“Don’t write what they want, they don’t know what they want, just make it GOOD.” — Nora Ephron

Mary: [about the Virgin Mary] I know this is wrong, but do you ever wonder if she just made the whole thing up? I mean, it’s a pretty good one. It’s not like anyone can ever use virgin birth as an excuse again. [pause] I don’t really

Analysis of all the spec script deals in 2015. Spec Script Deal List Genres Buyers Agents & Managers Top Sales First Timers

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 21. March 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. March 30 31: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 31 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. I’m doing it. You’re invited. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into

Every year since I launched the blog in 2008, I do a week-long analysis of the recent year in terms of spec script deals. This week, we look back at 2015. First, my usual caveat: Tracking spec script deals is not an exact science. To make the blog’s

A great opportunity for screenwriters: ApplicationApply here. Deadline: May 3, 2016DatesJune 25–30, 2016 (invitation only) & January 13–18, 2017 (open application)Size of Lab12 projects each labLocationSundance Mountain Resort, UtahEligibilityUS & International Filmmakers; The Screenwriters Lab supports writers and writer/directors developing their first or second narrative feature

“Don’t let the critic become bigger than the creator. Don’t let it strangle you. Write something down. Do something. Go ahead. And stay there. Stay there four hours. Three hours, four hours. And good things will happen.” — Randy Newman

Jefferson “Jake” Edward Briggs: [narrating] My inability to impregnate Kristy was blamed on tight shorts, having something to do with my body temperature. Seemed rather flimsy to me. To go through the hell of a fertility check and discover that my preference in undergarments was to blame seemed as silly

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 20. March 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. March 30 31: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 31 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. I’m doing it. You’re invited. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into

This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Isaac Adamson 2015 Black List script “Bubbles” acquired by Starburns Industries. Etan Cohen writing-directing remake of “Cannonball Run” for Warner Bros. Pictures. Michael Colton and John Aboud’s adaptation of “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” going forward with Principato-Young

Netflix acquires spec script “Bright” written by Max Landis. From Deadline: A two-week bidding battle has finally ended and Netflix has won Bright, a Max Landis scripted cop thriller with fantastical elements and tent pole potential that David Ayer will direct, with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton starring. This

God bless the Writers Guild Foundation as they continue to roll out an amazing array of video interviews with some legendary Hollywood screenwriters. Today: Julius Epstein whose career in movies ran from 1935 to 1983 and includes such notable titles as Arsenic and Old Lace, Pete and Tillie, House Calls,

“It’s past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don’t understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and IT’S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can’t you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!

In addition to making history as the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at Sundance, DuVernay was honored with the 2013 John Cassavetes Spirit Award and the Tribeca Film Institute’s Affinity Award for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere. In 2010, she wrote, produced

Time for the 230th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. SXSW: Complete List of Winners at the 2016 Film Awards. SXSW Film 2016 Reveals the Gaps of the Hollywood System. The 2016 Indiewire SXSW Bible:

Here it is, all 15 parts: 1. The Organic Nature of the Screenplay 2. The Emergence of the Selling Script 3. The Evolution of Screenplay Format and Style 4. There are no screenwriting ‘rules’ 5. There are expectations 6. We See / We Hear 7. Unfilmables 8. Action Paragraphs — 3 Lines

A WGA interview with Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud) who wrote and directed Midnight Special which is debuting in selected theaters this weekend: This film combines your organic, humanistic Southern style with the genre of sci-fi. Was marrying these disparate elements one of the things that inspired you to

13-Year-Old Girl in Jewelry Store: Excuse me. Annie: Oh, hi.  13-Year-Old Girl in Jewelry Store: I’m looking for a birthday gift for a best friend. I want to get her a necklace that says, “Best friends forever.” Annie: You sure you want it to say

Many writers benefit from the structure of a writing workshop to encourage them through their story-crafting process. Plus you receive the benefit of feedback and support from your peers and the instructor. Finally, you not only work your way through your story, you also learn proven principles and practices