Update: Award season screenplay downloads (NEW: Nightcrawler) It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, we will be tracking them and posting links as they become available. If you want to get these scripts first, come here. No one posts them faster than
The Toughest Scene I Wrote: Graham Moore (“The Imitation Game”) Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid: Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen? In this article,
Movie Trailer: “The Little Prince” Irena Brignull (screenplay), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (novel) A pilot crashes in the desert and meets a little boy from a distant planet. IMDb
Twitter Rant: Jeff Willis on Copyrights and Protecting Your Written Material Tweetstorm: Jeff Willis on Copyrights and Protecting Your Written Material On December 18, studio executive Jeff Willis went on a tweetstorm about writers legally protecting their stories. Reprinted in its entirety by permission. Today, let’s talk about copyright. What it is, what it isn’t, and what you should
Screenwriting 101: John August “While working on Big Fish, I got very Method: I’d stare at a mirror until I could get myself crying, and then I would start writing. It was literally days of just staring at a mirror and crying, but it works — something about that process captures the right feeling.
Daily Dialogue — December 30, 2014 TRINITY: Hello, Neo. NEO: How do you know that name? TRINITY: I know a lot about you. NEO: Who are you? TRINITY: My name is Trinity. NEO: Trinity? The Trinity? That cracked the I.R.S. D-Base? TRINITY: That was a long time ago. NEO: Gee-zus. TRINITY: What?
Knock out that first draft! As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one rule about a first draft and it’s this: “Get the damn thing done!” Easy to say. Hard to do. That’s why I created the Pages I: The First Draft writing workshop, a structured online environment — 10 weeks, 10
January: Classic 60s Movie Month In December 2013, we had a series called Classic 80s Movies Month in which I invited readers to select noteworthy movies from the decade of the eighties and provide a condensed overview of it. That resulted in this: A list of links to movies you should know about. Then in
Video: Why the “Firefly” crew were the bad guys I still don’t forgive Fox for canceling “Firefly,” so whenever something related to the late, lamented TV series crosses my path, I promote the hell out of it just to rub virtual salt into self-inflicted wounds of those godless TV execs whose dumb decision crushed such a wonderful
The Toughest Scene I Wrote: Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid: Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen? In this article,
Movie Trailer: “Insurgent” Screenplay by Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, novel by Veronica Roth Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart. IMDb Release Date: 20 March 2015 (USA)
Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: 32 Scripts Reading movie scripts is one of the most important things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting. That’s why I have brought back a regular script reading and analysis series. In 2015, we will read and analyze a movie script every other week for as long as
On Writing “Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” — Barbara Kingsolver
Daily Dialogue — December 29, 2014 INT. MACALBERTSONS’ LOFT — NIGHT A bank of lights blinds Joe and Ratso as they enter — electronic rock blasts their ears — a bearded cameraman on a step-ladder photographs them as they stand confused — facing a monstrous collage of tabloid photos blown up, showing the murder of a hippie known as
Go Into The Story Week In Review: December 22-December 28, 2014 Links to last week’s most notable posts: 2014 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge: Winners 2015 Film and Television Writers Calendar Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Party Declare Your Independents — Vol. 42 Documentary: The Film School Generation Documentary: Pixar: 25 Magic Moments Go Into The Story Script Reading
Writing Goals: 2015–10 Part Series If you didn’t follow along with the series over the last two weeks and feel like you could use a good year-end reflection as well as taking time to set writing goals for 2015, here you go — all ten posts. Writing Goals: Part 1 — Looking Back Writing Goals:
Documentary: “Pixar: 25 Magic Moments” A 2011 BBC documentary: Pixar: 25 Magic Moments: Through 25 key moments, this programme takes a look at the highs and lows of the multi award-winning animation studio Pixar as it celebrates its 25th birthday, and discovers the secrets of how to make a Pixar movie. With unique access
Interview (Video): Larry Karaszewski & Scott Alexander (“Big Eyes”) A @VeniceMase interview with screenwriters Larry Karaszewski & Scott Alexander whose numerous film credits include Problem Child, Ed Wood, Man on the Moon, and the new movie Big Eyes. A featurette on the movie Big Eyes: The official movie site here.
Interview (Video): Jason Hall (“American Sniper”) A ‘The Movie Times’ interview with Jason Hall who wrote the screenplay adaptation of the book “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, and Jim DeFelice. A featurette of the movie: The official movie site here.
Daily Dialogue — December 28, 2014 “…high to right field! That ball is still going! It’s way back! He did it! Hobbs did it!” — The Natural (1984), screenplay by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry, novel by Bernard Malamud Daily Dialogue theme this week: Celebration. Today’s suggestion by James Schramm. Trivia: While the story is
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Party Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Party. “Toga! Toga! Toga!” Perfect for the holiday season! What memorable movie parties spring to mind for you? Debauchery. Fights. Hooking up. All sorts of great party situations to explore dialogue-wise. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDb Quotes or some other
Consider a holiday gift to Young Storytellers Foundation Every year at this time, I feature a non-profit organization involved in doing something excellent to better our world. This year: Young Storytellers Foundation. In 1997, a group of young film students learned that Los Angeles public schools were cutting creative arts programs from the budget. Knowing the value
Saturday Hot Links Time for the 166th installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The We Remember Joe Cocker Edition. Singer Joe Cocker dead at the age of 70. Chicks Who Script: Episode 22. Scriptnotes: Episode 176. Women and Hollywood: Podcast 7 (Ava DuVernay). After a tumultuous year at the box office, Hollywood looks
Great Scene: “Sophie’s Choice” A gut-wrenching scene from the 1982 movie Sophie’s Choice, screenplay by Alan J. Pakula, based on the novel by William Styron. IMDb plot summary: Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live in Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed
Interview (Written): Chris Rock (“Top Five”) A WGA.org interview with Chris Rock, writer-director of the movie Top Five: I’ve been poring through some of your interviews and one of the things you said is that Alexander Payne asked you why you’re so brave and commanding in your stand-up, but so safe
