Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 127th installment of Saturday Hot Links.
Today: The We Remember Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. Edition (1923–2014).
THR: Lorenzo Semple Jr., creator of TV’s “Batman,” dies at 91.
Variety: Creator of TV’s ‘Batman’ Lorenzo Semple Jr. dies at 91.
TheWrap: Lorenzo Semple Jr., creator of TV’s ‘Batman’, dies at 91.
Yes, Lorenzo Semple Jr. created ‘Batman’. But he was also a successful screenwriter. Featured here today are clips from just three of the many movies Semple wrote. Check out his IMDB page to see all of his credits.
Superman with a GoPro [video].
14 year-old proves U.S. can save $370M just by changing fonts.
How Television Without Pity shaped pop culture.
Little-known second verses of 10 children’s songs.
Building the next Pixar.
The math behind Pixar movies.
The real-life inspiration for Pixar’s Up.
We are very near the end of civilization as we know it.
Ranking the 20 most celebrated long movie takes.
See how big the universe is [video].
50 movies where the main character dies.
Is there a new planet in our solar system?
10 stories of excess from the production of Heaven’s Gate.
How negativity can make you happier.
Read this: Christopher Nolan’s comments at CinemaCon.
Early instructional videos on learning to use rotary phones [video].
Morgan Spurlock’s “Seven Deadly Sins” gets series order at Showtime.
What happens if I survive the apocalypse and only have one pair of contact lenses.
Upcoming genre movies that aren’t remakes, sequels or reboots.
Here’s what the first-ever NCAA men’s basketball tournament looked like.
John Singleton says studios “ain’t letting black people tell stories.”
Dude starts with $9K… 6 weeks later, he’s built a dream house.
50 horror movies based on true stories.
Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner the subject of a new biography.
10 outrageous movie theories you didn’t see coming.
20 fun facts about cats.
Charlie Chaplin blooper reel [video].
13 ice cream secrets from Ben & Jerry’s flavor gurus.
Number of frequent young moviegoers plummets in 2013.
The neurological similarities between successful writers and the mentally ill.
Hollywood to test discount movie ticket prices for weeknights.
Is marijuana the future of Big Tobacco?
Madison Square Garden company buys 50% stake in Tribeca Films.
Worldwide box office hits record in 2013.
“Game of Thrones” characters as Muppets.
20 amazing musical numbers from “The Muppet Show” [videos].
Use this infographic to build your own iron throne.
Patton Oswalt returns as host of this year’s Webby Awards.
The 12 weirdest experiences you can have in Canada.
The 13 best and worst movie title changes.
One-woman band covers an uncoverable Nirvana song [video].
New Kurt Cobain photo released by Seattle police.
Did you know R2-D2 and C-3PO appear briefly in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
The first tweets of 25 writers we love.
The science behind our insatiable desire to binge-watch TV.
Why does inhaling helium make your voice sound funny.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of “Beowulf” getting published.
Watch four deleted scenes from American Hustle [video].
10 questions that define you as a music fan.
Star Wars: Episode VII to begin filming in May.
7 ways people humiliated each other 100 years ago.
Finally, here is how not to interview an acclaimed movie director.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: One of the reasons Tom Benedek and I founded Screenwriting Master Class was because we kept hearing from writers who had taken courses and workshops from other outfits, and been dissatisfied with the experience. Common complaints:
* The instructors did not have much insight into how Hollywood operates in large part because they themselves had no experience as a professional screenwriter.
* The instructors showed little motivation to teach and were hard to reach.
* The instructors provided sketchy feedback, often not helpful.
* Other participants rarely got involved in discussions and their interaction was minimal, if anything at all.
* Many participants simply dropped out before the end of the class.
* The experience left the participants more confused about their story and screenwriting in general than when they began.
There are some good screenwriting instructors and outfits such as UCLA Extension’s Writers Program of which Tom and I were a part for several years. But there are plenty of others who apparently do not provide nearly the value they should.
If you have been frustrated by a previous screenwriting class experience, consider one of the SMC courses Tom and I teach.
We are committed to teaching. We actually enjoy working with writers and thrive on the creativity generated in our class settings.
We are passionate about storytelling. Movies and TV are the very center of our professional and personal lives, and there is nothing more fulfilling to us than to work on stories, our own and those of others.
We know the business. Between us, Tom and I have over six decades of experience working in the entertainment industry and have written projects for every major movie studio, many of the top producers, and each broadcast TV network, a front line understanding of the business we share in each of our courses.
We know how to engender a lively class environment. I have taught well over 100 classes during the last 12 years and have learned numerous ways to facilitate a vibrant, creative experience.
We provide detailed professional feedback. Through weekly teleconferences, individual one-on-one calls, workshopping and/or written analysis, we make it our business to dig into each participant’s story in a deep and thorough fashion.
We craft lectures to enlighten and clarify. Our written lectures represent distilled knowledge from decades of working in Hollywood, providing proven principles and practices, and shaped in such a way as to be readable and understandable.
But enough from me. How about observations from some writers who have taken SMC classes:
Scott’s teaching style and curriculum leads you to a process that worked for everyone regardless of their writing style. I can’t recommend Scott highly enough. — Joe Mihalow
Of all the classes I’ve sampled around the web, NOBODY draws the crowd you do, and NOBODY gives as much useful information. It’s your infectious enthusiasm that gets us all going. — Cyd Madsen
You can either write something shallow or with depth and Scott offers depth. With Scott at the helm, I took his classes and now I have a better grasp of writing a script. — Alex Tran (MFA from NYU)
Joining Scott’s class is one of the best decisions anyone could make. His passion for teaching and screenwriting could not be more inspirational. — Theodora von Auersperg
Value for money, solid understandable notes, a teacher who’s been there and done it plus swapping ideas with fellow writers — it doesn’t get any more real. — Philip Brewster
Scott’s thought-provoking insights inspire both debate and creativity, while simultaneously anchoring the content in the reality of an insider’s view of today’s screenwriting industry. — John Hörnschemeyer
Finally consider this: In the current round of Craft classes I’ve been leading, over 50% of the participants have taken other SMC courses. In fact for the upcoming Character Development Keys class which begins Monday, that number is currently 75%. My takeaway from that is writers keep enrolling in SMC classes because they are deepening their understanding of the craft, advancing their stories, and are inspired by and enjoying the experience.
So if you’ve had mediocre to poor experiences in other educational settings… or perhaps you’ve never taken a screenwriting class before and have reservations about the quality of experience you may have, I encourage you to check out one of the many courses we offer at Screenwriting Master Class.
We look forward to the opportunity to work with you!
As I always note, you don’t need to spend a dime to learn the craft. One of the reasons I run this blog is to provide free content to everyone. Between resources like Go Into The Story and others, along with this mantra — Read Scripts, Watch Movies, Write Pages — you can discover on your own what you need to know to write great scripts and develop what it takes to succeed as a professional screenwriter.
However if you feel the need to jump-start your understanding of the craft and receive professional guidance in how and what you learn, check out Screenwriting Master Class.
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