Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 231st installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
SXSW 2016: The Complete List Of Film Festival 2016 Audience Award Winners.
SXSW 2016: The Best and Worst of the Film Festival.
SXSW 2016: What You Need to Know About the Future of VR.
SXSW 2016: How This Year’s Films Found Their Financing.
Zack Snyder’s Troubled Relationship with Superman and Comics.
‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ Proves Brawn Is Not Enough.
Why ‘Batman v Superman’ Needs to Be a Hit for Warner Bros.
I Just Don’t Like Superhero Movies.
As ‘Divergent’ Trends Downward, Hopes For Post-‘Hunger Games’ Dystopian Teen YA Franchises Look Dour.
‘Allegiant’ Fail: Why YA Movies Dying Is Bad for Everyone.
10 Cloverfield Lane Could Change Movie Franchises.
Hollywood’s Lack of Diversity Is Costing It Millions.
Diverse Films Perform Better at Global Box Office, Study Says.
Critics As Guilty As Hollywood For Lack Of Diversity In Film.
The Age Gap in Romance Films.
WGA West Study Finds Mixed Results on Pay for Women, Minority Writers.
Why Hollywood’s Old Guard Is Slow to Embrace Innovation.
The Outliers Of 2015: Small Movies With Biggest Profits.
“Russian Hollywood” Planned by Studio Lenfilm.
Why Movie Studios Need China to Build More Theaters.
The True Impact Of Women In Islamic Film.
Hollywood v Sean Parker: The Case for Home Movie Services (Opinion).
UTA, VIZ Media to Develop Live Action Versions of Anime, Manga Properties.
Disney Threatens to Boycott Georgia Over Anti-Gay Bill.
WME|IMG Gets $250 Million Softbank Investment at $5.5 Billion Valuation.
Wanda Raises $2.4 Billion for Film Unit That Owns Legendary.
MGM Reports 3rd Straight Year of Record Profits.
Bleacher Report to Get $100 Million From Turner to Expand.
Start Screaming, There’s Another Jacob’s Ladder Coming!
10 Cloverfield Lane: A Hitchcockian Thriller For The 21st Century.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Learning from Stoppard.
These Filmmakers Just Won the Chance to Have Their Short Produced by Kevin Spacey and Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Hot Docs 2016 Announces Full Lineup of 232 Films.
Here’s What Happens When Your Dream Filmmaking Job Ends Up Being a Nightmare.
Man Arrested for Not Returning ‘Freddy Got Fingered’ VHS Rental 14 Years Ago.
The 10 Best Music Biopics Ever Made.
22 Inspiring Spike Lee Quotes About Filmmaking.
Film Inquiry Recommends: 1970’s Films Directed By Women.
The Animation Software Studio Ghibli Use Is Now Being Given Away for Free.
How Two Boys Invented America’s Greatest Superhero.
CBS Renews Eleven Series Including ‘Blue Bloods,’ ‘Survivor’ and ‘Mom’.
10 TV Series That Wouldn’t Exist If It Weren’t for ‘The Larry Sanders Show’.
9 Garry Shandling Writers Who Went on to Huge Success.
The Godfather, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and More Influences on Better Call Saul (and Breaking Bad).
Showtime: The Home of ‘Homeland’ Takes Battle With HBO Overseas and Online.
Binge Nation: 70% of Americans Engage in Marathon TV Viewing.
Why Netflix Is A Better Option For Many R-Rated Movies.
Redbox to Launch Redbox Digital Streaming Service.
Vice Media Traffic Plummets, Underscoring Risky Web Strategy.
Introducing the Winners of the 2016 Whiting Awards.
Apple Music Launches Vice Music Documentary Series.
Microsoft Tries to Understand the Youths With Bot That Tweets Like a Teen.
Lollapalooza reveals 2016 lineup.
Spotify Now Has 30 Million Paying Subscribers.
Apple’s ITunes Overtaken by Streaming Music Services in Sales.
Microsoft deletes ‘teen girl’ AI after it became a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours.
‘Veterans Writing Project:’ Seeking Active Military and Veteran Voices.
The Beginner’s Guide: Abi Morgan, Screenwriter.
Learning Opportunity: Meg LeFauve Storyteller’s Master Class.
Calvin Starnes: So You Wanna Get A Rep.
3rd & Fairfax (WGA West): Episode 20.
Scriptnotes: Episode 242.
Women & Hollywood: Episode 26.
Listen: Flannery O’Connor reads “A Good Man is Hard to Find” [audio].
Watch: The Evolution Of Batman Rises In 10-Minute Retrospective Video [video].
Watch: 13-Minute Video Essay Details The Book Vs. Film Differences In ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ [video].
Watch: The Struggle of Staging: How Hitchcock Blocks a Scene [video].
Watch: “A New Awakening” — Star Wars Episode IV and VII Shot Comparison [video].
Comedian Garry Shandling Dies at 66.
Earl Hamner Jr., Creator of ‘The Waltons,’ Dies at 92.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: If there’s one question I get asked about screenwriting theory more than any other it’s what’s my deal with character archetypes? Here’s your chance to find out with my upcoming Screenwriting Master Class course: Character Development Keys.
It’s a 1-week online class where you do pretty much everything on your own time schedule: download and read lectures, review and post comments on the public forums, upload ideas and optional writing exercises. You want to do that in bed in your pajamas sipping coffee? Be my guest!
There is one teleconference which is live, but I record and upload that, so you can even check that out on your own time, too.
As to the course itself, there are seven lectures written by yours truly:
1: Character Archetypes and Story Structure
2: Protagonist
3: Nemesis
4: Attractor
5: Mentor
6: Trickster
7: Switch Protagonist
The study script for the course: The Dark Knight, screenplay by Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, based on characters created by Bob Kane. If you’re a fan of this movie, that alone is probably reason enough to take this class because you will understand the film in a whole new way, through the lens of character archetypes.
In addition, you will get the opportunity to put the theories you learn into action by workshopping one of your own stories.
And as a bonus: I’ll be presenting a set of character development tools I have assembled over the years to help you dig into characters even further to uncover their unique personalities and voice.
This is a great chance to immerse yourself in what I consider to be one of the most fascinating and helpful ways of approaching character development and indeed, the story-crafting process as a whole: character archetypes.
All of that in only 1-week. The course runs begins Monday, April 4. And again, you can do the entire course in your pajamas! Sucking down caffeine! Devouring chocolate bon bons! The beauty of the online experience!
For more information, go here.
Plus there’s this: For nearly 50% off, you can gain immediate access to the entire content of all 8 Craft classes as well as automatic enrollment in each 1-week Craft course. Check out the Craft Package here.
As always, I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!