“Official Best of Fest” Was contacted by this outfit: Official Best of Fest which just launched: SEATTLE, WA — November 30, 2009 — OFFICIAL BEST OF FEST, an international posse of film curators, who through their collective film festivals and contacts manage to see the majority of the 25,000 films made every year, have launched
People ask me questions… …most of them about screenwriting, which I handle through the bi-weekly Open Forum posts. But I also get emails from folks wondering about why I do what I do with this site and even how I do what I do. So in the interest of clearing the air, here
Hollywood Tales “I’ve always written for my own edification and for fun but I have this fear of rejection so I spent my entire life being a writer who didn’t get published. For that reason, I’ve never received a rejection letter in my life because that terror would just
Daily Dialogue — December 8, 2009 “This is from Matilda.” Léon (Jean Reno), Léon (1994), written & directed by Luc Besson Comment Archive
Scene Description Spotlight: “Star Trek” (2009) One key aspect about scene description is something I call narrative voice. It is the invisible character in your script — the mindset, personality, and ‘voice’ of the character who conveys the story, primarily through scene description, but also in transitions choices, pace, scene cross-cuts, etc. Narrative voice is heavily
“The Art of the Idea” From Fast Company, I got this in my emailbox today: The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life is a collection of Hunt’s insights, along with illustrations by South African painter Sam Nhelengethwa, meant to encourage original thinking that will break you out of the
A.O. Scott: “Show Them the Money” A.O. Scott in yesterday’s NT Times with a fantastic analysis, comparing Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), the Protagonist in the new movie Up in the Air, to Jerry Maguire (Jerry Maguire) and even George Bailey (It’s s Wonderful Life): Up in the air you may meet Ryan Bingham,
Daily Dialogue — December 7, 2009 “Long live the King.” — Scar (Jeremy Irons) to Mufasa (James Earl Jones) before letting Mufasa plunge to his death in The Lion King (1994), screenplay by Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton Comment Archive
“A world of hits” This article in the Economist echoes much of what we’ve been kicking around here for months: NOVEMBER 20th saw the return of an old phenomenon: the sold-out cinema. “New Moon”, a tale of vampires, werewolves and the women who love them, earned more in a single day at
Life on the Bubble: Spec Market Roundup — November 2009 The most recent round-up from Jason Scoggins at LifeOnTheBubble.com: Here’s the cliché you knew was coming: Not with a bang but a whimper. As usual, the 2009 Spec Market effectively ended as of the week of Thanksgiving. (There will be a few intrepid souls who take scripts
Weekend B.O.: “‘Blind Side’ tops box office as four new movies disappoint, ‘Up in the Air’ soars” From the LA Times: A relatively modest post-holiday drop put box-office phenom “The Blind Side” at №1 on its third weekend in theaters. Meanwhile, four new movies in wide release opened to less than $10 million each, meaning that despite their modest budgets, all will probably struggle to
Video interview: Darren Aronofsky Today’s video interview, hosted by the most excellent site MakingOf.com, is with screenwriter-director Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky’s writing credits include Supermarket Sweep (1991), Protozoa (1993), Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Below (2002), The Fountain (2006), and the upcoming Black Swan (2010). He directed all of
Daily Dialogue — December 6, 2009 “I would have followed you my brother … my Captain … my King.” — Boromir (Sean Bean), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), screenplay by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien Comment Archive
Reader Question: What about writing a spec script for an animated movie? Got this email from Russell: I know that studios such as Pixar make their movies in-house, but are there any animation studios that you know of that accept spec scripts for animated features? If I have a good idea for an animated movie, is it worth writing the screenplay
Thanks, Tom Hanks! No “Harvey” remake! Remember this: Steven Spielberg, the world’s most successful living filmmaker, recently announced that he’s doing a remake of “Harvey,” the 1950 Jimmy Stewart comedy, with that project bumping aside, for the time being, Spielberg’s involvement as a director in a remake of “Matt Helm,” the 1970s TV
Noncompetitive Sundance lineup announced The rest of the Sundance Film Festival slate announced: All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted. “Abel” (Mexico-U.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over
Interview: Josh Dobkin DoneDealPro.com has a couple of new interviews. This one is with screenwriter Josh Dobkin: Josh Dobkin was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, but grew up in Pittsburgh. He graduated from the film school Full Sail in Orlando. A month after graduation he moved to Los Angeles and started working
Looking for some killer dialogue Jeff suggested this Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Since we did “Dying Words” this past week, perhaps the flip side… KILLING words! Y’know, that slick tongued, seemingly over-rehearsed phrase that a bad (or good) guy will deliver just before pulling the trigger or thrusting the dagger or
Question: What role does formal education have toward working as a screenwriter? Reader Question: What role does formal education have toward working as a screenwriter? How important is college or film school for a writer trying to break into Hollywood? Question from itstartedwithawindmill: Hey Scott, I’m hoping you come back to this post to review the questions, because I’ve got
Update: Rookie scribe’s movie “Brooklyn’s Finest” Back in August 2008, I posted this fantastic story about Michael C. Martin, a complete Hwood outsider who wrote a spec screenplay and the rest, as they say, is history: In 2005 a car accident left him injured and his 1991 Lincoln Mark VII totaled. While he would need three
What would you do if you won $67M in the lottery? You’d become a movie producer, right? That’s what Cynthia Stafford from Hawthorne, CA has done as reported in this story from The Wrap: While Hollywood goes chasing to Abu Dhabi and Mumbai for ever-scarcer funds to finance its movies, the industry might do better just heading to
Great Scene: “To Kill a Mockingbird” I’ve been going through my various Lists and was shocked to discover that in Great Scenes, I currently do not have anything from one of my favorite movie of all time To Kill a Mockingbird. I determined there and then to do something about it — now! The problem is
Daily Dialogue — December 4, 2009 “James, earn this… earn it. — Captain James H. Miller (Tom Hanks), Saving Private Ryan (1998), written by Robert Rodat Comment Archive
2010 Sundance Festival slate revealed Per FirstShowing.net: U.S. Documentary Competition: This year’s 16 films were selected from 862 submissions. Each film is a world premiere. Bhutto (Directors: Jessica Hernandez and Johnny O’Hara; Screenwriter: Johnny O’Hara) — A riveting journey through the life and work of recently assassinated Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani
