Scott Myers

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

Interview (Part 6): Kelly Marcel

London-based writer Kelly Marcel wrote the 2011 Black List screenplay Saving Mr. Banks which was produced starring Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, and Paul Giamatti. She is involved writing several other high profile movie projects including The Little Mermaid and Fifty Shades of Grey. Today in Part 6,

Great Scene: “Thelma & Louise”

A great ending to a movie is (in my view) the only ending it should have. Oh, a movie could have multiple endings, but a well-constructed plot should lead to the story’s only real ending. And when that ending is both logical and shocking, then you have the

Classic 80s Movie: “Top Gun”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Peter George. Movie Title: Top Gun Year: 1986 Writers: Jim Cash & Jack Epps Lead Actors: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, Tom Skerrit, Michael Ironside Director: Tony Scott Plot Summary: An egotistic shit-hot Navy jet fighter pilot,

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 115th installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: Some One Hit Wonder Bands of the 60s Edition How Nelson Mandela affected South Africa’s movie industry. The Onion: Nelson Mandela becomes the first politician to be missed. Indiewire with the entire lineup of movies for the 2014 Sundance

Interview (Written): Spike Jonze (“Her”)

A Guardian feature on Spike Jonze, writer-director of the new movie Her: “The very tiniest seed came about 10 years ago when I saw this article online that said you can interact live with an artificial intelligence. So I went to the website, and I IM-ed this address,

Daily Dialogue — December 7, 2013

V: I’m sorry, but Mr. Deitrich’s dead. I thought they’d arrest him, but when they found a Koran in his house, they had him executed. Evey Hammond: [whispers] Oh God… V: Fortunately, I got to you before they did. Evey Hammond: You got to me? You did

Reader Question: How to set the mood or mindset for a scene?

Question from @patricktcrown Any secrets to entering the appropriate mindset or mood for the scene, story or character one is writing? Talk about a loaded question! You’ve got five separate, but related items going on here: * Mindset: Suggests the emotional, psychological and/or aesthetic stance the writer takes in

Interview (Part 5): Kelly Marcel

London-based writer Kelly Marcel wrote the 2011 Black List screenplay Saving Mr. Banks which was produced starring Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, and Paul Giamatti. She is involved writing several other high profile movie projects including The Little Mermaid and Fifty Shades of Grey. Kelly and I engaged

“Surfacing moments”

Writer Anne Beattie said this: “People forget years and remember moments.” I believe this is nowhere more true than in movies. In terms of a movie or screenplay, moment has a precise meaning: A specific point in time, the present time, that is of particular importance in the overall series

Movie Trailer: “Robocop”

Screenplay by Joshua Zetumer, (1987 screenplay) Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) — a loving husband, father and good cop — is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. IMDB

Classic 80s Movie: “Scarface”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Adam Scott Thompson. Movie Title: Scarface Year: 1983 Writers: Oliver Stone, based on Ben Hecht’s script for “Scarface” (1932) which was adapted from a 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail Lead Actors: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven

Great Character: Frank Cross (“Scrooged”)

In December, guest columnist Jason Cuthbert looks at Christmas Grinch characters. Today: Frank Cross from the 1988 movie Scrooged, written by Mitch Glazer & Michael O’Donoghue, based on a novel by Charles Dickens. “Edgy” is not usually an adjective used to decorate Christmas movies. But 25 years ago in

Daily Dialogue — December 6, 2013

“Give me your hand! Give me your hand!” — Vertigo (1958), screenplay by Alec Coppel & Samuel A. Taylor, novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Fear. Trivia: The film was unavailable for decades because its rights (together with four other pictures of

Declare Your Independents: Volume 17

GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome yet again to another edition of Declare Your Independents, our ongoing series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film. This week… Sundance unveils its 2014 lineup Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, last major Oscar contender, unveiled Robert

In Memoriam: Nelson Mandela

BBC News Los Angeles Times NYT NPR Washington Post Godspeed, Nelson Mandela. Comment Archive