Spec Script Sale: “Bermuda Triangle” Warner Bros. acquires action spec script “Bermuda Triangle” written by Daniel Kunka. From Deadline: The logline is being kept under wraps, but the ambition is to use the Bermuda Triangle mythology–planes and ships go missing–and turn it into a tent pole action franchise. There’s Hollywood’s favorite
Interview: Eric Heisserer (2012 Black List) — Part 2 2012 was a big year for Eric Heisserer as he not only directed his first feature length film (Hours), based on his original screenplay, but also made the Black List for “Story Of Your Life.” This follows up on other writing credits: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Final Destination 5,
Spec Script Sale: “Omega Point” CBS Films acquires sci-fi spec script “Omega Point” from Cameron Alexander. From THR: The story centers on a young man who comes across a mysterious crash site in the woods where he discovers and befriends a god-like artificial intelligence desperate to escape earth. Cameron is a longtime GITS
Spec Script Sale: “House Arrest” Relativity Media acquires comedy spec script “House Arrest” written by Justin Adler. From Deadline: Two high-end bond traders whose plan to end their marriage hits a snag when they are forced to live together for six months of house arrest. Sounds like Wall Street meets War of the Roses.
Calling all writers’ groups! Both GITS and The Black Board got a nice write-up by the Maryland Writers’ Association. Thank you, MWA! As a show of gratitude, I added their website to this blog’s Resource list. It got me thinking: There must be a lot of writers’ groups in the United States,
Movie Trailer: “A Single Shot” Screenplay by Matthew F. Jones based on his novel The tragic death of a beautiful young girl starts a tense and atmospheric game of cat and mouse between hunter John Moon and the hardened backwater criminals out for his blood. IMDB site Comment Archive
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 9 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.
Screenwriting 101: Allison Burnett “A lot of writers try to get approval and love way too early. Get the script right first.” — Allison Burnett
Daily Dialogue — April 9, 2013 “Hasta la vista, baby.” — Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), written by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr. The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Action Hero Wisecracks, suggested by Shaula Evans. Trivia: The movie’s line “Hasta la vista, baby.” was voted as the #76 movie quote by the
Go Into The Story Week In Review: April 1-April 8, 2013 Links for notable post on GITS this week: The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs (Part 8) A Story Idea Each Day for a Month: Day 1 A Story Idea Each Day for a Month: Day 2 A Story Idea Each Day for a Month: Day
WME: “Start Gifts” [Video Parody] Via THR: As many of the nearly 100 broadcast and cable pilots begin production, a new parody video is making the rounds mocking the “start gifts” that many agencies send out to talent and showrunners. New Girl alum — and WME client — Nelson Franklin stars in the seven-minute parody as
Interview (Part 1): Eric Heisserer (2012, 2014 Black List) 2012 was a big year for Eric Heisserer as he not only directed his first feature length film (Hours), based on his original screenplay, but also made the Black List for “Story Of Your Life.” This follows up on other writing credits: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Final Destination 5,
Dispatches From The Front Line: Nicholas James West [Part 1] Some time ago, I made this offer: If you are in the process of breaking into the entertainment business, contact me. I will consider posting your saga as part of the Dispatches from the Front Line series. Like Nick [Nicholas James] West. He has been a long-time GITS follower.
Movie Trailer: “The Great Gatsby” Screenplay by Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce, novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor. IMDB site Release Date: 10 May 2013
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 8 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: You always need more than one in your gun.
On Writing “A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any one of which, at times can supply the lack of the others.” — William Faulkner Comment Archive
Daily Dialogue — April 8, 2013 Mitch Henessey: We jumped out of a building. Nathan: Yes, it was very exciting. Tomorrow we go to the zoo. Charlie: You’re Waldman. Nathan: No, I’m the Hill Brothers bean buyer. Who else would I be? Hang on. If you want me to talk in front of him,
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Action Hero Wisecracks So we move from the subject of death this week [courtesy of a suggestion by SandbaggerOne] to characters laughing in the face of death with next week’s recommendation from Shaula Evans: Action Hero Wisecracks! “Screw you!” The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript
Interview: David Guggenheim (2010, 2012 Black List) David Guggenheim broke into the business in February 2010 by selling the spec script Safe House which was produced and has grossed $208M worldwide. Since that time, Guggenheim has sold two more spec scripts: “Black Box” to Universal and “Narco Sub” to 20th Century Fox, as well as the pitch
Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Final Close-Up [Part 4] If you are a screenwriter, you should know about Anita Loos. Loos was one of the most influential writers in the early stages of American cinema, associated with 136 film projects per IMDB. Married to writer John Emerson, the pair wrote one of the first books on screenwriting in 1920:
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one: The story idea is how everyone in Hollywood short-
Screenwriting News (April 1-April 7, 2013) Duane Adler sells untitled music-drama pitch to Universal with George Tillman Jr. attached to direct. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski scripted project “Big Eyes” lands Tim Burton to direct, Christopher Waltz and Amy Adams to star for The Weinstein Company. Aresh Amel sells science fiction pitch “The Infinity Principle”
Video Interview: Alvaro Rodriguez, Shane Black, Randall Wallace, John Turman, and Melissa Rosenberg From the Austin Film Festival, twenty minutes with film and TV writers Alvaro Rodriguez, Shane Black, Randall Wallace, John Turman, and Melissa Rosenberg: http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf HT to Shaula Evans for the link. Comment Archive
Daily Dialogue — April 7, 2013 HAL: I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a… fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen.
GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Parts 1–10) Twice last year, we did a live Tweet Chat with three people you should follow: Amanda Pendolino [@amandapendo], Nate Winslow [@nate_winslow], and The Bitter Script Reader [@BittrScrptReadr]. Here are links to all 10 parts of those series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
