Go Into The Story

Hollywood Tales

“You cannot take entertainment only for the monetary point of view. The movies, from its very first beginning turned into a business, sausage factory and the writer and director who is also a pretty smart fellow — were both shoved out of the picture and the man with the money, the

Daily Dialogue — July 20, 2010

“When a woman who has much to say says nothing, her silence can be deafening.”  — King Mongfut (Yun-Fat Chow), Anna and the King (1999), screenplay by Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes, based on diaries by Anna Leonowens The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is kings, queens, princes, and

Reader Question: How to approach writing a villain Protagonist?

How to write a hero when they are an anti-hero. A question from Ryan Covert: How about a Schrader-esque analysis/discussion on how to approach the writing of an anti-hero? A villain as the story’s protagonist. Obviously this is more of an advanced screenwriting theory, as

Spec Script Sale: “Ion”

This deal is confirmed per Jason Scoggins. Fox 2000 buys sci-fi romantic epic “Ion” from writer Will Dunn. Per Deadline: You can thank “Avatar” for Hollywood’s resurgent interest in sci-fi.  Right now Fox, through its label Fox 2000, is getting ready to bet on sci-fi again

“Inception”: Your reactions?

So unless you’ve been on a walkabout in the Outback, you must know that Inception opened this weekend. It did whopping business ($60.4M) and is creating quite a bit of buzz, mostly good, some negative. Elizabeth O. sent me a note on Friday which I thought I’d

On writing

“It’s really great to get paid as a screenwriter and to do well. But I’ve never sat down at the computer because I was being paid to write, never. It’s just not enough reason to write… Something has to speak to your spirit.”  — Billy Ray

Daily Dialogue — July 19, 2010

“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to

Writing question: How do you know if you’ve written a good script?

I have a few more reader questions for this cycle, which I’ll resume answering tomorrow, but wanted to take a break today to get your feedback on a question that arose the other day: How do you know if you’ve written a good script or not? It’s

“Star Wars, Episode III: Backstroke of the West”

As a result of (A) a guy named Jeremy who (B) had some free time on his hands and © a pirated Chinese DVD of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, (D) the miracle of the “Internets,” and (E) my son Will who somehow found this site, you are now witness

Profile: Christopher Nolan (Part 3)

Coinciding with this week’s opening of Inception, here is part 3 of Trevor Hogg’s profile at FlickeringMyth.com on writer-director Christopher Nolan. An excerpt: In the Warner Bros. issued synopsis for Inception (2010), it states, “Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in

Video Interview: David Milch

Per Variety from this Wednesday: This just in from HBO: The pay cabler has given a greenlight to “Luck,” the Dustin Hoffman series from David Milch and Michael Mann. “Luck” centers on horse racing, including “the owners, gamblers, jockeys and diverse gaming industry players.” Show will begin shooting at Santa

Daily Dialogue — July 18, 2010

Bridget Gregory: You’re my designated fuck. Mike Swale: Designated fuck? Do they make cards for that? What if I want to be more than your designated fuck? Bridget Gregory: Then I’ll designate someone else.  — Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino), Mike Swale (Peter Berg), The Last Seduction (1994), written by

“Inception” explained…

…by Dora the Explorer: Comment Archive

Reader Question: What do I do when my Protagonist and the plot aren’t in sync?

A question from Robert: Hi Scott, I’ve been struggling with an issue I was hoping you may have some experience with. I essentially have a plot with “a lot of cool shit” happening along with a twist that should really surprise the reader. I also have a protag with

“19 Facts You May Not Have Known About ‘Star Wars’”

From Asylum: But this is just the beginning of your formal Star Wars education. Wait’ll you see what I have coming up for you tomorrow! Comment Archive

Written Interview: Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht was one of the most prolific screenwriters in Hollywood history, most of his work as an uncredited writer. In fact, here are just a few examples of movies he worked on for which he received no writing credit: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Stagecoach (1939), Gone with the

Daily Dialogue — July 17, 2010

“Killing isn’t like smoking. You can stop.”  — Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), Basic Instinct (1992), written by Joe Eszterhas The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is femme fatales. Trivia: So choreographed were the sex scenes that Sharon Stone referred to herself and Michael Douglas as “the horizontal Fred Astaire

Reader Question: Now that I’ve written a spec script, how do I go about trying to sell it?

A question from Courtney: Scott, This question came to mind after reading your series, “How I write a script.” I’m nearing my own Part 10. But after that…I’m completely lost. My question: What happens at Part 11? I’ve read that query letters are becoming a thing

Rob’s Finds

There’s a theme for today’s installment of “Rob’s Finds”: The Good, the Bad, and the Vampire. First the good. And at present in the film world, there is nobody ‘gooder’ than Pixar. The Guardian graces us with this article in high praise of the Prixar Priests of

Great Scene: “Schindler’s List”

There are many scenes from the 1993 film Schindler’s List that are seared into my memory, but perhaps the most haunting one involves the little girl in red. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the scene to which I’m referring. A plot summary from IMDB: Oskar

Daily Dialgoue — July 16, 2010

“It’s my wedding present to him, but the way he wears it, you’d think it was a noose around his neck.”  — Cora Smith (Lana Turner), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), screenplay by Harry Ruskin and Niven Busch, based on a novel by James M. Cain The Daily

Reader Question: What exactly is a “spec script”?

It’s actually a rather amorphous term. A question from Daley Productions: I’m quite new to this and I’m wondering, what exactly is a ‘spec’ script? “Spec script” is term that gets thrown around a lot and your question got me to thinking that perhaps there are many

“Working Hollywood: Hitting the books for ‘Inception’”

You like art? Doing research? You might want to read this LA Times article: Although Christopher Nolan’s big-budget psychological action movie “Inception” was shot in six countries, art department researcher Dominique Arcadio found much of what she needed to do her job within the aisles of the Los

Gender Bending

If I said “gender bending movies,” you’d probably think of this, films with cross-dressing characters. But for a screenwriter engaged in a daily effort to generate story ideas, gender bending takes on a whole new meaning: Take a movie genre or conceit and switch the gender of a

666!

If you’ll look over to the right sidebar of this humble little blog, you’ll notice that there are currently 665 followers. Who’s going to be the brave soul and become #666? Which of you brave souls will take the plunge to open the doorway for others to