Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 238th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
Cannes 2016: Hot Titles at the Cannes Film Festival Market.
Cannes 2016: How Amazon Studios Became the New Star of Cannes.
Cannes 2016: Why Cannes Programmers Are Stubborn About The Future Of Cinema — And Potentially Right.
Cannes 2016: 5 Burning Questions About the Cannes Film Festival.
Cannes 2016: Cannes Film Market Faces Pressure From Digital Giants, Lack of Bankable Stars.
Cannes 2016: 11 Potential Breakthrough Actors and Filmmakers to Check Out at This Year’s Festival.
Cannes 2016: Cannes Film Market Puts on Its Virtual Reality Headset.
Cannes 2016: How ‘Iron Man’ and Superhero Movies Are Causing Headaches at Cannes.
Cannes 2016: Why Hollywood Studios Are Squeezing Out Indie Distributors.
Cannes 2016: French Producers Plot World Domination.
Cannes 2016: Participant’s David Linde on China, Netflix and That Amblin Deal.
Cannes 2016: Amazon Studios’ Roy Price Comes To Cannes With Momentum Of Five Films Playing The Festival.
Cannes 2016: China Conversation Makes Stars of Co-Producers.
The Surprising Failure of Midnight Special: In a Spring of Superheroes, Why Did the Best Movie Lose?
6 Ways to Write a Marvel Movie, According to the Screenwriters of ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
What Will The Marvel Cinematic Universe Look Like in Twenty Years?
Marvel’s Future: What Might Be Coming In Phase 4?
Where Are the Latino Superheroes in Avengers Films?
Why Hollywood Is Mad About Manga Despite ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Controversy.
Atari Classic Arcade Games Centipede & Missile Command Headed For Big Screen.
Why Movie Stars Still Exist Despite Their Lack of Box Office Appeal.
Why Peter Jackson Sees Screening Room As Cinema’s Savior That Can Put $8B Into Film Ecosystem.
If nerds won the war for pop culture, then why are they so angry all the time?
How Hollywood Studios and Networks Could End Up in Court Over Female Director Discrimination.
Wanted: A New, Diverse A-List Amid Foreign Money.
These Movies Transport us to Different Cities Without Ever Leaving L.A.
Film and TV workers in North Carolina worried by effects of HB2.
Writers Guild Seeking ‘Fair Share’ of Media Conglomerate Profits of $49 Billion.
41 Hollywood Producers Explain the Weird, Personal Origins of Their Company Names.
Wanda Cinema Line Paying $5.7 Billion for Movie Assets.
Movie Studios Are Adding 10-Second Teasers to Trailers Because of Lazy Millennials.
How to Write a Thrilling Action Scene.
The Mystery of the Dead Hollywood Screenwriter Whose Hands Were Never Found.
Feature on Frances Stein writer-director-actor-editor PJ Woodside.
How Amy Heckerling Got Out Of Director Jail By Making The Films She Wanted To Make.
‘Lethal Weapon’ Wunderkind (and Party Boy) Shane Black Is Back … and Still Looking for Action.
Max Landis Is Mad As Hell & Changing Screenwriting Landscape.
‘Star Wars’ Director Rian Johnson Claims the 20 Percent He’s Paying Agents Is Unlawful.
Rian Johnson Was Developing A World War II Spy Movie & Murakami Adaptation Before ‘Star Wars’.
Study: Poor Writing Skills Are Costing Businesses Billions.
Two Industry Assistants Team to Launch Private Membership Club Gatekeepers.
This Study Shows that Gender Disparity Isn’t Much Better on Indie Films.
Richard Brody (New Yorker): The State of Independent Film in 2016.
Niche Film Distributors Explore Alternative Ways to Grab Audiences.
Why Broadcast TV Advertising Is in Trouble.
TV Is Dead? Hardly, as Upfronts Defy Gravity in Unexpected $9B Cash Grab.
What the Hell Are TV Upfronts: A Brief Explainer.
Upfront 2016: Kids’ TV-Ad Market Is Heating Up.
TV Upfronts: The Biggest Surprises (So Far).
Network TV Carnage: What’s Canceled, What’s Renewed and What’s New.
Which Canceled Broadcast Show Should Be Saved?
Two Anonymous Hollywood Agents Talk (Mostly) Smack About the Networks.
Showrunner Roundtable: 12 A-List Writers Talk TV Business.
