Scott Myers

2011 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 6: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, 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,

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 149th installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Ghostbusters Release Edition! 20 things you might not know about Ghostbusters. The lineup for the 41st Telluride Film Festival announced. Telluride: Review of Wild. Telluride: 8 films that could enter the Oscar race.

Free Screenwriting Resource: Writers On Writing Quotes

I’m a big fan of writing quotes. Tack them up on my desk and use them for inspiration. Plus I use them all the time in my teaching. Who better to reflect on the craft than the writers themselves? So every Monday at 10AM Eastern / 7PM Pacific for over

Interview [Video]: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland (“The Last of Robin Hood”)

A 2013 TIFF post-screening Q&A with Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, co-writers and directors of the movie The Last of Robin Hood, starring Dakota Fanning, Susan Sarandon, and Kevin Kline. Here is a trailer for The Last of Robin Hood:

Interview [Written]: Christopher McQuarrie

A stellar Empire Online interview with writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, The Edge of Tomorrow). You’ve worked with Tom [Cruise] several times and you’ve said that on Valkyrie (which you co-wrote and produced) that you learned from him what you’d “been

Daily Dialogue — August 30, 2014

Lloyd Christmas: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me… ending up together? Mary Swanson: Well, Lloyd, that’s difficult to say. I mean, we don’t really… Lloyd Christmas: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I

Declare Your Independents — Vol. 27

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… 17 Delayed Films That Beat The Odds Is It Already Time For 2015 Oscar Predictions? 5 Freaky Facts From A Fractured Summer

2011 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 5: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, 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,

Chuck Wendig on “How to Write That Goddamn Novel”

If you’re not familiar with Chuck Wendig and his amazing blog Terrible Minds… What’s wrong with you? Here is a link to Terrible Minds. Here is a link to Chuck’s Amazon page of novels and books he’s written. And here is a classic Wendigistic blog post

Movie Trailer: “The Calling”

Scott Abramovitch (screenplay), Inger Ash Wolfe (novel) Detective Hazel Micallef hasn’t had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Fort Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling. IMDB Release

Great Character: Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (“The Avengers”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Action Heroines. Today: Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow from the 2012 movie The Avengers. Scarlett Johansson has been known for not just unanimous sex appeal, but for keeping her acting resume diverse and intriguing. She has already earned four Golden Globe nominations three years

Daily Dialogue — August 29, 2014

Dr. Harvey Kelekian: You have cancer. Miss Bearing, you have advanced metastatic ovarian cancer.  Vivian Bearing: Go on. Dr. Harvey Kelekian: You are a professor, Miss Bearing. Vivian Bearing: Like yourself, Dr. Kelekian. Dr. Harvey Kelekian: Why, yes. Now then, you present with a growth that unfortunately went undetected… in

September: Classic 70s Movie Month

In December 2013, we had a series called Classic 80s Movies Month in which I invited readers to select noteworthy movies from the decade of the eighties and provide a condensed overview of it. That resulted in this: A list of links to movies you should know about. Then in

2011 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 4: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, 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,

Infographic: Anatomy of Films

Here it is! Your guide to formulaic writing! Now go out and write some formulaic scripts! …just kidding.

Movie Trailer: “Unbroken”

Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen and Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson, book by Laura Hillenbrand A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II. IMDB Release Date: 25 December 2014 (USA)

Free Screenwriting Resource: Dialogue! Dialogue! Dialogue!

If you need some inspiration writing dialogue, boy, have we got you covered! Every single day this blog has been in existence, I have featured a post called Daily Dialogue. We are talking well over 2,000 posts spotlighting notable movie dialogue. You can check out the posts year by

Daily Dialogue — August 28, 2014

Olive: [going over eye test pamphlets] Mom, Dwayne’s got 20/20 vision! Sheryl: I bet he does… Olive: Now, let’s see if you’re colorblind. [opens the pamphlet] What’s the letter in the circle? Dwayne looks confused. Olive: No in the circle. The letter… in the circle?

Reader Question: How do you determine if a script is good?

Question from 14Shari: In one of your posts you advice to have at least three scripts in your portfolio. how do you decide which ones are good examples? Are there any measurements or standards one can use? This is a great question, Shari. At a basic level, you’d like

2011 Screenwriters Roundtable, Part 3: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, 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: “Scripted Life”

Go Into The Story development assistant Wendy Cohen forwarded this to me, a commercial that aired during the recent Emmy Awards broadcast on NBC: While the message at the end may take a swipe at scripts, the more remarkable point is this: Consider how widespread the awareness is nowadays about

Major Hollywood Studios Current Business Approach: Big Budget Franchise and Low-Budget Genre

I have written about the bifurcated business approach currently in vogue with Hollywood’s major studios: Big budget franchise movies on the one end, low budget genre films on the other. This Variety article from last week — “Universal Veers From Superhero Trend for a Monster Plan” — is further proof of

Movie Trailer: “Wild”

Written by Nick Hornby, memoir by Cheryl Strayed A chronicle of one woman’s 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent catastrophe. IMDB Release Date: 5 December 2014 (USA)

Free Screenwriting Resource: How to Read a Screenplay

There is reading a screenplay. And there is reading a screenplay. If you really want to understand a script — story structure, characters, themes, the whole enchilada — I posted a 7-part series providing an immersive approach to do just that. Part 1: The First Pass Part 2: The Scene-By-

Script To Screen: “American Pie”

The infamous apple pie scene. A scene from the 1999 movie American Pie, written by Adam Herz. Plot Summary: Four teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. Here is the scene in the script: INT. JIM'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAYJim enters his house, slinging