Scott Myers

Declare Your Independents: Volume 19

GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome to another edition of Declare Your Independents, our new series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film. This week… The New Yorker’s Top Movies of 2013 The Academy’s Foreign Language Shortlist, Announced The 15 Top Documentaries of

“Find a real moment between people”

“My theory about creative work is that 99 percent of it is intention. When you go in with the intention of exploring something real, then that’s what you’ll get no matter what’s around it. It may not even be successful — people may not like it and it

Classic 80s Movie: “The Karate Kid”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Daryl Powell. Movie Title: The Karate Kid Year: 1984 Writers: Robert Mark Kamen Lead Actors: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita Director: John G. Avildsen Plot Summary: A handyman/martial arts master agrees to teach a bullied boy karate and shows him that

Movie Trailer: “The LEGO Movie”

Screenplay by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, story by Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together. IMDB Release

Great Character: Henry F. Potter (“It’s a Wonderful Life”)

In December, guest columnist Jason Cuthbert looks at Christmas Grinch characters. Today: Henry F. Potter from the 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and Frank Capra, story by Philip Van Doren Stern. Aside from being a director, composer, screenwriter, radio performer,

Daily Dialogue — December 20, 2013

“The coffin is moving! There’s somebody alive in there. Can’t you all see? Open your eyes!” — Death at a Funeral (2007), written by Dean Craig The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is awkward, suggested by Sabina Giado. Today’s suggestion by Sabina Giado. Trivia: According to Alan

Update: Award season screenplay downloads (38 scripts!)

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, we will be tracking them and posting links as they become available. Current total of scripts for download: 38. Newly added script: Labor Day 12 Years a Slave

Why we need to listen to Brie Larson

Indiewire is running a nice series of interviews with actors in notable films from 2013. One that caught my eye was with Brie Larson who stars in one of my favorite movies this year Short Term 12. There are two big reasons why we need to listen to her. First,

Writing Goals: 2014 [Part 4] — Practical Matters

In Part 1, we looked back at the Past, what we had accomplished as writers in 2013. In Part 2, we considered the Present, assessing where we are now. And in Part 3, we looked at the Future, visualizing where we’d like our writing to take us. When trying

“It always gets back to the words”

“The point of view that words should be minimized in movies is just ridiculous! The technical aspects are not important. It’s the words, it always gets back to the words. The people who suffered the highest percentage of failure were novelists and short story writers. Because, in their form

Movie Trailer: “Beach Pillows”

Written by Sean Hartofilis Once-promising writer Morgan Midwood works at his father’s furniture store to save up enough money to buy an engagement ring for his high school sweetheart and presumed saving grace. However, when he discovers she’s been making a cuckold of him, he enters a

Classic 80s Movie: “The Breakfast Club”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Bretton Zinger. Movie Title: The Breakfast Club Year: 1985 Writer: John Hughes Lead Actors: Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall Director: John Hughes Plot Summary: Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where

Five book recommendations

You would be amazed at how many outfits hit me up to promote their books. I turn down 90% of them because I’m not in the business of pimping screenwriting ‘gurus’. However if you are looking for a gift for a screenwriter or TV writer in your life — perhaps

Daily Dialogue — December 19, 2013

“I just want to thank you for selecting me as your Maid of Honor, you had some other choices…” — Bridesmaids (2011), written by Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is awkward, suggested by Sabina Giado. Trivia: The cast spent about two weeks improvising with each

Reader Question: Should I write a big budget spec script or not?

Write what you’re passionate about, but there are some good reasons to balance that by putting on your producer’s hat. Question from @jongarcia3: do you see any value in an unknown writing a big budget high concept spec? Or should one stick with lower budgets? This is a

Writing Goals: 2014 [Part 3] — Where Do You Want To Go As A Writer?

In Part 1, we looked back at the Past, what we had accomplished as writers in 2012. In Part 2, we considered the Present, assessing where we are now. Today we direct our self-reflection toward the Future. Not 2014, but beyond. Five years from now. Ten years. Twenty. We

Lists!

The Black List has spawned quite a few other lists. Here are three others for 2013: The Blood List [Horror] The Brit List [U.K.] The Hit List [Spec Scripts] If there any other lists for this year promoting screenwriters and screenplays, please post that info in comments. Comment Archive

“No one wants to read polite”

“You can teach almost anyone determined to learn them the basics required to write sentences and paragraphs that say what you want them to say clearly and concisely. It’s far more difficult to get people to think like a writer, to give up conventional habits of mind and emotion.

Movie Trailer: “Tokarev”

Written by Jim Agnew, Sean Keller When the Russian mob kidnaps the daughter of a reformed criminal, he rounds up his old crew and seeks his own brand of justice. IMDB Comment Archive

Classic 80s Movie: “Rainman”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Lois Bernard. Movie Title: Rainman Year: 1988 Writers: Ronald Bass, Barry Morrow (story and screenplay credit) Lead actors: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise Director: Barry Levinson Plot Summary: Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), a Los Angeles car dealer in his mid-twenties, is

Script To Screen: “The Iron Giant”

A dramatic scene from the wonderful 1999 animated movie The Iron Giant, screenplay by Tim McCanlies, screen story by Brad Bird, book by Ted Hughes. Plot Summary: A boy makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy. EXT. CLIFF - DAYHogarth and the

Daily Dialogue — December 18, 2013

Mike and Sulley step down into the basement. One candle is lit in the middle of the room. A ROBED MONSTER (Don) suddenly steps from the shadows. DON: Do you pledge your souls to the Oozma Kappa brotherhood?! A robed Terri and Terry step out from the shadows. Terry whacks

Update: 2013 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge!

It’s Day 2 of the 2013 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge! Here is a word cloud based on the loglines for the 2013 Black List scripts, all 72 of them: [You can see the entire 2013 Black List including loglines for the 72 scripts here.] Your mission for

Spec Script Sale: Untitled Uziel & Krasinski Project

Warner Bros. acquires untitled action adventure spec script written by Oren Uziel and John Krasinski. From Deadline: Krasinski and his Sunday Night banner will team with Pearl Street partners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to produce under their Warner-based company. Uziel, best known for scripting the genre mash-up

Questions for screenwriters roundtable

This Friday, I will be conducting a third annual roundtable with 6 top young Hollywood screenwriters: Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Chris McCoy, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, and John Swetnam. Between them, they have sold over a dozen spec scripts, have multiple Black List scripts, and are involved with numerous