TV Producer of the Year Greg Berlanti: “I Still Fight About Everything”.
‘The Exorcist’, ‘Lethal Weapon’, ‘Making History’, ‘Pitch’, ‘The Mick’ & ‘APB’ Get Fox Series Orders.
TV Writers Petition For Tax Credits To Hire Women & Minorities.
Africa Channel Expands Original Programming Slate.
Psychologists Have Identified What Turns a Casual TV Session Into Binge-Watching.
Why We Love Watching TV Characters Engage With Pop Culture.
Whatever next: How plot grips us, from Dickens to Line of Duty.
BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Complete List.
Damon Lindelof on Why He Feels “Liberated” Writing ‘The Leftovers’ Finale.
ESPN, Verizon Settle Suit Over Skinny Bundle.
Are Skinny Bundles All Hype or the Future of TV Delivery?
Adult Swim Revives Samurai Jack As Network Courts Linear, Online Viewers.
Digital Video Is Now More Popular Than Primetime TV.
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Explains Why The Independent Film Theatrical Model Doesn’t Work.
Ted Sarandos On Netflix’s ‘Bright’ Feature Future.
Netflix Is Getting Into Reality TV With Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Ultimate Beastmaster’.
‘Star Wars Show’ to Serve Weekly Blast of News, Interviews.
Fullscreen Reorganizes Into 3 Divisions, Changes Name to Fullscreen Media.
Amazon Takes on YouTube and Others, Opening Video Platform to All Creators.
New Uber Promotion Lets Passengers Stream Amazon Shows During Luxury Ride.
How Facebook became so profitable.
Web Video Redefines Itself as TV to Win Bigger Slice of Ad Pie.
14 Top Digital Execs Dish on Biggest Concerns, Favorite Viral Videos and TV Envy.
Twitter Pitches ‘Creative Toolkit’ to Entertainment Industry.
Spotify Launches 12 Original Music-Themed Shows, Including Tim Robbins Mockumentary Series.
Lollapalooza reveals 2016 daily schedule and set times.
Disney Folds Infinity Console Video Game Business, Takes $147 Million Charge.
The World’s First Crowdsourced Sci-fi Novel Isn’t Good.
US indie bookshop numbers soar.
Get Ready for the World to Be Covered in Electronic Ink.
Comic Creator Darwyn Cooke Dies Following Fight With Cancer.
Film Crit Hulk Smash: THE REVENANT, MAD MAX, And The Nexus Of Cinematic Language.
Scriptnotes: Episode 249.
Watch: These are the most expensive movies ever made.
Watch: The Films of Spike Jonze.
Watch: Star Wars Meets James Bond in Spectacular Fan-Made Opening Title Sequence.
Finally, we are very near the end of civilization as we know it.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: As I often tell people, you can learn everything you need about the craft of screenwriting by following this mantra: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages.
If you immerse yourself in the world of cinema…
If you are persistent, patience, and productive…
If you push yourself every step of the way…
You can do it on your own.
If, however, you want to learn from experts, get extensive professional feedback on your writing, and put your writing skills into hyperdrive, consider Screenwriting Master Class.
In just over 5 years, Tom Benedek and I have worked with over 1000 writers. Our alumni have set up projects at major studios including Paramount, Warner Bros., and Legendary Pictures, TV networks including ABC, AMC, HBO, and USA, and signed with top agencies including CAA, The Gersh Agency, UTA, Verve, and WME, as well as managers including Circle of Confusion, Grandview, Lee Stobby, Madhouse Entertainment, Mosaic, and MXN Entertainment.
Here is our upcoming roster of classes and workshop through the month of June:
May 16: Craft: Write a Worthy Nemesis
presented by Scott Myers
May 23: Craft: Writing Scenes — Sorkin to Tarantino
presented by Tom Benedek
May 30: Craft: The Coen Brothers and the Craft of Storytelling
presented by Scott Myers
June 6: Prep: From Concept to Outline
presented by Tom Benedek
June 13: Pages II: Rewriting Your Script
presented by Scott Myers
June 20: Pages I: Writing Your First Draft
presented by Tom Benedek
June 27: Core I: Plot
presented by Scott Myers
Plus we offer private script workshops if you prefer one-on-one programs.
You can do this on your own, but if you want to use online education to up your skills, consider Screenwriting Master Class.
We look forward to the opportunity to work with you!