Daily Dialogue — February 15, 2016 JEREMY: (Rises choking from the water.) Excuse me. Pardon me. MRS. BRISBY: Jeremy? JEREMY: Ssshhhh! I’m being followed. MRS. BRISBY: Followed? JEREMY: Ssshhh! There’s a crazy lady with a hat. She’s got big teeth. She tied me up, and then — ah, oohh! A sparkly! MRS. BRISBY: What?
25 Years Ago: “The Silence of the Lambs” Twenty five years ago today, The Silence of the Lambs was released by Orion Pictures. It went on to become one of three movies to win the so-called Big Five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (Adapted). The other two are It Happened
Interview: Sam Regnier (2015 Nicholl Winner) Sam Regnier wrote the original screenplay “Free Agent” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and has been set up at CBS Films. Recently Sam and I had an excellent phone conversation in which we covered a lot of territory, his background and how he got into writing, a
Screenwriting News (February 8-February 14, 2016) This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Isaac Adamson (2015 Black List) adapting “The Ice Twins” for Alcon Entertainment. Gregory Burke writing “Entebbe” for StudioCanal and Working Title Films. Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken sell spec script “Horizon Line” to Svensk Filmindustri. John Collee and Anthony writing “Maras
Daily Dialogue — February 14, 2016 LOUIS TULLY pops out of his apartment LOUIS: Oh, Dana, it’s you! DANA: Oh, hi, yes Louis, it’s me. LOUIS: I thought it was the drugstore. DANA: Oh, are you sick? LOUIS: Oh! No, no, I’m fine, I feel great! Just ordered some more vitamins and stuff.
Daily Dialogue theme next week: Obsession The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Obsession, suggested by Angie Soliman. “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan.” Fatal Attraction (1987) The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDb Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from YouTube or some other video
Interview (Part 6): Sam Regnier (2015 Nicholl Winner) Sam Regnier wrote the original screenplay “Free Agent” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and has been set up at CBS Films. Recently Sam and I had an excellent phone conversation in which we covered a lot of territory, his background and how he got into writing, a
Saturday Hot Links Time for the 225th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Wins Top Prize at Annie Awards. The 10 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2016 Berlin Film Festival. SXSW Unveils Midnighters, Festival
2016 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Week 2 Here are all of Week 2’s prompts for this year’s Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 6 challenge: Talking aloud to oneself. Day 7 challenge: Slang. Day 8 challenge: Somebody gets fired from their job. Day 9 challenge: Saying “I love you” without saying “I love you” Day 10 challenge:
Interview (Written): Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (“Deadpool”) A /film interview with Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, screenwriters of the movie Deadpool which is projected to have an opening weekend north of $100M, a huge number for a February release. In fact, they have already greenlit Deadpool 2. It’s rare to see a superhero movie with so
Daily Dialogue — February 13, 2016 “They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru, okay? They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru! They know you’re gonna be miles away before you find out you got fucked! They know you’re not gonna turn around and go back, they don’t care. So who gets fucked? Ol’
Ticket Giveaway: “The Psychology of Story-Telling” with Lindsay Doran She’s known as “The Script Whisperer” and unlike so-called screenwriting gurus, Lindsay Doran has the street cred to back it up. To wit: Back by Popular Demand! On March 3rd at 7:30 pm at the Writers Guild Theater, Lindsay Doran may change everything you think you know
Interview (Part 5): Sam Regnier (2015 Nicholl Winner) Sam Regnier wrote the original screenplay “Free Agent” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and has been set up at CBS Films. Recently Sam and I had an excellent phone conversation in which we covered a lot of territory, his background and how he got into writing, a
Interview (Written): Emma Donoghue (“Room”) A Creative Screenwriting interview with Emma Donoghue, nominated for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay for Room: What was your point of entry into the adaptation? The very first thing I did was look for what had to go or be changed, and funnily enough, we ended up
2016 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 10 Last year at this time, we did a month-long Dialogue-Writing Challenge. It was a big success with dozens of writers participating. We all learned quite a bit about this important aspect of the craft plus we had some fun in the process. So I’ve decided to bring
Spec Script Deal: “Battle of New Orleans” Endurance Media acquires period war drama spec script “Battle of New Orleans” written by Daniel Kunka. From Deadline: Battle of New Orleans, written by Kunka (Yellowstone Falls), is one of the greatest untold stories in American history featuring General and future President, Andrew Jackson, who reluctantly partners with world-renowned
Spec Script Deal: “Miami, PI” Endurance Media acquires detective drama “Miami, PI” written by Michael Diliberti. From Deadline: Written and to be directed by Diliberti (Little White Corvette), focuses on a young PI with a checkered past, who teams up with an ex-model/hot mess to solve the murder of a young girl in
Daily Dialogue — February 12, 2016 Lemonade Vendor: I’ll teach you to kick me! Chicolini: You don’t have to teach me, I know how! He kicks him. — Duck Soup (1933), story by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Annoying. Trivia:
Twitter Rant: Daniel Kunka on the Importance of Ideas Tweetstorm: Daniel Kunka on the Importance of Ideas A series of tweets on the inestimable value of ideas. Yesterday screenwriter Daniel Kunka (@unikunka) posted a series of tweets on a subject near and dear to my heart: The importance of ideas. Reprinted here by permission. And not just ideas for
Spec Script Deal: “Burnt Offering” Armory Films acquires drama thriller spec script “Burnt Offering” written by Tyler Marceca. From Variety: Described as “Prisoners” meets “Silence of the Lambs.” This is an option deal. Marceca’s script The Disciple Program made the 2012 Black List. He is repped by WME and Anonymous Content. By my count,
Interview (Part 4): Sam Regnier (2015 Nicholl Winner) Sam Regnier wrote the original screenplay “Free Agent” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and has been set up at CBS Films. Recently Sam and I had an excellent phone conversation in which we covered a lot of territory, his background and how he got into writing, a
Spec Script Deal: “Malpractice” Endurance Productions acquires thriller spec script “Malpractice” written by Tyler Marceca. From Deadline: Malpractice, written by Tyler Marceca (The Disciple Program), follows a disgraced surgeon operating a black market clinic in Manila, who is called into action after he is enlisted by terrorists to assist in a plot to set
Interview (Written): Drew Goddard (“The Martian”) A Creative Screenwriting interview with Drew Goddard, nominated for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay for The Martian: The first act of The Martian is dominated by scenes featuring Watney on his own, and you had to balance periods of silence and Watney’s narration. Obviously there are
Spec Script Deal: “Horizon Line” Svensk Filmindustri acquires thriller spec script “Horizon Line” written by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken. From Deadline: The spec is a suspense thriller that follows a couple on a small airplane which loses its way over the Pacific Ocean. Writers are repped by UTA and Madhouse Entertainment. By my count,
2016 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 9 Last year at this time, we did a month-long Dialogue-Writing Challenge. It was a big success with dozens of writers participating. We all learned quite a bit about this important aspect of the craft plus we had some fun in the process. So I’ve decided to bring
