Daily Dialogue — April 29, 2015 Edna Mode: Well, darling, what do you think? Helen Parr: What do I think? Bob is retired! I’m retired! Our family is underground. You helped my husband resume secret hero work behind my back? Edna Mode: Well, I assumed you knew, darling. Why would he keep secrets from you?
Reader Question: How insane is it for a 46 year-old to try to start a Hollywood writing career? It’s crazy, but then it’s crazy for ANYONE to expect to break into Hollywood. Question via Twitter from @russmaloney: Glib response: About as insane as it is for a 20 year-old. A 25 year-old. Or a 30 year-old. The odds against financial success as a
Interview (Part 2): Mynette Louie In September 2013, I interviewed New York-based independent movie producer Mynette Louie. Shortly thereafter, Mynette was named president of Gamechanger Films. Their mission statement: Gamechanger provides equity financing to narrative feature films directed by women. We support the unique artistic voices of talented directors who happen to be women,
Spec Script Deal: “A Meyers Thanksgiving” Universal Pictures acquires comedy spec script “A Meyers Thanksgiving” written by David E. Talbert. From Deadline: The pic is a holiday themed comedy about an estranged family facing their first Thanksgiving together since the death of the family matriarch. Talbert is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. By my
Script Analysis: “Lincoln” — 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: Psychological Journey Friday: Takeaways Today: Major Plot
Movie Trailer: “Learning to Drive” Written by Sarah Kernochan As her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with marriage troubles of his own. In each other’s company they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel. IMDb Release Date: 21
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 28 This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: 8 Nuclear Weapons the U.S. Has Lost. During the Cold War the United States military misplaced at least eight nuclear weapons permanently. These are the stories of what the Department of
Screenwriting 101: Garry Marshall “My main mentor was Carl Reiner because he took the time to explain stories. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘if you just use your imagination, you’ll be selling shoes in three week. You gotta look at life and tell me what happened every day and take what’s going on
Daily Dialogue — April 28, 2015 Gibbons: Well, now. Uh… Ladies and gentIemen of the j-j-j… of-of the j-j-j… (coughs)… jury! Um… On-on… on January ffffffff… fourth of this year, my client did, indeed, visit the Sac-o-Suds c… um… co… um… um… convenience store. But-but… he didn’
Interview (Part 1): Mynette Louie In September 2013, I interviewed New York-based independent movie producer Mynette Louie. Shortly thereafter, Mynette was named president of Gamechanger Films. Their mission statement: Gamechanger provides equity financing to narrative feature films directed by women. We support the unique artistic voices of talented directors who happen to be women,
Script Analysis: “Lincoln” — 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: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Psychological Journey Friday: Takeaways Today: Scene-By-
Movie Trailer: “The Visit” Written by M. Night Shyamalan A single mother finds that things in her family’s life go very wrong after her two young children visit their grandparents. IMDb Release Date: 11 September 2015 (USA)
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 27 This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: The “Flying Squadron” of Catherine de Medici’s Sex Spies. This story emerged from research I was doing on — of all things — artichokes. While going down the long tail of the Internet,
On Writing “Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” — Jane Yolen
Daily Dialogue — April 27, 2015 Korben Dallas: You in charge? Fog: (nervously) Yeah. Korben Dallas: How many of them are there? Fog: I..I dunno. Korben trades places with Fog and peaks around the corner. Korben Dallas: Seven on the left, five on the right. Korben shoots across the lineup of Mangalores, then ducks back
May: Classic 50s Movie Month (Update) In December 2013, we had a series called Classic 80s Movies Month in which I invited readers to select noteworthy movies from the decade of the eighties and provide a condensed overview of it. That resulted in this: A list of links to movies you should know about. Then in
Interview: Aaron Guzikowski One of the best movies of 2013 was Prisoners, written by Aaron Guzikowski, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to have an hour-long conversation with Aaron about his background as a writer, his work on Prisoners,
Screenwriting News (April 20-April 26, 2015) Ben August adapting action thriller novel “The Swimmer” for Kamala Films, Thunder Road Pictures and Film House Germany. Alev Aydin adapting short film “Controller” for Fox. Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow sell comedy pitch “White Boy Problems” to MGM and New Line. Will Beall writing Robin Hood project for Warner
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 26 This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: Family gives homeless, dying dog the best days of his life. Butch the Boston terrier had a rough life, but for one week, he knew what it was like to be loved.
Interview (Written): David Goyer The Script Lab interview with David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins, Man of Steel): JB: David, I have heard pieces of how you got into screenwriting, but would you mind giving me the full A-Z? What initially drew you into this medium of storytelling? DSG: I was always interested
Daily Dialogue — April 26, 2015 “Long live the king.” — The Lion King (1994), screenplay by Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, story by Burny Mattinson & Barry Johnson & Lorna Cook & Thom Enriquez & Andy Gaskill & Gary Trousdale & Jim Capobianco & Kevin Harkey & Jorgen Klubien & Chris Sanders &
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Stammer The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Stammer. “You… you… you… you… you’re on the nest?” Sometimes a revelation occurs that just floors a character, so the resulting dialogue is filled with stammering. We could also include characters who stutter, plenty of those in movie history. One question is
Interview (Part 6): Aaron Guzikowski (“Prisoners”) One of the best movies of 2013 was Prisoners, written by Aaron Guzikowski, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to have an hour-long conversation with Aaron about his background as a writer, his work on Prisoners,
Deal: “Controller” (Short Video) Hollywood’s mini-wave of short proof-of-concept videos continues with “Controller”. From Deadline: Fox has acquired Controller, a project that Alev Aydin will write based on a concept written by Saman Kesh based on his short film… Pic is a sci-fi rescue film that turns the damsel-
Saturday Hot Links Time for the 183rd installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: It’s The Who Live At Leeds (1970) Edition. The Winners of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. Why Do So Many People Want to Be Screenwriters? 7 Biggest Battles at the Summer Box Office. ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ Plot to
