Scott Myers

Saturday Hot Links

Today: The Recording Session Outtakes You REALLY Need To Listen To Edition. We begin with radio personality Casey Kasem losing it in the studio: “Arrested Development”: The best running jokes. “Arrested Development”’s 20 most meta meta-moments. The complexity of greatness: Beyond talent or practice. Sony board weighs break-

Written Interview: Brian Helgeland

A WGA interview with screenwriter-director Brian Helgeland about his newest movie 42: Raised in Rhode Island, Helgeland briefly followed in father’s footsteps after high school by working as a scallop fisherman but a storm at sea forced him to rethink his career goals. He majored in literature at

Daily Dialogue — May 25, 2013

Lyle: [Taunting the mainly-black railworkers] When you was slaves, you sang like birds. Come on! Let’s hear a good, old nigger work song! Enraged, the workers move to attack him, but are stopped by Bart. He promptly proceeds to sing. Bart: [Crooning, Sammy Davis, Jr.-style, with fellow

The Quest Initiative: Day 3

The submission period for The Quest Initiative runs from May 22-June 8. Each day I will provide an update. Today: Marks the 3rd day of submissions for The Quest Initiative. Number of entrants: 162. Question of the day: May I submit a logline for a script I have already

Interview: Justin Marks — Part 5

Screenwriter Justin Marks has been described as the “most gainfully employed professional fanboy on the planet right now.” Understandably so given the fact Justin has written such projects The Raven, Super Max, Suicide Squad, Shadow of the Colossus, Hack/Slash and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. The

“How Shakespeare Saved ‘Avengers’: Joss Whedon on His ‘Much Ado About Nothing’”

From today’s NYT: “Honestly, if you’re not a workaholic,” Joss Whedon said recently, “this is hard to explain.” Mr. Whedon, the prolific writer, producer and director, was speaking by phone from Los Angeles as he discussed an unusual moment in his life, in fall 2011, when he had

“Extant”: Another example of the ‘spirit of the spec’

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Hollywood development world — movies and TV — nothing shifts the tectonic plates of The Biz more than a spec script that gets people salivating over it. It’s also a time when writers can learn an awful lot about the buying pulse of Hollywood.

Movie Trailer: “Man of Steel”

Screenplay by David S. Goyer, story by David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan, Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster A young journalist is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race. IMDB site Release Date: 14 June 2013 (USA) Comment

Movies You Made: “Elvis Prestwick”

For several months, I’ve been tagging a bunch of emails from filmmakers who have contacted me about their film projects, so I figured we should feature them this May. If you have a movie, either short-form or long, with which you were involved — writer, actor, director — please either

Great Character: Carl Fredricksen (“Up”)

This month’s theme: Pixar. Today’s guest post by Jason Cuthbert features Carl Fredericksen from the 2009 movie Up, screenplay by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter, story by Pete Docter & Bob Peterson & Thomas McCarthy. At some point in our lives we all seem to have that creepy

Daily Dialogue — May 24, 2013

Troy: Got a pothead mama, got a cokehead dad. I’m the ultra-modern version of the American man. Don’t feel good, but don’t feel bad. Cause me, you see, I’m nuthin’. I ain’t left, I ain’t right. I feel so alone. Before I was

The Quest Initiative: Day 2

The submission period for The Quest Initiative runs from May 22-June 8. Each day I will provide an update. Today: Marks the 2nd day of submissions for The Quest Initiative. Number of entrants: 121. Question of the day: I am concerned about the safety of my story concept. Will

Conan O’Brien on “Man of Steel” trailer

This is awesome at so many levels: Hey, if the shoe fits… HT to @Justin_Marks_ for tweeting the link.

Interview: Justin Marks — Part 4

Screenwriter Justin Marks has been described as the “most gainfully employed professional fanboy on the planet right now.” Understandably so given the fact Justin has written such projects The Raven, Super Max, Suicide Squad, Shadow of the Colossus, Hack/Slash and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. The

Movie Trailer: “Don Jon”

Written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love. IMDB site Release Date: 18 October 2013 (USA) Comment Archive

If there was one movie you could see again for the first time…

…what would it be? Over the weekend, that question was posed to me by the spiritual progenitor of this site and my youngest son Luke. To be able to see a movie you know you love, but with a fresh set of eyes — no foreknowledge, tabula rasa. You know what?

Hot Topics: The Black Board

A weekly update from Shaula Evans, moderator of The Black Board: If you want help with your Quest submissions, our Idea Factory and Logline Workshop are standing by — because we want you to win the Quest! Other hot discussions this week include: Lesson on Criticism: Richard Walter — with video! The

Movies You Made: “Veneer”

For several months, I’ve been tagging a bunch of emails from filmmakers who have contacted me about their film projects, so I figured we should feature them this May. If you have a movie, either short-form or long, with which you were involved — writer, actor, director — please either

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 15]

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs Part 15: Bidding War I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them.

Daily Dialogue — May 23, 2013

Mr. White: I don’t want any of this lover’s lament crap. I want something peppy, something happy, something up-tempo. I want something snappy. Jimmy: [smiles and sings] I… I quit… I quit… I quit… [speaks seriously] I quit, Mr. White. — That Thing You Do (1996), written by

The Quest Initiative: Day 1

The submission period for The Quest Initiative runs from May 22-June 8. Each day I will provide an update. Today: Marks the 1st day of submissions for The Quest Initiative. I have already received nearly 100 emails. Question of the day: Is there an advantage or disadvantage to submitting

Introducing Wendy Cohen

I believe in synchronicity. What is it? Here’s Wikipedia’s take: Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner. The concept of synchronicity was first described

Interview: Justin Marks — Part 3

Screenwriter Justin Marks has been described as the “most gainfully employed professional fanboy on the planet right now.” Understandably so given the fact Justin has written such projects The Raven, Super Max, Suicide Squad, Shadow of the Colossus, Hack/Slash and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. The

Spec Script Sale: “Little Evil”

Universal acquires dark comedy spec script “Little Evil” from writer-director Eli Craig.From THR: Craig wrote the script and will direct the feature, which will be produced by Scott Stuber and his Universal-based Bluegrass Films.The logline is being kept under wraps. Sources say the deal was in

Screenwriting Tip: Give your Nemesis a plausible world view

Here is a tip from my 1-week online class Write a Worthy Nemesis: This tip is so simple, yet I constantly read scripts where the writer did not grasp the concept: Give your Nemesis a plausible world view. Unless a Nemesis is a delusional psychotic, they will have a