Scott Myers

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 219th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. The Academy Members Project Has Now Identified 5500 Oscar Voters! How Many Votes Does It Take to Get an Oscar Nomination. ‘Star Wars’ Lifts Disney

How to Use Go Into The Story (5 Part Series)

Here are links to a five part series on how to use Go Into The Story to give your writing a major lift. For Part 1: Watch Movies, go here. For Part 2: Read Scripts, go here. For Part 3: Write Pages, go here. For Part 4: Study the Craft,

Interview (Written): Jûzô Itami

I watched the wonderful 1985 ‘noodle Western’ Tampopo last night, then searched the Internet until I discovered this 1990 interview with the film’s writer-director Jûzô Itami. He was a fascinating filmmaker, primarily an actor until he turned 50, then began writing and directing his movies. His writing-directing

Daily Dialogue — January 2, 2016

WOODY: Where’s my teeth? DAVID: You lost your teeth? Did you leave them at the motel? WOODY: No. DAVID: The tavern? WOODY: I wasn’t in no tavern. DAVID: Did you leave them at the place where they serve alcohol that you don’t call a tavern? WOODY: Must

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 1

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 1. January 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. January 31: Type FADE OUT / The End. 31 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. Whatever. Goal: Rewrite an existing draft. I’m doing it with a Zero Draft I knocked out in November. You’re invited

My wishes for you in 2016

This blog exists for many reasons and a primary one is to try to elevate the quality of the scripts that funnel into Hollywood and other filmmaking centers worldwide. We deserve better movies. And that starts with a screenplay. In that spirit, here are some wishes I have for each

How to Use Go Into The Story (Part 5): Learn the Business

With over 18,000 posts on this blog, here’s a logical question: HOW THE HELL DO I USE THIS STUFF? An end of the year series to help. Part 5: Learn the Business Many years ago, I coined this screenwriting mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. Seriously, you

Daily Dialogue 2016

All of the Daily Dialogue posts from 2016. January 1 — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: “I had him from an egg, you know. Tiny little thing he was when he hatched.” January 2 — Nebraska: “I don’t drink.” January 3 — The Philadelphia Story: “Seems as soon as she

Interview (Written): Michael Arndt, J.J. Abrams, and Lawrence Kasdan

I’ve read and watched several Star Wars: The Force Awakens interviews and Q&A’s with J.J. Abrams and Lawrence, but in fact they received a co-writing credit with Michael Arndt who was the first person to take a crack at the script. So in this

Daily Dialogue — January 1, 2016

HAGRID: I had him from an egg, you know. Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. No bigger than a Pekingese. A Pekingese, mind you. SLUGHORN: How sweet! I once had a fish, Francis. He was very dear to me. One afternoon I came downstairs and it vanished. Poof!

2015 Lists

As you mentally and spiritually prepare for your New Year’s Eve festivities, why not take a few moments to get in touch with your inner listicle by clicking on these year-in-review items I’ve aggregated during the last few weeks. IMDb’s Annual Top 10 Movies and

How to Use Go Into The Story (Part 4): Study the Craft

With over 18,000 posts on this blog, here’s a logical question: HOW THE HELL DO I USE THIS STUFF? An end of the year series to help. Part 4: Study the Craft Many years ago, I coined this screenwriting mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. Seriously, you

What were your favorite movie scenes in 2015?

Favorite scenes. Memorable moments. I’m convinced this is how viewers most connect with movies. That’s probably one reason why we always get year-end lists like this: The Best Film Scenes of 2015 (The A.V. Club) The Best Movie Scenes of 2015 (Entertainment Weekly) The Best Movie

Writing and the Creative Life: Something is Better Than Nothing

“No matter what you write, good or bad, it’s an improvement to a blank page.” This is a quote from Chris Sparling. He is a movie director (The Atticus Institute), producer (Bed Rest), but mostly he is a screenwriter whose movie credits include Buried, ATM, and The Sea of

Daily Dialogue — December 31, 2015

Sam: Boss, ain’t you going to bed? Rick: Not right now. Sam: Ain’t you planning on going to bed in the near future? Rick: No. Sam: You ever going to bed? Rick: No! Sam: Well, I ain’t sleepy either.  Rick: Good, have a drink. Sam: No, not

Reader Question: What’s the biggest writing lesson you learned through a mistake?

Oh goodness, Rebecca, where do I start! Honestly one of the reasons I launched Go Into The Story nearly 8 years ago was to try to impart some insight I’d discovered in my tenure in Hollywood. In fact, you can go through most of my The Business of Screenwriting

How to Use Go Into The Story (Part 3): Write Pages

With over 18,000 posts on this blog, here’s a logical question: HOW THE HELL DO I USE THIS STUFF? An end of the year series to help. Part 3: Write Pages Many years ago, I coined this screenwriting mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. Seriously, you can

Great Scene: “Duck Soup”

As much of a fan of movies as I am, I’m still shocked to remember that it wasn’t until I was in college that I saw a Marx Bros. movie for the first time. It was a double feature: Coconuts and Duck Soup. I’m not sure I’

Daily Dialogue — December 30, 2015

“To our wonderful … abstaining … womanless Fuhrer, — who rose gloriously from an apprentice painter — to become the world’s greatest battle strategist. Isn’t it true? He’s a great naval expert. Who, in his infinite wisdom … How does it go again? Our great Fuhrer has been showing their English bed-

Reader Question: Is it useful to read a bad script to see what not to do?

Can we learn something from slogging through bad screenplays? @DStraker90 tweeted a question the other day: Is it useful to read a bad script to see what not to do? I mean that as a serious question. Damien, I tend to focus my ‘preaching’ on good movie scripts as reading

How to Use Go Into The Story (Part 2): Read Scripts

With over 18,000 posts on this blog, here’s a logical question: HOW THE HELL DO I USE THIS STUFF? An end of the year series to help. Part 2: Read Scripts Many years ago, I coined this screenwriting mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. Seriously, you can

Video: “Cinema — 120 Years in 120 Seconds”

On December 28, 1895, the Lumiere brothers presented a movie to the public in a Paris cafe. It is believed to be the first commercial screening in history. Here is a nifty 2 minute taste of what has transpired in those 120 years. Hail, movies! Via Moon Film.

Screenwriting 101: Danny Strong

“I always try to make the opening image of the film reflect the theme or the story in its entirety. I don’t always succeed, but that is my goal when I write the opening.” — Danny Strong

Daily Dialogue — December 29, 2015

“It’s terribly small, tiny little country. Rhode Island could beat the crap out of it in a war. THAT’S how small it is.” — Arthur (1981), written by Steve Gordon The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Drunk. Trivia: Dudley Moore was said to have based his performance partly

Why haven’t you finished that script?

You know, that story you’ve been kicking around for months. Maybe it’s pretty well worked out, but you just can’t summon up the energy to type FADE IN. Or you have a partial draft and you’re stuck, not sure which way to go. Or a story