Go Into The Story

The Business of Screenwriting: “I can do that”

It’s 1986. About 12:30AM. At Charlie’s nightclub in Ventura, California where I’ve just finished performing my comedy act. As I’m packing up my gear, I get into a conversation with Steve, one of the club owners. He’s in his second year of the USC

Daily Dialogue — November 24, 2011

“Hello. Relax, it’s seltzer. Hello. I’m Shiva the destroyer and your harbinger of doom for this evening. I would like to thank you all for coming and welcome you. Even though I haven’t seen most of you since my latest stretch in the big house. But you

Reaction: “The Muppets”

Just got back from The Muppets which is great. Definitely worth seeing! Lots of surprises. At one point, there is a song called “Muppet or a Man,” and I thought, “That sounds like ‘Flight of the Conchords’”. Sure enough, Bret McKenzie was the movie’s music supervisor. Here are two

Will spec sales hit 100 in 2011?

By my count as of today, there have been 96 spec script sales in 2011. This marks a significant reversal in the spec script market trendline the last several years: 2008: 88 2009: 68 2010: 55 2011: 96 Then there is the more symbolic question: Will sales hit the 100

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 3]

More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Q: To get back to your collaboration, how detailed is your treatment before you start writing the dialogue? Wilder: The treatment? There is no treatment. We just start right off.

How They Write A Script: Horton Foote

One of the most beloved American movies — and also one of my personal favorites — is To Kill a Mockingbird, the cinematic version of Harper Lee’s 1960 novel. The writer who adapted the novel into a screenplay is Horton Foote. A noted playwright as well as screenwriter, Foote’s movie

Script To Screen: “Unforgiven”

From the 1992 movie Unforgiven [written by David Webb Peoples] the movie’s Final Struggle sequence. Setup: Retired gunslinger William Munny takes on one last job… and this is the finale. VIEW on Little Bill in the crowded bar and he is shouting to make himself heard over the din.

Daily Dialogue — November 23, 2011

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to drag you from your desserts. There are just one or two little things I feel I should say, as best man. This is only the second time I’ve been a best man. I hope I did OK that time. The couple in

Movie Trailer: “Newlyweds”

It’s been fascinating to track writer-director-producer-actor Edward Burns these last few years as he has plunged headlong into ultra low-budget filmmaking. First there was Nice Guy Johnny which I covered a lot on GITS including here. Now the followup film Newlyweds: A newlywed couple’s

THR: Screenwriters Roundtable 2011

From THR: Together, the six A-list screenwriters invited to participate in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual awards-season roundtable have received a whopping 12 Academy Award nominations (plus five wins). But not once during the lively hourlong discussion at Hemingway’s Lounge in Hollywood did the subject of awards

Reader Question: Any tips on a template to develop and structure story for a Belgian soap opera?

Received a tweet that sounds like a pretty desperate request from @hildepallen: I’m looking for a useful template to develop and structure story in (Belgian) soap operas. Any tips? We are so stuck! Okay, if you have any information about: * TV soap opera script format / template * TV soap opera

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 2]

A 10-part series with the writers of The Apartment and Some Like It Hot. More excerpts from a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and longtime screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond: Q: Do you tend to have a star in mind when you’re writing a

Movies You Made: “Daydreamer” by Daniel Cova

From filmmaker Daniel Cova, a short film called “Daydreamer”: Daydreamer from Kyle Gleisner on Vimeo. Writer/Director: Dan Cova Producer: Polena Hermiz Assistant Director: Brian Scherf Director of Photography: Kyle Gleisner For comments or thoughts about “Daydreamer,” please hit replies. Tomorrow: More Movies You Made. Comment Archive

Spec Script Sale: “Untitled Bryan Bertino Project”

Universal acquires ‘found footage’ thriller spec script written by Bryan Bertino. There are no details re the plot. Deadline article here. Bertino is repped by UTA. This is at least the third found footage spec script to sell this year and second within one month. Other sales are: “Evidence” [John

How They Write A Script: Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent is one of the most well-respected screenwriters in Hollywood. He’s the brother of Herb Sargent who up until his death in 2005 was president of the WGA, East and was married to long-time Hwood producer Laura Ziskin, who unfortunately died this year. One look at

Screenwriting 101: Naomi Foner

“From the beginning, I did this because I thought there were stories that had nothing to do with me, but needed to be told, and that if I could be the instrument of telling them, then they could keep me going. If you do it to be rich and famous,

Daily Dialogue — November 22, 2011

“Fuck it.” — Sergeant (Paul D’Amato), The Deer Hunter (1978), screenplay by Deric Washburn, story by Michael Cimino & Deric Washburn and Louis Garfinkle & Quinn K. Redeker http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?config=http://config.movieclips.com/player/config/embed/mGtK/%3Floc%3DUS&endpoint=http://movieclips.com/

Network Hollywood: Marketing Your Script — Building Your Career [Fall 2011]

My colleague Tom Benedek, screenwriter (Cocoon, Free Willy) and co-founder of Screenwriting Master Class, is following up the hugely successful initial offering of Network Hollywood with another session beginning next Monday, November 28. The 2-week online class is a unique combination of workshops, taped interviews and live chats

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 1]

A 10-part series with the writers of The Apartment and Some Like It Hot. I stumbled on a transcript of a sit-down interview with writer-director Billy Wilder and his long-time writing partner I.A.L. Diamond [date unknown]. It’s simply terrific. I thought over the

Movies You Made: “Forest of the Subconscious” by Caitlin Podiak

From filmmaker Caitlin Podiak: Filmed at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey and the Allen Arms in San Francisco. “Circling” and “Reversing” by Four Tet. If you have comments for Caitlin, please go to replies. Tomorrow: More Movies You Made. Comment Archive

How They Write A Script: Ted Tally

Ted Tally is yet another screenwriter who started out as a playwright. His film credits include White Palace (1990), The Juror (1996), All the Pretty Horses (2000), and Red Dragon (2002). Tally received the WGA and Academy awards for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for his

On Writing

“In any story there are three elements: persons, a situation, and the fact that in the end something has changed. If nothing has changed, it isn’t a story.” — Malcolm Cowley, excerpted from “Advice to Writers”

Daily Dialogue — November 21, 2011

“Um, when my brother Harold asked me to be the best man at his wedding, I was like, ‘Of course, man, ’cause you’ve always been there for me.’ Like when I was in rehab and uh, like the time I couldn’t find my car… ’cause Harold, you know,

Writing Question: What music are you listening to for writing inspiration?

Yet again I ‘discovered’ the soundtrack to The Shawshank Redemption, so here I go with perhaps two weeks of immersing myself in Thomas Newman to inspire my writing. I guess I’m just a serial monogamist when it comes to music. How about you? What music are you listening nowadays

“Nine Things Successful People Do Differently”

I’ve discovered a new site: The Creativity Post. It’s like the Huffington Post with a focus on — guess what? — creativity. Since what we do as writers necessarily involves tapping into our creative selves, we should do what we can to engender that aspect of who we are. For