Scott Myers

Interview [Video]: Ira Sachs (“Love Is Strange”)

Interview with Ira Sachs, director and co-writer of Love is Strange, an indie film starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. Here is a trailer for the movie:

Daily Dialogue — August 23, 2014

Perry: My $2000 ceramic Vektor my mother got me as a special gift. You threw in the lake next to the car. What happens when they drag the lake? You think they’ll find my pistol. Jesus. Look up “idiot” in the dictionary. You know what you’ll find? Harry:

Declare Your Independents — Vol. 26

GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome back to Declare Your Independents, our series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film. This week… AFI Directing Workshop for Women Launches Episodic Directing Program Does Love Is Strange Really Deserve An R Rating? What Hollywood Lost When The

“Failure, Writing’s Constant Companion”

The New York Times has a series called “Draft” about the art and craft of writing. It’s a great resource which you can access here. A few days ago writer Rachel Shteir wrote a particularly resonant post: “Failure, Writing’s Constant Companion.” A few excerpts from her first-person

Video: What if Michael Bay directed “Up”

Reminds me of the review my then 9 year-old son gave to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just after we had emerged from the theater. I asked him what the movie was about. His reply: “Blowing stuff up.” And yet here is Mr. Bay, laughing all the way to

5 Screenwriting Skills: #5 — Conviction

[Originally posted March 22, 2013] During the nearly 5 years I’ve run this blog, I have been privileged to do one-on-one interviews with a number of screenwriters, especially this year as I set a goal to post a Q&A per week for 2013. Over the

Movie Trailer: “Frank”

Jon Ronson (screenplay), Peter Straughan (screenplay) Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank. IMDB Release Date: 22 August 2014 (USA)

Free Screenwriting Resource: Interviews With Professional Screenwriters

If you are trying to learn the craft of screenwriting, isn’t it better to seek out the insights of professional screenwriters who have worked on the front lines of the business in Hollywood, rather than some screenwriting ‘guru’ who has no movie credits? That’s my working thesis and

Great Character: Annie Porter (“Speed”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Action Heroines. Today: Annie Porter from the 1994 movie Speed, written by Graham Yost. Sandra Bullock has managed to $ucce$$fully portray heroines in a multitude of movie genres: a sports drama The Blind Side in 2009 ($309,208,309), an action comedy

Daily Dialogue — August 22, 2014

“I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!” — Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), written by Graham Chapman & John Cleese & Eric

On The Rise 2014: 13 Screenwriters To Watch

Although I’m not personally a fan of these type of lists — seriously, how does one determine who is on / not on the list — the fact they shine a spotlight on particular screenwriters is, I think, a net plus for screenwriting in general. The latest entry comes from The Playlist

Spec Script Sale: “Moonfall”

Audax Films acquires science fiction spec script “Moonfall” written by David Weill. From Deadline: Audax had company for a film that centers on an FBI agent who travels to a moon colony to investigate its very first death. Weill is repped by CAA and Unified Management. By my count, this

Spec Script Sale: “The Three Tenors”

Lionsgate acquires comedy spec script “The Three Tenors” written by Johnny Rosenthal. From Deadline: Think A Night At The Opera meets Anchorman here as the comedy traces the rise and fall, and then another rise and fall and then rise, of a fictional trio of internationally beloved operatic superstars. Rosenthal

Every death in Quentin Tarantino movies… in 4 minutes

Edited by Jaume R. Lloret. Via FilmmakerIQ.

5 Screenwriting Skills: #4 — Voice

[Originally posted March 21, 2013] During the nearly 5 years I’ve run this blog, I have been privileged to do one-on-one interviews with a number of screenwriters, especially this year as I set a goal to post a Q&A per week for 2013. Over the

Movie Trailer: “My Old Lady”

Written by Israel Horovitz An American inherits an apartment in Paris that comes with an unexpected resident. IMDB Release Date: 10 September 2014 (USA)

Free Screenwriting Resource: Film School On The Cheap

In order to work as a screenwriter in Hollywood, you have to immerse yourself in the world of movies. Based on suggestions from the GITS community, here is a ‘poor’ person’s version of film school, a list of resources in five subject areas you can use to do precisely

Writing and the Creative Life: “Come to the edge”

Going beyond the edge of the Old World into the New World can be a terrifying experience, but a necessary one for the transformation process. A poem by Christopher Logue: “Come to the edge,” he said. “We’re comfortable back here,” they said. “Come to the edge,” he said. “We’

Daily Dialogue — August 21, 2014

“Mr. Madison, what you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.” — Billy Madison (1995), written

Reader Question: How to write about a historical figure, but not basing it off previous material?

Question from Bretton Zinger: I’m wondering about how you go about writing about a historical figure but not base it off of previous material. For example, let’s say I want to make a movie about George Washington. (He’s not the subject of my idea.) Numerous books have

Update: Go Into The Story Interviews

Two things about interviews I conduct for this blog. First, one of the earliest goals I had with Go Into The Story was to use it to put a spotlight on screenwriters. This pertains to the weekly Screenwriting 101 series featuring writing quotes, the How They Write A Script series,

5 Screenwriting Skills: #3 — Experience

[Originally posted March 20, 2013] During the nearly 5 years I’ve run this blog, I have been privileged to do one-on-one interviews with a number of screenwriters, especially this year as I set a goal to post a Q&A per week for 2013. Over the

Movie Trailer: “Big Hero 6”

Written by Don Hall & Jordan Roberts, Robert L. Baird and Daniel Gerson, comic by Duncan Rouleau and  Steven T. Seagle A group of six superheroes are recruited by the government to protect the nation. IMDB Release Date: 7 November 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

Free Screenwriting Resource: The Definitive Spec Script Sales List [1991–2013]

When I first broke into the business in 1987, one of my agents told me this: “Movies coming out in theaters represent what the studios were buying 3–5 years ago. If you want to know where their heads are at today, track what projects they’re buying now.” As

Script To Screen: “All About Eve”

A scene from the 1950 movie All About Eve, written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and featuring one of the most famous lines of dialogue in movie history. Plot Summary: An ingenue (Eve) insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress (Margo) and her circle of