Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — August 20, 2015

“I don’t know. It’s a mystery.” — Shakespeare in Love (1998), written by Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Callback. Trivia: Writer Marc Norman got the idea for the film when his son Zachary called him from Boston University and suggested doing something on

Update: September — Classic 40s Movie Month

Update: Great response per usual from the GITS community. 15 people have already volunteered. Looks like we can go for a full month of posts. Let’s see if we can cover 15 more classic 40s movies! Every several months since 2013, we’ve had a Classic Movie Month in

Interview (Part 3): John Gary

There are several reasons I have wanted to interview John Gary for some time. First and foremost, he’s a talented screenwriter. Second, he has a unique vantage point about the craft as it exists in today’s Hollywood. John has been outside the system, worked inside it, achieved some

Movie Analysis: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” — Characters

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

Black List writers on the craft: Characters (Part 3)

Over the years, I have interviewed over 40 Black List screenwriters. This month, I will run a series featuring one topic per week related to the craft of writing. This week: How do you develop your characters? Reading through all of the responses was a fascinating exercise. Once again, this

Keys to Low-Budget Filmmaking

If you write a script that costs $100M or more to produce, there are basically six buyers who can afford to make that movie. If you a write a script that costs $5–20M to produce, there are over a hundred buyers who can afford to make that movie. It

Daily Dialogue — August 19, 2015

First, the set up: DELUISE: Ooh, ooh! You! You with the banjo. Can you help me? I have lost my sense of direction. KERMIT: Have you tried Hare Krishna? DELUISE: Ha, ha — no. And the payoff: FOZZIE: Wakka, wakka, wakka. Here I am, Fozzie Bear, to tell you jokes both

Interview (Part 2): John Gary

There are several reasons I have wanted to interview John Gary for some time. First and foremost, he’s a talented screenwriter. Second, he has a unique vantage point about the craft as it exists in today’s Hollywood. John has been outside the system, worked inside it, achieved some

Movie Analysis: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” — Plot

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

Screenwriting 101: Frank Pierson

“Frank Daniel, who started AFI and was the head of Sundance, said a very interesting thing — we can have 10 or 15 very different advisors, people who do radically different kinds of pictures, but we all see the same problems in a script. He remarked that that insight is enormously

Daily Dialogue — August 18, 2015

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” — Star Wars: Episodes I-VI The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Callback. Trivia: The following characters “have a bad feeling about this”: Obi Wan (Episode I), Anakin (Episode II), Obi Wan (Episode III), Luke (Episode IV), Han (Episode IV), Leia (Episode

Reddit AMA: Franklin Leonard

It was something like 5 years ago when Franklin Leonard first reached out to me about the blog. Via numerous emails and phone calls, several things became clear. First, Franklin is smart as hell. Second, he loves movies, but perhaps even more, he has a passion for all things screenwriting

Interview (Part 1): John Gary

There are several reasons I have wanted to interview John Gary for some time. First and foremost, he’s a talented screenwriter. Second, he has a unique vantage point about the craft as it exists in today’s Hollywood. John has been outside the system, worked inside it, achieved some

Movie Analysis: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation”

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

On Writing

“The three things that matter most in a story are characters, characters and characters.” — Bob Gale Via @bobsparacosm.

Daily Dialogue — August 17, 2015

The set-up: DR. LAO: Mike, let me tell you something. The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it. The way the sun goes down when you’re tired, comes up when you want to be on the move — that’s real magic. The

Go Into The Story Week In Review: August 10-August 16, 2015

Links to this week’s most notable posts: Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep (Part 1) Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep (Part 2) Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep (Part 3) Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep (Part 4) Black List

Spec Script Deal: “The Libertine”

Warner Bros. acquires drama spec script “The Libertine” written by Ben Kopit. From THR: The scandal involving French economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn is getting the movie treatment via Warner Bros., which has pre-emptively picked up the spec script titled The Libertine by Ben Kopit. The deal also includes a

Screenwriting News (August 10-August 16, 2015)

Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski writing untitled horror project for A24. Randall Green sells comedy pitch “Reunion” to Universal Pictures. Bill Marsilii sells supernatural thriller pitch “Cold” to Lionsgate. Billy Ray adapting period thriller book “Devil In The White City” for Paramount Pictures. Mark L. Smith rewriting “Collider” for Paramount

Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep (6 Part Series)

Over the years, I have interviewed over 40 Black List screenwriters. This month, I am running a series featuring one topic per week related to the craft of writing. Last week: What aspects of story prep do you devote the most time and focus to? Black List writers on the

Interview (Written): Andrea Berloff (“Straight Outta Compton”)

An interview with Andrea Berloff who co-wrote the screenplay for the movie Straight Outta Compton. How’d you approach the script? How’d you figure out what had to be in, what to condense, and what to leave out? I approached this the same way I’d approach any

Daily Dialogue — August 16, 2015

Faith: Two in the morning has been perfectly fine for you lately. George: What are you talking about? Faith: I’m talking about the night before last, George. George: I was in town. I was working. Beat. Faith: You were with your lady friend. Silence. George: My what? Faith: Lady

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Callback

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Callback. The term “callback” is one used in stand-up comedy. Here is the Wikipedia entry: A callback, in terms of comedy, is a joke which refers to one previously told in the set. The second joke is often presented in a different

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: Birdman

This week, we have been reading, analyzing, and discussing the script and movie Birdman, written by Alejandro González Iñárritu & Nicolás Giacobone & Alexander Dinelaris & Armando Bo. IMDb plot summary: A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family,

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 199th installment of Saturday Hot Links. Meryl Streep’s Writers Lab Selects 12 Female Screenwriters. A list of cities in North America where you can watch The End of the Tour this weekend. Google becomes Alphabet. Google’s Hidden ‘Silicon Valley’ Joke Draws Reply From Show’s