Scott Myers

Classic 40s Movie: Les enfants du paradis

September was Classic 40s Movie month. Today a special guest post from Brendan Howley. This is the film you wouldn’t ordinarily go to on a rainy January Friday but you do because a very beautiful young woman passing you by on the pavement outside the Paris cinema tells you

Interview (Written): Andrew Kevin Walker

In 1995, the movie Se7en was released. To this day, it is one of the best drama thrillers ever produced. To commemorate its 20th anniversary, here is an Uproxx interview with the movie’s screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker: When he wrote Seven, Andrew Kevin Walker worked at a Tower Records

Daily Dialogue — October 10, 2015

At the center of the ring before the 15th and final round of their championship rematch. Apollo Creed: You’re going down. Rocky Balboa: Nah. No way. — Rocky II (1979), written by Sylvester Stallone The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Rivalry. Trivia: Analysis by Philadelphia locals tracked the route

Go Into The Story Movie Analysis: The Martian

Starting Monday, we begin our next installment of the Go Into The Story Movie Analysis series: The Martian, screenplay by Drew Goddard, book by Andy Weir. The Martian is already a hit having grossed over $117M in box office revenues worldwide in less than 2 weeks. Not surprisingly, critical response

Interview (Part 5): Ben Jacoby

This week I’m featuring an interview I did with Ben Jacoby. This has a particularly unique hook in that I have an email thread with Ben dating back to July 30, 2013. Every several months, Ben would contact me with the latest development in his writing life, so in

Script Analysis: “Nightcrawler” — Part 5: 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: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Themes Friday: Takeaways Today: Takeaways. This week,

Rod Serling on Writing: Parts 5 and 6

Rod Serling on Writing: Part 5 Part 5 of a 16 part series featuring the master storyteller on video. Ever since I launched Go Into The Story, I have regularly gone down the Internet’s rabbit hole in search of unique video clips featuring renowned writers. In 2010, I hit

In Memoriam: John Lennon (born October 9, 1940)

John Lennon would have been 75 years old today. Some videos in his memory: His scenes from the movie How I Won the War (1967) Bed Peace (1969) The Dick Cavett Show (September 11, 1971 featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono) The Tomorrow Show (Rebroadcast of April 25, 1975 interview

Daily Dialogue — October 9, 2015

MAYO: Ninety eight, ninety nine… FOLEY: Awww, get your face all the way down in there. MAYO: Hundred. FOLEY: You ready to quit now Mayo? MAYO: No, Sir! FOLEY: Look over there, Mayo. Look over there. Look at her. She decided to stay instead of taking liberty on this weekend.

A Slew of Screenwriting Articles

Back in the Ancient Times known as Pre-Twitter, there were just a handful of screenwriting resources online. One of those Early Lights was the Unknown Screenwriter. He occasionally rises up with a link dump on Twitter like he did earlier today. Here are those links: 7 Studio Jobs That

Interview (Part 4): Ben Jacoby

This week I’m featuring an interview I did with Ben Jacoby. This has a particularly unique hook in that I have an email thread with Ben dating back to July 30, 2013. Every several months, Ben would contact me with the latest development in his writing life, so in

Script Analysis: “Nightcrawler” — 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: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Themes Friday: Takeaways Today: Themes. I have

Rod Serling on Writing: Part 4

Part 4 of a 16 part series featuring the master storyteller on video. Ever since I launched Go Into The Story, I have regularly gone down the Internet’s rabbit hole in search of unique video clips featuring renowned writers. In 2010, I hit the Mother Lode: A series of

Writing and the Creative Life: Possibility Thinking, Practicality Thinking

You can not overestimate the value of a great idea as the basis of a story. Here are some quotes from a pair of established screenwriters about the importance of story concepts: “Most aspiring screenwriters simply don’t spend enough time choosing their concept. It’s by far the most

Daily Dialogue — October 8, 2015

OWEN: Call me. (Hands him a business card) PRICE: How about Friday? OWEN: No can do. Got a res at eight-thirty at Dorsia. Great sea urchin ceviche. There is a stunned silence as he walks away and sits in a corner of the room, ostentatiously studying papers. CLOSE-UP

Interview (Part 3): Ben Jacoby

This week I’m featuring an interview I did with Ben Jacoby. This has a particularly unique hook in that I have an email thread with Ben dating back to July 30, 2013. Every several months, Ben would contact me with the latest development in his writing life, so in

Spec Script Deal: “Met Gala Heist”

New Line Cinema acquires spec script “Met Gala Heist” written by Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer. From THR: Described as an Ocean’s Eleven-type heist film, the story centers on two estranged sisters who create an all-girl team to pull off a heist at the Oscars of fashion,

Script Analysis: “Nightcrawler” — Part 3: Sequences

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: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Themes Friday: Takeaways Today: Sequences. A sequence

Rod Serling on Writing: Part 3

Part 3 of a 16-part series featuring the master storyteller on video. Ever since I launched Go Into The Story, I have regularly gone down the Internet’s rabbit hole in search of unique video clips featuring renowned writers. In 2010, I hit the Mother Lode: A series of

Great Scene: “Almost Famous”

Some times it’s a great idea to put your story’s characters together in a situation that ‘rattles their cages’ — and that’s certainly what happens in this great scene from Almost Famous (2000), written and directed by Cameron Crowe. The movie’s premise per IMDB: William Miller is

Daily Dialogue — October 7, 2015

Indiana: Hello… Belloq: Jones? JONES…. Indiana: I’m gonna blow up the Ark, Rene. Belloq: Your persistence surprises even me. You’re going to give mercenaries a bad name. Dietrich: Dr. Jones, surely you don’t think you can escape from this island? Indiana: That depends on how reasonable we’

The 2015 For Your Consideration Screenplay Download Season officially begins!

It’s that time of year again when studios and production companies make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, we will be tracking them and posting links as they become available. UPDATE: Current total of 2015 scripts for download: 8. Newly added scripts: Legend,

Interview (Part 2): Ben Jacoby

This week I’m featuring an interview I did with Ben Jacoby. This has a particularly unique hook in that I have an email thread with Ben dating back to July 30, 2013. Every several months, Ben would contact me with the latest development in his writing life, so in

Script Analysis: “Nightcrawler” — Part 2: Major Plot Points

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: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Themes Friday: Takeaways Today: Major Plot Points.

Rod Serling on Writing: Part 2

Part 2 of a 16-part series featuring the master storyteller on video. Ever since I launched Go Into The Story, I have regularly gone down the Internet’s rabbit hole in search of unique video clips featuring renowned writers. In 2010, I hit the Mother Lode: A series of