Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 225th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Wins Top Prize at Annie Awards.
The 10 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2016 Berlin Film Festival.
SXSW Unveils Midnighters, Festival Favorites Programs.
These 6 Female-Directed Films Rocked Sundance, But Are Still Waiting for Distribution.
2016 Oscars Will Introduce Ticker Tape Thank-Yous During Acceptance Speeches.
How Much Screen Time Did This Year’s Supporting Oscar Nominees Actually Have.
It’s Time for Oscar Voting: Here’s How It Works.
Oscars: The Unflattering Truth About the Academy’s Membership.
Whitesplaining the #OscarsSoWhite Controversy To Other White People Who Are Slow On the Uptake.
When the Oscars Began, It Was the Women Who Had All the Power.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Just Proved (Again) That Female-Led Films Are Not Box Office Poison.
Last Year Saw More Leading Roles for Women in Top Grossing Films, Study Finds.
Film Comment Adds Three New Online Columns By Female Film Critics.
The Problem With Hollywood’s Portrayal of Pregnant Women.
Project Greenlight Studio Forms Advisory Board to Promote Diversity.
Are We Looking at the Best February For Movies Ever.
The $7 million cuts that got Deadpool greenlit at the last minute.
Paramount Dates Next Three ‘Transformers’ Movies.
“George Clooney’s ‘Suburbicon’ Heads to Paramount”.
The Future and the Past: How ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Fits in the Coen Canon.
22 Essential Films About Hollywood.
Romantic Comedies, Still Making Us Stupid After All These Years.
The Romantic Comedy Isn’t Dead — It’s Just Gotten Raunchier.
Study Shows Some Romantic Comedies May Perpetuate Stalking Myths.
Infographic: The Hollywood Political Universe.
Final Draft Awards Winners, Paul Schrader Joins Hall of Fame.
Read the Very Personal Letter That Got ‘Room’ Director Lenny Abrahamson His Oscar-Nominated Gig.
How ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ lured Oscar winner John Seale back behind the camera.
Steven Spielberg Talks Academy Diversity Changes, Says Awards Campaigns Need To Be Reigned In [audio].
Second City’s Harold Ramis Film School to Open Doors in September.
20 Inspiring Charlie Chaplin Quotes About Filmmaking.
10 Promising Independent Horror Films to Watch Out For This Year.
Hola, Cuba! It’s Hollywood Calling.
Black List Screenwriter Nabs Gigs With StudioCanal, Warner Bros.
Film Noir Classic ‘The Maltese Falcon’ Returning To Theaters For 75th Anniversary Screening.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens syncs up to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Focus Features Shake-Up: What’s Behind Peter Schlessel’s Abrupt Exit.
Is Apple Planning a Buying Spree: 5 Potential Targets From Time Warner to Tesla.
‘Dallas Buyers Club’ Producer Cassian Elwes to Launch New Banner.
Warner Music Pays $14 Million to End ‘Happy Birthday’ Copyright Lawsuit.
‘Walking Dead’ Lawsuit: Frank Darabont Can Move Forward on Added Claim.
Ryan Reynolds, ‘Deadpool’ Writers Talk Taking Aim at Superhero Movies and the Studios That Produce Them.
Meryl Streep to Fund The Writers Lab, Supporting Women Screenwriters Over 40.
Meryl Streep’s Writers Lab for Women Over 40 Names 2016 Mentors.
10 Movie Couples Who Definitely Didn’t Make It.
How Ryan Murphy Pioneered the Anthology Series.
No one has seen the drama series based on Donald Trump’s life … until now.
2016 WriteHer List Names Best Unproduced TV Pilots from Women Writers.
This Helpful Map Shows Where All Your Favorite British TV Shows Take Place.
Showtime Orders Pilot for Docuseries Based on Rolling Stone Stories.
Disruptors: How Netflix & Amazon Are Creating Greater Tumult In The Independent Film Industry.
The 20 best documentaries on Netflix.
