Scott Myers

Los Angeles Film Festival: “The Black List Live! A Staged Reading”

Interesting news from this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival. In addition to pre-screenings of How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 22 Jump Street, there is this: A first time event taking place at the Festival this year is The Black List Live! A Staged Reading. The Festival

Interview [Part 3]: 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

Watch David Lynch’s twisted animated series “Dumbland”

Via Open Culture: After Mulholland Drive, Lynch became disenchanted with making movies while at the same time he grew intrigued by the possibilities offered by cheap digital cameras and the internet. In 2002, he made the animated series Dumbland, which Lynch himself called “very stupid, very crude.” Indeed, the simple

Paris Review: Matthew Weiner, The Art of Screenwriting

The spring 2014 issue of the Paris Review features a lengthy interview with TV writer-producer and writer-director Matthew Weiner, most notably known for the series “Mad Men”. Some excerpts: Born in 1965, Matthew Weiner is barely old enough to remember the period with which his television series Mad

Movie Trailer: “A Most Wanted Man”

Andrew Bovell (screenplay), John le Carré (novel) A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror. IMDB Release Date: 25 July 2014 (USA) Comment Archive

Classic 90s Movie: “The Usual Suspects”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from ‘Verbal Kint’. Movie Title: The Usual Suspects Year: 1995 Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, winner Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Lead Actors: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey (Won an Oscar), Chazz Palminteri Director:

Script To Screen: “The Kids Are All Right”

A scene from the 2010 movie The Kids Are All Right, written by Lisa Cholodenko, who also directed, and Stuart Blumberg. IMDb Plot Summary: Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their father into their family life. Laser’s mothers are curious about what’s going on with their son.

Daily Dialogue — May 14, 2014

“There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.” — Teen Wolf (1985), screenplay

The Small Screen Keeps Getting Larger

A guest post from screenwriter Tom Benedek (Cocoon): It was nice to have a job. I managed to hit the marks as requested by the producers and finished my TV assignment last month. Right now, I am waiting for some more notes. So I am back in my own projects

The NFL, The Company and the Black List: New Screenwriting Initiative

An announcement today from The Black List: The Black List is pleased to announce a new relationship with the National Football League and Charlie Ebersol and Mike Lanigan’s The Company designed to find writers for an NFL themed screenplay, for which they will be paid WGA minimum for two

Interview [Part 2]: 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

“Alien”: 2 1/2 hour Behind the Scenes documentary

In honor of H.R. Giger who died yesterday, here is a 2 1/2 hour documentary on the making of Alien. Via Indiewire. Comment Archive

THR Roundtable: TV Showrunners

From THR: Despite achieving golden-boy status this year for his debut series True Detective, Nic Pizzolatto, 38, briefly reverted to starstruck fanboy on an April evening when five giants of television joined him inside a downtown L.A. warehouse to swap tales from the TV writer trenches. And who

Movie Trailer: “Ping Pong Summer”

Written by Michael Tully A family vacation during the summer of 1985 changes everything for a teenage boy obsessed with ping pong. IMDB Comment Archive

Classic 90s Movie: “Howard’s End”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Barbara Thomas. Movie Title: Howard’s End Year: 1992 Writers: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, based on the novel by E.M. Forster Lead Actors: Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave Director: James Ivory IMDB Plot Summary:

Screenwriting 101: Declan O’Dwyer

“It was never really about where it was going to end up. It was really about the journey itself. It’s inevitable in a genre piece. Cinematic language tells us there’s going to be showdown at high-noon. Not always the case, but it’s a fair assumption. So

Daily Dialogue — May 13, 2014

Jack Crabb: General, you go down there. General Custer: You’re advising me to go into the Coulee? Jack Crabb: Yes sir. General Custer: There are no Indians there, I suppose. Jack Crabb: I didn’t say that. There are thousands of Indians down there. And when they get done

Reader Question: Should I try to adapt my own book?

A book represents intellectual property and Hollywood is obsessed with IP, so what’s the best thing an author can do? Question via Twitter from @ElizabethDeath: Hi-wrote 1st book-124k words-b good series/movie-maybe :) should I try adapt myself or just publish book & see what happens?

Interview [Part 1]: 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

What can we learn from the movie “Neighbors”

How many of you predicted the comedy Neighbors would knock off The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and become the #1 box off movie over the weekend? Nobody, that’s right! The numbers: Neighbors: $51.07M The Amazing Spider-Man 2: $37.2M Granted it was the 2nd weekend for TASM,

Movie Trailer: “Healing”

Written by Craig Monahan, Alison Nisselle At the tail end of a 16-year sentence, an inmate is sent to a low-security, pre-release prison with a special program that pairs men with injured game birds. IMDB Release Date: 8 May 2014 (Australia)  Comment Archive

Classic 90s Movie: “Before Sunrise”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Kalen Deremo. Movie Title: Before Sunrise Year: 1995 Writers: Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan Lead Actors: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy Director: Richard Linklater IMDB Plot Summary: A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe,

On Writing

“Respect your characters, even the ­minor ones. In art, as in life, everyone is the hero of their own particular story; it is worth thinking about what your minor characters’ stories are, even though they may intersect only slightly with your protagonist’s.” — Sarah Waters Via @AdviceToWriters

Daily Dialogue — May 12, 2014

“First of all Rat, you never let on how much you like a girl. ‘Oh, Debbie. Hi.’ Two, you always call the shots. ‘Kiss me. You won’t regret it.’ Now three, act like wherever you are, that’s the place to be. ‘Isn’t this great?’ Four, when ordering

Go Into The Story Week In Review: May 5-May 11, 2014

Links to the week’s most notable posts: 85 Films Martin Scorcese says you must see “A great film reveals itself in five minutes” Christopher Evan Welch reminds us: “You are only here for a fraction of a fraction of a second” Classic 90s Movie: Fight Club Classic 90s Movie: