Jay: That’s really all he’s got. — Knocked Up (2007), written by Judd Apatow The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: First Dates. Trivia: Since “knocked up” doesn’t mean anything in most languages, the film’s translation

Screenwriting ‘Hats’: Director

When we write a screenplay, I like to think of the process as one in which we wear several ‘hats’. Primarily, of course, we wear our writer ‘hat’, where we get in touch with our vision for each story and give evidence on the page to our unique voice. That

Movies You Made: “Exit Survey”

Here is a terrific short film from co-writer/director Thom Harp called Exit Survey: Background on the movie from Thom: I’m so glad you liked EXIT SURVEY — it was the result of two writers being incredibly frustrated about our scripts NOT GETTING MADE. I moved to LA from

A Golden Age for Content Creators

One point I make over and over again to my university students is this: There has never been a better time to be involved in creative activities. Indeed this may very well be a Golden Age for Content Creators. Why? Here’s one big honking reason: In effect, the Internet

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 15

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

Screenwriting 101: John August

“Sometimes it’s like, you wrote one really good sentence. You may never get called out for it, the props for it you deserve, but you know you wrote a really good sentence. Unlike a lot of jobs in this business, at least you have the pages you wrote. A

Daily Dialogue — June 21, 2016

LUCY: Hi. Takeout for Lucy.  HOST: Sure, just a sec. While awaiting the return of the host, Lucy notes Gru in the restaurant and begins to eavesdrop on his conversation with a strange woman. SHANNON: Your accent is so exotic!  GRU: Ah, well, thank you very much. I was — —  SHANNON:

Plot = Structure

A screenplay is a unique literary form. It both tells a story and serves as a blueprint to make a movie. As such, understanding structure is a critical component to the craft. Check out the observations of these screenwriting veterans: “The reality is that the single most important thing contributed

Video: “10 Biggest Problems With EVERY Blockbuster Movie”

This Screen Rant video hit last week and lays out 10 critiques of blockbuster movies: Here is the list of problems cited in the video: 1. Fake-Out Deaths 2. Trailers Spoiling Movies 3. Final Installments Broken Up 4. Money Grabbing Sequels 5. Overreliance on CGI 6. Generic Villains 7.

Video: ATX Festival Panel — Beau Willimon in conversation with David Simon and Tom Fontana

From the recent ATX Festival: After more than a decade of reporting crime from the streets of Baltimore, how did a career journalist like David Simon learn to navigate a TV writers’ room? The outcome was in no small part due to the indispensable guidance of veteran TV producer Tom

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 14

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

On Writing

“There’s a great thing that happens after you’ve spent a morning writing, and you think, I haven’t got anything there, not anything, and then you go away and become depressed, and when you come back, you find a good sentence or a good speech buried somewhere in

Daily Dialogue — June 20, 2016

Mrs. Robinson enters Ben’s car. Mrs. Robinson: Drive down the block. Ben: Mrs. Robinson, I have a date with Elaine. Mrs. Robinson: Do exactly as I say. Ben drives. Mrs. Robinson: Listen very carefully to me, Benjamin. You are not to see Elaine again, ever. Those are my orders.

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Week 3

Here are all of Week 3’s prompts for this year’s Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 9: Introduce a character with a memorable impression. Day 10: A conversation with someone who’s locked him/herself in the bathroom. Day 11: One character has to break bad news to the other.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Man Up”

This week, we have been reading, analyzing, and discussing the script and movie Man Up, written by Tess Morris, starring Lake Bell and Simon Pegg, and directed by Ben Palmer. IMBd plot summary: A single woman takes the place of a stranger’s blind date, which leads to her finding

Screenwriting News (June 13-June 19, 2016)

This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Andrea Berloff adapting comic book series “The Kitchen” for New Line Cinema. Matt Charman sells thriller Untitled Cronkite Project to DreamWorks SKG. Julia Cox sets up 2015 Black List thriller “Do No Harm” at Paramount Pictures. Matt Ember and Tom Astle

Two recent videos on writing dialogue

Two videos about the craft of writing dialogue hit online in the last week: Now You See It Channel Chriswell Extra Both worth watching. Movies are primarily a visual medium, but great dialogue is a major plus in creating a good script read.