Scott Myers

Script To Screen: “The Cider House Rules”

The ending sequence from the 1999 movie The Cider House Rules, screenplay by John Irving based on his novel. Plot Summary: A compassionate young man (Homer), raised in an orphanage and trained to be a doctor there, decides to leave to see the world. Here that young man returns to

Daily Dialogue — July 16, 2014

Rayburn: She showed him it was OK to live again. Rayburn: He’ll deliver more justice than 10 years of your courts and tribunals. ~~~~~ Elderly Man: In the church they say to forgive. Creasy: Forgiveness is between them and God. It’s my job to arrange the meeting. ~~~~~ Mariana: He’

Reader Question: How do you decide between managers?

Question from Eric Harris: How do you decide between managers?–owner of a medium firm vs. manager working for a bigger firm (who might jump to a different firm since they are not the owner)? What is life like working with one and what should you expect to make the

Screenwriting Lessons: “The Social Network” — Part 2: Narrative Framework

[Note: This was originally posted February 15, 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 to analyze The King’s Speech and The Social Network, the most likely winners of this year’

“What I Wish I Knew About Distribution”

This is for all you folks trafficking in the indie film world. Ron Najor is a producer of two movies: I Am Not A Hipster and Short Term 12, both written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (you can read my interview with Cretton here). There was a recent article

Movie Trailer: “Birdman”

Screenplay by Alejandro González Iñárritu and Nicolás Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo A washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. IMDB Release Date: 7 October

2014 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 11

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?

Screenwriting 101: Jill Soloway

“The people who I believe in the most create work about people who are real. I’m also looking for truth, and I think that when people see truth in art, it resonates. Rootable women or likable women is a kind of trope that I was asked to be part

Daily Dialogue — July 15, 2014

“They’re going to laugh at you.” — Carrie (1976), screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen, novel by Stephen King The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Revenge. Trivia: Stephen King was paid $2,500 for the film rights. Dialogue On Dialogue: The words of Carrie’s mother echo in her mind

Concept = Hook

Whatever degree of importance you attribute to your script’s story concept… it’s probably not enough. Here’s how I begin Lecture 1 of my Core II: Concept class: The foundation of any movie is the screenplay. The foundation of any screenplay is the concept. Therefore it stands to

Screenwriting Lessons: “The Social Network” — Part 1: Compelling Protagonist

[Note: This was originally posted February 14, 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

Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 211–220

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

Movie Trailer: “The Interview”

Written by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Dan Sterling Talk-show host Dave Skylark and his producer, Aaron Rapoport, score an interview with Kim Jong-Un, dictator of North Korea. But when the CIA asks them to kill Kim,they become the least qualified men to ever assassinate. IMDB Release Date:

2014 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 10

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?

On Writing

“There are a million ideas in a world of stories. Humans are storytelling animals. Everything’s a story, everyone’s got stories, we’re perceiving stories, we’re interested in stories. So to me, the big nut to crack is to how to tell a story, what’s the right

Daily Dialogue — July 14, 2014

JUDGE: (blissful) Ohhhhhhh, Pretty women! TODD: Pretty women, yes… JUDGE: (straightening his coat) Quickly, sir, a splash of bay rum! TODD: Sit, sir, sit. JUDGE: (settling into chair, in lecherous rapture) Johanna, Johanna… Todd gets a towel, puts it carefully around the Judge, moves to get a bottle of bay

Go Into The Story Week In Review: July 7-July 13, 2014

Links to the week’s most notable posts: 100 Famous Directors’ Rules of Filmmaking Christopher Nolan: Films of the Future Will Still Draw People to Theaters Conversations With Wilder: Part 4 Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Revenge Declare Your Independents: Volume 20 GITS Interview: Mickey Fisher Great Character: Jack

Interview: Mickey Fisher

Mickey Fisher’s spec TV pilot “Extant” has become a CBS series which debuted July 9, 2014 and airs weekly on Wednesdays at 9PM E/8PM C. Stephen Spielberg is one of the show’s executive producers. It turns out Mickey is a longtime fan of Go Into The Story

“Conversations With Wilder”: Part 4

Billy Wilder is my all-time favorite filmmaker. Consider just some of his movies: Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), an oeuvre that demonstrates an incredible range in a filmmaking career that went from

Screenwriting News (July 7-July 13, 2014)

Alfredo Botello scripted drama “Crickets” to be produced by Mike Dirnt (Green Day) and Pat Magnarella. James E. Cavanaugh scripted science fiction “Apex” with Darren Lynn Bousman as director for 2511 Productions. Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer rewriting Ant-Man for Paramount Pictures and Marvel. Joe Gazzam options untitled science

Spec Script Sale: “Work It”

Universal Pictures acquires comedy spec script formerly known as “Work It” written by Laura Solon. From Deadline: It’s the first feature sale for Solon, who most recently wrote on TV Land’s “Hot In Cleveland”. The spec, formerly known as Work It, will be retitled and plot details are

Interview [Written]: Richard Linklater

A Rope of Silicon interview with screenwriter-director Richard Linklater whose latest movie is Boyhood which opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. I think I read it in another interview, but in Boyhood you tend to avoid showing the major moments, focusing more on the reaction and

Interview [Video]: Susannah Grant

An excellent resource for screenwriting interviews The Dialogue Series. It’s now available online for free. Here is an interview with Susannah Grant whose screenwriting credits include Pocahontas and Erin Brockovich. For the other videos in the series, go here. HT to Cinephilia & Beyond (@LaFamiliaFilm) for the heads-up

Daily Dialogue — July 13, 2014

“Go pick me out a winner, Bobby.” — The Natural (1984), screenplay by Roger Towne, Phil Dusenberry, novel by Bernard Malamud The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Victory, suggested by NB. Trivia: Loosely based on the story of Sir Percival from the Arthurian myths: * The broken bat = the broken sword

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Revenge

The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Revenge. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” 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 video source. I’