Netflix Sets Animated Series Featuring Beatles Songs.
Netflix’s Global Push Means Big Spending in Small Countries.
YouTube Red Officially Launches New Originals.
Apple Financing Original Scripted Series Produced By Dr. Dre.
Why Twitter May Need to Change Its Feed to Win Over Media Companies — And Survive.
Twitter Will Reshuffle Your Tweets After All.
Here’s how to turn Twitter’s new timeline on and off.
A must Twitter feed for screenwriters: @femscriptintros.
Twitter Study: Box-Office Hits Have 150% More Tweets From Movie Talent.
SoundCloud has been hemorrhaging money, future may be in doubt.
Does Time Inc. Know It Just Bought MySpace.
Frozen is Coming to Broadway in 2018.
Aaron Sorkin to Bring ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to the Stage.
Bruce Springsteen Announces Autobiography ‘Born to Run’.
New York City to build affordable housing for musicians and artists.
Woodstock 50th anniversary festival in the works.
Billboard’s 2016 Power 100 List Revealed.
Hemingway App makes your writing bold and clear.
What Kind of Name Is That: How to name your fictional characters.
20 Young Writers Of Color Share Their Favorite Poems.
Interview: Kathryn Kolbert and Melissa Silverstein, Founders of The Athena Film Festival.
Black List: Essential Films from Black Filmmakers.
Meg LeFauve: When There Is No Template, Writing on Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’.
Bob Saenz: Submit and Forget.
Chicks Who Script: Episode 75.
Scriptnotes: Episode 236.
Screen Talk: Room as an Oscar contender.
Watch: The Best and Worst Super Bowl Movie Trailers [videos].
Watch: 2-Minute Supercut Of Coen Brothers POV Shots [video].
Watch: 3-Minute Supercut Highlights The Many, Many Film References In ‘The Simpsons’ [video].
Watch: 6-Minute Video Essay Explores The Themes And Beauty Of 1960s Jean-Luc Godard [video].
Watch: 8-Minute Video Essay Investigates The Morality Of Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’ [video].
Watch: What If a Movie Ended As Soon As Someone Said The Title [video].
Watch: Official Footage of Arcade Fire’s Bowie Parade in New Orleans [video].
Watch: ‘Tangerine’ Director Sean Baker is Back Behind the iPhone For Dreamy Short ‘Snowbird’ [video].
Watch: Johnny Deep in Funny or Die 50 minute Donald Trump spoof “The Art of the Deal” [video].
Daniel Gerson, Screenwriter on ‘Monsters, Inc.’ and Its Prequel, Dies at 49.
Bayard Johnson, ‘Tarzan and the Lost City’ Screenwriter, Dies at 63.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the Week: How good are you at handling exposition?
In Hollywood, there is a saying I’ve heard more than once: “Exposition = Death.” Why? Because nothing can bore readers more than the delivery of setting, information, data and backstory. Yet every script, play or story you write requires you to include exposition.
That’s why I created the Screenwriting Master Class course Handling Exposition. In this unique 1-week online class, we will break down exposition into various types, then by analyzing numerous examples from well known movies, delve into six key principles and techniques on how to best handle it:
- Exposition as Fascination
- Exposition as Mystery
- Exposition as Revelation
- Exposition as Conflict
- Exposition as Action
- Exposition as Humor
Plus 7 insider tips on working with exposition.
In addition, you can workshop exposition in your own stories using the principles and tips you learn in the course.
And the always popular Logline Workshop.
The class consists of:
Seven lectures written by Scott Myers
Special insider tips
Daily forum Q&As
Workshop writing exercises with instructor and class feedback
A 90-minute live teleconference between instructor and class members
Trust me, you need to know how to handle exposition. That’s why I created this course. And this is the only time I’ll be teaching it in 2016!
That’s right, I’m offering this class just once this year.
So join me beginning Monday, February 22 for Handling Exposition, a 1-week immersion in this critical aspect of the screenwriting craft.
Enroll here!