Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 212th installment of Saturday Hot Links.
Oscars: Big Studios Rewriting Their Own Future.
Oscar Season is Evolving and Women Are Taking The Lead.
‘Room’: How a Dark Indie Became 2015’s Left-Field Oscar Contender.
The Golden Globes Are Classifying ‘The Martian’ as a Comedy.
Here Are All the Movies Opening This Weekend: What Will You See?
China’s Booming Movie Market Is Getting Younger.
China Betting Billions on English-Language Movies in Bid for Global Influence.
With Stars Shooting for the Silver Screen, Is TV (Slowly) Killing the AFM?
Entertainment One to Partner on Steven Spielberg’s New DreamWorks
How DreamWorks Nearly Derailed ‘Spotlight’: “No One Wants to Watch a Priest Molesting a Kid”.
How ‘Trumbo’’s True Hollywood Blacklist Story Got Made.
‘Annie Hall’ Named Funniest Screenplay by WGA Members
Making of ‘Peanuts Movie’: How Blue Sky Studios Won Over the Schulz Family.
Hollywood Reporter Slapped with Defamation Suit over Sony Hack Story.
Sony is finally killing its ancient Betamax format.
Sony Pictures Picks Up Hot Sci-Fi Short ‘Flying Man’.
JJ Abrams says Star Trek Into Darkness had “fundamental story problems”.
Damon Lindelof Explains How And Why He Reworked The ‘Prometheus’ Script So It Wasn’t A Direct ‘Alien’ Prequel.
Charlie Kaufman Explains Why Star-Studded ‘Frank Or Francis’ Fell Apart, Says It Could Still Happen.
Han Solo’s 2018 Spotlight Will Be Lawrence Kasdan’s Last ‘Star Wars’ Movie.
Aaron Sorkin Takes The Credit & Blame For Final Scene In ‘Steve Jobs,’ Clears Up Claims Of Distortions & Inventions.
Nick Hornby talks about his screenplay for Brooklyn.
Why Jennifer Lawrence Walked Away From Sony’s ‘Rosie Project’.
David Geffen Gives $100 Million for Academy at UCLA.
What I learned from watching the first 10 minutes of 500 movies.
Scary Movies Are The Best Investment In Hollywood.
The Most Lucrative Horror Movie Franchises Ever.
The 20 Most Profitable Movies of All Time (Based on Return on Investment).
The 32 most successful movie franchises of all time.
The 25 Best Cold-Open Action Scenes in Film History.
One. Perfect. Shot: The Dark Beauty Of Film Noir In 50 Shots.
8 Essential Film Noir Movies MoMI is Resurrecting From the 1940s.
How the Millennium Falcon became the most famous spaceship in cinema.
How Marketing Machines Can Make Lousy Movies Financially Successful.
The Killer App: Storytelling.
The 37 Basic Plots, According to a Screenwriter of the Silent-Film Era.
5 Reasons to Go To Film School.
Film School or No Film School: That is the Question.
Have A Great Script? Cool, Now Good Luck Getting Your Movie Made.
3D Technology Company RealD to Be Acquired in $551 Million Deal.
Disney Slapped With $10 Million Lawsuit Over ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Idea.
MPAA Dealt a Blow in Appellate Ruling Over Importation of Digital Files.
Why the Movie Business Is Long Overdue for Disruption.
Why learning how to make films is also about learning how to raise money.
Are Web Series The New Indie Film? — Part 1: Inspiration and Creation.
Susan Sarandon Boards Hedy Lamarr Documentary.
Quentin Tarantino Documentary in the Works From Tara Wood.
‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ Revival in the Works.
‘Snowpiercer’ TV Series In The Works.
The Dissolve Returns (Sort of) as The Next Picture Show.
Netflix features could be game-changers for film industry.
Two Female Playwrights Win Philip Seymour Hoffman Award.
The Origin Stories of 21 Indie Presses.
Pandora’s Big New Push to Conquer International Markets.
Activision Claims ‘Biggest Entertainment Launch’ of 2015 with $550 Million for ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops III’.
Kate Hagan: The WGA Celebrates the 101 Funniest Screenplays.
Chicks Who Script: Episode 64 (Tess Morris).
Scriptnotes: Episode 223.
Women and Hollywood: Episode 18 (Anne Thompson).
Gunnar Hansen, the man who terrified millions in Texas Chain Saw Massacre, has died.
Daniel Fleetwood, First ‘Star Wars’ Fan to See ‘The Force Awakens,’ Dead at 32.
Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew Sent a Touching Letter to a Grieving Star Wars Fan.
Watch: 9-Minute Video Essay Explores Story Structure Through ‘Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi’ [video].
Watch: Get Nostalgic With 14-Minute Supercut Of Vintage ‘Star Wars’ Toy Commercials From 1977 [video].
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: There are two more classes in my Core curriculum on the schedule, both covering critical aspects of screenwriting theory and practice:
Core VII: Theme
Theme is important, but what exactly is it? This 1-week online screenwriting class provides writers a clearer, deeper understanding of theme — what it is, how it functions, and most importantly how to use themes to enrich your stories. Starts November 16. Instructor: SCOTT MYERS.
Your “Theme” class for aspiring screenwriters is not just helpful, it is essential. From the personal attention to the numerous “A-Ha!” moments throughout the class, I was thrilled to simply KEEP LEARNING. How many teachers can boast about that with their students?
Theme = Meaning, and this class = a better shot at longetivity for your students in Hollywood.
— Heather Thompson
Time is a mystery and no more so than in a movie. This 1-week online screenwriting class helps writers develop a cinematic understanding of time and how to use narrative devices like flashbacks, montage, and much more. Starts November 30. Instructor: SCOTT MYERS.
I greatly enjoyed your Core VIII Course on Time and would recommend connecting with you to any screenwriter, whether new, intermediate or advanced. You help us to consider concepts and principles in film that we may have been observing for years but not effectively utilizing in our own writing. You expand on, and clarify these techniques by rolling up your sleeves and digging in deeply…and you get us to dive in and get dirty too. You provide solid thought provoking examples, with scripts and clips, that makes learning the concepts fun and lasting. You do all this with an easy, non-dogmatic, approach that comes from genuinely wanting to help other screenwriters. I have a library full of screenwriting books and scripts, and I’ve been to several screenwriting seminars with the ‘tops’ in the ‘how to write a screenplay’ marketplace. Your accessible and humble style (though you are a produced screenwriter unlike so many of the ‘gurus’) sets you apart from the others and keeps me coming back to your website on a nearly daily basis. You are truly appreciated and no matter what success level I achieve in writing, I plan on pointing other writers to you as someone who has helped me on this journey.
Mike Kearon
This cycle of Core classes, eight in all, has been fantastic. Great message board discussions, teleconferences, writing exercises, and lots of bonding between participating writers.
So as you close out 2015, why not do yourself a favor and upgrade your understanding of screenwriting theory with either/both of these excellent courses?
As always, I look forward to work with you!