Scott Myers

Interview [Video]: Paul Haggis

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has started a documentary series called Academy Originals. Here is an interview with screenwriter-director Paul Haggis, whose writing credits include Crash, Million Dollar Baby and Quantum of Solace. For the rest of the videos on the Academy Originals site, go here.

Daily Dialogue — August 3, 2014

Forrester: [begins typing] Go ahead. Jamal: Go ahead and what? Forrester: Write. Jamal: What’re you doing? Forrester: I’m writing, like you’ll be… when you start punching those keys. Jamal stares at the typewriter. Forrester stops. Forrester: Is there a problem? Jamal: Nah, I’m just thinking. Forrester:

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Grief

The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Grief. “Is that my daughter in there? Is that my daughter in there?” A moment of grief. Tough scenes to write. They can be pitched at a high decibel level like the one above in Mystic River. Or they can be quiet, unspoken sorrow

Interview: “Chicks Who Script”

Here is a terrific, new resource for the online writing community: A weekly podcast called Chicks Who Script, featuring a trio of ‘chicks’: Emily Blake, Maggie F. Levin, and Lauren Schacher. You may check out their website here. Emily, Maggie, Lauren In this 2-part interview, Lauren, Maggie and Emily

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 145th installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The I’m In Canada This Weekend So Let’s Celebrate With SCTV Episodes Edition! 2014 Comic-Con: A bunch of stuff on Marvel [videos]. 2014 Comic-Con: The Playlist primer on what happened. 2014 Comic-Con: Comprehensive list of

Free Screenwriting Resource: Guide to Aristotle’s “Poetics”

Aristotle’s “Poetics” is one of the most important influences on the evolution of our collective understanding of Story, yet last year it struck me that I had only read portions of it, never the whole text. So beginning in May 2013 and continuing pretty much each week until March

Interview [Written]: Thunder Levin (“Sharknado”)

A THR interview with Thunder Levin, screenwriter of Sharknado and Sharknado 2, the cult Syfy movie franchise. Why do you think the first Sharknado movie struck a chord? What it really boils down to is the sense of fun in the movie. It was this bizarre mashup title that delivered

Interview [Written]: Jon Spaihts

An excellent interview with screenwriter Jon Spaihts with the Soap Box Science blog, focusing on the relationship between science and storytelling. Jon Spaihts is the screenwriter of The Darkest Hour, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and the upcoming Passengers and The Mummy. The one-time physics student and science writer has

Daily Dialogue — August 2, 2014

DEWEY: Okay, who’s got food in here? The kids look at each other. DEWEY: You’re not gonna get in trouble. I’m hungry. A kid raises her hand in the back. DEWEY: You. Whataya got! She opens her desk. Jack pilfers her sandwich with a bite already taken

Free Screenwriting Resources

There are over 16,000 posts and 70+ archive topics on this blog. To help navigate the site, here are 30 Free Screenwriting Resources from Go Into The Story. And all of them are free! 1, 2, 7, 14: A simple formula to be a more productive and better screenwriter.

Declare Your Independents: Volume 23

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… 11 Actors in Need of an Indie Intervention What Happened to Original Movies Aimed at Adults? What’s New on Netflix Streaming:

Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 221–230

Jeff Lieber is a screenwriter and TV writer. His movie credits include Tuck Everlasting and he is currently an executive producer of the CBS series “NCIS: New Orleans”. On Twitter (@JeffLieber), he has run a series of tweets called Showrunner Rules. For background on Jeff and this Twitter series, go

Parody: “Potterhood”

If Richard Linklater could traverse 12 years in the life of a boy in Boyhood, why not Harry Potter? That’s what Slate did with this mashup. Via /film. Comment Archive

Screenwriting Lessons: “The King’s Speech” — Part 5: Moments

[Note: This was originally posted February 11, 2011.] As I watched The King’s Speech recently, I was struck by how many screenwriting lessons could be gleaned from the movie. So I decided this week and next to analyze The King’s Speech and The Social Network, the most likely

Movie Trailer: “Kill the Messenger”

Screenplay by Peter Landesman, book by Nick Schou and Gary Webb A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the

2014 Scene-Writing Challenge: Final Thoughts

I’m on the road, so I haven’t finalized the numbers yet, but at this point I know that over 60 writers hit the 10 scene threshold and contacted me to receive their free Core class. I’m guessing there are more to come, plus other writers who posted

Great Character: Lucy (“Lucy”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Action Heroines. Today: Lucy from the 2014 movie Lucy, written by Luc Besson. SPOILER ALERT: For those who don’t want to know key plot elements, beware as there are some below! Screenwriter and director Luc Besson had quite an ambitious stylistic intention

Daily Dialogue — August 1, 2014

“Hey, dude, you proud of me? First one here. [motions to the word “calculus” on chalkboard] What’s Cal-CUE-lus?” — Stand and Deliver (1988), written by Ramón Menéndez & Tom Musca The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Teaching. Trivia: Selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in

Q&A (Part 2): Chicks Who Script (Emily Blake, Maggie F. Levin, Lauren Schacher)

Here is a terrific, new resource for the online writing community: A weekly podcast called Chicks Who Script, featuring a trio of ‘chicks’: Emily Blake, Maggie F. Levin, and Lauren Schacher. You may check out their website here. I asked Emily if they would be willing to do a Q&

Reader Question: Is it possible to have a Protagonist who doesn’t have a backstory?

Question via email from Faizan (Mumbai, India): Is it possible for a protagonist not to have a back story? The first thing that comes to mind is the so-called “Dollars Trilogy” of ‘spaghetti Westerns’: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the

Featurette: “All the President’s Men”

A 10-minute featurette about the making of All the President’s Men: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1Rz9Y69s4 Via The Playlist. Comment Archive

Screenwriting Lessons: “The King’s Speech” — Part 4: Shadow

[Note: This was originally posted February 10, 2011.] As I watched The King’s Speech recently, I was struck by how many screenwriting lessons could be gleaned from the movie. So I decided this week and next to analyze The King’s Speech and The Social Network, the most likely

Movie Trailer: “Mr. Turner”

Written by Mike Leigh A look at the life of British artist J.M.W Turner. IMDB Release Date: 31 October 2014 (UK)  Comment Archive

2014 Scene-Writing Challenge: Last day!

As noted in this recent post: In May, it was 90s movies. In June, it has been 30 Days of Screenplays. What is that but the first two of three from that essential screenwriting mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. Can you see where I’m going for July?

Writing and the Creative Life: “Get a mentor”

Writing and the Creative Life: Get a Mentor A mentor can help you manage the ups and downs of learning the craft and a writing career. I interviewed Jason Mark Hellerman, a young screenwriter who had a major breakthrough when his original screenplay “Shovel Buddies” placed high on the 2013