Go Into The Story

Great Scene: “Casablanca”

NOTE: This is the very first post in the Great Scene series from all the way back to August 2008. When you think about it, screenwriting is really aboutscene-writing. If a typical script is 120 pages and the average scene is 2 pages, then that means we write about

Daily Dialogue — September 21, 2016

BARNICKE: Where the hell have you been, soldier? WINGER: Training, sir! PLATOON: Training, sir! BARNICKE: What kind of training, son? WINGER: Army training, sir! PLATOON: Army training, sir! WINGER: Platoon, just like last night, only better! And right shoulder, ho! Order, ho! Side step right! Why does a chicken cross

Zero Draft Thirty 2016 Autumn Challenge: Day 20

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 20. September 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. September 30: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. Get it down. Get it done. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what

Interview (Part 5): Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz (“Miss Stevens”)

Entertainment Weekly calls it a “breezy indie gem”. Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice calls it a “tight, unnerving and deceptively complex movie”. David Ehrlich of Indiwire writes, “With her directorial debut, The Keeping Room screenwriter Julia Hart proves that she belongs behind the camera.” And the New York Times

Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 12]

Spec scripts, that is. I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them. In light of that fact, last year I interviewed a top

Video: “‘Blood Simple’ — Storyboards”

What a beautiful thing. Criterion has just released a DVD of the first Coen brothers movie Blood Simple. This film is like a fine wine, it ages really well. And what’s amazing is how much of who the Coens are as filmmakers is in evidence in their initial cinematic

Screenwriting 101: John Milius

“Never compromise excellence. To write for someone else is the biggest mistake that any writer makes. You should be your biggest competitor, your biggest critic, your biggest fan, because you don’t know what anybody else thinks. How arrogant it is to assume that you know the market, that you

Daily Dialogue — September 20, 2016

“We can’t hold the boat.” — Das Boot (1981), screenplay by Wolfgang Petersen, novel by Lothar G. Buchheim The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Military Moments, suggested by Will King. Trivia: To help his actors convey the claustrophobic conditions found on a real U-boat, director Wolfgang Petersen insisted

Zero Draft Thirty 2016 Autumn Challenge: Day 19

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 19. September 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. September 30: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. Get it down. Get it done. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what

Interview (Part 4): Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz (“Miss Stevens”)

Entertainment Weekly calls it a “breezy indie gem”. Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice calls it a “tight, unnerving and deceptively complex movie”. David Ehrlich of Indiwire writes, “With her directorial debut, The Keeping Room screenwriter Julia Hart proves that she belongs behind the camera.” And the New York Times

Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 11]

Spec scripts, that is. I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them. In light of that fact, last year I interviewed a top

Reader Question: What’s the scoop on writer’s residuals?

Justin asks: Hi Scott, could you talk about writer residuals in a real world sense, sort of break it down? The first thing you need to know is residuals are awesome! Seriously. Every three months, screenwriters get these pale green envelopes with checks inside and accompanying statements for any movie

On Writing

“The novel is a narrative that organizes itself in the world, while cinema is a world that organizes itself into a narrative.” — Jean Mitry

Daily Dialogue — September 19, 2016

ENDER: What is this? Why are we watching these images? GRAFF: Ender…thank you. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Thank God for you, son. ENDER: Why are these images in the program? GRAFF: Ender, we won. ENDER: What do you mean we won? (Looking to Rackham) I beat him. He runs the

Zero Draft Thirty 2016 Autumn Challenge: Day 18

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 18. September 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. September 30: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. Get it down. Get it done. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what

Interview (Part 3): Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz (“Miss Stevens”)

Entertainment Weekly calls it a “breezy indie gem”. Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice calls it a “tight, unnerving and deceptively complex movie”. David Ehrlich of Indiwire writes, “With her directorial debut, The Keeping Room screenwriter Julia Hart proves that she belongs behind the camera.” And the New York Times

Screenwriting News (September 12-September 18, 2016)

This week’s writing deals and movie project news. Mike Arnold and Chris Poole writing remake “The Toxic Avenger” for Storyscape Entertainment, Weed Road Pictures, and Troma Entertainment, Inc. Chris Boyle writing “The Hype” for Catalyst Global Media. Jeremy Brock writing untitled Mortara project for The Weinstein Company. Morgan Jurgenson

Interview (Video): David and Janet Peoples

A 2015 interview with screenwriters David and Janet Peoples hosted by the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts. David Peoples, best known for two movies he wrote which appear in the American Film Institute Top 100 — Blade Runner and Unforgiven, the latter for which he was nominated for an Academy

Daily Dialogue — September 18, 2016

Nurse Ratched: You know Billy, what worries me is how your mother is going to take this. Billy: Um, um, well, y-y-y-you d-d-d-don’t have to t-t-t-tell her, Miss Ratched. Nurse Ratched: I don’t have to tell her? Your mother

Zero Draft Thirty 2016 Autumn Challenge: Day 17

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 17. September 1: Type FADE IN / The Beginning. September 30: Type FADE OUT / The End. 30 days. 1 script. Movie script. TV script. First draft. Rewrite. Whatever. Get it down. Get it done. For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what

Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Military Moments

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Military Moments, suggested by Will King. “There’s always a way to blow up explosives. The trick is not to be around when they go off.” The Guns of Navarone (1961) The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDb Quotes or some other

Interview (Part 2): Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz (“Miss Stevens”)

Entertainment Weekly calls it a “breezy indie gem”. Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice calls it a “tight, unnerving and deceptively complex movie”. David Ehrlich of Indiwire writes, “With her directorial debut, The Keeping Room screenwriter Julia Hart proves that she belongs behind the camera.” And the New York Times

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 255th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest. Toronto Diary, Day 1: ‘Gimme Danger,’ ‘Dog Eat Dog,’ ‘The Salesman,’ ‘American Honey’ (Plus Bonus ‘Sully’). Toronto Diary, Day 2: ‘Arrival,’ ‘Nocturnal Animals,’ ‘A Monster

Free Tickets to “The Raconteur: Writing Prose and Television with Jonathan Ames”

The good folks at the Writers Guild Foundation have a special offer for GITS readers for an upcoming event in Los Angeles. Check it out: Tue, September 20, 2016 7:30 PM — 9:00 PM As the creator and showrunner of the Starz Original Series BLUNT TALK (which premieres its

Interview (Written): Simon Barrett (“Blair Witch”)

A Flickering Myth interview with Simon Barrett, screenwriter of Blair Witch: From a writing standpoint, was this one more challenging for you than your last few projects? The first ‘Blair Witch’ was based on a 32-page outline and then crafted in the editing room afterwards. Was this more tightly