Scott Myers

Script To Screen: “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America”

One of countless scenes of inspired stupidity in the 1996 animated comedy Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Plot Synopsis: The dimwitted teen duo of Beavis and Butt-Head travel across America in search of their stolen television set. EXT. MUDDY'S CAR DRIVING ON HIGHWAY - DAY ANGLE OUTSIDE

Daily Dialogue — September 18, 2013

We don’t want anything to do with her. She is a ‘golden calf’. We all know what’d happen with that. Well, he’s not worshiping her. They’re just dating? These young people have no willpower. He is sick, alright. He’s sick. Yes we were just hoping

October: Hidden Gem Month?

Note: I intend this post to gauge your interest in taking on what I think could be a cool series, but I take my damn sweet time getting to that point, so please be patient and read through my musings until you hit the payoff toward the end. Thanks! Here

Dispatch From The Quest: Christian Fontenot

Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding

Interview (Part 2): Mynette Louie

This week, we are fortunate to have as our interview guest Mynettte Louie, a New York-based independent film producer. Her film credits include Children of Invention, California Solo and Stones in the Sun. Most recently, Louie produced Tze Chun’s crime thriller Cold Comes the Night starring Alice Eve,

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 10: Prep

The 2013 version of The Quest starts Week 10 today. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of The Quest to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write

Movie Trailer: “Homefront”

http://movies.yahoo.com/video/homefront-trailer-154037823.html?format=embed&player_autoplay=false Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone, novel by Chuck Logan A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. IMDB Release Date: 27 November 2013 (USA)

September is Scene-Writing Month: Day 11

As noted in this post, September is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a prompt for writing a script scene. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. If you really want to

Audio Q&A: “Short Term 12”

A special message from Wendy Cohen: This week, we have not one, but TWO Q&As for the critically acclaimed low-budget feature SHORT TERM 12, featuring a cast of rising stars and up-and-coming director Destin Cretton. Our first discussion took place on August 5th at the

Screenwriting 101: Allan Durand

“The way I did it is every 5 to 10 pages, I wanted a big fist to come out of the screenplay and punch the reader right in the gut… I picked all of those elements of the story that really shook you, rocked you, and got you dizzy, and

Daily Dialogue — September 17, 2013

ANDY: Red, if you ever get out of here, do me a favor. There’s this big hayfield up near Buxton. You know where Buxton is? RED: (nods) Lots of hayfields there. ANDY: One in particular. Got a long rock wall with a big oak at the north end. Like

Do you know how to break a story?

Writers use a lot of different words for the process of figuring out a story. You break a story. You crack a story. You wrangle a story. Those verbs give you a pretty good idea of the fundamental challenge a writer faces when writing a story. It ain’t easy.

Dispatch From The Quest: Sandy Leviton

Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding

Interview (Part 1): Mynette Louie

This week, we are fortunate to have as our interview guest Mynettte Louie, a New York-based independent film producer. Her film credits include Children of Invention, California Solo and Stones in the Sun. Most recently, Louie produced Tze Chun’s crime thriller Cold Comes the Night starring Alice Eve,

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 10: Prep

The 2013 version of The Quest starts Week 10 today. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of The Quest to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write

Movie Trailer: “Best Man Down”

Written by Ted Koland A couple-to-be married must cancel their dream wedding when their obnoxious best man dies and his funeral service must be set up in the Midwest. IMDB Release Date: 3 October 2013 (USA)  Comment Archive

September is Scene-Writing Month: Day 10

As noted in this post, September is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a prompt for writing a script scene. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. If you really want to

On Writing

“That faith, that if you just put the bad, easy version of a scene on the page, the good version will come to you tomorrow. That’s writing.” — Justin Marks Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — September 16, 2013

MELVIN: It’s not my dog and this Simon seems to have enough on his mind — but he did throw up twice and his spark is off. FRANK: Sure — take him to the vet. MELVIN: I did. And his stomach is out of whack. So they need him for a

Go Into The Story Week In Review: September 9-September 15, 2013

Links to the week’s most notable posts: Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Asking a favor Declare Your Independents: Volume 9 Dispatch From The Quest: Waka Brown Dispatch From The Quest: Christian Fontenot Dispatch From The Quest: Troy Klith Dispatch From The Quest: Sandy Leviton Dispatch From The Quest:

Interview: Daniel Turkewitz

Daniel Turkewitz is a testament to persistence, having spent many years learning the craft of screenwriting and writing scripts while working as an architect. Then he wrote “Tranquility Base” which 20th Century Fox acquired in June 2013 for a reported mid-six figures. Here are links to the six installments

Is this commercial better than most movies?

That’s the sense of comments I’ve gotten as several people have forwarded me this Thai commercial. Check it out: The pay it forward sentiment aside, it reminds us again about the power of visual storytelling. What do YOU think of it? Comment Archive

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 9(B): Possibility, Probability and Necessity

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

Featurette: “Short Term 12”

One of my favorite movies of the year is Short Term 12, written and directed by Destin Cretton. Here is a featurette about the movie with some observations by Cretton: Here is the movie trailer: As we all know, making an independent film is an arduous task involving the contributions

Screenwriting News (September 9-September 15, 2013)

Matt Charman sells untitled Cold War pitch to DreamWorks. Evan Daugherty writing G.I. Joe 3 for Paramount. Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard with horror “Somnia” for Intrepid Pictures and Demarest Films with Howard to direct. Matt Harvey and Dominic Morgan option “Hyperbaric” to Voltage Pictures. Geoff Moore and David