Go Into The Story

Spec Script Deal: “Assisted Living”

Paramount Pictures acquires comedy spec script “Assisted Living” written by Kay Oyegun. From Deadline:

Daily Dialogue — March 10, 2019

“This is a robbery.”

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 9

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 382nd installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Hollywood Insiders

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,950 consecutive days and counting.

Script Analysis: “Roma” — Part 6: Takeaway

Read the Oscar-nominated screenplay and analyze it this week.

Daily Dialogue — March 9, 2019

Mickey: Don’t you wanna hear my last words? Joe: I just did.

Let me add this line to yours, Roo, as I think it provides an interest context to the dialogue you…

“We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone.”

Roo, I think you’ve hit on a big theme re the male v.

You mention dogs. Yes, lots and lots of dogs. But what about water? It’s one of the very first images in the movie (Cleo mopping the…

Roo, your take demonstrates the organic nature of characters and how archetypes can flex with them.

One thing is for sure: The male characters come off quite badly in this film, even the older brothers are a pair of Tricksters. As you…

Interesting analysis on the characters in Roma.

I concur that we best understand the story Cleo and Sofía as Protagonists. Clearly, Cleo is P1 so we may think of Sofía as P2. As noted…

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 8

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Script Analysis: “Roma” — Part 5: Dialogue

Read the Oscar-nominated screenplay and analyze it this week.

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Continuity (Part 2)

“Confusion as to the characters is ruinous. Don’t get your audience interested in minor characters at the start. Keep your important…

Writing and the Creative Life: “Come to the edge”

Going beyond the edge of the Old World into the New World can be a terrifying experience, but a necessary one for the transformation…

Daily Dialogue — March 8, 2019

“The combination is 3, 10, 44.”

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 7

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Script Analysis: “Roma” — Part 4: Themes

Read the Oscar-nominated screenplay and analyze it this week.

The Essence of Character Driven Storytelling

“While spending a lot of time inside the story universe with the characters is critical, it’s also important to step outside and assess…

The Business of Screenwriting: There is always another way

Between writing assignments, I wrote a spec script. It’s a contained thriller called “Legacy,” about a child psychiatrist who ends up on a…

Daily Dialogue — March 7, 2019

“What’s in there is ours. It belongs to us. They got our money. Our hard earned paper. They snuck in last night when we was asleep, took…

Rose and Cameron, you’ve both done some excellent analysis of the plot in Roma.

Cameron, I’m also drawn to your approach which is to zero in on some “key markers” as well as noting some key setups and payoffs, the…

Thanks for your comments, Cameron.

Movies like Roma are a great reminder that there is so much more we can do as screenwriters than follow some cookie cutter approach to…

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 6

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Script Analysis: “Roma” — Part 3: Characters

Read the Oscar-nominated screenplay and analyze it this week.