Daily Dialogue — January 7, 2010 “No, you don’t have to do that when you’re living in the jungle. You just take her outside and show her what tree you’re going to do it under tonight. Hell, we had lots of trees.” — Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges), Against All Odds (1984), screenplay by Daniel
“Why the WGA snubbed ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘A Single Man’” Patrick Goldstein weighs in on a seeming controversy: Since “Inglourious’ “ Quentin Tarantino isn’t a member of the WGA and his film wasn’t made under the guild’s minimum basic agreement, his film isn’t eligible. Likewise with “A Single Man,” which was written by Tom Ford, who is
Question: How to manage writing vs networking time? Open Forum question from E.C. Henry: Time management question this time Scott. Thinking in terms of a pre-pro writer who does feature movies, how much time should such a feller invest in actual script writing vs marketing his or her wares? How much time should such said writer
Movies You Made: “The Face of the Earth” written and directed by William Speruzzi In response to this thread, William Speruzzi wrote: I wrote and directed (produced and co-edited too but who wants to be a credit hog?) a gritty, dark neo-noir titled The Face of the Earth. It can be seen here on Vimeo. Here are my IMDb credits too. I
Screenwriting 101: Dana Stevens “The truth of the matter is, I couldn’t solve my [writer’s] block with location. Or silence or self-flagellation. I could only let myself off the hook. My block was about my own ego as much as anything. I had become my worst critic: a one-woman, pissed-
Daily Dialogue — January 6, 2010 “Look, Chalmers, let’s understand each other… I don’t like you.” — Bullitt (Steve McQueen), Bullitt (1968), screenplay by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on a novel by Robert L. Fish Comment Archive
Question: How to develop a web series? An Open Forum question from L. F.: I’ve written a web comedy short (shooting tomorrow!) that I’m working on expanding into a series. I’m approaching it in terms of themes I want to explore and I have a decent idea of where I want to take it.
Movies You Made: “Beep” written by Matthew O’Brien Another respondent to Introduce Yourself was Matthew O’Brien: My name’s Matthew O’Brien. Currently living in Los Angeles. Moved here just over a year ago after I completed my MFA in Writing for the Stage & Screen at Florida State University. Earned my BFA in Acting from the
The upcoming “Robin Hood”: Another post-modern treatment? If you’ve seen Sherlock Holmes, currently in release — I did and quite enjoyed it — you no doubt noticed that this Holmes, played with flair by Robert Downey, Jr., is far different than any previous iteration, as a colleague suggested, “a sort of post-modern Sherlock Holmes.” I think I
Writing Mantras: A List Got this email from GITS reader Nicholas Smith: I just compiled a list of mantras and posted them on the Done Deal Pro forum. Thought you might be interested in it. Link to my original: http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/showthread.php?t=52464 Most of these are mantras I
Hollywood Tales “I had written a blurb for my friend Roger Kahn’s book about Jews in America, The Passionate People, which the publishers, William Morrow, apparently liked so much they asked me to do one or a new book they were publishing called MASH [by Richard Hooker]… I saw a way
Daily Dialogue — January 5, 2010 “This is Mr. Jessup, whose name isn’t really Jessup, wo says he’s from Palm Springs but doesn’t have a tan. You’re not wired, are you?” — Eric ‘Rick’ Masters (William Dafoe), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), screenplay by William Friedkin & Gerald Petievich, based
Reader Question: How do you know when you’re really done with a script? GITS reader willxmnm just found and read A Script Reader Speaks, a 6-part Q&A I did with D.C. Mar, friend, writer, and long-time script reader / story analyst. This led to a question from willxmnm I’m sure all of us can relate to: Scott, I
Is there value in watching and analyzing older movies? GF made a comment in this Audio Interview post with screenwriter Leigh Brackett. I thought GF’s ruminations were worthy of promoting to the front page: Saving this for a listen this evening, but thanks for turning up an unexpected treat on one of my favourite screenwriters. Does anyone on
Movies You Made: “The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah” and “Endings” written & directed by Chris Hansen I posted Introduce Yourself the other day and lots of people did — including several folks who had been involved in the writing, producing, acting, and/or directing of an independent short or full-length feature film. Here’s a good example: I’m Chris Hansen, a writer in Texas. I’
On Writing And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath
“Avatar” — $1B B.O. worldwide Remember when I said this on 12/20/09: With a reported $300M budget, Avatar will have to do well above $500M in B.O. to be considered a success — but I’m thinking it will walk to that mark, probably hit $700M and maybe $1B. Well, that didn’t
Stuck in outline mode? In comments here, responding to the writing mantra, ‘Trust the process,’ Eve Montana showed a lot of courage in acknowledging this: My problem is that I’m always stuck in outline mode. I never get to the writing stage because I don’t want to repeat the mistake of winging
The Scriptwriters Network In comments a few days ago, Susan mentioned that she is the managing editor of The Scritpwriters Network. And what is The Scriptwriters Network? Writers helping writers since 1986! Whether you are a filmmaker, a screenwriter, a television script writer or involved in screenwriting for non-traditional media, we help
Video Interview: Frank Pierson Here’s an excellent video session with writer-director Frank Pierson. His credits include Cat Ballou (1965), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), A Star Is Born (1976), King of the Gypsies (1978), In Country (1989), and Presumed Innocent (1990). The interview is hosted by the fantastic video
Daily Dialogue — January 3, 2009 “And the first time I ask you to do something for me, like rob one little train!” — Catherine ‘Cat’ Ballou (Jane Fonda), Cat Ballou (1965), screenplay by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson, based on a novel by Roy Chanslor Comment Archive
“Cinema’s Top Human Villains” From hh1edits (who I found out lives in the U.K.): Man’s Heart of Darkness: A montage of the best villains to grace the silver screen, displaying the human condition at its worst. No Darth Vader, T2000, Predator or Freddy Kruger to be found here, just 44 of the
Audio Interview: Leigh Brackett Normally on Saturdays, we have a written interview, but today we kick off the new year with a special treat: An audio interview with veteran screenwriter Leigh Brackett. Brackett, who died in 1978, has numerous writing credits including The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), Hatari! (1962), El Dorado (1966)
Writing Mantra: “Trust the Process” Over the years, I’ve accumulated a bunch of what I call ‘writing mantras.’ Aphorisms, quotes, things I’ve come up with, things I’ve read, things people have told me. And so this year, I’ll be posting on a semi-regular basis my favorite writing mantras. To kick
Analysis: “When Harry Met Sally” I selected When Harry Met Sally to be the Daily Dialogue yesterday because the ending scene is perhaps the best New Year’s Eve scenes in movie history. And in the comments, Steve Axelrod provided a great analysis which I thought deserved to be posted here: The most interesting part
