Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 171st installment of Saturday Hot Links.
Today: The Thank God, The Flight of the Conchords Are Touring Again Edition!
Flight of the Conchords are planning a 2015 tour.
Sundance 2015: 12 films that made bank.
Sundance 2015: Duplass brothers sign 4-picture deal with Netflix.
Sundance 2015: It’s the first year of the festival with no 35MM feature film screenings.
Sundance 2015: Sean Baker’s Tangerine was shot almost entirely on an iPhone 5S.
Sundance 2015: Why Sundance isn’t the only answer for indie filmmakers.
Slamdance 2015: Popular new filmmakers recognized at indie film festival.
SAG Awards 2015: The complete list.
The 2015 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts winners: The complete list.
Related: The biggest surprises of the 2015 SAG Awards.
Watch a 3-minute breakdown of how the Oscars work [video].
How to fix the Oscars: Abolish nominations.
30 films you forgot were Oscar winners.
The best lines from this year’s original screenplay Oscar nominees.
The best lines from this year’s adapted screenplay Oscar nominees.
Scriptnotes: Episode 181.
Chicks Who Script: Episode 25.
Writer’s Bone: Episode 59 [Scott Myers].
The Bitter Script Reader’s blog turned 6 years old this week. Congrats, Bitter!
The latest from Doug Richardson.
The latest from Bob Saenz.
Grantland feature on David Simon.
Is it possible to think without language.
Harvey Weinstein explains what happened with Grace of Monaco.
Why do Smartphone batteries fail so quickly.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death, read this retrospective.
Are the common elements in our dreams the result of basic biology, or something deeper?
Hollywood’s indie film pool prepares for the Amazon plunge.
Related: Digital distribution is changing who’s going to see indie films.
Legal weed is the fastest growing industry in the U.S.
Ironically related: Betty Ford Clinic expands to Los Angeles.
37 books being adapted into movies in 2015.
“House of Cards” producer Dana Brunetti on how to break into the industry.
4 stories great leaders tell to engage their people.
Testing the recipes in the “Breaking Bad” cookbook.
The 25 worst passwords you can use.
Number of original scripted series on cable, 1999–2014 [infograph].
The dangers of our aging nuclear arsenal.
Will Comic-Con leave San Diego.
U.S. Air Force releases thousands of pages of declassified UFO files.
Quiz: Guess the Pixar movie from the concept art.
Millennials set to outnumber Baby Boomers.
How to build a Batmobile baby stroller.
We are very near the end of civilization as we know it.
Do dolphins grieve?
How are Oscar nominees chosen.
Related: How lack of diversity among Academy members may influence Oscar decisions.
Related: How much are Oscars worth?
12 of the cutest pups in Puppy Bowl XI.
Watch John Oliver audition for Fifty Shades of Grey [video].
Anita Sarkeesian to create new video series looking at masculinity in video games.
Go here to listen to musical themes from John Carpenter movies that never got made.
Selma director Ava DuVernay books her next gig: Hurricane Katrina.
The strangely competitive world of sci-fi writing workshops.
Japan’s B.O. up 6.6% in 2014.
These parents were banned from naming their child ‘Nutella’.
Michael Palin to get BAFTA career celebration.
Twitter launches ability to share 30 second videos.
Anatomy of a flop: Mortdecai.
The dark side of Thomas Edison [audio].
In case you were under a rock this week, casting news for Ghostbusters III.
The DEA is spying on millions of cars all over the U.S.
“Westworld” producers hint HBO drama series has great, freaky potential.
Rolling Stone to release 47 years of archives.
10 unaired TV pilots by A-list directors.
Weird: A country western singer is using artificial intelligence to prepare for immortality.
7 things you probably didn’t know about The Matrix.
Top 10 grammar myths.
How DreamWorks Animation can claw its way back.
24 origins of cheese names.
The best analysis you will read about the controversy over the historicity in the movie Selma.
The science behind different involuntary behaviors [video].
And Westside L.A. movie fans mourn.
Related: Then Westside L.A. movies fans cheer!
Related: Affluent Westside douchebags lead to measles epidemic ‘coz they don’t believe in vaccines.
Why does the snooze button only give you 9 minutes more of sleep.
Seriously. SnapperHeroes? And Hollywood’s relentless pursuit of young people continues.
Dog missing 5 months rescued during NYC snowstorm.
A handy guide for using the Oxford comma.
What Disney animated characters would look like with real hair.
What it feels like to be in a Tesla roadster and go from zero to 65 like that [video].
Study shows that Ryan Gosling memes help men endorse feminism.
Who in the world thinks they can carry a gun onto a commercial airplane flight? 2,212 of them last year, that’s who.
Kickstarter movie campaign recommendation: Blue Borsalino.
17 other names suggested for the Seattle Seahwaks.
This woman went to 12 movies in 12 different movie theaters in 2 days.
Read the first chapter of David Duchovny’s debut novel “Holy Cow”.
How critics have failed female filmmakers.
50 essential books about the female experience.
Where did the @ symbol come from.
George Lucas slams empty Hollywood blockbusters.
Meet the 2 New Yorkers who are starting a preschool for adults.
Sascha Spielberg and Emily Goldwyn to star in Snapchat web series.
Go here to download 2015 Indiegogo film handboook.
Download 55 free online literature courses.
The secret joke in The Silence of the Lambs.
Here’s how fast the marijuana industry is growing [charts].
Lonely people like to binge-watch TV.
18 hours of massive aquarium footage [video].
2014 studios report card winners and losers charts.
What 95 minutes on the phone per day does to us.
1949 video about how to build an igloo.
Why do so many countries end in “-stan”.
Scientists have found a way to unboil egg whites.
Nickelodeon to unveil stand-alone video subscription service.
Finally Broad City interviewed Sleater-Kinney in a perfect celebration of radness.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: When you query a manager, how confident are you with your story’s logline?
If a producer asked you for a treatment, would you know how to write one?
If a studio executive requested a beat sheet, what would you do?
One big change for screenwriters today as compared to two decades ago: We have to write a lot more story summaries before we get the sign-off to first draft. There are several reasons for this development, none of them good. But nowadays, it’s a fact of life.
That’s why I created the 1-week online class Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets, part of the Craft series of courses at SMC. In it, you will learn six story summary formats: Logline, Synopsis, Breakdown, Treatment, Scriptment, and Beat Sheet. The class will provide you an understanding of how to craft any type of story summary you may be asked to write.
Equally as important, I turn what is for most writers a pain-in-the-ass — Oh, crap. Another treatment?!?! — into a net positive. How? By showing ways you can use story summaries to enhance your creativity and focus your scriptwriting capabilities.
The course consists of:
Seven lectures written by Scott Myers
Daily forum Q&As
Optional workshop writing assignments with instructor and class feedback.
A live teleconference between instructor and class members.
A logline workshop.
If you haven’t tried an online course before, this is a great and simple way to do it. You can download lectures any time and read them at your leisure. Peruse forum comments from your fellow classmates and respond whenever you want. The teleconference is on Skype and recorded so you can have access to it for transcription purposes. It’s amazing how convenient and effective online education is.
So why don’t you join me for Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets which begins Monday, February 2nd? You can find out more about this 1-week online screenwriting class here.
Remember: You can take all 8 of my Craft classes for nearly 50% off the regular price by enrolling in the Craft Package.
I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!