Analysis: 2013 Black List A deep dive into the scripts named to this year’s annual Black List. The 2013 Black List rolled out yesterday — you can find titles, writers and loglines for all 72 scripts here — and as promised, today we have some statistics and analysis for you. First some interesting stats about
Writing Goals: 2014 [Part 2] — Assessing Where You Are This series of daily posts, starting yesterday and going through next Friday (M-F), is an experiment. This is not about resolutions which we make on December 31 and break by January 30… or sooner. This is not about wish lists and ephemeral fantasies. This is about each of us
“There is only one story: nothing is as it seems” This is one of my favorite quotes about writing, one that comes from author Jim Thompson. It speaks to multiple facets of a story: * What character’s want and what character’s need. * Initial goals that belie actual goals. * Characters who don different ‘masks’ from scene to scene, relationship to
Movie Trailer: “White Bird in a Blizzard” Screenplay by Gregg Araki, novel by Laura Kasischke A young woman’s life is thrown into chaos when her mother disappears. IMDB Release Date: 20 January 2014 (USA) Comment Archive
Classic 80s Movie: “Tender Mercies” Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Paul Graunke. Movie Title: Tender Mercies Year: 1983 (Oscar nominated for best picture of the year) Writer: Horton Foote (for which he won an Oscar) Lead Actors: Robert Duvall (won an Oscar for best actor), Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley,
Screenwriting 101: Seth Lochhead On the lead character in the movie Hanna being a girl: “It’s what was in my head. It’s what felt right. The more I thought about it, the more people were opposed to it (managers, producers, etc.), the more I became aware that it irritated a cultural prejudice.
Daily Dialogue — December 17, 2013 Cineplex Manager: What the hell is wrong with you? Enid: What? I was just joking around with the customers. It’s my schtick. Cineplex Manager: Well, lose it! And why aren’t you pushing the larger sizes? Didn’t you get training about upsizing? Enid: Yeah. But I feel really
2013 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge! We did this last year and had a helluva lot of fun, so following in footsteps of Hollywood’s studios, it’s sequel time! Yes, it’s the 2013 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge! Here is a word cloud based on the loglines for the 2013 Black List scripts,
Black List 2013: Final This morning, the 2013 Black List was released to the public: After tweeting the list in random order from @theblcklst beginning at 10 AM PST this morning, the Black List has unveiled the 2013 list of Hollywood’smost liked unproduced screenplays in its entirety at its website, http://www.blcklst.
Writing Goals: 2014 [Part 1] — Looking Back I thought I would reprise something I did this time last year at GITS with the hope it would benefit as many of you as possible in taking concrete steps forward next year with your writing aspirations. It’s a very simple thing, really — setting goals — but for many, if
“You’re always becoming a writer” Author Edward P. Jones offers this insight: “You’re always becoming a writer.” I’ve been reminded of this recently with a spate of emails I’ve received from people who have participated in the Go On Your Own Quest initiative. A number of them are first-time writers, so
Black List 2013 — Updated List I will be continuously updating this year’s Black List writers as their names and scripts are released via Twitter [#BlackList2013]. UPDATE #1 LINE OF DUTY — Cory Miller A BOY AND HIS TIGER — Dan Dollar INQUEST — Josh Simon SWEETHEART — Jack Stanley THE COMPANY MAN — Andrew Cypiot BURN SITE — Doug Simon
Classic 80s Movie: “Scrooged” Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Barbara Thomas. Movie Title: Scrooged Year: 1988 Writers: Mitch Glazer, Michael O’ Donoghhue (suggested by the novel by Charles Dickens) Lead Actors: Bill Murray, Karen Allen Director: Richard Donner Plot Summary: A cynically selfish TV executive gets haunted by three spirits
On Writing: Neil Gaiman “When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art.
Daily Dialogue — December 16, 2013 ANNIE: Hi. ALVY: Hi. Oh, hi. Hi. ANNIE: Well, bye. ALVY: You-you play … very well. ANNIE: Oh, yeah? So do you. Oh, God, whatta- whatta dumb thing to say, right? I mean, you say it, “You play well,” and right away … I have to say well. Oh, oh … God,
“Twas the night before Black List…” Screenwriter Chris McCoy has made the Black List three times (Get Back, Good Looking, Good Kids), so he knows of what he speaks when he composed these four tweets earlier today: “‘Twas the Night Before Black List and all through the LA / Writers were nervous — could this help them get
Go Into The Story Week In Review: December 9-December 15, 2013 Links to the week’s most notable posts: All the things that are wrong with your screenplay in one handy infographic Award season screenplay download (37 PDF scripts) Classic 80s Movie: 48 Hrs. Classic 80s Movie: Better Off Dead Classic 80s Movie: Blade Runner Classic 80s Movie: Broadcast News Classic
Interview: Laura Colella Recently I had the pleasure of screening a wonderful indie feature called Breakfast With Curtis, written and directed by Laura Colella. Some background on Laura: Laura studied filmmaking at Harvard University. She has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants and was one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of
Classic 80s Movie: “Die Hard” Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from John Casu. Movie Title: Die Hard Year: 1988 Writers: Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the book by Roderick Thorp Lead Actors: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton and Alexander Godunov Director: John McTiernan
Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 15(B): The Unraveling of the Plot 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 (December 9-December 15, 2014) Alex Ankeles and Morgan Jurgenson writing horror “Run” for Lionsgate. Jillian Bell and Charlotte Newhouse sell comedy pitch “Let’s Get Married” to MGM. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini adapting drama novel “Ten Thousand Saints” for Maven Pictures and Archer Gray Productions. Tom Bezucha writing comedy “A Matter of
Interview [Video]: David O. Russell (“American Hustle”) An excerpt from a Q&A with American Hustle director and co-screenwriter (with Eric Singer) David O. Russell: Comment Archive
Daily Dialogue — December 15, 2013 Forrest Gump: What’s my destiny, Mama? Mrs. Gump: You’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re going to get. — Forrest Gump (1994), screenplay by Eric Roth, novel by Winston Groom The Daily Dialogue theme
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Awkward A week’s worth of parental advice almost done (thanks for the recommendation, David Proenza!) so now it’s time for next week’s suggestion from Sabina Giado: Awkward. This is a set up for lots of comedy posts. So this should be easy, folks. In the spirit of the
Great Scene: “There Will Be Blood” The last scene of There Will Be Blood is one of the most gut-wrenching, memorable finales in recent film history. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the scene features just two characters: Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Eil Sunday (Paul Dano). We pick up the action about
