Scott Myers

Hot Topics: The Black Board

A weekly update from Shaula Evans about The Black Board: The Black Board The Official Online Community of the Black List and Go Into The Story Read. Write. Review. Discuss. Succeed. We’ve been a little geekier than usual at the Board lately (which is saying something!) so we’ve

Movie Trailer: “Pacific Rim”

Screenplay by Travis Beacham & Guillermo del Toro, story by Travis Beacham When an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. IMDB Release Date: 12 July 2013 (USA)

Movie Story Type: Heist

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: “The Last of the Mohicans”

A critical scene toward the end of the 1992 movie The Last of the Mohicans, screenplay by Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe, novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Logline: Three trappers protect a British Colonel’s daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War. HAWKEYE exchanges a desperate look

Daily Dialogue — July 3, 2013

Lionel Logue: Vulgar, but fluent; you don’t stammer when you swear. King George VI: Oh, bugger orf! Lionel Logue: Is that the best you can do? King George VI: Well… bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard. Lionel Logue: Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.

Screenwriting Tip: One way to deal with multiple time jumps

Let’s say you are Aaron Sorkin and you are tasked with writing a screenplay for The Social Network. One problem you have is to craft a narrative that covers several years and multiple time jumps. Or you are Eric Roth and confronted with adapting a novel “Forrest Gump” that

Interview: Arash Amel — Part 2

Arash Amel is one of the bright new talents among Hollywood screenwriters, having penned the 2011 Black List script Grace of Monaco which has been produced starring Nicole Kidman and will be released later this year, as well as set up several high profile projects including “Seducing Ingrid Bergman” and

“Nobody knows anything”: Part Infinity

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying attributed to screenwriter William Goldman in reference to the movie business: “Nobody knows anything.” Yet another example of this emerged last week. On June 24, TheWrap ran this article: Hollywood’s Zombie Overload: Why Flesh-Eater Pitches Are a Tough Sale Excerpts:

Movie Trailer: “Breathe In”

Written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. IMDB

Movie Story Type: Disaster

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: Reid Carolin

“There’s a magic to being present when you’re actually writing a character. There’s something about the act of giving yourself over and giving your brain over to just typing… If you feel like that character feels, just spit it out and then go back and edit it

Daily Dialogue — July 2, 2013

Harvey Keitel: (as himself) Fuck you, fuckball. — Get Shorty (1995), screenplay by Scott Frank, novel by Elmore Leonard The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is profanity, suggested by JasperLamarCrab. Today’s suggestion by Jeff Messerman. Trivia: MGM didn’t want to extensively use Elmore Leonard-inspired dialogue in the

Writing Question: What’s your best excuse NOT to write?

It’s a question I’ve been asking screenwriters during the many interviews I’ve been conducting this year: What’s your best excuse NOT to write? The responses have been interesting to say the least. Here is a sampling: Reid Carolin (Magic Mike): “My single best excuse not to

Interview: Arash Amel — Part 1

Arash Amel is one of the bright new talents among Hollywood screenwriters, having penned the 2011 Black List script Grace of Monaco which has been produced starring Nicole Kidman and will be released later this year, as well as set up several high profile projects including “Seducing Ingrid Bergman” and

“The Heat” is a hit… now what?

Last Friday, I pointed out something that — to my knowledge — nobody else commented on: Meanwhile we have an occurrence this weekend I can’t recall happening in the 25+ years I’ve been involved in the movie business: A pair of big blockbuster movies opening on the same day, both

Movie Trailer: “The Conjuring”

Written by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives. IMDB Release Date: 19 July

Movie Story Type: Buddy Picture

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

“The hardest thing about being a writer is convincing your wife that lying on the sofa is work.” — John Hughes Via @AdviceToWriters Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — July 1, 2013

Annie Wilkes: It’s the swearing, Paul. It has no nobility. Paul Sheldon: These are slum kids, I was a slum kid. Everybody talks like that. Annie Wilkes: THEY DO NOT! At the feedstore do I say, “Oh, now Wally, give me a bag of that F-in’ pig feed,

Go Into The Story Week In Review: June 24-June 30, 2013

Some notable posts from this week: 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 24: The Social Network 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 25: The Silence of the Lambs 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 26: Little Miss Sunshine 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 27: (500) Days Of Summer 30 Days of Screenplays — Day

Interview: Liz W. Garcia

Liz W. Garcia is an American television producer and writer. As a writer, her credits include “Dawson’s Creek,” “Wonderfalls” and “Cold Case”. With her husband, actor Josh Harto, she created and produced the TNT series “Memphis Beat”. Most recently Liz wrote and directed the independent feature film The Lifeguard

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 30: “Michael Clayton”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days? Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts. There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get from

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 6(B): Character and Thought

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 (June 24-June 30, 2013)

Jim Agnew and Sean Keller sell zombie pitch “19” to QED International. Richard Bobbie and Andy Fraser sell thriller spec script “Cornered” to 1821 Pictures [sale date: May 3, 2013]. Jeff Buhler adapting the remake of “Jacob’s Ladder” for LD Entertainment and Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films. Alessandro Camon and Michael

Daily Dialogue — June 30, 2013

Ted: Look, I didn’t solicit any sex, OK? This is a huge misunderstanding. I was really going out to pee, I was walking to the bushes, I tripped over this guy — and suddenly all those cops and their helicopters… Detective Stabler: Ted, Ted, it’s OK, we believe you.