Scott Myers

Interview (Audio): Raymond Chandler interviewed by Ian Fleming

This is pretty awesome: The only known recording of novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler. And the interviewer? None other than a pretty fair novelist himself: Ian Fleming. Here is Part 1: Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Via Mental Floss. Comment Archive

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: Hanna

Tomorrow we begin our next installment of the Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis series. This week: Hanna, screenplay by Seth Lochhead and David Farr, story by Seth Lochhead. You may download the script here. The schedule for the week’s discussion: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday:

Interview (Video): Anthony McCarten (“The Theory of Everything”)

A College Web Media interview with Anthony McCarten, screenwriter of the movie The Theory of Everything: Here is a featurette wherein Dr. Stephen Hawking actually visited the set of the movie: The movie’s office website.

Daily Dialogue — January 4, 2014

C.C. Baxter: The mirror… it’s broken. Fran Kubelik: Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel. — The Apartment (1960), screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Party. Trivia: This was the last

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Hangover

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Hangover. Some of you may be inspired by a recent interface with alcohol on New Year’s Eve, so consider this a virtual hair of the dog that bit you! The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDb Quotes or some other transcript

Declare Your Independents — Vol. 43

GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome back to Declare Your Independents, our new series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film! This week… IndieWire: Indie Films You Must See This January The New Yorker: Indie Films You Must See This January Sight and Sound’s

Video: “1,001 Movies You Must See (Before You Die)”

In 10 minutes! Edited by Jonathan Keogh. HT to /film for the link.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 167th installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Best New Thing On TV In 2014 — “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”! Will The Interview’s $15M online haul be a game changer for Hollywood? Related: Former Sony staffer among six suspected in hack. 11 innovative ways to

Great Scene: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”

A brilliant cinematic moment in Spielberg’s classic science fiction movie. I believe Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is the only movie for which Steven Spielberg has a sole “written by” credit. As such, it’s interesting to compare Spielberg’s screenplay to the movie. Here is an

Interview (Written): Eric Heisserer

An interview from the site First Scream to the Last with screenwriter Eric Heisserer whose movie credits include A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Thing as well as writing his directorial debut Hours. Were you a fan of the original Elm Street, and what did (and didn’t) you

Daily Dialogue — January 3, 2014

Carolyn Burnham: My husband, Lester. Buddy Kane: It’s a pleasure. Lester Burnham: Oh, we’ve met before, actually. This thing last year, Christmas at the Sheraton… Buddy Kane: [pretends to remember] Oh yeah, yes… Lester Burnham: It’s OK, I wouldn’t remember me either. Carolyn Burnham: [laughs nervously]

Some upcoming writing events

In November and December, a lot of people were inquiring about my Screenwriting Master Class schedule for 2015. It’s finally locked down. For the entire list of classes by Tom Benedek and myself, go here. I want to spotlight three upcoming writing events: READY TO WRITE THAT FIRST DRAFT?

Comparing WGA’s 101Greatest Screenplays with IMDb Top 250 Films

Michael Hennessy did something interesting: I put together the following list to show the overlap (sixty-four screenplays) between the WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays and IMDb’s Top 250 Films (as of January 1st, 2015). (I also created a Pinterest board here with poster images to represent all the

The Toughest Scene I Wrote: Nicolas Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris (“Birdman”)

Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid: Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen? In this article,

Movie Trailer: “The Walk”

Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne, book by Philippe Petit The story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. IMDb Release Date: 2 October 2015 (USA)

Classic 60s Movie: “The Pink Panther”

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Will King. Movie Title: The Pink Panther Year: 1963 Writers: Maurice Richlin, Blake Edwards Lead Actors: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Capucine, Claudia Cardinale, Robert Wagner Director: Blake Edwards IMDb Plot Summary: Bumbling and conceited French police inspector Jacques

Great Character: Bernard Berkman (“The Squid and the Whale”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Struggling Artist. Today: Bernard Berkman from The Squid and the Whale (2005), written by Noah Baumbach. Here is Jason Cuthbert’s weekly Great Character post: Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr. Fox co-writing partner Noah Baumbach

Daily Dialogue — January 2, 2014

“Ah, I shoulda known you was at this party, and ya know, with all that Jheri Curl juice you got in your hair, you better not Ever do a crime! The police won’t have any problem finding you! ‘Follow the drip, follow the drip!’” — House Party (1999), written by

My wishes for you in 2015

This blog exists for many reasons and a primary one is to try to elevate the quality of the scripts that funnel into Hollywood and other filmmaking centers worldwide. We deserve better movies. And that starts with a screenplay. In that spirit, here are some wishes I have for each

Interview (Audio): Billy Wilder (Rare 1975 recording)

What a great way to start off the New Year! This rare 1975 minute audio interview with the brilliant writer-director Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., The Apartment, Some Like It Hot) just surfaced 3 days ago! As many of you know, Wilder is my all-time favorite filmmaker,

The Toughest Scene I Wrote: James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”)

Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid: Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen? In this article,

Movie Trailer: “Little Boy”

Written by Alejandro Monteverde, Pepe Portillo A young American boy struggles to achieve the impossible…bring his father back from World War II. IMDb Release Date: 27 February 2015 (USA)

Classic 60s Movie: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Neil Spagna. Movie Title: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Year: 1969 Writer: William Goldman (Winner of Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay 1969) Lead Actors: Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy), Robert Redford (Sundance Kid), Katharine Ross (Etta Place)

Daily Dialogue — January 1, 2014

Russell Hammond: I am a golden god! [crowd cheers] I am a golden god! [crowd cheers]  William Miller: Russell, whatever you do, don’t jump. Russell Hammond: And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were… [beat] I’m on drugs! Crowd cheers. William Miller: Russell! I

Daily Dialogue 2015

All of the Daily Dialogue posts from 2015. January 1 — Almost Famous: “I am a golden god!” January 2 — House Party: “The police won’t have any problem finding you! ‘Follow the drip, follow the drip!’” January 3 — American Beauty: “OK honey, I won’t be weird. I’ll be