Amazon Studios Many readers have wanted my opinion about this: Amazon.com Inc. is starting a Web business aimed at helping filmmakers get their movies onto the big screen. Amazon Studios, which the online retailer announced Tuesday, is seeking full-length films and scripts from filmmakers and screenwriters that can be entered
Natalie Portman writing a raunchy comedy Per Steve Zeitchik at 24 Frames: EXCLUSIVE: Natalie Portman goes sapphic with Mila Kunis in the upcoming “Black Swan.” Now she’s getting her racy on in a different way. For the past few weeks, Portman and college friend Laura Moses have been shopping to Hollywood studios a ribald comedy
The story behind script coverage: Synopsis A week or so ago, I received some feedback about this series: The Story Behind Script Coverage, which I ran in June 2009. The readers suggested I re-run the series, figuring that many GITS readers might have missed the original run. So each day at 11AM PST (U.S.
Screenwriting 101: Amy Holden Jones “Roger Corman taught me a very valuable lesson. He said you could make a movie about just about anything as long as it had a hook to hang the advertising on.” — Amy Holden Jones (Mystic Pizza, Beethoven, Indecent Proposal)
Daily Dialogue — November 17, 2010 “Have you ever seen this horse race?….. I’ve seen him run…. I saw him stumble and fall back and pick himself up….I saw him stretch himself out when he had NOTHING left to give but he found it…. somewhere…. and he won! Lady, that horse is a champion
Movies You Made: “The Hookup” In response to my post about 48 Hour Film Project contests, via Twitter from @aprilwashko: Team 10 Mile presents “The Hookup” as part of the 2009 48 Hour Film Challenge, Detroit session. The genre was: Buddy Film The required character was: Liam Butler, a painter The prop required was: a
The future of movies… right now The very near future at least as far as Disney is concerned: The studio quietly launched Disney Movies Online, which lets consumers buy or rent digital versions of Disney and Pixar films and watch them on the Interent. The site, which debuted without fanfare in May, was conceived as a
“13 Prolific Screenwriters Whose Faces You’d Never Recognize (Or Why Screenwriters Don’t Appear on Camera) “ Who are these guys? These are screenwriters. In order they are: Christopher McQuarrie (Credit: The Usual Suspects, The Way of the Gun, Valkyrie, The Tourist, Jack and the Giant Killer and Wolverine II.) David Goyer (Credits: Dark City, Blade, Blade II, Blade Trinity, Batman Begins, Jumper, The Unborn and The
The story behind script coverage: Character Breakdowns A week or so ago, I received some feedback about this series: The Story Behind Script Coverage, which I ran in June 2009. The readers suggested I re-run the series, figuring that many GITS readers might have missed the original run. So each day at 11AM PST (U.S.
Daily Dialogue — November 16, 2010 “You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and
The GITS Club Treatment Challenge? Mike Scherer, who serves as the moderator over at our peer script review site The GITS Club, and I have been mulling over some ideas to engender the learning experience both there and here, and we’ve come up with what we think is an interesting idea: A monthly TGC
48 Hour Film Contest Winner: “The Duet” A note from Adam in Toronto: Just a few weekends ago I joined a group of filmmakers for the Toronto 48 Hour Film Project. It was a grueling weekend that resulted in my first produced script. It also won the award for Best Writing. Here’s the movie that won
50 TV Shows for 50 States: An Analysis From FlavorWire: But wait. They did one for movies? Hey, I made a list of 50 movies for 50 states years ago here [suggestions from reader comments]: ALABAMA Forrest Gump ALASKA Into the Wild ARIZONA Raising Arizona ARKANSAS A Face in the Crowd Suggestion: Sling Blade, True Grit CALIFORNIA Chinatown
Favorite screenwriting software? GITS reader Atlanta asked my opinion of Scrivener. My response: @Atlanta: I have been tracking Scrivener. Really the people to ask is the GITS community. Sounds like a post waiting to happen: Final Draft, Movie Magic, Celtx, Scrivener, Scripped — which is the best? So what screenwriting program do you use?
The story behind script coverage: Loglines A week or so ago, I received some feedback about this series: The Story Behind Script Coverage, which I ran in June 2009. The readers suggested I re-run the series, figuring that many GITS readers might have missed the original run. So each day at 11AM PST (U.S.
Exciting news from “Popcorn Fiction” From screenwriter and Popcorn Fiction web-host Derek Haas: Hello, PF readers! First, let me tell you about the new story we have up now, and then I’ll fill you in on what’s happening with Popcorn Fiction. “El Niño Actór” centers on a Mexican man telling the story
On writing “[Writing is] like spelunking, with a light on your hat. You keep going into different chambers until you find a chamber that seems to you to be the right one; you’re descending into dark and unknown territory and you can never see very far ahead.” — Tobias Wolf
Daily Dialogue — November 15, 2010 “Women like cuddly toys, don’t they? They like to hug them and squeeze them and poke their eyes out and rip their fucking limbs off. I avoid confrontation, I know it. But if you grew up in Glasgow in the 1970s, you’d avoid confrontation too. All I want
Re Monologues: Four basic functions? This week’s Daily Dialogue theme has been monologues. Got a Tweet from @Shandipedia reminding me of this one from Magnolia: That brought to mind other monologues from the same movie. Here’s a confession from a dying Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) to his caretaker Phil (Phillip Seymour Hoffman): “Oh,
Profile: Francis Ford Coppola (Part 2) Our friend Trevor Hogg is back at FlickeringMyth with the second installment in a 5-part profile of Francis Ford Coppola. An excerpt: “There had been a movie a year or so before The Godfather [1972] based on the novel called the The Brotherhood [1968], starring Kirk Douglas [Paths of
Video Interview: John Ford He’s been called “The Great American Director,” and yet John Ford also was a screenwriter with 24 titles he contributed to (per IMDB) beginning with the 1917silent short Cheyenne’s Pal and ending with an uncredited writing contribution to The Quiet Man. Here are some wonderful videos I found,
Daily Dialogue — November 14, 2010 “Out of order, I show you out of order. You don’t know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I’d show you, but I’m too old, I’m too tired, I’m too fuckin’ blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I’d
“The Story About Stop Motion” Via FlavorWire: What are your favorite stop motion movies? Comment Archive
Saturday Hot Links Today’s hot links: Spielberg wanted to make Harry Potter an animated franchise?!?! Speaking of HP, the first review of Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is in. Key point: “The final story may well be colourful and complex, but, on this evidence, there’s absolutely no artistic justification for a two-
