Scott Myers

Interview (Written): Bruce Wagner

A WGA.org interview with screenwriter Bruce Wagner (I’m Losing You, Women In Film) about his newest movie Maps to the Stars, directed by David Cronenberg: Wagner had struggled with “a fair amount of addictions” and considered himself in decline when, in what he describes as “a real cri

Daily Dialogue — April 18, 2015

Annie: It’s my wedding day. Why do I look so annoyed? Dean: Oh, yeah. Your dad showed up shit-faced. He threw potato salad all over my mom. We had to throw him out! Annie: Why do I always have this depressed look on my face? Dean: You were

Twitter Rant: Craig Mazin on Script Consultants

Last night screenwriter Craig Mazin (The Hangover 2, Identity Theft) responded to a recent post online from a script ‘consultant’. Here is Craig’s response reprinted in its entirety by permission. https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/588935599777689600 He implies that because I went to Princeton, and Princeton is really expensive,

Interview (Part 5): David Guggenheim (2010, 2012 Black List)

David Guggenheim broke into the business in February 2010 by selling the spec script Safe House which was produced and has grossed $208M worldwide. Since that time, Guggenheim has sold two more spec scripts: “Black Box” to Universal and “Narco Sub” to 20th Century Fox, as well as the pitch

Movie Trailer: “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens”

Screenplay by J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, characters by George Lucas A continuation of the saga created by George Lucas set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983). IMDb Release Date: 18 December 2015 (USA) Are you ready for the hype machine to kick

Script Analysis: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — 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: Psychological Journey Friday: Takeaways Today: Takeaways. This

Movie Trailer: “Dirty Weekend”

Written by Neil LaBute Colleagues Les and Natalie are delayed in the Albuquerque airport. Restless, irritated, and unable to stand the service workers he meets at every turn, Les heads downtown. Natalie refuses to leave his side and discovers that his supposedly aimless wandering has more of a point than

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today: Scientists have found that memories may be passed down through generations in our DNA. New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to

Daily Dialogue — April 17, 2015

“I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there. Do I believe the world’s still

Wrangling your story

Some call it breaking a story. Others cracking a story. I prefer wrangling a story. Whatever you call it, you have to do it… figure out the story. What goes where. Who does what to whom. And for most writers, the ideal time to do that work is before you

Interview (Part 4): David Guggenheim (2010, 2012 Black List)

David Guggenheim broke into the business in February 2010 by selling the spec script Safe House which was produced and has grossed $208M worldwide. Since that time, Guggenheim has sold two more spec scripts: “Black Box” to Universal and “Narco Sub” to 20th Century Fox, as well as the pitch

Hollywood Tales

The famous ending of “The Graduate,” for example, came about because as it came time to film the scene where Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross get on the bus, Mr. Nichols found himself growing unaccountably irritable. “I told Dustin and Katharine, ‘Look, we’ve got traffic blocked for 20 blocks,

Script Analysis: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — Part 4: Psychological Journey

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: Psychological Journey.

Movie Trailer: “Manglehorn”

Manglehorn Bande-annonce VOEdit descriptionwww.allocine.fr Written by Paul Logan A strange and lonely man tries to come to terms with a past crime that cost him the love of his life. IMDb Release Date: 19 June 2015 (USA)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 16

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today: Woman brings life-size cutout of late father on trip so they can travel together one last time. Jinna Yang wouldn’t let her father’s death keep him from his dream of seeing

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 4]

Spec scripts, that is. I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them. In light of that fact, last year I interviewed a top

Daily Dialogue — April 16, 2015

“She said that her wrist hurt. I didn’t know it was fractured. I don’t remember… what I said to her. I can’t remember.” — The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), written by Shane Black The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Amnesia. Trivia: In the first draft of the

Black List Table Reads podcast debuts tomorrow!

Black List Table Reads? Yep. For background, there’s this. And this. There’s also this Bloomberg Business article: Malcolm Spellman and Tim Talbott, a screenwriting duo known as the Robotard 8000, sit on canary-yellow chairs in a Hollywood studio discussing their darker days. “Both of us were dead,

“Everything is changing”

That’s what attorney, producer and founder of Cinetic Media John Sloss said yesterday during the keynote address for the 7th annual TV and Film Finance Forum. And Sloss, whose producing credits include Boys Don’t Cry, Before Sunset, and Boyhood, thinks all that change represents an “incredible, exciting time

Interview (Part 3): David Guggenheim (2010, 2012 Black List)

David Guggenheim broke into the business in February 2010 by selling the spec script Safe House which was produced and has grossed $208M worldwide. Since that time, Guggenheim has sold two more spec scripts: “Black Box” to Universal and “Narco Sub” to 20th Century Fox, as well as the pitch

Script Analysis: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — 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: Psychological Journey Friday: Takeaways Today: Sequences. A

Movie Trailer: “Love & Mercy”

Screenplay by Michael A. Lerner, Oren Moverman The life of reclusive Beach Boys song-writer and musician Brian Wilson, from his successes with highly influential orchestral pop albums to his nervous break-down and subsequent encounter with controversial therapist Dr. Eugene Landy. IMDb Release Date: 5 June 2015 (USA)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 15

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Each day, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories. Tip: Public domain Laws vary from country to country, but if a person, event, book is considered to be in

Script To Screen: “The Lost Boys”

A pivotal scene from the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, screenplay by Janice Fischer & James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam, story by Janice Fischer & James Jeremias. IMDb plot summary: After moving to a new town, two brothers are convinced that the area is frequented by vampires. In this scene,

Daily Dialogue — April 15, 2015

JEEBS: Okay, whoa. He’s retired, right? J: We need the deneuralyzer. JEEBS: You’re kidding. J: The meter’s running, Jeebs. JEEBS (to K): You…remember me? K (Shakes head): Can’t say I do. I’m pretty good with faces. I think I’d remember that (points at