Go Into The Story

Interview (Part 3): Justin Piasecki (2016 Nicholl Winner)

My conversation with the writer of the winning script “Death of an Ortolan”.

Wanted: Scene-By-Scene Script Breakdowns

Earn some creative juju by adding to our growing online resource.

Character Introductions: Part 8

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Script To Screen: “Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

So many great monologues in the 2014 movie Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), but this one may be the best.

Daily Dialogue — February 8, 2017

THE PATIENT: Thank you. Read to me, will you? Read me to sleep. HANA (reading Katherin’s letter): My darling, I’m waiting for you. How long…

Spec Script Deal: “/reddoor”

Sony Pictures acquires supernatural thriller spec script “/reddoor” written by Teddy Tenenbaum and Minsun Park. From Deadline:

Sarah, character archetypes can be a big help in character development and understanding the…

I’ll have to return to this series when I have more time.

Interview (Part 2): Justin Piasecki (2016 Nicholl Winner)

My conversation with the writer of the winning script “Death of an Ortolan”.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Jackie”

The entire 6 part series delving into the historical drama.

Character Introductions: Part 7

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Screenwriting 101: Taylor Sheridan

“I just wrote things I wanted to go see. Things that mattered to me. I like to wrap a socially aware film in a genre. I love playing with…

Daily Dialogue — February 7, 2017

Neo: Trin? Trinity? Trinity??? Trinity: I’m here. Neo: Where? Trinity: Here. Neo: We made it. Trinity: You said we would. Neo: It’s…

Handling Exposition

Take my 1-week online class to learn ways to make exposition entertaining.

Interview (Part 1): Justin Piasecki (2016 Nicholl Winner)

My conversation with the writer of the winning script “Death of an Ortolan”.

Script Analysis: “Jackie” — Part 6: Takeaways

Read the script for the Oscar nominated movie and analyze it all this week.

Character Introductions: Part 6

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

On Writing

Writing advice from one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters.

Daily Dialogue — February 6, 2017

Dink: What’s happened? Champ: Nothing, Dink. All of a sudden, I turned and faint dead away. The ground came up and socked me right square…

Here are links:

Daily Dialogue 2008

“‘Deadpool,’ ‘Arrival,’ ‘Zootopia’ Scribes and More Discuss Breaking Convention”

Revealing comments from seven 2017 top award contending screenwriters.

Screenwriting News (January 30-February 5, 2017)

This week’s writing deals and movie project news.

Interview (Video): Luke Davies

An informative Q&A with the screenwriter of the movie ‘Lion’.

Daily Dialogue — February 5, 2017

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Deathbed

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,187 consecutive days and counting.

Conversations With Billy Wilder

Excerpts from the excellent book “Conversations With Wilder,” a series of interviews Cameron Crowe conducted with Billy Wilder.