Dispatch From The Quest: Paul Wie Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding
Audio Q&A: David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”) For the next two weeks in this time slot (Mon-Fri), I will be featuring Q&A’s from L.A. based screenings recorded and edited by Wendy Cohen. It’s a fantastic resource for those of you who live outside Hollywood or in Southern California, but missed these
Go On Your Own Quest — Week 7: Theme The 2013 version of The Quest starts Week 7 today. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of The Quest to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write
Movie Trailer: “Almost Human” Written by Joe Begos Mark Fisher disappeared from his home in a brilliant flash of blue light almost two years ago. His friend Seth Hampton was the last to see him alive. Now a string of grisly, violent murders leads Seth to believe that Mark is back, and something evil
Scene Description Spotlight: “The African Queen” Today a blast from the past: An excerpt from the shooting script for the movie The African Queen (1951), adapted from the C.S. Forrester novel by James Agee and John Huston (Peter Viertel’s name is on the script, but he received no formal credit). This script was written
Great Character: Billy Ray Valentine (“Trading Places”) This month’s theme: Fish Out Of Water. Today: Billy Ray Valentine from the 1983 comedy Trading Places, written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Laugh-out-loud legend Eddie Murphy spent the first four years of the 1980s revolutionizing television comedy as a cast member on the epic TV
Daily Dialogue — August 30, 2013 “Juicy Fruit.” — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on a novel by Ken Kesey, stage play by Dale Wasserman The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is less with more suggested by hobbs001. Trivia: Will Sampson, who plays Chief Bromden,
Declare Your Independents: Volume 7 GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome to yet another edition of Declare Your Independents, our series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film. This week… 10 Films We’re Excited For at the 2013 Venice Film Festival Indiewire’s Interview with Liz W. Garcia, Writer
Dispatch From The Quest: Miranda Sajdak Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding
Audio Q&A: Andrew Bujalski, Freddy Martinez and Peter Kappler (“Computer Chess”) For the next two weeks in this time slot (Mon-Fri), I will be featuring Q&A’s from L.A. based screenings recorded and edited by Wendy Cohen. It’s a fantastic resource for those of you who live outside Hollywood or in Southern California, but missed these
Go On Your Own Quest — Week 7: Theme The 2013 version of The Quest starts Week 7 today. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of The Quest to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write
Movie Trailer: “Mr. Morgan’s Last Love” Sandra Nettelbeck (screenplay), Françoise Dorner (novel) A look at the life-changing connection between a retired and widowed American philosophy professor and a young Parisian woman. IMDB Release Date: October 2013 (USA)
Scene Description Spotlight: “Titanic” Before Avatar went on to gross $2.72B worldwide, writer-director James Cameron created another movie phenomenon called Titanic (1997) which grossed a mere $1.84B worldwide. One key to the success of Titanic was its appeal to adolescent girls, a significant number of them attending the movie multiple times.
The Business of Screenwriting: Learn the craft For about 4 years in this time slot (Thursday, 10AM Eastern), I have posted weekly items about the business side of the craft. This began, like so many of the features on the site, as a response to the requests of readers wanting to know more about the nitty gritty
Daily Dialogue — August 29, 2013 Richard Kimble: I didn’t kill my wife. Samuel Gerard: I don’t care. — The Fugitive (1993), screenplay by Jeb Stuart and David Twohy, story by David Twohy, characters by Roy Huggins The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is less with more suggested by hobbs001 who also suggested The
Reader Question: Should we be concerned about profanity in a spec script? Question from Daniel: As I was about to start page work on my next spec, I realized: all my prior scripts and shorts have been peppered with expletives, with no real thought about possible future ratings. Should us writers assume (within reason of course) that producers and story analysts will
Dispatch From The Quest: Christian Fontenot Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding
Audio Q&A: David Gordon Green, Emile Hirsch (“Prince Avalanche”) For the next two weeks in this time slot (Mon-Fri), I will be featuring Q&A’s from L.A. based screenings recorded and edited by Wendy Cohen. It’s a fantastic resource for those of you who live outside Hollywood or in Southern California, but missed these
The visual nature of cinema Back in May during the Movies You Made series, I featured a short called I’m Christian Okoli from writer-director Cyrus Trafford. You can see that here. Cyrus recently reached out to me, sending me the promo for his Moment 2 Moment Pictures (M2M Pictures). I was so impressed
Go On Your Own Quest — Week 7: Theme The 2013 version of The Quest starts Week 7 today. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by because you can Go On Your Own Quest by following the structure of The Quest to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write
Movie Trailer: “A Teacher” Written by Hannah Fidell A high school teacher in Austin, Texas has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. IMDB Release Date: 6 September 2013 (USA)
Scene Description Spotlight: “The Dark Knight” Today we shine the spotlight on a great piece of screenwriting, the screenplay for The Dark Knight, co-written by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan. If you want to understand the value of subplots, this sequence provides a mighty big one: Cross cutting between storylines to generate increasing tension. Sequence set-
Spec Script Sale: “Split” CBS Films acquires thriller spec script “Split” written by Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson. From THR: A young woman who, having spent most of her life bouncing between foster homes and institutions, is surprised when she is sought out by an identical twin she never knew existed. She also discovers
Script To Screen: “The Apartment” A key revelation scene from my favorite movie, the 1960 The Apartment, written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. “Izzy” Diamond. Plot Summary: A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Daily Dialogue — August 28, 2013 “Madness. Madness.” — The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), screenplay by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, uncredited; written by Pierre Boulie (novel) The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is less with more suggested by hobbs001. Today’s suggestion by John Arends. Trivia: Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman were
