Scott Myers

Daily Dialogue — December 11, 2013

Clark Kent: Can’t I just keep pretending I’m your son? Jonathan Kent: You are my son. But somewhere out there you have another father too, who gave you another name. And he sent you here for a reason, Clark. And even if it takes you the rest of

Pixar and the Craft of Storytelling

I am excited to reprise this 1-week Screenwriting Master Class course as it has given me the opportunity to dig into the films and creative culture of Pixar. As anyone who has visited this blog for even a few months knows, I am fascinated by Pixar. 14 movies, 14

Update: Award season screenplay downloads (35 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: 35. Newly added script [All Is Lost] in bold below:

“The story must be a confict”

“The story… must be a conflict, and specifically, a conflict between the forces of good and evil within a single person.” The words of author Maxwell Anderson. It’s an interesting observation. The default mode regarding “conflict” is Protagonist versus Antagonist, where the discord externalized between two pivotal characters. Anderson

Movie Trailer: “Her”

Written by Spike Jonze A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need. IMDB Release Date: 10 January 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

Classic 80s Movie: “48 Hrs.”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Paul Lewis. Movie Title: 48 Hrs. Year: 1982 Writers: Walter Hill (The Warriors), Roger Spottiswoode (Turner and Hooch), Larry Gross (We Don’t Live Here Anymore), Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard) Lead Actors: Eddie Murphy (Reggie Hammond) Nick Nolte (Jack

Screenwriting 101: Scott Neustadter

“Managers, agents, executives, they want nothing more than to read something amazing. But remember their patience is thin. Yours isn’t the only script in the pile nor is it ever going to be something they’d rather do than the fifteen other things they could be doing with their

Daily Dialogue — December 10, 2013

Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Gil: Oh? Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! Gil: What a great story. Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could

80s Movies and Story Concept: Part 1

First, I want to thank each of the members of the GITS community who has or will contribute a guest post to the Classic 80s Movies series (you can find links to all of the entries here). I was inspired to run the Classic 80s Movies series because that decade,

Movies You Made: “The Bicycle”

When I attended the Austin Film Festival in October, I got the opportunity to spend some time with a pair of filmmakers, Chris McCoy and Adam Neustadter. You may remember the short film Commencement Adam made that I featured here. And my March 2012 interview with Chris, who has written

“Writing is an act of ego”

“Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.” Words of wisdom from William Zinser. And so true. The very

Movie Trailer: “In Secret”

Neal Bell (play), Charlie Stratton (screenplay), Émile Zola (based on the novel by: “Thérèse Raquin”) Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Therese Raquin, a sexually repressed beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille, by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. Therese spends

Classic 80s Movie: “Broadcast News”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Jeffrey Field. Title: Broadcast News Year: 1987 Writer-Director: James L. Brooks. Lead Actors: Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Joan Cusack and Jack Nicholson. Plot Summary: Self-described basket-case network news producer Jane Craig falls for new reporter Tom

On Writing

“Fairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” — G.K. Chesterton HT to @AdelScreenWri and @TheBlackBoard

Daily Dialogue — December 9, 2013

“Maybe you should sleep with her once, see if you like it. Doesn’t mean you can’t see other women, too.” — The Squid and the Whale (2005), written by Noah Baumbach The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is parental advice, suggested by David Proenza. Today’s suggestion by

Go Into The Story Week In Review: December 2-December 8, 2013

Links to the week’s most notable posts: 2014 Writers Calendar 30 Things About Screenwriting Award season screenplay download (34 PDF scripts) Classic 80s Movie: Working Girl Classic 80s Movie: Back to School Classic 80s Movie: Night Shift Classic 80s Movie: Real Genius Classic 80s Movie: Say Anything Classic 80s

Update: Award season screenplay downloads (34 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: 34. Newly added script [Dallas Buyers Club, Short Term 12]

Interview: Kelly Marcel

Go Into The Story Interview: Kelly Marcel My in-depth interview with 2011 Black List screenwriter whose movie credits include Saving Mr. Banks and Fifty Shades of Grey. I was so impressed after reading the 2011 Black List script Saving Mr. Banks, I reached out to its writer Kelly Marcel

Classic 80s Movie: “Working Girl”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Melissa Willis. Movie Title: Working Girl Year: 1988 Writers: Kevin Wade Lead Actors: Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford Director: Mike Nichols Plot Summary: When a fed-up secretary’s idea is stolen by her boss, she seizes an opportunity to

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 15(A): Four Qualities of a Tragic Hero

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 2-December 8, 2013)

Patrick Aison sells untitled crime drama pitch to Fox 2000 and Chernin Entertainment. J.C. Chandor writing Vince Lombardi biopic for Legendary Pictures. First-timer David Crabtree sells science fiction spec script “Time Tweaker” to Lionsgate. D.V. DeVincentis writing Lance Armstrong project for Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot. Gennifer

Interview [Video]: David O. Russell

Writer-director David O. Russell interview via the WGA Foundation’s “Writers on Writing” series. Follow the WGA Foundation on Twitter: @WritersGuildF. Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — December 8, 2013

Laurie: Was that the boogeyman? Dr. Sam Loomis: As a matter of fact, it was. — Halloween (1978), written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Fear, suggested by sutinderbola. Trivia: Due to its shoestring budget, the prop department had to use the cheapest

Official Screenplay: “Short Term 12”

One of the best movies of 2013 is Short Term 12. Here is the trailer: I have been tracking the project since screenwriter Destin Daniel Cretton won the Nicholl Fellowship for the script in 2010. You can go here to read my interview with Destin. Therefore I am pleased to

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Parental advice

After a week’s worth of fearful posts (thanks to sutinderbola for that recommendation), next week’s theme is this: Parental advice, suggested by David Proenza. Now there’s good parental advice… And there’s bad parental advice… Which means there should be a lot of memorable movie moments with