Go Into The Story

On writing

“A writer is someone who writes every day. A professional is an amateur who doesn’t quit.”  — Billy Mernit H/T to GITS reader Martin_B for sourcing the quote

Popcorn Fiction: “At Great Risk to My Person” (Phil Hay)

From screenwriter Derek Haas at the excellent short fiction site PopcornFiction: I am thrilled to give you a new short story this morning from screenwriter Phil Hay. “At Great Risk to My Person” centers on a spaceship commander who explains his side of the story as his ship prepares for

Daily Dialogue — October 11, 2010

[about the velociraptors] Dr. Alan Grant: What’s their growth rate? Muldoon: They’re lethal at eight months, and I do mean lethal. I’ve hunted most things that can hunt you, but the way these things move… Dr. Alan Grant: Fast for a biped? Muldoon: Cheetah speed. Fifty, sixty

John Cleese on creativity

As we finish up our week honoring Monty Python’s Flying Circus, here are some words of wisdom from John Cleese about creativity: Comment Archive

Interview: Jewerl Ross, Manager

Here is a good interview at DoneDealPro with manager Jewerl Ross: How is being a manager different from being an agent? As I mentioned above, the job of agent and manager are very, very similar. For me, it’s mostly in how I talk about my job and how I

10/10/10

In honor of today’s date, the LA Times has a few articles of note: The 10 best movies of 2010 (so far) you might have missed TV’s top 10 moments of the first 10 months of 2010 The top 10 sidekicks of all time 10 stars by the

Profile: David Fincher, Part 2

Our friend Trevor Hogg’s latest FlickeringMyth.com profile is on director David Fincher, currently out with his new movie The Social Network. Some excerpts from Part 2: After the production turmoil associated with his directorial debut Alien 3 (1992), American moviemaker David Fincher had given up on the idea

Weekend Box Office preliminary results

Per THR: The Facebook drama “The Social Network” continues to add more friends at the box office as the Sony picture took in another $15.9, according to Rentrak, to top the weekend for a second straight week. Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel’s romantic comedy “Life as We Know

Video Interview: Robert Rodriguez

Today’s video interview is with multihyphenate Robert Rodriguez. His writing credits include El mariachi, Desperado, the four Spy Kids movies, and Machete.  Part 1 Part 2

Daily Dialogue — October 10, 2010

I never wanted to do this in the first place! I… I wanted to be… A LUMBERJACK!  (piano vamp)  Leaping from tree to tree! As they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia! With my best girl by my side! The Larch! The Pine!  The Giant Redwood tree!  The

More movie cliches

We’re already blessed with The Definitive List of Cliched Dialogue courtesy of screenwriter Kevin Lehane. Now GITS reader Tous alerts us to this list of movie cliches in three parts:  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 A few choice items: ANSWERING MACHINES * If the hero listens to his answering

Written Interview: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“It’s Kind of a Funny Story”)

Another written interview today, this one with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who wrote the indie comedy-drama It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Some excerpts: Q: How was it that you made your way to this material? ANNA BODEN: We’d just finished “Half Nelson” and premiered it

Happy Birthday, John Lennon!

My favorite Beatle is and always will be John Lennon. Paul is a great writer of pop songs, but John gave The Beatles edge. Together Lennon & McCartney were amazing. Here’s a great example of what they both brought to their writing, their song “We Can Work It Out”

Written Interview: Ian Deitchman & Kristin Rusk Robinson (“Life As We Know It”)

From Script magazine, this interview with Life As We Know It screenwriters Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson. Some excerpts: IAN DEITCHMAN: “So who do we leave the baby to when we both die in a plane crash?” It’s the question all new, neurotic, soon-to-be parents ask.

Daily Dialogue — October 9, 2010

Chapman: Trouble at mill. Cleveland: Oh no — what kind of trouble? Chapman: One on’t cross beams gone owt askew on treadle. Cleveland: Pardon? Chapman: One on’t cross beams gone owt askew on treadle. Cleveland: I don’t understand what you’re saying. Chapman: [slightly irritatedly and with exaggeratedly

“Found in Translation” (Part 5)

There is a fascinating opinion piece in this Sunday’s NY Times from novelist Michael Cunningham, author of “The Hours” and a new book “By Nightfall.” Cunningham’s article is so thought-provoking that I decided to break it up into five parts so we could discuss it this week.

Spec Script Sale: “Take My Wife”

Per Deadline and confirmed by DoneDealPro, Lionsgate nabs comedy spec “Take My Wife” from writers Greg Coolidge & Kirk Ward with Tyler Perry and Dwayne Johnson attached: Perry will play a recently divorced man who realizes the only way to get out of paying alimony to his ex is to

“Script Has Been Floating Around Hollywood For 75 Years”

From The Onion, a report on a script project that: “Has Had More Than 250 Stars And 300 Directors Attached, Been Rewritten 600 Times”: BURBANK, CA — According to Hollywood sources, Warner Bros. Entertainment officially acquired the rights this week to the long- unproduced film project entitled The Final Symphony, which

Writing Mantra: “Go into the story and find the animals”

Two weeks ago I posted this about one of my favorite writing mantras “Trust the process.” I received a number of emails and comments asking if I had other ones. The answer is yes, I do. Some of them practical, some of them ‘spiritual.’ Last week I posted five mantras:

Great Characters: Jeffrey Lebowski — The Dude (“The Big Lebowski”)

In the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski (written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen), the Protagonist character is Jeff Lebowski aka “The Dude.” Here is how he is introduced in the script: INTERIOR RALPH'SIt is late, the supermarket all but deserted. We are tracking in on

Daily Dialogue — October 8, 2010

Colonel (Graham Chapman): get some discipline into those chaps, Sergeant Major! Sargeant (John Cleese, shouting throughout): Right sir! Good evening, class. All (mumbling): Good evening. Sargeant: Where’s all the others, then? All: They’re not here. Sgt.: I can see that. What’s the matter with them? All: Dunno.

Update: Ghostbusters 3

I originally posted on the possibility of Ghostbusters 3 here in May, 2009. Now this from Moviefone.com: Out promoting his Crystal Head Vodka via his traveling RV (don’t ask), Dan Aykroyd updated Vanity Fair on where the long-in-development ‘Ghostbusters 3’ is at this point in time.

“Found in Translation” (Part 4)

There is a fascinating opinion piece in this Sunday’s NY Times from novelist Michael Cunningham, author of “The Hours” and a new book “By Nightfall.” Cunningham’s article is so thought-provoking that I decided to break it up into five parts so we could discuss it this week.

Spec Script Sale: “Ten”

Per Deadline: Days after he scored a seven-figure deal from Universal for Snow White and the Huntsmen, producer Joe Roth is in the center of another auction. In a competitive situation, QED and financier/producer Norton Herrick have committed to fund Ten, a drama that will begin shooting in

Writing Mantra: “Writing equals butt on chair”

Or does it really? Writing equals butt on chair. I’ve seen this one attributed to Oliver Stone. A more poetic version: Writing equals derriere on chair. Fundamentally I agree with it. Then again, I don’t. Yes, at its core, the act of writing requires that we move our