Scott Myers

“Your story’s emotional life”

I have nothing against intellect. I love to think. I sometimes joke I like the concept of people better than people! Intellect is a critical aspect to everything we do including the story-crafting process. However I am convinced that what is most at work when a moviegoer makes a

Movie Trailer: “The Wind Rises”

Written by Hayao Miyazaki A look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II. IMDB Release Date: 21 February 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

Classic 80s movie: “Say Anything”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Dean. Movie Title: Say Anything… Year: 1989 Writer: Cameron Crowe Director: Cameron Crowe Lead Actors: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney Plot Summary: A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.

On Writing

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it!” — Roald Dahl Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — December 2, 2013

HAL: Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work

Go Into The Story Week In Review: November 25-December 1, 2013

Links to the week’s most notable posts: 30 Things About Screenwriting: (25) Set-ups and Payoffs 30 Things About Screenwriting: (26) Test your story concept 30 Things About Screenwriting: (27) Minimum words, maximum impact 30 Things About Screenwriting: (28) The spirit of the spec 30 Things About Screenwriting: (29)

THR: Cinematographers Roundtable

Barry Ackroyd (Captain Phillips), Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave), Bruno Delbonnel (Inside Llewyn Davis), Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska) and Stuart Dryburgh (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) sit down for a THR cinematographers roundtable. Comment Archive

Classic 80s Movie: “A Fish Called Wanda”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from John Hörnschemeyer. Movie Title: A Fish Called Wanda Year: 1988 Writers: John Cleese & Charles Crichton (story) John Cleese (screenplay) Lead Actors: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin Director: Charles Crichton & John Cleese (uncredited) Plot Summary: George

Why we’re doing a series on 80s movies

Yes, back in the 80s, they used to make movies with scenes like this: From the 1987 actioner Extreme Prejudice. That was the year I broke into Hollywood, so I was pretty well steeped in movies from that decade. And while there were plenty of over-the-top scenes from

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 14(B): The Conditions of a Tragedy

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 (November 25-December 1, 2013)

Sheldon Lettich and Boaz Yakin writing family adventure “Max” for MGM with Yakin to direct. Zak Olkewicz sells horror pitch “Elimination” to Fox Searchlight. Nocholas Stoller rewriting remake of “Uptown Saturday Night” for Warner Bros. Sara Treem adapting real life drama “Until I Say Good-bye” for Universal. Mark Tonderai

Interview (Video): Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”)

A DP/30 interview with Greta Gerwig, actor and co-writer (with Noah Baumbach) of the movie Frances Ha. Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — December 1, 2013

Prison guard: Do you have any last words, Poncelet?  Matthew Poncelet: Yes, I do. [pauses] Mr. Delacroix, I don’t wanna leave this world with any hate in my heart. I ask your forgiveness for what I done. It was a terrible thing I done, taking your son away from

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Fear

As we wrap up a week’s worth of Daily Dialogue posts featuring the theme of Forgiveness (thanks to churnage for that call), next week’s theme is another F-word: FEAR! Suggested by sutinderbola. Shower, anyone? Okay, there are literally thousands of memorable movie moments featuring fear. The challenge

Great Scene: “Sunset Blvd.”

It’s one of the most famous endings in Hollywood film history with one of the most famous last lines of dialogue as well: Sunset Blvd. (1950), co-written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, their 17th and final collaboration, and directed by Wilder. Here is a plot summary from

THR: Producer’s Roundtable

Michael De Luca, Dede Gardner, David Heyman, Charles Roven, Mark Wahlberg, and Pam Williams talk about movies in this THR producer’s roundtable: Comment Archive

“Go into the story and find the animals”

The story behind Go Into The Story… If you’ve taken the time to click on About GITS on the home page and read The Story Behind Go Into The Story, you know that this mantra derives from a conversation I had with my then three year-old son. It

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 114th installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Talks At Google Edition! Breaking down how Catching Fire became a record-breaking blockbuster. 4 sites that will change the way you think. FilmmakerIQ: The History of Hollywood Censorship [video]. A brief history of Black Friday. Guess what? Pay-

Interview (Written): Terence Winter (“Boardwalk Empire”)

An Indiewire interview with TV writer, “Boardwalk Empire” show creator and executive producer Terence Winter. Rewinding a little, because we’ve never talked to you about the show before, after “The Sopranos” [Winter was one of the head writers] the world was sort of your oyster. What drew you to

Daily Dialogue — November 30, 2013

“I have this planet of regret sitting on my shoulders. And you have no idea how much I wish that I could back to that morning after we made love and do everything different. But I know that I can’t, so I thought that I would come here and

December: Classic 80s Movie Month (Update)

I posted this several days ago: We had such a successful run with the guest posts for Hidden Movie Gems, it occurred to me why not give it a go again with something I have been wanting to do for awhile: Classic 80s Movies. Two things. First, if we look

“Holiday Box Office: The Battle for the Over-35s”

Take a good, long look at the headline posted above: “Holiday Box Office: The Battle for the Over-35s.” When I started this blog back in 2008, conventional wisdom was that adult dramas were dead. Adult audiences? Studios persistently gave them the cold shoulder in Hollywood’s obsessive pursuit of

“Movies are short for moving pictures”

“Movies are short for moving pictures. I try to tell the story with character behavior and action. If I wanted to dramatize a story through dialogue, I would write a play.” An observation from screenwriter Angelo Pizzo. The fact is movies are primarily a visual medium. As we knock out

Movie Trailer: “Sabotage”

Written by David Ayer, Skip Woods Members of an elite DEA task force find themselves being taken down one by one after they rob a drug cartel safe house. IMDB Release Date: 11 April 2014 (USA)  Comment Archive

“The only way out is through”

Imagine the process of writing a story as being a journey. Perhaps as you embark on your adventure, you have a map — an outline or beat sheet. Or maybe you don’t, plunging into your story in order to find it along the way. In either case, it’s almost