Great Characters: Nurse Ratched (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) In the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on a novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman) there are many standout characters including, of course, Jack Nicholson who won an Oscar in his role as R.
Daily Dialogue — March 2, 2012 EXT. CRONIN’S GRILL — AFTERNOON Crowded outdoor restaurant in the business district. Jerry sits down opposite Bob Sugar, still making a few notes. JERRY: Gimme a second here… Tidwell…Arizona contract… new glass cabinet… SUGAR: You okay? JERRY: I’m fine. What’s up? SUGAR: I came here to let
Google gets unfriendly and other changes on GITS Look, I know and you know life itself would not be possible without Google. Okay, okay, that’s probably overstating it a bit. But each of us has come to rely on Google in an ever expanding way. However they just did something that really, really bums me out: They
Series Debut Tonight: “Awake” from creator Kyle Killen Another reminder that the new NBC 1-hour drama “Awake” debuts tonight at 10PM Eastern / Pacific. Here is a THR feature on series creator Kyle Killen. An excerpt: Raised in a small town outside Dallas by a graphic artist mother and a stock broker-turned-photographer father, a young Killen
Behind The Curtain: How do scripts find their way to actors? Another in a new GITS series called “Behind The Curtain.” It arises from an inspiration Franklin Leonard had — you can read about it here: Basically if you have questions about specific aspects of how the film or TV business works, you can post them here, then Franklin will find experts
Spec Script Sale: “Bloodshot” Sony acquires action spec script “Bloodshot” from writer Jeff Wadlow and the underlying rights to the 90s Valiant Comic series that is the inspiration for the screenplay. From Deadline: The protagonist is Angelo Mortalli, a ruthless killer for the mob who is set up by the family and framed for
GITS Q&A, Part 4: Mary Coleman (Pixar) Today we continue with a week long exclusive interview with Mary Coleman, senior development executive at Pixar Animation Studios. In Part 4, we discuss setting, subculture, and Pixar’s instinct for character-driven stories: SM: Here’s another thing. Each Pixar movie explores a unique setting and subculture. With Toy
Sale: “Archetype” [Short Film] John Davis Entertainment buys short film “Archetype”: Details on the deal from THR.
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Up In The Air” — Themes This week we are analyzing the screenplay for Up In The Air (screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on a novel by Walter Kirn). You can access the 8/19/08 draft here. Today we discuss the script’s themes. There are several of them. Which ones do
The Business of Screenwriting: OWA Three little letters: OWA. But they mean big things for Hollywood screenwriters. What do these letter stand for? Owen Wilson’s Assistant? Afraid screenwriter Mike Le has that covered already. Okay, maybe Overworked Wretched Assistants. Nah, see in Hollywood, they’re just called assistants. The real significance of OWA in
Daily Dialogue — March 1, 2012 INT. SMART OFFICE — DAY Ben is sitting opposite his boss, Mr. Simpson, who is very upset. He hands Ben an envelope. Ben opens it and pulls out a check. He looks at the amount. BEN (genuinely moved): This is too generous Peter. SIMPSON (close to tears): Well… we liked having
Movie Trailer: “The Avengers” The newest one: Screenplay by Joss Whedon. IMDB site Release date [U.K.]: April 26, 2012 Release date [U.S.]: May 4, 2012 Comment Archive
Pinball wizadry and screenwriting So a few days back, the NYT ran this obituary about the death of Steve Kordek, a pinball innovator. What does pinball innovation have to do with screenwriting? To get there, let’s take a little journey starting with a bit of history per the obit: Mr. Kordek actually revised
Scorcese: 85 films list… or is it? We’ve been down this road before. First with Steven Spielberg’s supposed ‘curriculum’ of must-see movies. That turned out to be fake. Then there was the Spike Lee list. That turned out to be real. Now there is this from Fast Company: Martin Scorcese’s Film School: The
Wes Anderson goes commercial You may have noticed these two Hyundai commercials the other night during the Oscars: The spots director? Wes Anderson. Comment Archive
GITS Q&A, Part 3: Mary Coleman (Pixar) Today we continue with a week long exclusive interview with Mary Coleman, senior development executive at Pixar Animation Studios. In Part 3, we discuss Pixar’s embrace of both conventional and unconventional narrative elements, and the recurring dynamic of ‘strange sojourners’ in their stories: SM: So there is this love
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Up In The Air” — Characters This week we are analyzing the screenplay for Up In The Air (screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on a novel by Walter Kirn). You can access the 8/19/08 draft here. Today we discuss the script’s characters. Here is a list of the most prominent
Script To Screen: “Cast Away” From Cast Away, written by William Broyles, Jr.. Setup: After surviving on an island for years, Chuck [Tom Hanks] sets sail in a makeshift raft, accompanied only by his faithful friend Wilson… a volleyball. Here is the scene from the movie: Two small, but significant changes from script to screen:
Daily Dialgoue — February 29, 2012 INT. BRAD’S OFFICE — DAY Brad is seated behind his desk, reading a document. Lester sits across from him, smiling. BRAD: (reads) “…my job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men’s room so I can
“Prometheus” Not a trailer per se, but whatever it is, I would like more, please! For more you can go to WeylandIndustries.com. Comment Archive
Spec Script Sale: “Blood Mountain” Derby Street Films acquires thriller spec script “Blood Mountain” from writer Jonathan Stokes. From Deadline: Spec is described as a gritty survival thriller with action elements. The script made the 2011 Black List. Stokes is repped by UTA. By my count, this is the 16th spec script sale of 2012.
Exposition in “The Matrix” I’m currently teaching a 1-week online screenwriting course I created called “Handling Exposition” in which we explore six approaches — Fascination, Mystery, Revelation, Conflict, Action, Humor — as a way to transform dull, boring information into compelling, entertaining scenes. One of the writers in the group offered up The Matrix
Commercial: “Brave” Fresh on the heels of our interview with Pixar exec Mary Colement, here is the first 30 second spot for their upcoming movie Brave: Never occurred to me until now, but this could have a killer soundtrack. I’ve loved Scottish music since attending the Edinburgh Festival in 1988 where
GITS Q&A, Part 2: Mary Coleman (Pixar) Today we continue with a week long exclusive interview with Mary Coleman, senior development executive at Pixar Animation Studios. In Part 2, Mary pulls back the curtain to reveal the painstaking story-crafting process they go through on every film project: SM: If you wouldn’t mind, could you take
GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Up In The Air” — Structure This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for Up In The Air (screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on a novel by Walter Kirn). You can access the 8/19/08 draft here. Three-act structure? A scene-by-scene breakdown? Major plot points? Sequences? Here is
