Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 302nd installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.

10 Reasons Why 2017 Has Been the Best Summer Movie Season of the Century.

Hollywood sticks to the script: Diversity, on screen and behind the camera, remains elusive.

Lionsgate Launches Spanish-Language Subscription Streaming Service.

As Media Companies Pivot to Video, Will They Actually Make It Work?

AMC Theatres Slashes Costs to Deal With Box Office Slump, Stock Plunges 25 Percent.

Studios Fight Back Against Withering Rotten Tomatoes Scores.

Big Budgets, Television, and the New Indie Paradigm.

Megan Ellison’s Big Hollywood Gamble: a Movie Studio for Grown-Ups.

Megan Ellison: Can Hollywood’s Millennial Mogul Make It as a Studio Head?

Broad Green Shuts Production: 15 Layoffs, 50 Projects In Turnaround As Founders Regroup.

10 Toronto Film Festival Documentaries That Could Shake Up the Oscars.

The Pessimism of ‘Atomic Blonde’.

‘Dunkirk’: A Historian Reveals What Christopher Nolan Got Right, and It’s Almost Everything.

Christopher Nolan Wanted to Shoot ‘Dunkirk’ Without a Script.

‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Gets a New Writer.

Why ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ Got Retitled ‘Live Die Repeat’.

How ‘Sharknado’ Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President.

The Lost Projects: 15 Movies Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, and More Auteurs Never Made.

Mark Duplass’ 9 Secrets to Launching a Career in Indie Film.

How The Duplass Brothers Are Bringing Their Indie Creativity To Brands.

Is Gillian Robespierre Our Generation’s Nora Ephron?

Steven Soderbergh Is Back to Destroy Hollywood.

Steven Soderbergh Has A Game-Changing Plan to Give Directors the Creative Control They Deserve.

Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey-Funded Writers Lab Selects Projects.

Two Writers Did a Hilarious Deconstruction of Horror Movies On Twitter.

The Mystery of L.A. Billboard Diva Angelyne’s Real Identity Is Finally Solved.

Michael Eisner’s Tornante Completes Acquisition of English Soccer Club Portsmouth.

Writers Guild of America Adds Digital News Award.

So Long, Soho House! Why Hollywood Players Are Working in Offbeat Offices.

What’s So Hard About Casting Indian Actors in Indian Roles?

Critic’s Notebook: Revenge of the Broadcast Networks?

Why We Despise Cable Providers.

How the ‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners Found their Footing.

HBO’s Slavery Drama ‘Confederate’ Faces Minefield of “Fundamentally Problematic” Issues.

‘Game of Thrones’ Script Reportedly Among Data Stolen in Major HBO Hack.

HBO Hack: New Threat Promises Emails to Be Released Sunday.

Discovery to Acquire Scripps Networks for $14.6 Billion.

MSNBC Has a Star Moment at Politicon.

Amazon’s eating the media, too.

‘Karate Kid’ TV Sequel, Starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, a Go at YouTube Red.

Apple TV Gets Live TV and DVR.

Reddit Has $1.8 Billion Valuation After Chat-Room Site Banks $200 Million in Funding.

Spotify Surpasses 60 Million Subscribers.

Pandora Shares Rise on Financial Results.

SoundCloud Nearing Lifeline Deal With Private Equity Firms.

Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’: The Untold Story of Video Star Trevor Wilson’s Fascinating Life & Tragic Death.

Dystopian Books Are Everywhere This Year.

Sam Shepard’s last New York Times interview.

Listen: How to Tell a Story With Alan Alda.

Listen: Scriptnotes (#311).

Watch: The Endless Night: A Valentine to Film Noir.

Watch: David Lynch’s Comic-Con short film.

Watch: Learn How Joss Whedon Approaches Story, Writing & Directing in 10 Minutes.

Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week

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You can do this through Screenwriting Master Class.

Perhaps all you need is a 4-week rewrite workshop to add more depth to a couple of characters in your script and polish the overall dialogue.

Maybe you have gotten through a few drafts of your story, but you need to do a page 1 rewrite.

You could have already worked out your story and want guidance during the first draft process.

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Maybe you are a beginner looking to learn the essentials of screenwriting and end up with a finished screenplay.

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Since launching SMC in 2010, Tom Benedek and I have worked with writers of all backgrounds and interests in the context of numerous private script workshops. Here are testimonials from two:

“Working with Scott in SMC’s private workshop was an invaluable experience. The private workshop gave me the attention I needed to address my script’s problem. I was so impressed with the quality of his teaching, the way the course was structured and the interactive process. In the end, not only did Scott help me solve my character problem, he elevated my script as a whole. He is a wonderful mentor and I learned a lot about the craft of screenwriting.” — Gladys Stone, screenwriter of “Tulio” (Semifinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition)

“Working with Scott in a private workshop arrangement through SMC greatly accelerated my screenwriting knowledge and craftsmanship. Scott is a most dynamic, gifted and generous educator. He offered a holistic, character-driven approach to story that helped bring out my best as a writer. The flexible syllabus of the mentorship invites exploration of creative impulses without fear of losing direction or purpose. The script on which Scott consulted placed in the top one percent of the 2011 AFF screenwriting competition and has opened industry doors. Most importantly the SMC has cemented lasting self confidence in my abilities as a writer.” — Gyan Alexander, screenwriter of “Convinced” (Seminfinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition)

People who have done private script workshops through Screenwriting Master Class include professional screenwriters, best-selling non-fiction authors, playwrights, and novelists, as well as beginning, intermediate and advanced writers.

One popular approach: Combine Prep: From Concept to Outline, Pages I: The First Draft, and Pages II: Rewriting Your Script enabling you to take a story from its inception all the way through final polish — all with a knowledgeable mentor.

Here are three big reasons to consider an SMC private script workshop:

• Writing a screenplay involves making thousands of choices about characters, plot, theme and so forth. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have feedback from a professional to help steer you through the process enabling you to avoid huge story pitfalls that could derail your scripting process?
• Writing a screenplay is a thankless, lonely job. Wouldn’t it be great to have the ongoing support of a professional to enable you to overcome inevitable story problems and emotional downswings?
• Writing a screenplay is a mystery. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to learn proven principles and practices from a professional with years of experience working in the entertainment industry, an approach to writing you can use again and again on your future stories?

For more information, contact us here.