Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — November 19, 2014

George: Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain’t got no family and they don’t belong no place. They got nothin’ to look ahead to… Lennie: But not us, George. Tell about us. George: …well, we ain’t like that.

Q&A (Part 2): The Bitter Script Reader on “Michael F-Ing Bay: The Unheralded Genius in Michael Bay’s Films”

The Bitter Script Reader has hosted a screenwriting blog almost as long as I have, his first post going live on January 1, 2009. Over the years, we’ve crossed virtual paths countless times and I’ve come to know Bitter as one of the good guys in the online

Update: Award season screenplay downloads (NEW: Belle, Boyhood, Calvary, Grand Budapest Hotel, Wild)

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, we will be tracking them and posting links as they become available. If you want to get these scripts first, come here. No one posts them faster than

Spec Script Sale: “Boston Strong”

Twentieth Century Fox acquires drama spec script “Boston Strong” written by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy. From Variety: …based on the book by Casey Sherman and former Boston Herald reporter Dave Wedge. “Boston Strong” follows the massive manhunt to apprehend the two men believed to be responsible for the bombings,

Interview (Part 2): Joshua Golden

Joshua Golden wrote the spec script “Road to Oz” which was not only a finalist in the 2014 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, it sold in September to New Line. From THR: New Line Cinema has preemptively scooped up spec script Road to Oz, written by hot rising talent Josh

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: Drag Me to Hell

We’ve had a successful relaunch of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series. I say relaunch because we have done this type of thing before. For the next month, I will be spotlighting previous movie scripts we have studied. Today: Drag Me to Hell (2009) Written by Sam Raimi,

Movie Trailer: “Minions”

Screenplay by Brian Lynch, characters created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul Gru is recruited by an organization to stop Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world. IMDb Release Date: 10 July 2015 (USA)

Script Analysis: “American Hustle” — 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

Screenwriting 101: Ron Bass

“If you read my novels, you’d see a lot of sentence fragments. And there are some punchy phrases that are meant to light the mind. I’ve always felt that writing was communication — not showing off how articulate you are, or showing off your vocabulary. It’s about making

Daily Dialogue — November 18, 2014

Renault: It might be a good idea for you to disappear from Casablanca for a while. There’s a Free French garrison over at Brazzaville. I could be induced to arrange a passage. Rick: My letter of transit? I could use a trip. But it doesn’t change our bet.

Update: Award season screenplay downloads (NEW: Kill the Messenger)

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, we will be tracking them and posting links as they become available. If you want to get these scripts first, come here. No one posts them faster than

Q&A (Part 1): The Bitter Script Reader on “Michael F-Ing Bay: The Unheralded Genius in Michael Bay’s Films”

The Bitter Script Reader has hosted a screenwriting blog almost as long as I have, his first post going live on January 1, 2009. Over the years, we’ve crossed virtual paths countless times and I’ve come to know Bitter as one of the good guys in the online

Interview (Part 1): Joshua Golden

Joshua Golden wrote the spec script “Road to Oz” which was not only a finalist in the 2014 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, it sold in September to New Line. From THR: New Line Cinema has preemptively scooped up spec script Road to Oz, written by hot rising talent Josh

Movies You Made: “Phoenix 9”

Peer Gopfrich is a talented writer I have gotten to know through Screenwriting Master Class. Last week, he and his filmmaking team made a splash with a short film he wrote and produced titled Phoenix 9, garnering attention in social media including at FirstShowing. Plot summary: After a global nuclear

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: Cloverfield

We’ve had a successful relaunch of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series. I say relaunch because we have done this type of thing before. For the next month, I will be spotlighting previous movie scripts we have studied. Today: Cloverfield (2008) Written by Drew Goddard IMDb plot summary:

Movie Trailer: “Chappie”

Written by Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings — some good, some bad — and he will rely on his heart

Script Analysis: “American Hustle” — 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-

On Writing

“It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.” — William Faulkner

Daily Dialogue — November 17, 2014

Gillespie: You know Virgil, you are among the chosen few. Tibbs: How’s that? Gillespie: Well, I think that you’re the first human being that’s ever been in here. Tibbs: You can’t be too careful man. Gillespie: You know a lot of things don’t you? Well,

Go Into The Story Week In Review: November 10-November 16, 2014

Links to the week’s most notable posts: A different approach to ‘Theme’ Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Friendship Go Into The Story Interview: Darnell Hunt (Hollywood Diversity Report) Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: (500) Days of Summer Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis:

Interview (Parts 1–4): Darnell Hunt

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Darnell Hunt, professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and director of the university’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American studies. There is perhaps no one more qualified to speak on the subject diversity in Hollywood than

Screenwriting News (November 10-November 16, 2014)

Mark Boal rewriting “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” for Sony Pictures. Randy Brown adapting “Three Miracles From Heaven” for Sony Pictures. Joseph Cedar writing drama thriller “Oppenheimer Strategies,” Cedar to direct, Richard Gere to star. Blake Crouch sells novel rights to “Dark Matter” to Sony Pictures for $1.25M, Crouch to

Interview (Video): Christopher Nolan (“Interstellar”)

A 20 minute special that aired on Sky TV: “Interstellar: Nolan’s Odyssey”. Via Indiewire.

Daily Dialogue — November 16, 2014

Grandma Helen: Oh Sam, let me look at you. Fred, she’s gotten her boobies. Grandpa Fred: [chuckles] I better go get my magnifying glass. Grandma Helen: Oh, and they are so perky. Grandma Helen reaches to cup them. Samantha: [cut to Sam’s bedroom] I can’t believe my

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Friendship

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Friendship. “I found out what the secret to life is — friends. Best friends.” Fried Green Tomatoes The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from YouTube or some other