Movie Trailer: “Alex of Venice” Written by Jessica Goldberg, Katie Nehra and Justin Shilton Workaholic attorney, Alex is forced to reinvent her life after her husband suddenly leaves. Now faced with the humdrum and sometimes catastrophic events that permeate the fabric of our lives, Alex discovers both a vulnerability and inner strength she had not
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 18 As noted in this post last month: What if in February, we put the spotlight on writing dialogue? A Dialogue-Writing Challenge! Here’s my idea: We crowdsource a bunch of dialogue-writing prompts. From that, we choose the 20 best ones. Then next month, Monday through Friday, much like
Script To Screen: “Fight Club” The ending to the 1999 movie Fight Club, screenplay by Jim Uhls, novel by Chuck Palahniuk. IMDb plot summary: An insomniac office worker looking for a way to change his life crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker and they form an underground fight club that evolves into
Daily Dialogue — February 25, 2015 At a birthday party. Peppers: She’s a beauty, ain’t she? Frank: Yeah, what kind of gun is this? Peppers: It’s a tranquilizer gun. If any of these little fuckers decide to freak out on the kids, I get to take them down. Ain’t that right? [yank’
A.B.C. Always. Be. Creating. Some advice I offered writers in my recent Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets class: If you write a script and it generates interest with a manager, agent, or producer, when you meet with them, the first thing they’ll say is, “Love your script.” The second thing will
Interview (Part 2): Eric Koenig First-timers. Tyro scribes. There are several ways Hollywood development people refer to writers who break into the business via a spec script, but the one writers want to have hung on us is this: Fresh Voice. One such writer is Eric Koenig. Matriarch — Eric Koenig (Paramount) — 11/12/14
Video: “Science Goes to the Movies” A new monthly TV series from CUNY called “Science Goes to the Movies”. In this debut episode, the hosts discuss Birdman, The Theory of Everything and Interstellar. For the series site, go here.
Script Analysis: “Whiplash” — 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: “The Gunman” Screenplay by Don MacPherson and Pete Travis, novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette A former Special Forces soldier and military contractor suffering from PTSD tries to reconnect with his long time love, but first must go on the run from London to Barcelona and across Europe in order to clear his
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 17 As noted in this post last month: What if in February, we put the spotlight on writing dialogue? A Dialogue-Writing Challenge! Here’s my idea: We crowdsource a bunch of dialogue-writing prompts. From that, we choose the 20 best ones. Then next month, Monday through Friday, much like
Screenwriting 101: Billy Ray “Here’s my day. I wake my kids up in the morning, I take my son to his bus stop at 7:30. I’m at my desk at eight. Somebody feeds me at one. I’m back at my desk at 1:30 and I write till five or
Daily Dialogue — February 24, 2015 Children chattering. Annie Hayworth: Alright, here we go. One, Two, Three…there you go. Children laughing. Child: Look! Look! Child: Look! Look! Girl wearing blindfold: Hey, no touching allowed. Annie Hayworth: Oh. Birds squawking. Children screaming. Annie Hayworth: Help me get the children into the house. Mitch Brenner: There you
Do you start scripts, but not finish them? Four questions for you: * Are you prone to starting scripts, but not finishing them? * Do you get lost when you are writing your script, then lose faith in it — and yourself? * Have you received feedback that your scripts have thin characters or weak plots? * Do you have a great concept
2014 Spec Script Deals: Analysis Analysis of all the spec script deals in 2014. Spec Script Deal List Genres Buyers Agents & Managers Top Sales First-Timers I have been keeping tabs of the spec script market since I launched the blog in 2008 and following it since I sold a spec script to break
Interview (Part 1): Eric Koenig First-timers. Tyro scribes. There are several ways Hollywood development people refer to writers who break into the business via a spec script, but the one writers want to have hung on us is this: Fresh Voice. One such writer is Eric Koenig. Matriarch — Eric Koenig (Paramount) — 11/12/14
Script Analysis: “Whiplash” — 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 Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Screenplay by Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram, story by Jeff Kleeman & David C. Wilson and Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram, TV characters created by Sam Rolfe In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization,
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 16 As noted in this post last month: What if in February, we put the spotlight on writing dialogue? A Dialogue-Writing Challenge! Here’s my idea: We crowdsource a bunch of dialogue-writing prompts. From that, we choose the 20 best ones. Then next month, Monday through Friday, much like
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Week 3 Here are all of Week 3’s prompts for this year’s Dialogue-Writing Challenge for which you can win one of my Craft classes — for free. Day 11 challenge: An argument with an inanimate object. Day 12 challenge: After receiving disturbing personal news, a character has to deal with
Daily Dialogue — February 23, 2015 “I don’t like it when people come up to me after my plays and say, ‘I really dug your message, man.’ Or, ‘I really dug your play, man, I cried.’ You know. I like it when people come up to me the next day, or a week later, and
2015 Academy Award companion! Some articles, trivia and background on the Academy Awards. All of the 2015 Academy Awards nominees. Who’s performing and who’s presenting [video]. 6 things you may not know about the Oscar’s envelope [video]. 15 award-winning facts about the Oscars [video]. How does a movie qualify for
Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: Whiplash Starting tomorrow (Monday), we begin our next installment of the Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis series: Whiplash, nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay. You may download the script here: Whiplash. The schedule for the week’s discussion: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Major
Interview: Kelly Marcel With the enormous opening weekend box office success of Fifty Shades of Grey, I thought it would be a good idea to reprise my December 2013 interview with that movie’s screenwriter Kelly Marcel. London-based writer Kelly Marcel wrote the 2011 Black List screenplay Saving Mr. Banks which was
Screenwriting News (February 16-February 22, 2015) Steve Conrad sells untitled driverless car pitch to Sony Pictures. Alexander Dinelaris Jr. writing sports drama “The Year of the Monarchs” for Mandalay Sports Media. Michael Finch and Alex Litvak set up “Medieval” at Sony Pictures, formerly at New Regency. Robert Ben Garant untitled family horror project with Blumhouse Productions.
