Scott Myers

Interview: Daniel Kunka — Part 2

Screenwriter Daniel Kunka wrote the 2009 movie 12 Rounds and has sold two high profile spec scripts: Agent Ox and Bermuda Triangle. In addition, Daniel is working on the project “Crime of the Century” with Chris Morgan producing. Recently Daniel and I had an excellent conversation which I am happy

Spec Script Sale: “Revelation”

Lotus Entertainment acquires thriller spec script “Revelation” written by Hernany Perla. From Deadline: It’s a high concept thriller with time travel and murder. Deal is reported to be in the low to mid-six figures. Hernany is repped by Original Artists and Madhouse Entertainment. By my count, this is

How Jeff Lieber landed his first writing gig in Hollywood

Jeff Lieber, whose film credits include Tuck Everlasting and TV writing and producing credits include “Miami Medical,” “Necessary Roughness,” and “Lost,” recently went on Twitter to answer a question. Jeff kindly agreed to let me reprint his series of tweets because… well, it’s just an awesome story. Here it

Movie Trailer: “The Wolf of Wall Street”

Terence Winter (screenplay), Jordan Belfort (book) A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. IMDB Release Date: 15 November 2013 (USA)  Comment Archive

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 18: “North by Northwest”

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

Screenwriting 101: Justin Marks

“Sometimes you’re swinging your way through a first draft like a blind miner with a pick-axe. That’s OK. Get it done, nothing else matters.” — Justin Marks

Daily Dialogue — June 18, 2013

Sally: So what do you do with these women, you just get up out of bed and leave? Harry: Sure. Sally: Well explain to me how you do it. What do you say? Harry: You’d say you have an early meeting, early haircut or a squash game. Sally: You

Update: The Quest Initiative

I have gone through all of the loglines submitted for The Quest Initiative, each and every single one of them. I didn’t count them as that would have slowed down my process considerably, but since most people included 2 or more loglines, my guess is the total tops 2,

“Craft Your Future: Surviving and Thriving as a Screenwriter”

Co-sponored by the Black List, the Writers Guild Foundation has put together an excellent 1-day event: “Craft Your Future: Surviving and Thriving as a Screenwriter” to take place at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. Sat, June 29, 2013 10:00 AM — 6:00 PM This year,

Interview: Daniel Kunka — Part 1

Screenwriter Daniel Kunka wrote the 2009 movie 12 Rounds and has sold two high profile spec scripts: Agent Ox and Bermuda Triangle. In addition, Daniel is working on the project “Crime of the Century” with Chris Morgan producing. Recently Daniel and I had an excellent conversation which I am happy

Movies You Made: “The Last Job”

Longtime blog reader Russell Simpson let me know some good news: His short film The Last Job recently was named the Best Mobile Film at the New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles. What is unique about the film: Russell shot it entirely on an iPhone. Here it is: At

Reader Question: Do sales have the tendency of slowing during summer months?

A question from @MaLaSaSy: Do sales have the tendency of slowing during summer months? Gee, if we only had some… I dunno… blog or something that kept a comprehensive list of spec script sales so we could… you know… pull together that information and do some analysis. Oh, like this

Movie Trailer: “Elysium”

Written by Neil Blomkamp Set in the year 2154, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds. IMDB Release Date: 9 August

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 17: “The Usual Suspects”

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

On Writing

“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.” — Bill Moyers Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — June 17, 2013

Clarice Starling: Your profile at the border stations has five features. I’ll trade you… Hannibal Lecter: “Trade”? Clarice Starling: Stop now and I’ll tell you what they are. Hannibal Lecter: How does that word taste to you, Clarice? Hmm? Cheap and metallic, like sucking on a greasy coin?

Happy Father’s Day!

This image courtesy of Luke Myers: So blessed to have two fantastic sons who among many other wondrous traits love movies! Comment Archive

Go Into The Story Week In Review: June 10-June 16, 2013

Some notable posts from this week: 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 10: Network 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 11: Memento 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 12: Toy Story 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 13: Shakespeare in Love 30 Days of Screenplays — Day 14: Pulp Fiction 30 Days of Screenplays — Day

Interview: Ava DuVernay

Go Into The Story Interview: Ava DuVernay My in-depth interview with one of the filmmaker whose credits include the movie Selma, the documentary 13th, and the TV series “Queen Sugar”. Little did I know when I interviewed Ava DuVernay in 2013, she would become one of the most important

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 16: “Being There”

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 5: Comedy and Epic Poetry

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 10-June 16, 2013)

Melissa Axelrod and Terry Zwigoff project formerly known as “Justice For Al” moving forward with Fred Armisen attached to star. Ryan Binaco sells science fiction thriller spec script “3022” to BCDF Pictures. Spenser Cohen sells untitled action drone project pitch to Lakeshore. Andrew Crosby and Ed Quinn adapting supernatural action

Daily Dialogue — June 16, 2013

VANELLOPE: I’m going to that race! He pulls her out again and holds her by the scruff. She thrashes and kicks at him. RALPH: No, you’re not. He hangs her by her hood on the edge of a pointy gumdrop. VANELLOPE: Take me down from here, Ralph, right

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Dinner scene

For a week, we’ve been exploring All Is Lost movie moments, courtesy of a suggestion by Turambar. Next week’s theme: Dinner scene offered up by Liri Nàvon. “Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself, and then I blackmailed him

Interview (Part 6): Ava DuVernay

In addition to making history as the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at Sundance, DuVernay was honored with the 2013 John Cassavetes Spirit Award and the Tribeca Film Institute’s Affinity Award for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere. In 2010, she wrote, produced