Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 276th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
2016: A Year in Film.
Oscar-Nominated Producers Compare Notes at Santa Barbara Panel.
The Craft of ‘Moonlight’: How a $1.5 Million Indie Landed Eight Oscar Nominations.
Sundance Now to Live Stream Independent Spirit Awards.
Writers Guild of America to Seek Streaming Compensation Hikes in Studio Contract Talks.
WGA Will “Fight If Necessary” For Fair Contract, Leaders Vow.
Paramount Pulls Brad Pitt’s ‘World War Z 2,’ ‘Friday the 13th’ Reboot From Schedule.
Lionsgate’s Bets Pay Off as Studio Makes a Big Comeback.
The Hollywood Reporter for Sale Amid Ongoing Losses.
The Fourth Wall Has Been Holding Superhero Movies Back.
Steve Bannon’s Unproduced Movie About Cloning, Nazis, and Walt Disney Sounds Nuts.
Dine-In Cinema Gets Immersive: Indoor Drive-In to Open in Nashville.
Why the NBA Is Launching an eSports Basketball League in 2018.
‘Arrival’ Screenwriter Eric Heisserer on Writing the Unfilmable Story.
‘The Circle’: James Ponsoldt Explains Why His Dave Eggers Adaptation Isn’t Just Another Film About Dangers of Technology.
Pixar director Andrew Stanton will direct two episodes of Stranger Things.
Coen Brothers Punched up ‘Scarface’ Remake Script for Universal.
Mel Brooks to Receive BAFTA Fellowship.
The story of Hollywood screenwriter Budd Schulberg’s unlikely collaboration with Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.
Having a Voice in Silence: Women Filmmakers in the Early Days of Cinema.
Warren Beatty, Pauline Kael, and an Epic Hollywood Mistake.
What Was the Most Influential Film in History?
Firefly and Serenity sequel: Fox gives fans best news EVER about Joss Whedon cult show.
Niche Cable Channels Fall Victim to Peak TV.
Spike TV to Become Paramount Network in Viacom Rebranding.
Virtual and Augmented Reality Investment Hit Record $2.3 Billion in 2016.
Snapchat’s IPO Foreshadows Foray Into Hollywood.
Top Video-Game Creators Featured in 10-Part Interview Series.
The 100 Jokes That Shaped Modern Comedy.
100 More Jokes That Shaped Modern Comedy.
Read: Bob Saenz — About Rejection.
Listen: 3rd & Fairfax / WGA Podcats (Episode 46 — Taylor Sheridan).
Listen: Chicks Who Script (Episode 95).
Watch: The Dark Knight: Visual Echoes.
Watch: ‘Piper’: How Pixar Turned R&D Into an Oscar-Contending Short.
Watch: ‘Arrival’: Ending explained.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week
Take my 1-week online class to learn ways to make exposition entertaining.
In Hollywood, there is a saying: “Exposition = Death.” Why? Check out these comments:
Taylor Sheridan (“Hell or High Water”) said he learned how to write by taking note of what didn’t work. And he confessed, as a former actor, that he had plenty of practice working through bad material.
“I spent most of my time on TV shows kind of spewing exposition,” he said. “When I write I almost never use dialogue to move the plot forward because I understand painfully the traps. I try to have the lines tell you something about the character.”
The “traps” to which Sheridan refers are, I suspect, largely about the fact that nothing can slow down a story or cause a script reader’s eyes to glaze over more than reading a scene or scenes chock full of exposition: setting, information, data, backstory. I am reminded of David Mamet’s infamous memo to his writing staff on the TV series ‘The Unit’:
THERE IS NO MAGIC FAIRY DUST WHICH WILL MAKE A BORING, USELESS, REDUNDANT, OR MERELY INFORMATIVE SCENE AFTER IT LEAVES YOUR TYPEWRITER. YOU THE WRITERS, ARE IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE EVERY SCENE IS DRAMATIC.
THIS MEANS ALL THE “LITTLE” EXPOSITIONAL SCENES OF TWO PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT A THIRD. THIS BUSHWAH (AND WE ALL TEND TO WRITE IT ON THE FIRST DRAFT) IS LESS THAN USELESS, SHOULD IT FINALLY, GOD FORBID, GET FILMED.
IF THE SCENE BORES YOU WHEN YOU READ IT, REST ASSURED IT WILL BORE THE ACTORS, AND WILL, THEN, BORE THE AUDIENCE, AND WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE BACK IN THE BREADLINE.
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. What to do?
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.
Thanks a million, Scott, for being there for us inspiring writers and for the practical, real and valuable learning experience that was hands down the best writing class I have ever taken. I was blown away by the creative and practical tools imparted from you in the Exposition Craft Class.
— Katalin Szonyi
This class definitely expanded my ability to deal with exposition in ways that I hadn’t considered before. The lectures, along with the accompanying examples, are a fantastic resource if you either struggle with exposition or are just looking for a new perspective.
— Calvin Starnes
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 2017!
That’s right, I’m offering this class just once this year.
So join me beginning Monday, February 13 for Handling Exposition, a 1-week immersion in this critical aspect of the screenwriting craft.
Enroll here!
Or have access to all 10 Craft Classes for nearly 60% off the regular price for The Craft Package.
