Go Into The Story

Acting Lessons: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Since the focus of this blog is on screenwriting, naturally most of the interviews and articles I’ve posted thus far have been with screenwriters. But that’s really only part of the learning process. Movies are a ‘collaborative’ effort and from a screenwriter’s standpoint, the primary other players

On writing

“There are only two kinds of stories. One where someone goes on a journey. The other where a stranger comes to town.” — Anonymous Comment Archive

R.I.P: VHS

The LA Times covers the ‘death’ of VHS in this article. Seems like only last week that luminaries like Steven Spielberg were predicting that “home video” would lead to the demise of the movie business: “It was a sea change,” says Leonard Maltin, the film critic and author who has

On writing

“There are only two kinds of stories. One where someone goes on a journey. The other where a stranger comes to town.” — Anonymous Comment Archive

R.I.P.: Director Robert Mulligan

This sad news from Hollywood Reporter: Robert Mulligan, who directed “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Summer of ‘42,” among other films, died Friday of heart disease at his Connecticut home. He was 83. Known for his diffident nature and sensitivity toward players, Mulligan directed five different actors in Oscar-nominated

R.I.P.: Director Robert Mulligan

This sad news from Hollywood Reporter: Robert Mulligan, who directed “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Summer of ‘42,” among other films, died Friday of heart disease at his Connecticut home. He was 83. Known for his diffident nature and sensitivity toward players, Mulligan directed five different actors in Oscar-nominated

More thoughts on “hopeful” movies

Fresh on the heels of here about “hopeful” films, more fodder for discussion as NY Times film critic A.O. Scott provides this essay in today’s Week In Review: “Reality Can Be Escapist, Too.” In it, Scott talks about three “old” movies — It’s a Wonderful Life, Grapes of

Writing Question: Do you enjoy doing research?

Do you enjoy doing research in the prep-writing phase of your story-writing process? If so, what part do you especially enjoy? Hate?  I love doing research, immersing myself in my story’s subject matter. For example, I wrote a script Tully’s War which was set during the

More thoughts on “hopeful” movies

Fresh on the heels of here about “hopeful” films, more fodder for discussion as NY Times film critic A.O. Scott provides this essay in today’s Week In Review: “Reality Can Be Escapist, Too.” In it, Scott talks about three “old” movies — It’s a Wonderful Life, Grapes of

“Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life”

Every year, some Ebenezer Scrooge type comes along to diss the holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). In the New York Times the other day, there was this article which from the title looked to be this year’s Grinch wannabe: “Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful,

“Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life”

Every year, some Ebenezer Scrooge type comes along to diss the holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). In the New York Times the other day, there was this article which from the title looked to be this year’s Grinch wannabe: “Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful,

Video interview: Simon Beaufoy

The movie Slumdog Millionaire is just now going wide in its theatrical release and it’s one of the handful of must-see films on my list. Its screenwriter is Simon Beaufoy who has numerous writing credits including The Full Monty (1997). In November, this article on Beaufoy came out

Video interview: Simon Beaufoy

The movie Slumdog Millionaire is just now going wide in its theatrical release and it’s one of the handful of must-see films on my list. Its screenwriter is Simon Beaufoy who has numerous writing credits including The Full Monty (1997). In November, this article on Beaufoy came out

Zeigeist: Hopeful movies?

Whether it’s a trend in movies, a trend with movie critics, or perhaps both, there is something in the air just now about “hopeful movies.” It all started on December 4th in the LA Times with this article called “Its’ nervous-making time at Sundance” which include some choice

Friday movie reviews

Seven Pounds (Sony) Daily Variety (Todd McCarthy) Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt) Los Angeles Times (Jan Stuart) New York Times (A.O. Scott) The Tale of Despereaux (Universal) Daily Variety (Justin Chang) Los Angeles Times (Sheri Linden) New York Times (Manohla Dargis) Yes Man (Warner Bros.) Daily Variety (Brian Lowry) Los

Zeigeist: Hopeful movies?

Whether it’s a trend in movies, a trend with movie critics, or perhaps both, there is something in the air just now about “hopeful movies.” It all started on December 4th in the LA Times with this article called “Its’ nervous-making time at Sundance” which include some choice

Great Scene: “Witness”

Oscar-winning project has been called a B-movie with an A-movie treatment. IMDb plot summary: A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him. If I asked you to name the most memorable scene in

Friday movie reviews

Seven Pounds (Sony) Daily Variety (Todd McCarthy) Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt) Los Angeles Times (Jan Stuart) New York Times (A.O. Scott) The Tale of Despereaux (Universal) Daily Variety (Justin Chang) Los Angeles Times (Sheri Linden) New York Times (Manohla Dargis) Yes Man (Warner Bros.) Daily Variety (Brian Lowry) Los

Great Scene: “Witness”

If I asked you to name the most memorable scene in Witness (1985), it would probably be this one: Where young Samuel witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station bathroom. It is an incident that unbeknownst to the story’s Protagonist John Book (Harrison Ford) will become his Call

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Read your dialogue aloud

This is truly one of the easiest things you can do to improve your dialogue writing: When you finish a draft of your script, read aloud each character’s dialogue, all of their sides back to back to back. Things to check for: * Does each line work? Does it sound

Black List script gets set up

Call it The Black List Effect as MGM procures “The How-to Guide for Saving the World” from writer BenDavid Grabinski with Barry Sonnenfeld attached to direct: Story’s centered on an instruction manual for saving the world left behind by a secret group that protects the Earth from alien

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Read your dialogue aloud

This is truly one of the easiest things you can do to improve your dialogue writing: When you finish a draft of your script, read aloud each character’s dialogue, all of their sides back to back to back. Things to check for: * Does each line work? Does it sound

Pitch sale: “The Family Hitchcock”

New Regency wins a bidding war to nab family comedy pitch “The Family Hitchcock” from writers Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett: The Fox-based production and financing outfit came out on top of a bidding war that involved five studios, paying low- to mid-seven figures for the family adventure.

Bitter Truth #32

“The moment you finish packing, zip up your luggage, and snap it shut — you will think of something essential you forgot to pack, and be forced to open your luggage, mess up everything inside, and re-pack once more.”  © 2008 Kurt Brown & Scott Myers

Black List script gets set up

Call it The Black List Effect as MGM procures “The How-to Guide for Saving the World” from writer BenDavid Grabinski with Barry Sonnenfeld attached to direct: Story’s centered on an instruction manual for saving the world left behind by a secret group that protects the Earth from alien