Scott Myers

Classic 90s Move: “Good Will Hunting”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Michael Corcoran. Movie Title: Good Will Hunting Year: 1997 Writers: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Lead Actors: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard, Minnie Driver Director: Gus Van Sant IMDB Plot Summary: Will Hunting, a janitor

Writing and the Creative Life: Possibility Thinking, Practicality Thinking

You can not overestimate the value of a great idea as the basis of a story. Here are some quotes from a pair of established screenwriters about the importance of story concepts: “Most aspiring screenwriters simply don’t spend enough time choosing their concept. It’s by far the most

Daily Dialogue — May 1, 2014

“As you can see, we’ve had our eye on you for some time now, Mr. Anderson. It seems that you’ve been living two lives. One life you’re a Thomas A. Anderson, a programmer for a respectable software company. Social security number, you pay your taxes, and you…

90s Movies

I asked Go Into The Story readers to post about a favorite movie from the 90s with two goals: To provide background and analysis on movies from this decade, and to inspire you to watch movies which is critical to learning the craft of screenwriting. Before Sunrise Being John Malkovich

Question: What are the best secret backstories in movies?

The other day, I was bumping around the Internet — which is, as we all know, a series of tubes — and I stumbled onto this: Greatest Film Plot Twists, Film Spoilers and Surprise Endings. Several years later [in Time Wasting Time], I emerged with multiple lacerations, a hip pointer and a

Interview [Part 3]: Amma Asante, Director, “Belle”

Amma Asante has been an actress, TV writer-producer, and movie director. Her latest is the period piece drama Belle, written by Misan Sagay and directed by Asante. The movie opens this Friday, May 2nd in theaters across North America. I had an engaging and informative conversation with Amma after

“The Creative Process”: A Visual Representation

Via @KellyMarcel: Seems about right. Comment Archive

Movie Trailer: “The Homesman”

Screenplay by Kieran Fitzgerald, Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley A. Oliver, novel by Glendon Swarthout A claim jumper and a pioneer woman team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa. IMDB Comment Archive

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 30

This is the fifth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: Mystery structure beneath Sea of Galilee stumps archeologists. TIBERIAS, Israel (AP) — The massive circular structure appears to be an archaeologists dream: a recently discovered antiquity that could reveal secrets of ancient life

Script To Screen: “Flight”

A scene from the 2012 movie Flight, written by John Gatins. Plot Summary: An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling. Here is the final scene in the movie: EXT. FEDERAL PENITENTIARY -- GUEST YARD

Daily Dialogue — April 30, 2014

Khan: Your crew for my crew. Spock: You betrayed us. Khan: Oh, you are smart, Mr. Spock. James T. Kirk: Spock, don’t… [Khan knocks him down] Khan: Mr. Spock, give me my crew. Spock: What will you do when you get them? Khan: Continue the work we were doing

Writing the low budget film

A guest post from Tom Benedek, long-time Hollywood screenwriter (Cocoon) and co-founder of Screenwriting Master Class: I am in the middle of writing a very low budget script. I have been struggling to engineer it as a DIY film, something that I shoot myself for a minimal budget.

Interview [Part 2]: Amma Asante, Director, “Belle”

Amma Asante has been an actress, TV writer-producer, and movie writer-director. Her latest is the period piece drama Belle, written by Misan Sagay and directed by Asante. The movie opens this Friday, May 2nd in theaters across North America. I had an engaging and informative conversation with Amma

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” VFX Breakdown

Via Indiewire. Comment Archive

Steven Soderbergh recuts “Heaven’s Gate”

Talk about an obsession! From Rolling Stone: Heaven’s Gate is one of the most notorious cinematic bombs of all time. A 1980 Western about an armed conflict in Wyoming between rich cattlemen and poor farmers, made for a then-astronomical $44 million, it not only destroyed the career of

Movie Trailer: “How To Train Your Dragon 2”

Screenplay by Dean DeBlois, Cressida Cowell It’s been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 29

This is the fifth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: The Silent Twins. The Story: June and Jennifer Gibbons were British twin girls whose bond became something ostracizing and dangerous as it drew them together, away from the world, and into trouble.

Screenwriting 101: Kelly Marcel

“Every scene has to be doing something. It has to be moving the story along, peeling off a layer of the onion so to speak. The goal in its simplest form is to be further along in the story, to know more, to understand something better at the end of

Daily Dialogue — April 29, 2014

“Silence! Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead, from this day forth… you put your faith in me. Harry Potter is dead!” — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), screenplay by Steve Kloves, novely by J.K. Rowling The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Nemesis, suggested by Alejandro.

“Tribeca: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Growth of Short Content”

Indiewire with this: It’s no news that digital media has made filmmakers’ ability to create content much easier than it’s ever been before. But with more accessibility there inevitable come more obstacles throughout the process, not least of which is the increasing competition and the ever-elusive channels

Movies You Made: “Awakening”

The latest short film from Adam Neustadter: I wanted to share my latest short with you. It’s an odd existential comedy called AWAKENING. I made it on a whim while a comedy writer friend was visiting from New York. It’s a simple set up in a single short

Interview [Part 1]: Amma Asante, Director, “Belle”

Amma Asante has been an actress, TV writer-producer, and movie director. Her latest is the period piece drama Belle, written by Misan Sagay and directed by Asante. The movie opens this Friday, May 2nd in theaters across North America. I had an engaging and informative conversation with Amma after

Working with Paddy Chayefsky on his only sitcom pilot

“There are no rules. Work however you guys like to work. After four hours, I start to fink out… We start tomorrow at 11:15.” Imagine you and your partner are young TV writers. Now imagine those words cited above being said to you by none other than Paddy Chayefsky,

Movie Trailer: “Boyhood”

Written by Richard Linklater. The life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to age 18. IMDB Release Date: 11 July 2014 Comment Archive

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 28

This is the fifth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story: The matchmaker for the mentally ill. It’s been 10 years since James Leftwich first created No Longer Lonely, a dating website exclusively for people with mental illnesses. Leftwich spoke with me