Scott Myers

Screenwriting News (June 23-June 29, 2014)

Arash Amel writing remake of the 1983 War Games for MGM. Travis Beacham’s Pacific Rim gets a sequel scheduled for release April 7, 2017 with Guillermo del Toro directing, plus an animated TV series. Shane Black writing treatment and Fred Dekker writing script for sequel of 1987 Predator for

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 29: “Lincoln”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days? Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts. There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get

Interview [Video]: Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel

A great interview from The Dialogue series with screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel whose lengthy list of movie credits include Night Shift, Splash, Parenthood, City Slickers, A League of Their Own, and many more. To see more of The Dialogue series, go here. Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — June 29, 2014

“For those of you who may not know, this is the final resting place for six members of the 1970 Thundering Herd. The plane crash that took their lives was so severe, so absolute, that their bodies were unable to be identified. So they were buried here. Together. Six players.

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Addiction

The Daily Dialogue theme next week: Addiction. Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm 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’d also ask you

Interview [Part 6]: Brian Duffield

In Hollywood development circles, Brian Duffield is a popular figure. As evidence, two of his original screenplays have made the Black List: Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch and Jane Got a Gun, putting him on the 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2013 list. In addition, he sold his spec script

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 140th installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The We Remember Eli Wallach Edition. Legendary character actor Eli Wallach dead at the age of 98. 17 Joss Whedon quotes on his 50th birthday. 2014’s 10 best works of fiction so far. Plot details emerge on Wachowski’s

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 28: “The Spectacular Now”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days? Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts. There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get

Interview: Ehren Kruger (“Transformers”)

A /film interview with screenwriter Ehren Kruger who has written all three Transformers sequels: How do you write for Michael Bay’s style? Writing for Michael is very — he’s a very sensory director, and sometimes an “overload” director. He’s someone who is always looking to top himself, certainly

Interview [Written]: Oren Peli

An interview from “Guerilla Filmmaker’s Pocketbook” with Oren Peli, writer-director-producer of the micro-budget to macro-profits phenomenon which is Paranormal Activity. Q — What is your background? Oren — I have no film background — Paranormal Activity was the first thing I did in film. I’m a computer

Daily Dialogue — June 28, 2014

“The Chiefs are history, guys. There ain’t no Florida deal. I just made that shit up. We’re deader than this stinkin’ town is. I conned you guys. I just lied to ya. We were never anything but a rich broad’s tax write-off. Doesn’t make a

Write Pages: Scene-Writing Challenge!

Observant GITS readers will note some method to my madness with regard to the last two monthly Noon series. 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.

Interview [Part 5]: Brian Duffield

In Hollywood development circles, Brian Duffield is a popular figure. As evidence, two of his original screenplays have made the Black List: Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch and Jane Got a Gun, putting him on the 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2013 list. In addition, he sold his spec script

“Why Disney Can Risk Rian Johnson Helming a ‘Star Wars’ Film”

By now, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard this news: Rian Johnson’s dive into science fiction with 2012’s Looper will serve him well on a much bigger project, as the director will take on Episode VIII of the upcoming Star Wars series. Initial reports had also attached

Movie Trailer: “The Book of Life”

Screenplay by Jorge R. Gutierrez, Douglas Langdale THE BOOK OF LIFE is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 27: “Wreck-It Ralph”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days? Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts. There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get

Great Character: Jackie Brown (“Jackie Brown”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Tarantino characters. Today: Jason Cuthbert looks at Jackie Brown from the movie Jackie Brown. After the career-building impact created from the seismic boost of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, screenwriter/director Quentin Tarantino took his handcrafted auteur show onto the adaptation stage

Daily Dialogue — June 27, 2014

“There’s a tradition in tournament play to not talk about the next step until you’ve climbed the one in front of you. I’m sure going to the state finals is beyond your wildest dreams, so let’s just keep it right there. Forget about the crowds, the

New Black List initiative!

Today from the Black List: MARTIN KATZ, THE BLACK LIST, AND TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCE NEW CANADIAN INDIE WRITER FELLOWSHIP LOS ANGELES, CA (June 26, 2014) — This morning, producer Martin Katz (Cosmopolis, Hotel Rwanda), the Toronto International Film Festival, and Black List founder Franklin Leonard jointly announced the creation

Interview [Part 4]: Brian Duffield

In Hollywood development circles, Brian Duffield is a popular figure. As evidence, two of his original screenplays have made the Black List: Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch and Jane Got a Gun, putting him on the 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2013 list. In addition, he sold his spec script

The return of Project Greenlight

This time, they will focus on selecting a director who will work with a “Hollywood vetted script.” I have featured a lot of GITS readers who are filmmakers in my ongoing Movies You Made series, many of them very good movies. So if you have a short film (3 minutes

What are the 36 Most Expensive Movies Ever Made?

Via Rope of Silicon: Business Insider has posted a list of the 30 most expense movies ever made (plus a few additions/corrections from me), using data from IMDB and Box Office Mojo as well as adjusting for inflation. Here goes: 1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Movie Trailer: “The Zero Theorem”

The Zero Theorem - International TrailerThe Zero Theorem International Trailercms.springboardplatform.com Written by Pat Rushin A computer hacker whose goal is to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; namely, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him. IMDB

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 26: “American Hustle”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days? Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts. There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get

Daily Dialogue — June 26, 2014

“I have been walking on ball fields for sixteen years. And I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left — Murderers Row, our championship team of 1927. I have had