Scott Myers

Interview (Written): Karyn Kusama and Phil Hay (“The Invitation”)

A Screen Crush interview with Karyn Kusama (co-writer and director) and Phil Hay (co-writer) from the movie The Invitation: We’re all familiar with the “comedy of errors” concept, but The Invitation is basically the first “horror of manners.” Karyn Kusama: Yes, yes. Phil Hay: Do you mind

Daily Dialogue — April 9, 2016

Professor Terguson: Is she right? ’Cause I know that’s the popular version of what went on there. And a lot of people like to believe that. I wish I could, but I was there. I wasn’t here in a class room, hoping I was right, thinking about it.

The Existential Questions of the Star Wars Stories

Two questions pulse within the heart of the Star Wars universe. The very first words of the trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens are: Who are you? The very last words of the teaser trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are: What will you become?

Interview (Part 5): Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner)

Andy Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay. Today in Part 5, Andy talks about his experience winning the Nicholl Fellowship in

Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 5: Dialogue

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday: Takeaways Today: Dialogue. Screenplay by

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 8

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: You always need more than one in your gun.

The Theology of Screenwriting: Redemption

As many of you may know, I have a background in the academic study of theology, a B.A. in religious studies from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Divinity degree from Yale. So it is only natural I bring that perspective to how I view and understand

Daily Dialogue — April 8, 2016

“No… wire… hangers. What’s wire hangers doing in this closet when I told you: no wire hangers EVER? I work and work ‘till I’m half-dead, and I hear people saying, “She’s getting old.” And what do I get? A daughter… who cares as much about the

Wanted: Scene-By-Scene Movie Script Breakdowns

A great way to analyze screenplay structure is by studying a script’s scene-by-scene breakdown. Over the last 15 months, Go Into The Story followers have been contributing breakdowns of contemporary movie screenplays to an ongoing script analysis series. Here are links to those posts which include downloadable

Interview (Part 4): Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner)

Andy Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay. Today in Part 4, we continue our exploration of Andy’s script “Great Falls”

Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 4: Themes

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday: Takeaways Today: Themes. I have

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7

This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: The story idea is how everyone in Hollywood short-

The Business of Screenwriting: Hip pocket representation

On Friday, January 9, 1987, the spec script “K-9” went out to 20th Century Fox creative execs for the weekend read.On Monday, January 12 at 11AM, after the weekly meeting of their creative staff, word got out they wanted to buy our script. The unusual thing is this:

Daily Dialogue — April 7, 2016

“Why does it say ‘paper jam’ when there is no paper jam? I swear to God one of these days, I’m gonna kick this piece of shit out the window!” — Office Space (1999), screenplay by Mike Judge based on his animated shorts The Daily Dialogue theme for the week:

Go Into The Story, Medium, and You

Here are some important dates in the history of Go Into The Story: May 16, 2008: The day I launched the site. March 9, 2009: The day I began my Twitter account @GoIntoTheStory. September 7, 2011: The day Go Into The Story became of the official screenwriting blog of The

Interview (Part 3): Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner)

Andy Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay. Today in Part 3, Andy talks about researching “Great Falls” and three major characters

Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 3: Characters

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday: Takeaways Today: Characters. Characters are

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 6

This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: Around 1990, writer Stephen Brill came up with this

Great Scene: “Sunset Blvd.”

It’s one of the most famous endings in Hollywood film history with one of the most famous last lines of dialogue as well: Sunset Blvd. (1950), co-written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, their 17th and final collaboration, and directed by Wilder. Here is a plot summary from

Daily Dialogue — April 6, 2016

A factory full of workers feverishly open thousands of Wonka Bars. VERUCA: I wanted to be the first to find the golden ticket, Daddy. MR. SALT: I know, angel. We’re doing the best we can. I’ve got every girl in the bleeding staff hunting for ya. VERUCA: All

Reader Question: How to handle the passage of time in a script?

A question from Dan: I’ve got a screenwriting question if you wouldn’t mind having a look. I’m an 18 year old kid writing my first script, a biopic, and trying to learn the trade while also piecing together my script I run into problems quite a bit…

Interview (Part 2): Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner)

Andy Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay. Today in Part 2, Andy talks about what inspired him to write “Great Falls”

Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 2: Plot

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday: Takeaways Today: Plot. In every

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 5

This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: Thinking up new story ideas keeps you on your

Screenwriting 101: Terry Rossio

“Plot problems are always character solutions.” — Terry Rossio