Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — May 18, 2014

EXT. WATERPARK — HURRICANE HILL — THE NEXT MORNING Duncan sits on the railing. The sun just about to come up. Owen approaches. OWEN: I said you could hang out for a little bit. And, I meant it. Sunrise of the next day is where I have to draw the line. (then)

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Robbery

The theme for next week’s round of Daily Dialogue posts: Robbery. Bank Teller #1: Does this look like “gub” or “gun”? Bank Teller #2: Gun. See? But what does “abt” mean? Virgil: It’s “act”. A-C-T. Act natural. Please put fifty thousand dollars into this bag and

Interview [Part 6]: Geoff LaTulippe

One of the more active and colorful voices in the online screenwriting community is Geoff LaTulippe. Writer of the 2010 romantic comedy Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, Geoff also has a blog, is co-host (along with Scott Beggs) of the popular Broken Projector podcast, and

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 134th edition of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The Godzilla Kickin’ It Old School Edition! Sundance reveals 13 projects for 2104 directors and screenwriters labs. 11 incredible bike mods. The 15 most anticipated movies at 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Related: Stream 12 past Cannes Film Festival movies for

Classic 90s Movie: “Clerks”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Dakota Proctor. Movie Title: Clerks Year: 1994 Writer: Kevin Smith Lead Actors: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti Director: Kevin Smith IMDB Plot Summary: A day in the lives of two convenience store clerks named Dante and

Interview [Written]: Max Borenstein (“Godzilla”)

An interview from The Wrap with Max Borenstein, screenwriter of the movie Godzilla: Fear of the nuclear bomb spawned the first ‘Godzilla’ movie. Does that subject still resonate? Not in the same way, but what does resonate is the common denominator of Godzilla movies. Godzilla becomes a vessel for the

Interview [Written]: Richard Ayoade (“The Double”)

From The Dissolve: Whatever you do, don’t ask Richard Ayoade whether his new film, The Double, was inspired by Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. He’s heard it before. In fact, the comparison has proven so reflexive that, by the close of the festival where the film premièred, the soft-

Daily Dialogue — May 17, 2014

President “Bobby”: Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives? Long pause. Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden. President “Bobby”: In the garden.

Happy 6th Birthday to Go Into The Story!

Six years ago today, I launched Go Into The Story with this humble little post. The very first paragraph I wrote was this: Welcome to Go Into The Story! Right now, it’s nothing but a humble, threadbare blog, but I hope it will evolve into an active resource for

Interview [Part 5]: Geoff LaTulippe

One of the more active and colorful voices in the online screenwriting community is Geoff LaTulippe. Writer of the 2010 romantic comedy Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, Geoff also has a blog, is co-host (along with Scott Beggs) of the popular Broken Projector podcast, and

“Game of Thrones” death pie chart

HT to Geoff LaTulippe (@DrGMLaTulippe) for the link. Comment Archive

“Hollywood Should Make More, Not Fewer, Superhero Films”… NOT!

Here’s an article in The Atlantic with which I can safely say I completely disagree: The rickety Amazing Spider-Man 2 has critics debating just how many superhero movies America can handle. This was the subject of Samuel Adams’s weekly survey at CriticWire, which led RogerEbert.com’s

Movie Trailer: “The Hundred-Foot Journey”

Screenplay by Steven Knight, book by Richard C. Morais A story centered on an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. IMDB Release Date: 8 August 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

Classic 90s Movie: “Clueless”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Sarah Grimes. Movie Title: Clueless Year: 1995 Writer: Amy Heckerling; although the movie wasn’t a specific adaption of the novel, the plot closely dovetails to Jane Austen’s Emma. Lead Actors: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd,

Great Character: Alice Harford (“Eyes Wide Shut”)

This month’s theme: Attractor characters. Today: Alice Harford from Eyes Wide Shut, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael, inspired by a novella by Arthur Schnitzler. For his grand finale, maestro moviemaker Stanley Kubrick magnified the magnetism of his attractor character Alice Harford by casting Nicole Kidman as the

Daily Dialogue — May 16, 2014

“Be very careful with Hannibal Lecter. Dr. Chilton at the asylum will go over the physical procedures used with him. Do not deviate from them, for any reason. You tell him nothing personal, Starling. Believe me, you don’t want Hannibal Lecter inside your head… Just do your job, but

30 Days of Screenplays

Here’s what I propose for next month’s noon series: 30 Days of Screenplays. Longtime GITS readers will remember that at various times in this blog’s existence, we have done several of these: 7 Days, 14 Days, even a previous 30 Days of Screenplays series which I have

Interview [Part 4]: Geoff LaTulippe

One of the more active and colorful voices in the online screenwriting community is Geoff LaTulippe. Writer of the 2010 romantic comedy Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, Geoff also has a blog, is co-host (along with Scott Beggs) of the popular Broken Projector podcast, and

From TED-ED: What makes a hero?

From Holly Bell over at The Black Board, this nifty overview of The Hero’s Journey. If you’re a parent or teacher, this is a good visual resource to introduce young people to the idea of the Monomyth. I do have an issue with the video: The narrator’s

Take note, Hollywood: The New Money Is Here

There are the six major Hollywood movie studios: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. There are mini-majors like Lionsgate and Screen Gems. Then there are the financiers, independent production outfits. Two of the movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar for 2013 — American Hustle and Her

Movie Trailer: “Two Step”

Written by Alex R. Johnson The lives of James, a directionless college dropout, and Webb, a career criminal with his back against the wall, violently collide. IMDB Comment Archive

Classic 90s Movie: “Leon: The Professional”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Chris Neumann. Movie Title: Leon: The Professional or Leon (Europe), The Professional (USA) Year: 1994 Writers: Luc Besson Lead Actors: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello Director: Luc Besson IMDB Plot Summary: A professional assassin rescues

Writing and the Creative Life: “Nothing succeeds like failure”

Re-thinking the role of failure in the creative life. As writers, we have to learn how to handle losses and let-downs. Why? Because it is a constant dynamic in our lives. I was reminded of this yesterday when screenwriter Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Solitary Man, Oceans Thirteen) posted the

Daily Dialogue — May 15, 2014

“You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars. That’s what’s important. If you’re a rock journalist — first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they’ll buy you drinks, you’ll meet girls, they’ll try to

Twitter Rant: Daniel Kunka on OWAs (Open Writing Assignments)

Tweetstorm: Daniel Kunka on OWAs (Open Writing Assignments) “A lot of time is wasted by young writers chasing the holy grail of OWAs and it’s just not statistically a good idea. I want to control my product. I don’t want to have to boil it down to 15