Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 287th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.

These Are The Reasons For The Potential Writers Strike.

Everything You Need to Know About the Pending Writer’s Strike.\

WGA Strike: Why This Time the Writers, Netflix, and the Public May Have the Upper Hand.

Chill On Rumors Of Netflix Side Deal As WGA Strike Authorization Looms.

WGA Members Authorize Strike With Negotiations.

Biz Holds Breath as WGA, AMPTP Return to Bargaining Table.

WGA Negotiations Slow As SAG-AFTRA Sets Talks for Mid-May.

Studios & WGA Can’t Even Agree On Lost Revenues From Last Strike.

Hollywood’s Highest Paid Executives: Who Made Bank, Who Sank in 2016.

Why Studios Need To Get Back In Touch With What Made Them In The First Place.

Chris Dodd to Step Down as MPAA Chief.

James Cameron’s Avatar sequels to hit theaters beginning 2020: Subsequent installments set for release in 2021, 2024, and 2025.

Rian Johnson Says He’s Not Involved In Writing ‘Star Wars Episode IX’ After All.

Good News: Marvel’s Commitment to Gratuitous Shirtless Scenes Is Alive and Well.

2017 Summer Indie Movie Preview: 15 Limited Releases We’re Excited to See.

A24 After ‘Moonlight’: Why They’re Finally Ready To Conquer the Older Arthouse Crowd.

Jon Favreau’s 7 Rules for Making a Good Movie, from ‘The Jungle Book’ to ‘The Lion King’.

‘Glass’: How M. Night Shyamalan Could Redefine the Superhero Shared Universe.

Annie Hall at 40: 15 things you didn’t know about the Woody Allen classic.

‘Wayne’s World 2’ Was Completely Rewritten At The Last Minute, Here’s Why.

‘Austin Powers’ at 20: Mike Myers, Jay Roach, More Spill Secrets in Shagadelic Oral History.

How Jonathan Demme’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ Broke Countless Oscar Conventions.

The Other Half of You: Remembering Jonathan Demme.

‘Cars’ Creative Director Casually Ponders Whether the Cars Killed All the Humans and Took Over the Earth.

How I became a screenwriter and director: Michael Brandt.

How a Halifax screenwriter found Genius in Hollywood.

‘Minions’ Writer Recalls Late Producer J.C. Spink.

Film Critics Pick the Best Movie Podcasts.

11 Marketing Lessons Learned from Hollywood.

9 Movies You Need To Watch To Understand Old Hollywood.

Which Novelists Are Writing for TV in 2017?

10 Shows That Changed Critics’ Perceptions of the World.

ESPN Bloodbath: 11 Reasons Why the Network Axed 100 People.

How ESPN went from powerhouse to bloodbath.

Critic’s Notebook: A Guide to the Los Angeles Riots 25th Anniversary Documentaries.

Netflix to Raise $1.1 Billion in New Debt From Non-U.S. Lenders.

Anita Sarkeesian says goodbye to web series that rocked the world of video games.

Watch: 7 Deadly Sins in the films.

Watch: Bill Nye Explains the Science Behind ‘Stranger Things’ and Other Popular Netflix Shows.

The Leftovers Recap: Perfect Strangers.

‘The Leftovers’ Makes A Joke Deadly Serious In ‘Don’t Be Ridiculous’.

‘The Leftovers’ Offers Up a ‘Perfect Strangers’ Homage in a Stunning Nora-Centric Episode.

A Very Special ‘Leftovers’ Guest Star Explains ‘Don’t Be Ridiculous’.

‘The Leftovers’ Review: Episode 2 Redefines the Series as Carrie Coon Delivers an Astounding Solo Show — And Takes Control.

‘The Leftovers’ Music Supervisor Liza Richardson on Ironic Song Choices.

The beautiful impenetrability of The Leftovers.

The Writer Behind Nora’s Wu-Tang Clan Tattoo on The Leftovers.

Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week

Some say the ability to write dialogue is a talent one is born with… or not. While I think there are writers who have a natural ear for dialogue, it is certainly a skill which can be honed and developed.

In my upcoming one-week online Dialogue-Writing Workshop, you will learn and put into practice numerous techniques and tips to elevate your ability at writing dialogue. However the single most critical thing you can do to make your dialogue come alive is this: Immerse yourself in the lives of your characters. For when you get to know them, they will start talking to you.

The late great playwright August Wilson was once asked how he wrote such compelling, realistic dialogue. His answer: “I don’t. They do.”

‘They’ as in characters.

That’s the focus on the Dialogue-Writing Workshop. In it, you will start from scratch in choosing a single character to work with, then over the course of the week use several proven character development techniques with a specific focus on getting them to speak to you.

As August Wilson suggests, it’s much easier to write good dialogue… if your characters are largely doing it for you.

This Dialogue-Writing Workshop is a brand new Screenwriting Master Class course and if it’s anything like the Scene-Writing Workshop I introduced this week, it will be a great learning opportunity for each and every participating writer.

So if you feel like your dialogue-writing chops could use an upgrade…

If you want to learn techniques you can use to write better dialogue…

If you would like to see how developing your characters can result in their voices emerging for you to tap into and use in your own writing…

Check out my Dialogue-Writing Workshop. It begins Monday, May 8.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.