Scott Myers

Interview: Terrance Mulloy — Part 3

For the next week or so, I turn attention to screenwriters, TV writers, and filmmakers who are on the front edge of making their mark in the business. Their insights, so recently on the outside looking in, reflect the excitement of breaking in, yet the challenges of attempting to carve

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 1: Plot

The 2013 iteration of The Quest begins this week! Later this afternoon, I will introduce the second of 6 writers who will be working with me in this unique program. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure

Movie Trailer: “Ride Along”

Screenplay by Jason Mantzoukas, Steve Faber, Bob Fisher, Roger Kumble, Greg Coolidge, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi Fast-talking security guard Ben joins his cop brother-in-law James on a 24-hour patrol of Atlanta in order to prove himself worthy of marrying Angela, James’ sister. IMDB Release Date: 17

Movie Story Type: Slasher

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and sub-genres like Romantic Comedy or Mystery Thriller. Then there are story types, a shorthand way to describe a specific narrative conceit that is almost always tied directly to

Script To Screen: “Platoon”

A brutal, but memorable scene from the 1986 movie Platoon, written by Oliver Stone. Logline: A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. A later version of the script portrays even more violence. Here is the scene

Daily Dialogue — July 17, 2013

[Asked what he thought of the book, Dracula] Max Schreck: It made me sad. Albin: Why sad? Max Schreck: Because Dracula had no servants. Albin: I think you missed the point of the book, Count Orlock. Max Schreck: Dracula hasn’t had servants in 400 years and then a man

Highlights of Ryan Coogler and Elvis Mitchell (July 12, 2013)

A report filed by Go Into The Story development assistant Wendy Cohen: On July 12th, following a screening of “Fruitvale Station” at the Arclight Hollywood, director Ryan Coogler participated in a special Q&A led by NPR commentator, film critic and journalist Elvis Mitchell. Below are some of the

Dispatch From The Quest: Christian Fontenot

Over the course of the next 24 weeks when I will be working with the writers in The Quest, I will be posting ‘dispatches’ from them to the GITS community. There are several reasons for this, the main one being educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your

Interview: Terrance Mulloy — Part 2

For the next week or so, I turn attention to screenwriters, TV writers, and filmmakers who are on the front edge of making their mark in the business. Their insights, so recently on the outside looking in, reflect the excitement of breaking in, yet the challenges of attempting to carve

Go On Your Own Quest — Week 1: Plot

The 2013 iteration of The Quest begins this week! Later this afternoon, I will introduce the second of 6 writers who will be working with me in this unique program. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure

Movie Trailer: “Passion”

Screenplay by Brian De Palma, based on the film “Crime d’amour” by Natalie Carter & Alain Corneau The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder. IMDB Release Date: 30 August 2013 (USA)  Comment Archive

Movie Story Type: Chick Flick

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and sub-genres like Romantic Comedy or Mystery Thriller. Then there are story types, a shorthand way to describe a specific narrative conceit that is almost always tied directly to

Screenwriting 101: Carter Blanchard

“I might have been generous before, saying that they’re going to read the first act. I would hope most of them do, and I’m sure no one’s going to want to hear me say that they might not, but just the volume of scripts that come through,

Daily Dialogue — July 16, 2013

INT. MEN’S TOILET — M.L.S. Men’s toilet. JACK moves in from cam.L.b.g. He holds door open. JACK: hold this for you there, Jeevesy. GRADY enters cam.L. GRADY: Thank you, sir. Thank you. GRADY walks forward and puts his tray down on basins cam.

Summer Box Office: A Funny Thing Happened…

In a summer filled with ginormous superhero / monster / blockbuster / special effects out the ass movies, a funny thing happened: Four comedies have busted out with some startlingly good box office numbers worldwide: The Heat: $128M (3 weeks) This is the End: $97M (5 weeks) Grown Ups 2: $44M (1 week)

Dispatch From The Quest: Meet Waka Brown

Over the course of the next 24 weeks when I will be working with the writers in The Quest, I will be posting ‘dispatches’ from them to the GITS community. There are several reasons for this, the main one being educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your

Interview: Terrance Mulloy — Part 1

For the next week or so, I turn attention to screenwriters, TV writers, and filmmakers who are on the front edge of making their mark in the business. Their insights, so recently on the outside looking in, reflect the excitement of breaking in, yet the challenges of attempting to carve

Go On Your Own Quest: Week 1 — Plot

The 2013 iteration of The Quest begins today! Later this afternoon, I will introduce the first of 6 writers who will be working with me in this unique program. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of

Movie Trailer: “Black Nativity”

Kasi Lemmons (screenplay), Langston Hughes (libretto) A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. IMDB Release Date: 27 November 2013 (USA)

Movie Story Type: Chase

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and sub-genres like Romantic Comedy or Mystery Thriller. Then there are story types, a shorthand way to describe a specific narrative conceit that is almost always tied directly to

On Writing

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” — Scott Adams

Daily Dialogue — July 15, 2013

Oskar: Who are you? Eli: I’m like you. Oskar: What do you mean? Eli: [accusing tone] What are you staring at? Well? Eli: Are you looking at me? Eli: [points her finger at Oskar] So scream! Squeal! Eli: Those were the first words I heard you say. Oskar: I

Go Into The Story Week In Review: July 8-July 14, 2013

Announcement: The 2013 Questers! Announcing: The Black List Screenwriters Lab A Tale of Two Studios: The Rise of Original Material? Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Horror Scene Declaration of Independents GITS Interview: Jim Hemphill GITS Interview: Debbie Moon Great Character: Neytiri (Avatar) Great Scene: Little Miss Sunshine Hot Topics:

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Horror Scene

Didn’t get much response to the original post, so here we go again! Next week’s suggestion: Horror Scene, courtesy of @JaimePrimak. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from YouTube or some other

Interview: Debbie Moon

As part of my series on writers and filmmakers who on the front edge of making their mark in the business, recently I interviewed Debbie Moon, U.K.-based writer-producer who created the TV series “Wolfblood.” Here are the two parts of that Q&A: Part 1: “While