A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 11 This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.
On Writing “Before I write the lead of a piece, I think the hardest part is how to begin. Then, once I have that done, I think the hardest part is the section that comes right after the lead. Then, of course, the ending. In other words, it’s all hard, just
Daily Dialogue — April 11, 2016 G’MORK: Don’t you know anything about Fantasia? It’s the world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundary. ATREYU: But why is Fantasia dying, then? G’MORK: Because people have begun
Reflections on Scripted Introductions of Female Characters By now I’m sure many of you have seen something about this Twitter feed: @femscriptintros. Here is its description from movie producer Ross Putnam who hosts the site: These are intros for female leads in actual scripts I read. Names changed to JANE, otherwise verbatim. Update as I go.
Interview: Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner) Andrew Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy from his home in Australia about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay. Here are links to the six installments of the
Screenwriting News (April 4-April 10, 2016) This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski sell adaptation pitch “Great Men” to Amazon Studios. Diablo Cody sets up untitled project for Right of Way Films with Jason Reitman to direct, Charlize Theron to star. Vineet Dewan and Samantha Taylor Pickett “Be Here
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 10 This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.
Interview (Audio): Scott Frank with Brian Koppelman A February 2, 2016 interview on Brian Koppelman’s excellent podcast “The Moment” with screenwriter and now novelist Scott Frank. For more of “The Moment,” go here.
Daily Dialogue — April 10, 2016 “Really? Well, guess fucking what? I don’t really fucking care. You wanna know fucking why? Because I don’t fucking live in the fucking world! I live in fucking New York City! So go fuck yourself!” — The Paper (1994), written by David Koepp and Stephen Koepp The Daily Dialogue
Daily Dialogue theme next week: Villain The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Villain. No Country for Old Men (2007) Okay, this should be a slam dunk! Seven suggestions for movie villains. Pick your favorite bad guy or gal and their most memorable dialogue, and head to comments to make this next week rock and roll! The
Interview (Part 6): 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 6, Andy shares some thoughts for aspiring screenwriters: Scott: I know
Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 6: Takeaways 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: Takeaways. This week,
Saturday Hot Links Time for the 233rd installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. Biggest Studio Gambles of the Summer, From ‘Ghostbusters’ to ‘Ben-Hur’. Why Film Franchises Could Change Cinema Forever. Will Sean Parker’s Screening Room hurt
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 9 This is the seventh year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.
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
