Movie Trailer: “Pound of Flesh” Written by Joshua James A man’s heroic attempt to help a woman in distress ends up with him waking up the next day without a kidney and plotting his revenge. IMDb Release: May 2015
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 14 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
The Business of Screenwriting: The Birth, Life and Death of a Movie (Part 2) When we last left this intrepid screenwriter, I was stuck in 1997, left holding a phone, speechless after learning that a supposed done deal with Paramount to remake the 1955 comedy The Court Jester had just gone south after suits in various offices from Hollywood to Beverly Hills had determined
Daily Dialogue — February 19, 2015 Harry Monroe: Walking through the desert all right, but I don’t see no naked women. I should have my head overhauled for listening to you. My Grandmother was right, cowshit for brains. Skip Donahue: Me? Harry Monroe: No, me. Harry starts walking with a swagger. Skip Donahue: What are
“Keep it simple. Get it done.” A guest post from Screenwriting Master Class co-founder and screenwriter Tom Benedek: We are dreaming big every time we sit down to write. There’s no way of knowing the outcome unless we write the script, envision the best outcome every single day. Write a great script. Don’t
Interview (Part 3): 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
Interview (Audio): Rian Johnson interviews Christopher Nolan From an event on January 3, 2015 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica: Christopher Nolan interviewed by Rian Johnson. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/187407802" params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&
2014 Spec Script Sales Analysis: Buyers Yesterday we looked at 2014 spec script deals by genre. Today we break down the numbers per major studios, mini-majors, subsidiaries, production companies, and financiers to see which were the most and least active in the script acquisition market. The totals: 10 Sony 8 20th Century Fox 4 Universal
Movie Trailer: “Crimson Peak” Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins & Lucinda Coxon In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 13 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: “Jackie Brown” A scene from the 1997 movie Jackie Brown, written by Quentin Tarantino, based on an Elmore Leonard novel. IMDb plot summary: The middle age stewardess Jackie Brown smuggles money from Mexico to Los Angeles for the arms dealer Ordell Robbie. When she gets caught by the agents Ray Nicolette and
Daily Dialogue — February 18, 2015 GEORGE: Then, when I was thrown out of college, I made up my mind. I decided to, uh, live a little. I knew if I continued my academic endeavors I could depend upon that check of yours every month. You know what I did? I took a plush Hollywood apartment,
New Black List Live! Reading Series Event Latest from the Black List: 2014 BLACK LIST SCRIPT GIFTED TO KICK OFF 2015 BLACK LIST LIVE! READING SERIES Los Angeles (February 17, 2015) — The Black List announced this morning that Tom Flynn’s screenplay GIFTED will kick off their 2015 Black List Live! Reading Series on Saturday, March 14th
Spec Script Deal: “White Boy Rick” Studio 8 acquires drama bio spec script “White Boy Rick” written by Logan Miller and Noah Miller. From Deadline: At the age of 14, [Richard] Wershe became an undercover informant for local and federal law enforcement agencies in the mid-80s, and grew in that role enough to establish himself
Interview (Part 2): 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. Kelly and I engaged in a wide-ranging Q&A, the focus of which is
Video: Lisa Kudrow’s opening monologue at the 2015 WGA Awards ceremony “Really, I’m looking out and I don’t recognize any of you.” Lisa Kudrow killed. Congrats, writers, on a job well done for an awards ceremony seen by literally dozens of people… after the fact.
2014 Spec Script Deals Analysis: Genres By my count, Hwood studios, production companies, and financiers acquired 62 spec scripts in 2014. During this week, I’ll be breaking down those numbers. Today we look at deals by genre. Some scripts are categorized as cross genres or sub-genres, so those are noted where relevant under their
Movie Trailer: “The Water Diviner” Written by Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons. IMDb Release Date: 24 April 2015 [U.S.]
2015 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 12 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: David Hare “My life was changed by Louis Malle, who asked me to do Damage, which I really, really didn’t want to do. I said, ‘You know, I’m finished with the cinema, I’m just getting worse at it.’ And Louis said, ‘Well, you won’t have to make this
Daily Dialogue — February 17, 2015 HUMMEL: I’ll come straight to the point, General Kramer. Eighty-three Force econnaissance Marines have died under my various commands. Forty-seven in northern Laos and southern China … HAYDEN SINCLAIR: Southern China? We never admitted we sent troops into China. There is a pause. HUMMEL: Who is that. Identify
2014 Spec Script Deals Analysis of all the spec script deals in 2014. Spec Script Deal List Genres Buyers Agents & Managers Top Sales First-Timers
March is Movies You Made Month! Every year, I like to spotlight the creative ambitions of readers in a series I call Movies You Made. For example, back in January 2010, I featured a short film called Aquarius of Hearts, written and directed by Cameron Alexander. Here it is: Lo and behold, Cameron went on to
Interview (Part 1): 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
