Happy Birthday, Jack Nicholson! Got an email from Seth Caton: If there is a “Shark Week” we are entitled to a Jack Nicholson day! We looked through national TV listings, as well as every online video source we could find, to put together the best Jack Nicholson Birthday Marathon possible. Pretty goofy project, but,
Interview: Nikole Beckwith (2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List) — Part 1 Nikole Beckwith’s original screenplay, the gripping drama “Stockholm, Pennsylvania” won a 2012 Nicholl Fellowship and a spot on the 2012 Black List. Nikole was kind enough to agree to an interview and we had a probing conversation about her background, her award-winning screenplay, and her unique insight into
Audio: Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman If you haven’t bookmarked Cinephila and Beyond or follow @LaFamiliaFilm on Twitter, do it. Right now! Hosted by a stalwart movie fan named Boris, he digs down deep into the Web to surface some incredible cinematic finds. Like this one: What a gem I just found, Alfred Hitchcock and
GITS: The Twitter Conversations — Script Readers (Part 11) On Wednesday, April 10th at 7PM Pacific, we had the 3rd GITS Twitter Conversation with industry insiders whose jobs involve reading scripts: Amanda Pendolino [@amandapendo], Nate Winslow [@nate_winslow], and The Bitter Script Reader [@BittrScrptReadr]. I will be posting an edited transcript of the conversation every day this week. AP
Movie Trailer: “Romeo and Juliet” Screenplay by Julian Fellowes, play by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet are “star crossed lovers”. When two enemy families meet, forbidden love ensues. A William Shakespeare classic. IMDB site Release Date: 25 October 2013 (UK)
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 22 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story idea: The Problem with One-Night Stands in Locked-Down Boston: I’m sitting in a strange kitchen right now in a posh two-bedroom condo in Charlestown, Mass., with sprawling views
On Writing “Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” — Gloria Steinem
Daily Dialogue — April 22, 2013 INT. CRAYONS — EARLY EVENING An insanely expensive restaurant with a childhood motif: paper tablecloths and jars of crayons for drawing, lots of primary colors, and a goldfish bowl on each table. Bateman is at a table with Evelyn. They are both drawing on the tablecloth. Bateman is drawing Christie with
Go Into The Story Week In Review: April 15-April 21, 2013 Some notable posts from this week: 1-hour video: Vince Gilligan and others talk “Breaking Bad” A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 15 A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 16 A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17 A Story Idea Each
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Making a scene After a week of fan boy/girl conversations [thanks to a suggestion by plinytheelder], next week the theme is this: Making a scene, suggested by Trent Carroll. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from
Interview: Chris Roessner (2012 Black List) Chris Roessner has made quite a journey to professional screenwriter. His debut screenplay “Sand Castle,” which made the Black List in 2012, is a compelling story that takes us into a world few have experienced: Post-invasion Iraq. It’s a world Chris knows well having served as a machine
Spec Script Sale: “I Dream of Gene” Chernin Entertainment acquires comedy spec script “I Dream of Gene” written by Allan Ball. From It’s On The Grid: When his grandfather dies, a man inherits a magic lamp with a genie inside that grants him as many wishes as he desires. By my count, this is the 30th
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 21 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Today’s story idea: Soft Robots Can Camouflage Themselves: Robots don’t have to be expensive, boxy, blocky, jerky hunks of metal. In fact, the robots of the near future will be cheap, soft-bodied
Screenwriting News (April 15-April 21, 2013) Michael Bacall writing remake of “Weird Science” for Universal. Allan Ball sells comedy spec script “I Dream of Gene” to Chernin Entertainment. Kay Cannon writing Pitch Perfect 2 for Universal. Tina Gordon Chism sells legal thriller spec script “Inheritance” to Sony Pictures Entertainment. David Koepp adapting action drama novel “Brilliance”
Spec Script Sale: “Inheritance” Sony Pictures Entertainment acquires legal thriller spec script “Inheritance” written by Tina Gordon Chism. From Deadline: …follows a young female lawyer handling the case of a New Orleans coffee magnate whose passing sparks a deadly chain of events. Chism, who will direct the movie, is repped by WME. By my
Daily Dialogue — April 21, 2013 INT. CHAMPIONSHIP VINYL — DAY Rob sits there, reflecting. LOUIS (O.S.): Rob, it’s your turn! ROB: Ok, I’m feeling kind of basic today. Top five Side 1’s. Track 1’s. “Janie Jones,” Clash. From The Clash. Rob STANDS, AMBLES towards the counter. Barry and Louis sort through
Interview: Chris Roessner (2012 Black List) — Part 6 Chris Roessner has made quite a journey to professional screenwriter. His debut screenplay “Sand Castle,” which made the Black List in 2012, is a compelling story that takes us into a world few have experienced: Post-invasion Iraq. It’s a world Chris knows well having served as a machine
Great Scene: “It’s A Wonderful Life” A fine example of subtext is this memorable scene from the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). It’s Mary and George on the phone together with their ol’ pal George Wainwright. And while they’re talking about business opportunities, what are they really talking about? INT. SAM&
A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 20 This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. This year, I’ve made a new addition to the ASIEDFAM series: Dumb Idea Friday! Every week, I will post a cruddy concept. Why? Because we have to have the freedom to come up with
Saturday Hot Links Time again for another installment of Saturday Hot Links. Today: The Give Peace A Chance Edition! Amy Poehler with some advice on how to deal with the violent events of this week [video]. Did an Excel coding error destroy the economies of the Western world. After 20 years of development,
Written Interview: Jeff Nichols (“Take Shelter,” “Mud) Interview in Interview with screenwriter-director Jeff Nichols whose films are Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter and Mud: BROWN: I heard that you had wanted to make Mud before Take Shelter, but weren’t able to. Is that true? NICHOLS: No, I had both. I wrote Mud and Take Shelter in
Daily Dialogue — April 20, 2013 DANTE: Do you know that article is accurate? Caitlin’s really getting married! RANDAL: You know what I just watched? DANTE: Me pulling a can off some moron’s fist. RANDAL: Return of the Jedi. DANTE: Didn’t you hear me? Caitlin really is getting married. RANDAL: Which did you
Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Making a scene After a week of fan boy/girl conversations [thanks to a suggestion by plinytheelder], next week the theme is this: Making a scene, suggested by Trent Carroll. The usual drill: * Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source. * Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from
Interview: Chris Roessner (2012 Black List) — Part 5 Chris Roessner has made quite a journey to professional screenwriter. His debut screenplay “Sand Castle,” which made the Black List in 2012, is a compelling story that takes us into a world few have experienced: Post-invasion Iraq. It’s a world Chris knows well having served as a machine
Screenwriting Meta View: Life After FADE OUT In writing a screenplay, we go into the story. That’s critical in order to connect with the characters and immerse ourselves in the story universe. But we also need to balance that by stepping outside the story universe and take a meta view of the narrative. I like to
