Scott Myers

Hidden Movie Gem: “The Long Kiss Goodnight”

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from John Casu. Movie Title: The Long Kiss Goodnight Year: 1996 Writer: Shane Black Director: Renny Harlin Starring: Geena Davis, Samuel L Jackson, Brian Cox, Yvonne Zima and Craig Bierko Plot Summary: Samantha Caine, suburban homemaker, is the ideal mom to her

“Tune in. Drop out.”

Oh, yes. The evil temptress known as the Internet! Sure, you should buckle down and get started on that scene. The one you’ve been struggling with now for a couple of days. You know the only solution is likely just slogging your way through it time after time until

Movie Trailer: “Only Lovers Left Alive”

Written by Jim Jarmusch A story centered on two vampires who have been in love for centuries. IMDB Release Date: 19 December 2013 (Germany)

“Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages.”

Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You can learn pretty much everything you need to know about screenwriting by doing these three things: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. I coined this triptych nearly four years ago and it seems to have caught on. Here’s why: Why watch movies?

On Writing

“There are only 2 or 3 human stories & they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” — Willa Cather HT to @TedHope

Daily Dialogue — November 4, 2013

John Doe: She begged for her life… Somerset: Shut up! John Doe: She begged for her life and… Somerset: Shut up! John Doe: She begged for her life and the life of the baby inside her. Somerset punches him. Mills looks on in disbelief. John Doe: Oh… he didn’t

Go Into The Story Week In Review: October 28-November 3, 2013

Links to the week’s most notable posts: 30 Things About Screenwriting: (1) There’s no right way to write 30 Things About Screenwriting: (2) Screenplays are stories, not formulas 30 Things About Screenwriting: (3) Learn the craft A different approach to “theme” Austin Film Festival: Unreliable Narrator Panel with

“Learn the craft”

Being a screenwriter is much more than just writing a script. Here’s one big problem with most of the screenwriting approaches I see floating around: Their focus is almost exclusively on writing a screenplay. Obviously this is important. You must be able to translate your talent, voice, and vision

Hidden Movie Gem: “Me, You and Everyone We Know”

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from Sabina Giado. Movie Title: Me, You and Everyone We Know Year: 2005 Writers: Miranda July Lead Actors: Miranda July and John Hawkes Director: Miranda July Plot Summary: A group of people struggle to connect — in all senses of the word. Why

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 12: Prologue, Episode, Exode and Chorus

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 (October 28-November 3, 2013)

Dan Algrant writing and directing “Little Rootie Tootie” for River Bend Pictures with Christopher Walken and Lenny Kravitz to star. Alejandro Amenábar writing suspense thriller “Regression” for FilmNation Entertainment. Travis Baker and Richard Tanne writing historical drama “The Roman” for Closest to the Hole Productions. Frank Baldwin writing true life

Daily Dialogue — November 3, 2013

Casper: I told you I was a good dancer. Can I keep you? Kat: Casper? — Casper (1995), written by Sherri Stoner & Deanna Oliver, characters by Joseph Oriolo The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Halloween, suggested by Bretton Zinger. Trivia: The first feature film with a computer-animated

“Screenplays are stories, not formulas”

William Goldman has famously written, “Screenplays are structure.” That is true in a tangible sense because at some point, a script becomes a blueprint for the production of a movie. And in a very real way, everything hangs on the structure of the narrative — how one scene flows to the

Hidden Movie Gem: “The Last King of Scotland”

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from Liz Warner. Movie Title: The Last King of Scotland Year: 2006 Writers: Peter Morgan (screenplay), Jeremy Brock (screenplay), based on the novel by Giles Foden Lead Actors: James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson Director: Kevin Macdonald Plot Summary: Inspired by true

Great Scene: “Sideways”

If one of my students can’t quite grasp the concept of “subtext,” often I’ll have them read this scene in the movie Sideways. Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (based on the novel by Rex Pickett), it’s a great script for many reasons, not the least

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 110th installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The All Hail Lou Reed Edition. Lou Reed: “Sweet Jane” (1974) 2014 TV premiere dates: The complete guide. What dogs are saying when they wag their tails. Movies to watch this winter: A guide to 2013’s best late releases.

Interview (Written): Kelly Masterson

From Indiewire: Playwright turned screenwriter Kelly Masterson has had three of his works make it to screen so far, and they’re an eclectic, impressive bunch. The first, 2007’s crime drama “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” became the acclaimed final film for Sidney Lumet, featuring some very

Daily Dialogue — November 2, 2013

Winifred Sanderson: Sisters, All Hallow’s Eve has become a night of frolic, where children wear costumes and run amok! Sarah: Amok! [dances around] Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok… Winnifred punches Sarah in the stomach. Sarah: Ugh! — Hocus Pocus (1994), screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert, story by David

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Dramatic Reveal

As we wind our way through a week’s worth of Halloween themed posts (thanks to Bretton Zinger for that), next week’s theme is Dramatic Reveal, suggested by hoernsch: “I am your father.” The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste

Spec Script Sale: “Little Black Dress”

Paramount acquires drama spec script “Little Black Dress” written by David Chase. From Deadline: …a character-driven film about a twentysomething female war veteran who comes back from Afghanistan grappling with a disability. While working a potentially lethal investigation at a post-war job, she gets involved with a superstitious

Hidden Movie Gem: “Stalag 17”

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from zty. Movie Title: Stalag 17 Year: 1953 Written by: Written for screen by Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum, based on the play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck. Directed by:

Spec Script Sale: “Don’t Hang Up”

Romain Philippe Equity and Altitude Entertainment acquire thriller spec script “Don’t Hang Up” written by Joe Johnson. No logline available. Johnson is repped by Energy Entertainment. By my count, this is 76th spec script sale in 2013. There were 87 spec script sales year-to-date in 2012.

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts”

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” Anne Lamott is one of the great gifts to writers. Her book “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” is a must-read. She has a way of embracing the imperfection of… well… everything

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

“There is no right way to write”

There is no right way to write Learn all you can, but ultimately it’s about your Stories and your Creative Self. It is perhaps the single most fundamental truth about writing in general and screenwriting in particular I know… There is no right way to write. No single formula.