Go Into The Story

Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Motion Pictures picks up thriller spec script “The Nameless” from screenwriter Chris Bullet. From THR: Nameless is set in a top-secret facility operated by the U.S. Marshal’s Federal Witness Protection Program housing witnesses awaiting new identities. When the area’s location is

I’m enjoying “Tell to Win,” a book that’s just come out from Peter Guber, the former chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures and current head of Mandalay Entertainment Group. The lowdown on the book: In Tell To Win, executive and entrepreneur Peter Guber shows how to move beyond

From their website: World Narrative Feature Competition Films in this section compete for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best New Narrative Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. * Angels Crest, directed by Gaby Dellal, written by Catherine Trieschmann. (UK, Canada) — World Premiere. In the working-

Back last December, I posted this: David Reynolds, one of the filmmakers involved in the short, got in touch with me to say they had entered it in a Raindance Film Festival competition. I recently received this note from David: Hey Scott, I don’t know if you remember — but

From some very groovy person named ultraculture: Death scenes from 36 of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, synchronised to climax in unison.

There are all sorts of spec script success stories. You can write a spec targeting a major studio. You can also write a script for a low-budget independent movie. That’s what writer-comic Dale Zawada did with his screenplay Worth the Weight which is currently in post-production.

Screenwriter Derek Haas announces this week’s short story at his excellent site Popcorn Fiction: Some exciting news about today’s author. Les Bohem is one of the most popular Popcorn Fiction authors we’ve published…this is his third story. And before it hits the trades, I’ll announce

TotalFilm with a nice catch: Tim Burton isn’t the only notable director whose promise showed from early on — we have here a student film by fellow California Institute of the Arts alumnus Pete Docter, titled Winter. Docter, of course, is one of Pixar’s most prominent staff members and

Okay, this is priceless. A French documentary dude somehow managed to cajole Billy Wilder into agreeing to an interview. Not just one sitting. In this 2+ minute excerpt, we see Wilder at his Malibu retreat, Wilder at his office with I.A.L. “Izzy” Diamond doing a little schtick for

I was reminded the other day of my baptism in the waters of screenwriting when my future writing partner gave me a copy of three scripts to read. They were: Back to the Future Breaking Away Witness All three great reads. All three great movies. How about you? Do you

From Jeff Steele at HuffPo: You might have a good script, a talented cast, an experienced crew, a director with terrific “indie-cred,” a small budget and a huge upside, and yet no investor, packaging talent agent, or lender will talk to you. Why? In my experience, lower budget films

An audio interview with The Adjustment Bureau writer-director George Nolfi via Script magazine: After seven years of “scratching,” as screenwriter George Nolfi puts it, he finally unearthed the key to his new action-thriller, The Adjustment Bureau. Now, it’s up to audiences to do the same. The film

Today’s written interview is with writer-director James L. Brooks as he talks about the wonderful romantic comedy Broadcast News. Here is an excerpt: Albert Brooks’ speech about the devil — “He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he

We’ve had what could be the front edge of a trend toward movie studios willing, even eager to dip their toes into adult dramas again after the success of The King’s Speech, The Social Network, The Fighter, True Grit, and The Black Swan. Now maybe some more good

Universal buys comedy spec “Dirty Grandpa” from what sounds like a first-timer John Phillips. Per Deadline: Script’s about a recently widowed older man who gets to know his grandson who is about to marry a girl who is not right for him. Phillips is repped by ICM. By

Scott, Not much screenwriting involved in this project, but I wanted to share it with you anyways. It’s a video gallery called “14 Or So Actors Having Really Strong Feelings About Some Stuff.” It’s a parody of a piece the NY Times Magazine did in December. I live

There is no right way to write. No one way. No single approach, paradigm, theory or magic formula. No easy path. There is only the writer. Their creativity. Their stories. And lots of hard work.This week I’ve been featuring the words of four screenwriters each day to demonstrate

On Monday, I’ll be starting up another round of answering reader questions. Already have quite a few that will take us through next week, but looking for more. So now’s your chance. No matter how big or small the subject, if you have something on your mind about

There is no right way to write. No one way. No single approach, paradigm, theory or magic formula. No easy path. There is only the writer. Their creativity. Their stories. And lots of hard work.This week I’ve decided to feature the words of four screenwriters each day to