On Writing “You have to be brave to take out that white sheet of paper and put on it words that could be evidence of your stupidity.” — Sol Saks HT to @Quotes4Writers Comment Archive
Daily Dialogue — August 29, 2011 “I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don’t know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them; because
Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Speeches Blame it on Hurricane Irene, but I had a sudden gust of inspiration for a DDT: Speeches. Politics, high school graduations, and the like. Monologues as an attempt to persuade and/or inspire listeners. You know how to be groovy: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes. * Copy/paste URL from
Update: “The Help” As The Help continues to perform at the box office, The Wrap has a revealing article on the backstory of the project’s history in Hollywood. Like Kathryn Stockett’s much-rejected book manuscript, “The Help” is a movie that almost wasn’t… But now DreamWorks’ Stacey Snider — who decided
“Will Reiser and writing about what you know: getting cancer” From Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture (LAT): In show business, a business that revolves around youth and sexual vitality, sickness is viewed as a sign of weakness. It’s a bad career move. I guess that makes it all the more improbable that Will Reiser, after being diagnosed with
Ray Bradbury: “I write screenplays in my sleep” Ray Bradbury turned 90 years old on August 22nd and The Hero Comples (LAT) had a nice feature on the revered science fiction author: Ray Bradbury has the most amazing dreams. “I write screenplays,” he says with a wink, “in the middle of the night.” When he wakes in the
Daily Dialogue theme next week??? As we wind down this week filled with jokes [thanks to Francisco Madaragog for the suggestion], it’s time for another Daily Dialogue theme. Here is the current roster of possibilities as suggested by GITS readers. I think we’ll carry these through for one more time, then start with
Saturday Hot Links Back with another serving of Saturday Hot Links, this week with just a dash of paprika. In honor of the start of another academic year, today we celebrate our educational heritage with a few choice clips from the beloved classic art house film Back to School: http://static.movieclips.com/
Written Interview: Guillermo del Toro Wide ranging interview with Guillermo del Toro in IndieWire this week. Some excerpts: You mentioned your affinity for transmedia. Last year, you launched a transmedia studio called Mirada. What have you been doing with it so far? We’ve had a very interesting first few months. We’re a very
GITS news A few months ago, I was approached by a well-known industry insider who has created a cutting edge and influential Hollywood brand. Turns out he is a long-time fan of Go Into The Story. We had several interesting conversations. The more we talked, the more we realized there
“10 Things You Need To Know About Pixar’s ‘Monsters University’ [D23 Expo]” From Slashfilm and their coverage of the recent D23 Expo, here are a few things you need to know about Pixar’s movie Monsters University: 1. Pixar Has Been Developing Monsters University For Years One of the early concept drawings of an early Mike in college was dated 2008, which
“11 things we learned about Pixar’s ‘Brave’” From Slashfilm and their coverage of the recent D23 Expo, here are a few things you need to know about Pixar’s movie Brave: 2. Merida is a bad ass Most of us figured this out when we saw Merida, the main character voiced by Kelly Macdonald, stand up to
“Malkovich’s Mail” I’ve received numerous Tweets and emails the last few days about a documentary called “Malkovich’s Mail.” It’s available (at least for now) on YouTube. Here is the description of the project: This hour long pilot for AMC takes a look at the bizarre solicitations received by John
Movie Trailer: “The Rum Diary” Hunter S. Thompson wrote the novel The Rum Diary in 1961, but the novel was not published until 1998. The independent production companies Shooting Gallery and SPi Films sought to adapt the novel into a film in 2000, and actor Johnny Depp was signed to star and to serve as
Rod Serling: On time travel GITS reader David A sent me a link to an amazing set of videos, a sit-down conversation with TV and screenwriter Rod Serling. Most well-known for the long-running TV anthology series “The Twilight Zone” (148 episodes, 1959–1964), has over 70 writing credits including the screenplays for
Great Character: Dorothy Michaels (“Tootsie”) Tootsie (1982) has to be considered one of the best comedies in the last 30 years (screenplay by Murray Schisgal and Larry Gelbart, story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart). And at the heart of the movie is Dorothy Michaels: Who is, of course, actually actor Michael Dorsey: Both roles
Daily Dialogue — August 26, 2011 So there’s this guy Walsh, do you understand? He’s tired of screwin’ his wife… So his friend says to him, “Hey, why don’t you do it like the Chinese do?” So he says, “How do the Chinese do it?” And the guy says, “Well, the Chinese, first
Question: How to handle multiple ideas and the creative process? An email from GITS reader Woody Walters: I have more ideas than I can handle and would really like to see your advice on the subject of controlling your creative process on the blog as well. I have taken some of your advice on making notes and planning out the
Sci-Fi high? Got a Tweet from @RudolphKremers: “Sci-Fi seems to be very much in vogue at the moment. Any idea what triggered this?” Curious I went through the 62 spec script sales thus far in 2011. Sure enough, there are 10 scripts that have some sort of science fiction element: Title:
GITS Weekly Script Reading and Analysis A few weeks back, I posted this: As longtime GITS readers may remember, in the past we have done a variety of script reading and analysis series including 40 Days of Screenplays, 6 Days of Screenplays, and so on. I think it’s time to bring something like that back
Rod Serling: On how he wishes more writers would put themselves to the test GITS reader David A sent me a link to an amazing set of videos, a sit-down conversation with TV and screenwriter Rod Serling. Most well-known for the long-running TV anthology series “The Twilight Zone” (148 episodes, 1959–1964), has over 70 writing credits including the screenplays for
The Business of Screenwriting: What to do when the phone stops ringing… “If a spec script got you into The Business in the first place, a spec script can jump-start a stalled career.” When things go great in Hollywood, they can go really, really great. And when they do, your phone never seems to stop ringing. Calls about meetings with studio
Reader Question: How to approach writing a story with multiple main characters? Exploring three keys to writing multilinear screenplays. From an anonymous GITS reader: I was curious about stories which follow multiple characters, each with their own plight to overcome in the overlapping storyline. I suppose my question is more than one… which films are good examples of this and the second
Update: The GITS Club Exciting news for everyone who has been involved with The GITS Club, the peer script review site. Due to the efforts of longtime GITS follower and GITS Club member Sean Harris, TGC will migrate over to a terrific community called OTTfilms. Here is Sean with more background in an open
“What’s it like to have your film flop at the box office” Like most professionals, a screenwriter dreams of glory. However unlike most gigs, when a movie fails, it does so in a very public manner. Screenwriter Sean Hood shares his experience of what it’s like to experience a “film flop”: When you work “above the line” on a movie (writer,
