Robert McKee interiew: Part 2 Interesting 7-part interview between a young entrepreneur Sramrana Mitra and screenwriting guru Robert McKee. The questions have a business slant to them and yet McKee always pulls through them the commerce side of things and back to his central focus: Story. Here is an excerpt from Part 2: SM:
“The Definitive List of Cliched Dialogue” Writer Kevin Lehane, whose script “Grabbers” made the most recent Brit List, the UK equivalent of The Black List, has a blog called The Anthology of Codology. I was bumping around it the other day and hit this post: “The Definitive List of Cliched Dialogue”. The first 10: 1. I
Hollywood Tales “Writers are the weak link in filmmaking right now. The scripts that sell for the most money usually have titles like Hell-bent and Back, Texas Lead and Gold, The Rest of Daniel. They’re high-concept and half-baked. I don’t hear writers say anymore, ‘I love this
Robert McKee interview: Part 1 Interesting 7-part interview between a young entrepreneur Sramrana Mitra and screenwriting guru Robert McKee. The questions have a business slant to them and yet McKee always pulls through them the commerce side of things and back to his central focus: Story. Here is an excerpt from Part 1: SM:
Pitch Sale: “Untitled Winsberg & Corson animation project” From Daily Variety: Warner Bros. is in final negotiations to snag an untitled animated pitch centered on a peacock from the team of Austin Winsberg and Heath Corson and set it up at Underground Film & Television, with partners Trevor Engelson and Nicholas Osborne producing. “Centered on a peacock?” Shouldn’
On writing “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough,
Question: Where to learn more about specific narrative devices? Another open forum question — from Jack: I’ve read a lot of screenwriting books and very few mention anything about narrative devices beyond foreshadowing and dramatic irony… can you suggest any resources that go into more depth on the subject? You’ve hit on something where there is a weakness
“‘Saw VI’ is slashed by ‘Paranormal’ while ‘Cirque du Freak,’ ‘Astro Boy,’ ‘Amelia’ flop” Via First Look at the LA Times: It was a gory weekend at the box office for pretty much every movie except “Paranormal Activity.” Paramount Pictures’ ultra-low-budget horror film more than doubled its nationwide theater count to 1,945 theaters and continues its winning ways, selling a studio-
Question: Can I deduct writing expenses on taxes? Another open forum question — from kgmadman: The IRS requires income to justify business expenses as a deduction. Are there any ways that aspiring, unpaid writers can deduct expenses such as WGA Registration fees, Copyright costs, writing software, etc.? I’m no tax expert, but I’ll bet there’s a
“‘Paranormal’ Cuts Down ‘Saw’ at Friday B.O.” Per The Wrap: Jigsaw has finally met his match. The diabolical inventor of torture machines and techniques, who has led four successive “Saw” sequels to $30 million openings, got crushed at the domestic box office Friday by the wide-opening demons of “Paranormal Activity.” When the carnage was over, Paramount’
“12 Things That Can Hurt Your Dialogue” Laura Cross at About A Screenplay offers some thoughts on what not to do when you write dialogue: Here are 12 examples of things that can hurt your dialogue (thanks to a class I attended presented by Mr. Karl Iglesias) The twelve are: 1. Dialogue That Contains Too Much Exposition
Interview: Elaine May & Mike Nichols This is a gem. On February 26, 2006, Elaine May and Mike Nichols sat down with an audience at New York’s Walter Read Theater to screen the movie Ishtar (1987), then follow up with a free-wheeling hour-long conversation between May and Nichols. The transcript of that Q&
Daily dialogue — October 24, 2009 “[singing] Telling the truth can be dangerous business; / Honest and popular don’t go hand in hand. / If you admit that you play the accordion, / No one will hire you in a rock ’n’ roll band. / But we can sing out hearts out. / And if we’re lucky, then no
Question: What’s the deal with character archetypes? A reader question from Lalithra Fernando: I notice you using words like ATTRACTOR and NEMESIS when describing characters. Where is this from? I would like to read/ learn more about this. For several years, I have been working on a theory that most mainstream movies have five character archetypes present
Hollywood Breakthrough: Marshall Herskovitz The Wrap has a feature called “Hollywood Breakthrough,” where people who work in the entertainment industry describe how they got their big break. At present, there are five featured screenwriters, perfect for a five-part series, one per day this week. Today’s featured writer is Marshall Herskovitz. His credits
Pitch Sale: “Wicked” Dreamworks drops mid-six figures on writers Aaron and Matthew Benay (they’re brothers) for their pitch “Wicked”, based on a five-book series written by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie: Described by one person involved with the project as “‘Twilight’ meets ‘Wanted’ with witchcraft,” the young-adult “Wicked” novels
Pitch sale: “Untitled Neill Blomkamp Project” The same outfit that helped fund District 9 has stepped up to back “Untitled Neill Blomkamp sci-fi project”: “MRC is letting me make the film I want to make, and that is by far the most important thing here,” Blomkamp told Daily Variety. “The film will hopefully be commercial,
Script To Screen: “Heat” The face-to-face diner scene confrontation between Neil (Robert De Niro) and Hanna (Al Pacino). The 1995 movie Heat, written and directed by Michael Mann, is super entertainment. Here’s an IMDB plot summary: Hunters and their prey — Neil and his professional criminal crew hunt to score big money
Rick Duffield on “Wishbone” This is just wonderful. One of my best friends and colleagues Rick Duffield does a Q&A with New Yorker magazine about the Peabody Award winning TV series Rick created called “Wishbone”: October 22, 2009 The Exchange: Rick Duffield The Book Bench’s Critterati contest (submit your photos by
Question: What are the most useful screenwriting books? Another open forum question — from Jill Sim: What would you consider to be your favorite, most useful, books on Screenwriting and Story? Jill, you might want to check out two posts — here and here — as both have numerous suggestions from GITS readers. As to me? For starters, books directly about
“Quartet’s Web idea now an ABC project” This is pretty much how you used to break into writing for TV: * You’d move to LA. * You’d write a spec script of a current popular TV show. * You’d send that spec script to anyone and everyone you knew who was even tangentially involved in the entertainment
Hollywood Breakthrough: J. Michael Straczynski The Wrap has a feature called “Hollywood Breakthrough,” where people who work in the entertainment industry describe how they got their big break. At present, there are five featured screenwriters, perfect for a five-part series, one per day this week. Today’s featured writer is J. Michael Straczynski. His
Know your ending! So yesterday the Daily Variety announces this: Hong Kong action hero Chow Yun-fat is set to follow up his role as the ancient philosopher Confucius with a part in Chinese helmer Jiang Wen’s $18 million period Western laffer “Let the Bullets Fly.” Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures
“For Akiva Goldsman, a beautiful turnaround” A nifty LA Times feature on Sunday re screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. Here’s an excerpt: Akiva Goldsman arrived at the door of producer Brian Grazer in 1998 with one purpose. “I went there,” the screenwriter says, “to beg.” Goldsman, who had enjoyed a steady ascension in Hollywood for years, was
Daily dialogue — October 22, 2009 “Pity for this tyrant? Is there anything she wants she doesn’t get? I’ll tell you what I pity… that the sun won’t rise and set for her all her life, and every day you’re telling her it will. What you and your pity do will destroy
