Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Femme Fatale

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Femme Fatale. Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon (1941) Ooh, lots of famous film femme fatales (say that five time fast). If you need some help, check out this list. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDb Quotes or

“A spoken-word story within a film can be gold”

If you’re not following pro screenwriters on Twitter, you’re missing out on wisdom and insight into the craft on an almost daily basis. Take yesterday. Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Dr. Strange, Passengers) tweeted this: Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) suggested this: I

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 237th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. Film Guide: What Movie Should You Watch This Weekend. 2016 Summer Movie Preview: 27 Indie Films and Festival Favorites to See This Season. Can Indie

Interview (Written): Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (“Captain America: Civil War”)

A /film interview with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who are Marvel mainstays having written Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor 2: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and the newest entry in the MCU — Captain America: Civil War. Juggling all these characters and storylines, how detailed was your

Daily Dialogue — May 7, 2016

“Fredo, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a brother, you’re not a friend. I don’t want to know you or what you do. I don’t want to see you at the hotels, I don’t want you near my house. When you see our

Conscious Goal and Unconscious Goal

An interesting discussion arose from this post the other day on the question how to raise the stakes in a plot. I suggested one way was to track a shift that often happens with a Protagonist — from Want to Need — and one of the movie examples I cited in my

Interview: Stephany Folsom (2013 Black List)

One of the best ways to learn the craft is read what professional screenwriters have to say about it. To that end for the next few weeks, I will be featuring interviews I have conducted with Black List screenwriters. Today: I’m a big Stanley Kubrick fan and Dr. Strangelove

“If you write a great script…”

…Hollywood will find you. Sale. Option. Representation. Writing sample. Writing assignments. Any/all of the above. This is not a pipe dream or fantasy. This statement does not involve unicorns, leprechauns, or magic pixie dust. This is the damn truth. If you write a great script, Hollywood will find you.

Classic 30s Movies: “Make Way for Tomorrow”

May is Classic 30s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Susan Winchell. Movie Title: Make Way for Tomorrow Year: 1937 Writers: Veña Delmar, based on play by Helen and Nolan Leary, based on a novel by Josephine Lawrence Lead Actors: Beulah Bondie, Victor Moore, Fay Bainter, Thomas Mitchell

Spec Script Deal: Untitled Angela Davis Project

The Firm acquires untitled Angela Davis project written by LaToya Morgan. From Deadline: Suspected 60s radical Angela Davis, accused of conspiracy in the murder of a federal judge, became the first woman on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, became an iconic symbol of an era. After fleeing from

Daily Dialogue — May 6, 2016

Dale and Brennan are in beds next to each other. Dale Doback: [whispering] Hey, you awake? Brennan Huff: [also whispering] Yeah. Dale Doback: I just want you to know I hate you. And so does my dad. Brennan Huff: Well, that’s fine. ‘Coz guess what? I hate you, too.

Reader Question: What is life really like for a beginning screenwriter who has just broken into the business?

Reader question from Eric Harris: What is life really like for the beginning screenwriter who breaks in with a manager/agent, maybe sells a spec? Do they start taking meetings, competing for open writing assignments? Are they chewing their nails because it’s an unstable profession? No one ever gives

Interview: Brian Duffield (2010, 2011, 2014 Black List)

One of the best ways to learn the craft is read what professional screenwriters have to say about it. To that end for the next few weeks, I will be featuring interviews I have conducted with Black List screenwriters. Today: My June 2014 interview with Brian Duffield. In Hollywood development

Know your genre

I have gotten to know a lot of screenwriters through the years. In talking with or interviewing them, one thing I find they pretty much have in common: They know their genre. That is a lesson for all of us. When you write an original screenplay within a specific genre,

Classic 30s Movie: “Topper”

May is Classic 30s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Wayne Kline. Movie Title: Topper Year: 1937 Writers: Screen play by Jack Jevne & Eric Hatch & Eddie Moran, novel by Thorne Smith Lead Actors: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Eugene Pallette Director: Norman Z.

Writing and the Creative Life: The Virtues of Spacing Out and Goofing Off

Finally, science is good for something! Spacing out rules! Think the key to creativity is 100% total focus and hard work? Think again. Stanford based psychologist Emma Seppälä promotes the idea learning how to “unfocus” as means of promoting creativity: We believe that the opposite of focus — daydreaming, goofing off,

Daily Dialogue — May 5, 2016

Danny is playing a video game when Walter walks into the room, shuts off the game console and takes up the TV remote. DANNY: Hey! WALTER: Dad said no video games. DANNY: He did not. (Frustrated) Fine. Walter settles into the chair and switches on a SpongeBob cartoon. As Danny

“Go into the story and find the animals”

On May 16th, this humble blog will celebrate its 8th birthday. Eight years! In the run-up to this august event, I’m going to write an occasional post reflecting on what it is you and I do here. As always, I am keen to hear any advice and suggestions

Interview: Geoff LaTulippe (2008 Black List)

One of the best ways to learn the craft is read what professional screenwriters have to say about it. To that end for the next few weeks, I will be featuring interviews I have conducted with Black List screenwriters. Today: My May 2014 interview with Geoff LaTulippe. Writer of the

Spec Script Deal: “Victim 321”

Millennium Films acquires time-travel thriller script “Victim 321” written by Michael McGrale. From Deadline: Victim 321 tells the story of a jaded Chicago homicide detective who wakes up in the body of an ex-con three days before his murder. He has 72 hours to unravel the conspiracy behind

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

Classic 30s Movie: “The 39 Steps”

May is Classic 30s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Felicity Flesher. Title: The 39 Steps Year: 1935 Writers: Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, adapted from the novel by John Buchan Actors: Robert Donat, Madeline Carroll Director: Alfred Hitchcock Plot Summary: A man in London tries to help a

Script To Screen: “Unforgiven”

From the 1992 movie Unforgiven [written by David Webb Peoples] the movie’s Final Struggle sequence. Setup: Retired gunslinger William Munny takes on one last job… and this is the finale. VIEW on Little Bill in the crowded bar and he is shouting to make himself heard over the din.

Daily Dialogue — May 4, 2016

Tadashi: You better make this up to Aunt Cass before she eats everything in the cafe. Hiro: [not really listening] For sure. Tadashi: And I hope you learned your lesson, bonehead. Hiro: [faces him, looking honest] Absolutely. Tadashi: [realizes he’s lying, frustrated] You’re going bot fighting, aren’t

Alexander Payne on appealing characters vs. sympathetic characters

In my current Create a Compelling Protagonist 1 week class, the subject came up about writing characters who don’t fit into the conventional role of a sympathetic figure, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) in Bad Santa for example. Whenever this subject comes up, I default to an interview I read