Scott Myers

Saturday Hot Links

Time for another installment of Saturday Hot Links! Today: The Congratulations To All You Graduates Out There Edition: 8 movies that changed movies. 26 signs you were college radio deejay. Drink like Don Draper with the cocktail chart of film and literature. The relationship between creativity and dishonesty. The best

Written Interview: Damon Lindelof

A lengthy feature on Damon Lindelof (“Lost,” Prometheus, World War Z) in the Hollywood Reporter. Here is an excerpt in which Lindelof discusses one connection he had with the TV series “Lost”: Compounding it all was that Lindelof still was reeling from the loss of his father — an atheist — who

Daily Dialogue — May 18, 2013

Hooper: You were on the Indianapolis? Brody: What happened? Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte… just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes.

Reader Question: How is the spec market for Christmas stories?

Over on The Black Board, Ian asked this question: How is the spec market for Christmas stories? For some reason I keep coming up with Christmas story-concepts, and I’ll write them one day regardless, but it made me wonder if there’s an annual hunt for new holiday

Interview: James DiLapo (2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List) — Part 5

James DiLapo’s original screenplay “Devils at Play” not only won the young screenwriter a 2012 Nicholl fellowship, it also landed on the 2012 Black List, garnering 28 votes, the 9th highest total of any script on the list this year. In January, Warner Bros. hired DiLapo to write the

“A Screenwriter Shoots His Own Unproduced Scripts, With a Gun”

Yesterday I featured a guest column from screenwriter Justin Marks in the Hollywood Reporter. For those of you outside the Hollywood system, Justin offers a nice glimpse of what it’s like to be a working screenwriter. Here’s the bottom line: Getting a movie made is hard. Really hard.

Movie Trailer: “Emmanuel and the Truth About Fishes”

Written by Francesca Gregorini A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl’s dead mother. IMDB site

Movies You Made: “The Night of the Raven”

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: Marlin (“Finding Nemo”)

This month’s theme: Pixar. Today’s guest post by Jason Cuthbert features Marlin from the 2003 Finding Nemo, screenplay by Andrew Stanton & Bob Peterson & David Reynolds, story by Andrew Stanton. After watching the 2003 Pixar Animation Studios underwater comedy adventure Finding Nemo, it is not hard to

Daily Dialogue — May 17, 2013

“There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too treacherous to pass but they learned in the magical arts, the three brothers simply waved their wands and made a bridge. Before they could cross, however, they

1,827

1,827. That’s how many consecutive days I’ve posted on the blog. Or to put it another way… Today is Go Into The Story’s 5th birthday! As a reminder, here is what I posted on Day 1 of this blog: The story behind Go Into The Story

Interview: James DiLapo (2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List) — Part 4

James DiLapo’s original screenplay “Devils at Play” not only won the young screenwriter a 2012 Nicholl fellowship, it also landed on the 2012 Black List, garnering 28 votes, the 9th highest total of any script on the list this year. In January, Warner Bros. hired DiLapo to write the

“My Life as a Screenwriter You’ve Never Heard Of”

From the Hollywood Reporter: Justin Marks has written over 20 movie screenplays and seen his TV pilots greenlit — but as he explains, the life of a Hollywood scribe is far more lows than highs if your name isn’t Aaron Sorkin. An excerpt: Here’s a day in the life

Movie Trailer: “Only God Forgives”

Written by Nicolas Winding Refn Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok’s criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother’s recent death. IMDB site Release Date: 19 July 2013 (USA)

Movies You Made: “Photo Booth”

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 14]

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs Part 14: Going Wide 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 16, 2013

Girl Student #1: I’m telling you, this new guy is supposed to be a total psycho. I heard he broke another kid’s neck at his last school. Girl Student #2: Then he got kicked off the football team for pulling a knife on a coach. Girl Student #1:

The Quest Initiative: 7 days and counting

You can go here to see the original announcement I made about The Quest last year. You can go here for a post about this year’s Initiative. Now this important note: I am pushing back the start date for the logline submission period to Wednesday, May 22. I WILL

“The 13 Rules for Creating a Prestige TV Drama”

With tongue planted in cheek, Vulture provides this: Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Breaking Bad, Dexter, Homeland, The Wire, The Sopranos, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, The Americans, Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, True Blood, Lost, and Game of Thrones. Here’s the list: Rule 1:

Interview: James DiLapo (2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List) — Part 3

James DiLapo’s original screenplay “Devils at Play” not only won the young screenwriter a 2012 Nicholl fellowship, it also landed on the 2012 Black List, garnering 28 votes, the 9th highest total of any script on the list this year. In January, Warner Bros. hired DiLapo to write the

Hot Topics: The Black Board

A weekly update from Shaula Evans, moderator of The Black Board: With everyone counting down to the opening of the Quest for submissions, I want to remind you that The Black Board offers some great resources on generating story ideas and you’re welcome to come work on your entries

Movie Trailer: “Prince Avalanche”

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (original story), David Gordon Green (adaptation) Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. IMDB site Release

Movies You Made: “Graders”

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

Script To Screen: “10 Things I Hate About You”

Kat reads a poem she wrote… a poem with a LOT of subtext! From the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You, written by Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith, based on a play by William Shakespeare. Setup: A new kid must find a guy to date the meanest

Daily Dialogue — May 15, 2013

BLACK POOL PLAYER: He’s a deep motherfucker. RUSTY JAMES: I’m gonna be just like him, too. I’m gonna look like him. BLACK POOL PLAYER: You ain’t gonna never be like that. RUSTY JAMES: How do you know? What the fuck do you know? I might look