Scott Myers

Kinds of Scenes — Instinctive Choices

A guest post from my colleague Tom Benedek: Sometimes I sit down and just can’t bring myself to write a scene I have clearly drawn right in front of me in my story outline. I know what is supposed to happen. Yet it doesn’t feel right. I don’

Interview [Part 3]: 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

Procrastination for Creative Writers!

HT to Trish Curtin for the comic. For Tom Gauld’s website, go here. Comment Archive

Binge Viewing is Forcing Showrunners to Evolve

Is “binge-viewing” changing the way writers approach TV series? That is the focus of a recent Variety article. Some observations in it from a handful of notable showrunners: D.B. Weiss, partnered with David Benioff on HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” says: “From the outset, the goal with ‘Game’

Movie Trailer: “Fury”

Written by David Ayer April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 25: “The Kids Are All Right”

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

Script To Screen: “Get Shorty”

A scene from the 1995 movie Get Shorty, screenplay by Scott Frank, book by Elmore Leonard. Plot Summary: A mobster travels to Hollywood to collect a debt and discovers that the movie business is much the same as his current job. Here is the script version of a scene where

Daily Dialogue — June 25, 2014

“So, well, not quite the storybook end, huh? Not for us, anyway. But you men played like champions. You never gave up. And champions hold their heads high. What you achieved goes way beyond the win-loss column and what’s gonna be written on the front page of the

Reader Question: What are ways to study films in the same genre as my script?

If you’re a genre writer, it’s critical you immerse yourself in that story space. Reader Question via Twitter from @37filmsltd: In the early stages of writing a script. Where do I find discussion of other films in the genre? Boy, have you come to the right place! You

Interview [Part 2]: 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

Video: Comedy Actor Roundtable

A THR roundtable with Andy Samberg (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Matt LeBlanc (“Episodes”), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), William H. Macy (“Shameless”), Jason Biggs (“Orange Is The New Black”) and Tony Hale (“Veep”). For the Hollywood Reporter article, go here. Comment Archive

Are all movie heroes the same person?

For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with the work of Joseph Campbell, his seminal book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” and how his articulation of the narrative archetype The Hero’s Journey became so popular, including in Hollywood, an article in Pacific Standard, an online magazine, is a good

Movie Trailer: “Very Good Girls”

Written by Naomi Foner Two New York City girls pact to lose their virginity during their first summer out of high school. When they both fall for the same street artist, the friends find their connection tested for the first time. IMDB Release Date: 24 June 2014 Comment Archive

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 24: “Moonrise Kingdom”

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

Screenwriting 101: Simon Kinberg

“In my experience, audiences go to movies to feel. When the movie starts to break down and it becomes too mechanical or organized, instead of organic, audiences detach from the film. Inversely, when the story isn’t totally functional, but the characters are doing honest, true things that audiences can

Daily Dialogue — June 24, 2014

“I’m here to warn ya, that ya gotta be very careful about this shot that you got at the title. Because, like the Bible sez, you ain’t gonna get a second chance… Well, what ya need is a manager. A manager, listen to me. I know, because I’

Reader Question: What are some tips for figuring out the ending of a story?

Question via Twitter from @WrittenbyKendra: What are your tips for creating the ending of a short film/screenplay in the outline phase? Let’s start with Billy Wilder who said this: “If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.” A screenwriter

Spec Script Sale: “The Controller”

The Solution acquires action spec script “The Controller” written by Dominic Morgan and Matt Harvey. Logline: Set in the Swiss Alps, follows the story of a veteran U.S. air commando who teams up with a female U.N. officer to hunt down an escaped dictator and avenge the murder

Interview [Part 1]: 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

“Sympathetic doesn’t have to mean likable”

A video from Jennine Lanouette: The beauty of the concept of sympathetic character is that once you have your viewer invested in your main character, you can then have him go off and do all kinds of maladapted things without losing your viewer’s engagement in the story. Here is

“The Smartest Sci-Fi Films Are Low-Budget Ones”

BuzzFeed ran an article last week featuring two new science fiction movies: Coherence and The Signal. Giant interstellar shoot-outs and outlandish alien races are great and all, but science fiction is a genre that can benefit from limitations as much as it can big-budget space operatics. It’s

Movie Trailer: “Third Person”

Written by Paul Haggis Three interlocking love stories involving three couples in three cities: Rome, Paris, and New York. IMDB Release Date: 20 June 2014 (USA) Comment Archive

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 23: “Flight”

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

On Writing

“As the characters become alive to me, there are things that I think they’re going to do that they refuse to do and as I get closer, they won’t do and then I have to let them tell me where they’re going.” — Naomi Foner

Daily Dialogue — June 23, 2014

INT. CLUB HOUSE LOCKER ROOM — NIGHT Billy lets himself out and walks down the hall to the locker room — regards Jeremy Giambi - JEREMY: Yeah! He’s not even aware of Billy. It’s just like any other night as far as Jeremy Giambi is concerned. He dances to a CD