Scott Myers

Screenwriting 101: Steve Coogan

“To write from personal experience, you also need the humility to be able to accept that whatever you think might be wrong. I think everyone should question their own beliefs all the time. It’s important, and it’s healthy. People who have moral certainty are not to be trusted,

Daily Dialogue — February 11, 2014

SIMON (O.S.): Mr. Udall, I’d like to talk to you please. MELVIN: ‘Love was… ‘ He almost has the rest of the sentence — the meaning of love — but the knocking throws him. MELVIN: … Son-of-a-bitch-pansy-assed-stool-pusher. He bursts from his chair. INT. APARTMENT BUILDING

Ticket Giveaway: “The Psychology of Story-Telling” with Lindsay Doran

There is a fantastic event happening later this month featuring one of the most insightful and inspirational people involved in the Hollywood film business. Read on: On February 20 at 7:30 pm at the Writers Guild Theater, Lindsay Doran may change everything you think you know about screenwriting. Presented

Interview [Part 1]: Ted Hope

Last December, I was fortunate enough to have an in-depth interview with movie producer Ted Hope, who is leading the charge to give the indie film business what he calls a “systems reboot.” If there is a person best suited for this task, it’s Ted. You can go

Music Video: “Everything is Awesome” (The LEGO Movie”)

To get you pumped up at the start of the week! Via Slashfilm. Comment Archive

“The Layers” by Stanley Kunitz

If you need something to help you get in touch with your Protagonist and their journey, I can think of nothing better than this poem from Stanley Kunitz: The Layers I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I was, though some

Movie Trailer: “Need for Speed”

Screenplay by George Gatins, story by George Gatins & John Gatins Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the

Character Type: Clown

“Clowns tend to be Trickster figures and often defy convention or authority. As such, they upset the normal state of affairs, creating confusion, even chaos. But that can be precisely what must happen to reveal some underlying truth that needs to emerge into the light of day.” Those of you

On Writing

“Sometimes people say to me, ‘I want to write, but I have five kids, a full-time job, a wife who beats me, a tremendous debt to my parents,’ and so on. I say to them, ‘There is no excuse. If you want to write, write. This is your life.

Daily Dialogue — February 10, 2014

Oliver Rose: You weren’t even multiorgasmic before you met me, were you? Barbara Rose: You really expect me to keep on reassuring you sexually even now when we disgust each other? – [Oliver Rose pees on the fish Barbara Rose had prepared for the guests] Barbara Rose: I would never

Go Into The Story Week In Review: February 3-February 9, 2014

Links to the week’s most notable posts: Character Type: Addict Character Type: Bully Character Type: Innocent Character Type: Martyr Character Type: Prostitute Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Sarcasm Documentary: “Making of Taxi Driver” Great Character: Father Brendan Flynn (Doubt) Great Scene: Withnail & I Interview (Video): Nicole Holofcener

Spec Script Sale: “Mena”

Universal acquires crime drama spec script “Mena” written by Gary Spinelli. From Deadline: The spec is a fact-based tale about Barry Seal, a portly pilot who, in the 1980s, was a 300-pound gun runner, and drug trafficker who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel. He

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 19: Thought and Diction

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again: Aristotle’s “Poetics”. I confess I’ve never read the entire thing, only bits and pieces. So I thought, why not do a weekly series with

Screenwriting News (February 3-February 9, 2014)

Eugene Ashe writing and directing romance drama “Sylvie’s Love” for TateMen Entertainment. Nikole Beckwith script “Stockholm, Pennsylvania” (2012 Nicholl, 2012 Black List) to shoot with Beckwith directing for Fido Features and Olympus Pictures, Saoirise Ronan and Cynthia Nixon attached to star. Pierce Brown sells science fiction novel and his

Interview [Video]: Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said”)

A DP/30 interview with Nicole Holofcener, co-writer and director of Enough Said, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — February 9, 2014

John Doe: She begged for her life, Detective. Somerset: Shut up! John Doe: She begged for her life and the life of the baby inside her. — Se7en (1995), written by Andrew Kevin Walker The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Pregnancy Announcement. Trivia: Andrew Kevin Walker had enormous difficulty getting

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Sarcasm

This week has been pregnancy announcement. Next week: Sarcasm. Sounds like the makings of the movie Juno. But seriously, has there ever been any movie produced where a character at some point hasn’t dropped a sarcastic line on another character? “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho!

Documentary: “Making of ‘Taxi Driver’”

Via TheFilmStage: Part 1 For the rest of the doc, click More. Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 To read an interview with screenwriter Paul Schrader, go here. Comment Archive

Great Scene: “Withnail & I”

One of my absolute favorite comedies is Withnail and I (1987). Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, the movie features amazing performances by several actors including Richard E. Grant as Withnail, Paul McGann as I (Marwood), and Richard Griffiths as Uncle Monty. Here’s a summary (IMDB) of the plot:

Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman

In lieu of Saturday Hot Links, this week I’ve been aggregating articles and features on Philip Seymour Hoffman, arguably one of the greatest actors of his generation who died tragically last Sunday. LAT: Obituary. NYT: Obituary. WSJ: Obituary. Daily Beast: Philip Seymour Hoffman: An actor first. Indiewire: Remembering Philip

Interview [Written]: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie)

/Film interview with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who co-wrote and directed The Lego Movie. /Film: I’m fascinated by the licensing in the movie. Obviously Lego has a ton of licenses, and it’s a Warner Brothers movie, so there’s some crossover there with DC, Harry Potter

Daily Dialogue — February 8, 2014

Mary: Dean! What are you doing here?  Dean: I’m going to my Prom.  Mary: Mercy House let you guys take the van?  Dean: Well, no, not really, we sort of led a rebellion and swiped it. You’re pregnant?  Mary: I wanted to tell you…  Dean: Our first time?

The Power of Movies

People sometimes ask me why I host this blog. The other day I posted this and in comments dashed off a rather rambling slice of personal history that gets at some of my thoughts and feelings, so I thought I’d share it here for wider reading: I always loved

The Business of Screenwriter: Get a damn good lawyer!

It’s September, 1999. My wife and I are at a party in Pacific Palisades to welcome families who are new to Wildwood School, where our then only son goes to grade school. A typical beautiful southern California night, schmoozing with a bunch of Type A parents dressed in Type

Movie Trailer: “The Lunchbox”

Written by Ritesh Batra, Rutvik Oza A mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. IMDB Release Date: 28 February 2014 (USA)