Go Into The Story

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Actor’s Angle [Part 2]

“It is your duty to think up situations which call for the necessary bits of business.”

On Writing

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they…

Page One: “Fallen” (1998)

Written by Nick Kazan

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 15

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

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Actor’s Angle [Part 1]

“It would be possible to plant the jealousy motif by a sub-title. It would be better artistry to show the husband staring after the wife…

Go Into The Story Interview: Stephany Folsom

My 2014 in-depth interview with the screenwriter of Toy Story 4, consulting producer and writer on the TV series The Lord of the Rings: The…

Page One: “The Faculty” (1998)

Screenplay by Kevin Williamson, story by David Wechter & Bruce Kimmel

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 14

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

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Scenery for Scenarios

“The matter of economy in settings is perhaps the very last thing that enters the mind of the amateur photodramatist — one big reason why…

Great Scene: “Manhunter”

I think we’d all admit the first time Clarice Starling meets Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, that was a great scene.

Page One: “Eye in the Sky” (2015)

Written by Guy Hibbert

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 13

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

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Writing for the Camera

“No scenarist is a genius to his cameraman… [they] have a common bond in the conviction that 90 per cent of the scenario writers have…

The Business of Screenwriting: The Crazed Life of a Studio Executive

There is nothing laid-back about movie execs who live life in the fast lane and this impacts you — the writer.

Page One: “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” (2019)

Written by Michael Werwie, based on a book by Elizabeth Kendall

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 12

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

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Marketing the Script

“Don’t let one or a dozen rejection slips discourage you. Make a collection of them to show your friends when you become famous.”

Great Scene: “Magnolia”

The ‘frog storm’ near the end of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 movie.

Page One: “The Expendables” (2010)

Screenplay by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, story by David Callaham

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 11

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

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Title

“Although a good story is the first requisite, the title of the photoplay is most important from the point of view of the exhibitor.”

Screenwriting 101: Tom Benedek

“Every script we write is a piece of ourselves. We may say we are writing a script because we want to position ourselves somewhere in the…

Page One: “The Exorcist III” (1990)

Screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his novel

2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 10

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

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…