Go Into The Story

“Austin couple pour passion into ‘Welles’ project”

Realistically the odds of succeeding in becoming a screenwriter are steep. I probably don’t have to remind you of that. But since it all too easy to fall into a ‘negative’ mindset — “I’ll never make it… What’s the point… Why keep trying” — what I do have to

“The Worst Movies Of The Past Decade”

From Huffington Post: The past ten years have brought us such cinematic disasters as ‘Glitter’ and ‘Battlefield Earth,’ so there were plenty of bad movies to choose from. But which is the worst of the worst? Their list: Daddy Day Camp (2007)  Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

Daily Dialogue — December 13, 2009

“‘Deserve’s’ got nothin’ to do with it.”  — William ‘Bill’ Munny (Clint Eastwood), Unforgiven (1992), written by David Webb Peoples Comment Archive

“Paramount to produce more micro-budget films”

With the astounding success of Paranormal Activity, why the hell not: Seeking to replicate the stunning success of “Paranormal Activity,” Paramount’s launching an initiative that will spend $1 million annually to develop and produce microbudget films. Move, unveiled Thursday, is designed to place between 10 and 20 projects in

“Did You Know?”

I’m sure many of you have seen this video, but even if you have, it’s worth a second look: What does all this mean… about movies… screenwriting… entertainment? Thanks to my teaching colleague Steven Neigher for sending me the link and reminding me about this mind-blowing video.

Avatar & merchandising tie-ins

As a reminder how important merchandising is nowadays to movie projects, check out this list of tie-ins to Avatar per Cynopsis Kids: Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing) unveils its merchandising campaign to support the release of James Cameron’s Avatar (PG-13), which opens wide December

Interview: Peter Jackson

H/T to Kevin Wild for sending me this link from the blog Micropsia — an interview with writer-director Peter Jackson. Jackson, whose latest movie The Lovely Bones debuts this weekend, agreed to take questions from blog readers. Here’s one Q&A: KYLE ST-AMOUR-BRENNAN asks: What

Scene Description Spotlight — The Dark Knight (2008)

Monday we looked at an excerpt from the Orci & Kurtzman screenplay for Star Trek, focusing on how the scene description reflected the fact that it is an action / sci-fi movie. Tuesday we checked out a scene from the Lucas & Moore screenplay The Hangover, tracking how the writers

Pitch sale: “Wife vs. Ninja”

Dreamworks buys comedy pitch “Wife vs. Ninja”: Company has nabbed Michael Besman’s pitch “Wife vs. Ninja,” which centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work. Besman, who

“Hollywood eyes record $10B box office for 2009”

Remember all the times we pissed and moaned about the state of movies this year? Well, lookee here: Film box offices were poised on Wednesday to eclipse 2007’s record $9.68 billion in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales with Hollywood eyeing more than $10 billion this year as

Great Scene: “(500) Days of Summer”

When an original screenplay starts out like this: Title page: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, First Draft 2006 Next page: NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A WORK OF FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. Next page: ESPECIALLY YOU JENNY BECKMAN.

Daily Dialogue — December 11, 2009

“I want the last face you see in this world to be the face of love, so you look at me when they do this thing. I’ll be the face of love for you.”  — Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), Dead Man Walking (1995), written and directed by Tim Robbins

Just out: THR review of Avatar

From THR: Bottom Line: A titanic entertainment — movie magic is back! A dozen years later, James Cameron has proven his point: He is king of the world. As commander-in-chief of an army of visual-effects technicians, creature designers, motion-capture mavens, stunt performers, dancers, actors and music and

Scene Description Spotlight: Wall-E

Since Monday, we’ve considered scene description in three different scripts and their respective ‘narrative voice’: Monday we looked at an excerpt from the Orci & Kurtzman screenplay for Star Trek, focusing on how the scene description reflected the fact that it is an action / sci-fi movie. Tuesday we

“Scripts pry open hidden worlds”

A recent piece in Variety: Some screenplays make an impression by finding drama — or comedy, for that matter — in the everyday, or at least something that looks like it. “Ordinary People” and “Kramer vs. Kramer” won Oscars portraying fairly familiar American middle class lives. But other scripts invite the audience

“Visual Grammar” vs. “Visual Storytelling”

The Bitter Script Reader had an interesting post recently here recently, discussing some new screenwriting lingo “visual grammar”: I think calling it “visual grammar” when discussing a writing technique is needlessly confusing because it made me think of the purple prose that screenwriters use when trying to be overly descriptive.

“Tales from the Script”

This looks nice: First Run Features has acquired North American theatrical rights to Peter Hanson and Paul Robert Herman’s “Tales From the Script.” The documentary will open in a limited run March 12 ahead of its April 20 DVD release. Containing interviews with Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”

Scene Description Spotlight: “Inglourious Basterds”

Today let’s consider the narrative voice of a drama: Inglourious Basterds, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. This excerpt comes at the end of the opening sequence where German Colonel Landa has calmly and coolly scared the crap out of French farmer Perrier, who as the pair have been

More from “Screenwriting Tips… You Hack”

More tips from STYH: Screenwriting Tip #166 ‘EXT. DESSERT — DAY’ Yeah, that’s not good. Screenwriting Tip #165 When you write ‘All hell breaks loose’, what you’re actually saying is ‘I couldn’t be bothered to write real action lines here’. Screenwriting Tip #160 No need to put (beat)

“10 Actors Who Found Success as Screenwriters”

Movieline with this feature spotlighting 10 actors who have successfully tried their hand at writing: If you’re an actor who’s frustrated with what Hollywood gives you, there’s always one good backup plan: Write your own stuff! Lately, more and more actors have begun writing scripts on the

Screenwriting 101 — Alvin Sargent

“You must write everyday. Free yourself. Free association. An hour alone a day. Blind writing. Write in the dark. Don’t think about what it is you’re writing. Just put a piece of paper in the typewriter, take your clothes off and go! No destination… pay it no attention…

Daily Dialogue — December 9, 2009

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s

Scene Description Spotlight: “The Hangover” (2009)

Yesterday we looked at an excerpt from the Orci & Kurtzman screenplay for Star Trek, focusing on how the scene description reflected the fact that it is an action / sci-fi movie. Today we check out The Hangover, the screenplay written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore. I pimped this

“‘Transylmania’ Sucks: The Worst Movie Opening Ever”

From The Wrap: Not everything with vampires has bite. “New Moon” may have taken in $142.8 million its first weekend in release, but R-rated indie horror spoof “Transylmania” gained the distinction of having the worst domestic premiere in history, for movies debuting in more than 1,000 theaters.

Pitch Sale: “Vengeance”

CBS Films picks up action pitch “Vengeance from writer Robert Mark Kamen: “Basically, it’s a contemporary revenge love story — what happens when violence meets love,” Kamen said. “The main characters are 20 and Italian, and there are themes that echo films like ‘The Godfather.’ It’s about family loyalty