Go Into The Story

Your questions for Franklin Leonard

Now that things have settled down a bit around here, I thought it would be a good idea to have a conversation with Franklin. And after discussing it, he and I decided it would be great to include as many people in the GITS community as possible. As a quick

Annie Walker (Kirsten Wiig) in “Bridesmaids”: Protagonist identification

About a month ago as part of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series, we studied a draft of a screenplay for the movie Bridesmaids. It was an excellent exercise including this follow-up Q&A with Universal Pictures story analyst Billy Mernit. I’d like add to the

The Age of Scorsese: Behind the Scenes

Harper’s Bazaar did something cool: Recreated notable scenes from movies by Martin Scorcese with contemporary actors. You can go here for some photos like this one staging Taxi Driver: And this behind the scenes video recreating Goodfellas: Finally reactions of the actors involved here. HT to Flavorwire for the

Movie Story Types: Disaster

Story Types: Disaster In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and sub-genres like Romantic Comedy or Mystery Thriller. Then there are story types, a shorthand way to describe a specific narrative conceit that is almost always

GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Blade Runner”

5 part series on the influential 1982 science fiction movie. This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for Blade Runner, screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples, based on the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick. If you haven’t had a chance

Popcorn Fiction: “Simultaneous” by Eric Heisserer

A new short story at the wonderful site Popcorn Fiction hosted by screenwriter-novelist Derek Haas: As you PF readers know, I’m an enormous fan of Eric Heisserer’s short fiction. His stories are always huge hits on the site, and his first story “Hours” is now being made

On Writing

“Begin with an individual and you find that you have created a type; begin with a type and you find that you have created — nothing.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Daily Dialogue — October 17, 2011

SONNY: Ah, say — what do you think of the nerve those Japs — those slanty eyed bastards, huh. Dropping bombs in out back yard — and on Pops birthday ya know. FREDO: Now they didn’t know it was Pop’s birthday. SONNY: They didn’t know it was Pop’s birthday.

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Mealtime conversations

After a week of memorable one-word lines, we head in the opposite direction: Mealtime conversations [suggested by Deaf Ears]. Opposite because meals provide the backdrop for extended scenes, the breaking of bread a perfect backdrop against which characters can share meaningful thoughts and feelings. So you know the drill:

Handling religion in movies: “Footloose”

Steven Zeitchik and Amy Kaufman at “24 Frames” (LAT) ponder how the remake of the current release Footloose differs from the original version in 1984. They point out several key changes specifically regarding religion that appear to have been made to appease conservatives. Some key excerpts: If that seems like

Movie Trailer: “The Muppets”

Yet another one. And this has a story! Yahoo! Video PlayerEdit descriptiond.yimg.com Comment Archive

How to copyright your script

Annika Wood sends in this helpful note: Though I’ve been writing scripts for over three years now, registering one with the US Copyright office has seemed about as appealing as a dental appointment. Even after I found out that WGAw registration doesn’t provide real legal protection (you have

Daily Dialogue — October 16, 2011

“No!” — Marcel Marceau (Marcel Marceau), Silent Movie (1976), screenplay by Mel Brooks & Ron Clark & Rudy De Luca & Barry Levinson, story by Ron Clark The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is memorable one-word lines. Silent Movie suggested by Bill Weinberger. Trivia: Marcel Marceau, the famous mime,

Daily Dialogue theme for next week???

After a week of memorable one-word lines, it’s time for a new Daily Dailogue theme.Here is the current list of suggestions: Fast talking reporter types [jryanpeterson] Big announcements [John] Declarations of love [Ric] St. Crispin Day type speeches [Atlanta] Not Quite Famous Dialogue: Dialogue that precedes or

“Universal’s ‘Tower Heist’ VOD fiasco: What went wrong?”

Patrick Goldstein with the scoop: Universal Pictures has ended up with egg on its face after the embarrassing collapse of its experiment to make the upcoming Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy comedy “Tower Heist” available on VOD three weeks after its Nov. 4 theatrical release. The plan was to test

Aaron Sorkin: “‘Hi. It’s Steve.’”

Wonder what a conversation between Steve Jobs and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin would have been like? Here you are courtesy of Sorkin in a first-person piece for the Daily Beast: But it’s his last call I’ll always remember. He wanted me to write a Pixar movie. I told

Spec Script Sale: “The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto”

Twentieth Century Fox buys fairy tale spec script “The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto” from writer Michael Vukadinovich. From Deadline: It’s a prequel to the story of Pinocchio, in which Geppetto endures a life of misfortune, war and adventure, all to be with Julia Moon, his true love. The sweep

Saturday Hot Links

Welcome back for another edition of Saturday Hot Links… prepared vegan style! Today we honor one of the all-time great actors James “Jimmy” Stewart. Here is an excerpt from the French TV series “Cinema Cinemas” in which Stewart discusses working with Alfred Hitchcock: Must start with this: Man who

Written Interview: Grant Heslov (“Ides of March”)

From Screen Rant: The new political drama The Ides of March (read our review) — co-written, directed by and starring George Clooney — opened in theaters this weekend. Adapted from Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North, the film stars Ryan Gosling as Stephen Myers, a talented and ambitious campaign press secretary

Daily Dialogue — October 15, 2011

“Toga!” — John Blutarsky (John Belushi), Animal House (1978), written by Harold Ramis & Douglas Kenney & Chris Miller http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?config=http://config.movieclips.com/player/config/embed/GH3oE/%3Floc%3DUS&endpoint=http://movieclips.com/api/v1/player/test/action/&start=0&v=

GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Blade Runner”

We have completed Round 6 of our weekly GITS Script Reading & Analysis series: #1: Gladiator (Action) #2: Bridesmaids (Comedy) #3: Good Will Hunting (Drama) #4: The Silence of the Lambs (Thriller) #5: Toy Story 3 (Family) #6: Pan’s Labyrinth (Fantasy) I have started an archive for the series

GITS Meet-Up: Ann Arbor: What, Where, When!

Looks like the good folks in the Upper Midwest are going to represent! What: GITS Meet-Up: Ann Arbor Where: Starbucks, 3601 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, (734) 477–0478 When: Sunday, October 23 at 3PM There will be a GITS Meet-Up sign to help you identify each

You do NOT need to live in L.A. to succed as a screenwriter!

On the heels of Mike Le’s story in the previous post, how about this per Variety: Warner Bros. has preemptively purchased the high-concept pitch “Rome, Sweet Rome” from first-time scribe James Erwin, an author and two-time “Jeopardy!” champion from Des Moines, Iowa. Erwin’s pitch sale

You need to live in L.A. to succed as a screenwriter!

When I get asked the question, “Do I have to move to Los Angeles to make it in the movie business,” I say no, you do not need to to move to L.A. to succeed as a screenwriter. Since it’s pretty much all about your script and you

More background on the screenplay development of “Moneyball”

I have many posts tracking the circuitous course Moneyball took through years of development and pre-production hell finally making its way into theaters. So when I wrote this — Moneyball: The movie that almost never was — I figured I had gleaned pretty much everything possible to know about the screenwriting