Scott Myers

2012 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 4: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Chris McCoy, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, John Swetnam

As something of an elder member of the screenwriting community, one of the wonderful experiences I have had since I started the blog is to get to know dozens of writers who I think would be fair to describe as ‘Young Turks’. Not necessarily young in terms of their age,

Video: The Art of Silence in the Films of Martin Scorcese

Another fine video from Tony Zhou: Via The Film Stage Comment Archive

Twitter Rant: Nate Winslow on the Black List, uploaded scripts, and genres

Super Producer in the Making Nate Winslow went on a Twitter rant last night which I thought the GITS community should see. https://twitter.com/nate_winslow/status/507371938214211584 So people on the industry pro side read @theblcklst scripts a lot. There are agencies that devote manpower to covering just

Movie Trailer: “Young Ones”

Written by Jake Paltrow Set in the future when water is hard to find a teenage boy sets out to protect his family and survive. IMDB Release Date: October 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

Classic 70s Movie: “Alien”

September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Jacob Holmes-Brown. Movie Title: Alien Year: 1979 Writers: Officially: Dan O’Bannon (Screenplay) & Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett (Story). Unofficially: Walter Hill and David Giler (Screenplay) & Dan O’Bannon (Story) Lead Actors: Sigourney Weaver,

The Business of Screenwriting: It’s not just about the script

We spend so much time here focusing on writing a great script, as well we should because that is such a critical piece of the Hollywood screenwriting puzzle. The quality of the scripts we write, whether on spec or assignment, is hugely important. They are bottom line, career changing kind

Daily Dialogue — September 4, 2014

The car is parked in a field of some sort. Butch reaches in the back seat for the bag of clothing. BUTCH: Here, take them nasty skivvies off and put on yer’ jeans. He spots Phillip’s not so successful effort to hide the costume box. BUTCH: Whatya’ got there?

Reader Question: What’s the fastest way to speed up the learning curve to write at the next level?

Question from Eric Harris: What’s the fastest way to speed up the learning curve on writing at the next level? I’m tempted to say that’s not the right question. Oh, hell, I’ll just say it: THAT’S NOT THE RIGHT QUESTION! It shouldn’t be about

2012 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 3: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Chris McCoy, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, John Swetnam

As something of an elder member of the screenwriting community, one of the wonderful experiences I have had since I started the blog is to get to know dozens of writers who I think would be fair to describe as ‘Young Turks’. Not necessarily young in terms of their age,

Video: Chrisophter Nolan on “Following”

Via The Playlist: Everyone has to start somewhere, and for Christopher Nolan got his chops together making corporate/industrial films. But he was destined for feature filmmaking, to which “Following,” his first feature film, is testament. In this 26-minute conversation with Vice for The Criterion Collection, the director details

How to Write a Scene: Part 2

So yesterday, I blogged about the fact that at a fundamental level, screenwriting is scene-writing. What emerged in the post and comments is a kind of checklist to use when crafting a scene. That brought to mind an interesting thread of events involving screenwriter John August. In 2007, John

Movie Trailer: “Reach Me”

Written by John Herzfeld A comedy/drama centered on a group of people who all have a connection to a self-help book authored by a reclusive former football coach. IMDB Release Date: 24 October 2014 (USA)

Classic 70s Movie: “Rocky”

September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Daryl Powell. Movie Title: Rocky Year: 1976 Writer: Sylvester Stallone Lead Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young Director: John G. Avildsen IMDB Plot Summary: Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer, gets a supremely rare chance to fight

Script To Screen: “Army of Darkness”

Yes, it’s the Boomstick scene from the classic 1992 comic horror movie Army of Darkness, written by Ivan Raimi and Sam Raimi. Plot Summary: A man is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can

Daily Dialogue — September 3, 2014

Catherine: Can I help you with that? Mr. Gumb: Would you? Catherine: Sure. Mr. Gumb: Thank you. Catherine: That’s alright. You look kinda handicapped. Mr. Gumb: Yeah, I got it this far. I just can’t get it up in the truck by myself. Here, grab this. Catherine: Okay.

Why haven’t you finished that script?

You know, that story you’ve been kicking around for months. Maybe it’s pretty well worked out, but you just can’t summon up the energy to type FADE IN. Or you have a partial draft and you’re stuck, not sure which way to go. Or a story

2012 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 2: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Chris McCoy, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, John Swetnam

As something of an elder member of the screenwriting community, one of the wonderful experiences I have had since I started the blog is to get to know dozens of writers who I think would be fair to describe as ‘Young Turks’. Not necessarily young in terms of their age,

How to Write a Scene: Part 1

I just started a new semester teaching my college students. The class is called Master Screenwriting and in it, each writer will pound out the first draft of an original feature-length screenplay. Every week, we read aloud their pages, critique them, then brainstorm ways to make them better, and

Movie Trailer: “Gone Girl”

Gillian Flynn (screenplay), Gillian Flynn (novel) With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent. IMDB Release Date: 3 October 2014 (USA)

Classic 70s Movie: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Tim Marriott. Movie Title: Monty Python And The Holy Grail Year: 1975 Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones Lead Actors: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle,

Screenwriting 101: Barbara Stepansky

“The most time I devote to is character. I think that plots develop out of character needs and wants. I think the most fun comes from watching people do something and spend time with them. Once I have a kernel of where I want the story to go or the

Daily Dialogue — September 2, 2014

“If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one that you can read and write. Unless you want to be a dead nigger.” — 12 Years a Slave (2013), screenplay by John Ridley, based on a memoir

Twitter Rant: Eric Heisserer on subtext

Tweetstorm: Eric Heisserer on subtext Insights on the underlying meaning of dialogue via @HIGHzurrer. Twitter can be a gold mine for writers. Case in point, when pro writers generate a tweetstorm about the craft, such as Eric Heisserer, who occasionally will sidle up to Twitter with a libation at hand,

2012 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 1: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Chris McCoy, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, John Swetnam

As something of an elder member of the screenwriting community, one of the wonderful experiences I have had since I started the blog is to get to know dozens of writers who I think would be fair to describe as ‘Young Turks’. Not necessarily young in terms of their age,

Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980)

Leave it to the wonderful Cinephilia and Beyond to find this gem: “Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film”. Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980) is the definitive documentary about the American silent film industry. The series consists of thirteen fifty-minute episodes, with each episode