Scott Myers

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 4

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 4. 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

Script Analysis: “Ex Machina” — Part 1: Scene By Scene Breakdown

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: Scene-By-Scene

Reflections on Carl Jung (Part 1): Are We Related to the Infinite or Not?

The more I study Carl Jung, the more I discover his ideas about psychology have a direct relevance to screenwriting (specifically) and stories (generally). This week, a 5 part series focusing on Jung’s notion of individuation, the achievement of one’s self-actualization through a process of integrating the

On Writing

“Write every day without fail…even if you are savagely hung over and your grandmother has just fallen out of a third-story window.” — Tom Robbins Via Advice To Writers

Daily Dialogue — January 4, 2016

Galloway: You put him on the stand and you get it from him! Kaffee: Oh, we get it from him! Yes! No problem! We get it from him. Turns to Sam as if he were Jessup on the stand. Kaffee: Colonel Jessup, isn’t it true that you ordered the

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 3

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 3. 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

Next week’s Go Into The Story Script Read and Analysis: “Ex Machina”

Beginning Monday, January 4, our next movie script read and analysis will be Ex Machina, written by Alex Garland. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Dialogue Saturday: Takeaways You may download a PDF of the script here. Available tomorrow, the Scene-

Video: “Inside Out: Outside Edition”

This is great! A University of Utah film student has put together an Inside Out Outside Edition that uses only the scenes outside of Riley’s mind, without the feelings to let us know what’s going inside her head. Here’s the video: I’m really looking forward to

Interview (Written): Greta Gerwig (“Mistress America”)

An Indiewire interview with Greta Gerwig, lead actor and co-writer (along with Noah Baumbach) of the movie Mistress America: Tell me how it was generated, because it’s nice to see this female dynamic on screen that we don’t see very often, and in this smart, funny, complex

Interview (Video): Jack Kerouac

When I was a youth, I watched “The Steve Allen Show” with religious fervor. So I’m delighted to post this: A 1959 appearance on Allen’s show by Jack Kerouac: Can you imagine Jimmy Fallon or Jimmy Kimmel hosting a writer like Kerouac?  Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — January 3, 2016

“Seems as soon as she hit the water, the wine hit her.” — The Philadelphia Story (1940), screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart, play by Philip Barry The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Drunk. Trivia: In his autobiography, Donald Ogden Stewart wrote that the original play was so perfect, adapting it

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 2

Re-Write-O-Rama: Day 2. 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

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Formulating a Plan

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Formulating a plan, suggested by Lior Shemesh. For inspiration, a little something from the movie Inception: Here’s the deal with planning scenes: They always involve exposition. Example: Just about every line of dialogue in the excerpt from Inception above involves exposition. So

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