Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 108th installment of Saturday Hot Links!
Today: It’s “The Simpsons” Gets Renewed for Season 26 Best Moments Edition.
“The Simpsons” renewed for 26th season.
“The Simpsons” to kill off a character this season.
Speaking of notable TV demises, “Breaking Bad”’s Walter White gets an obituary in an Albuquerque newspaper.
Vince Gilligan shares 5 alternate endings for “Breaking Bad.”
10 surprising similarities between “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.”
Stephen Colbert interviews Gilligan [video].
Even more “Breaking Bad”: 7 lessons Hollywood can learn from gamechanging series.
The 10 most-watched TV series finales ever.
Is Gravity a new kind of cinema.
Apple hires cable guy to work on mystery project.
Shakeup at Focus Features.
Analysis of James Schamus being ousted at Focus Features.
More analysis: What’s behind Hollywood’s recent spate of executive firings.
Kill the apostrophe!
6 of the fall’s most intriguing box office face-offs.
5 common money mistakes you are making with your kids.
10 most terrifying films about outer space.
26 Halloween costume ideas from 1887 guide to fancy dress.
10 screenwriting tips from Tony Gilroy.
21 emotions for which there are no English words [infographic].
50 most corrupt cop movies.
Swedish town plans to move itself over 2 miles.
Hollywood’s ‘race problem’ is worse than you think.
Janis Joplin’s last interview rediscovered… then animated [video].
Excerpt from David Thomson’s “Moments That Made the Movies.”
Why are girls losing self-esteem in college.
Update on the movie project “Rodham”.
How to avoid ‘man-sitting.’
Why you need to start paying attention to Irish cinema.
A&E to adapt French zombie series “The Returned.”
50 most outrageous teen comedies.
Guess what? Losing is good for you.
Kevin Smith with his craziest movie pitch ever.
7 things you should know about bourbon.
Alamo Drafthouse scraps plans for Manhattan theater.
An American football kicker executes a brilliant rabona in a college game.
Tom Hanks does a Reddit_AMA.
US nearly detonated an atomic bomb over North Carolina in 1961.
Top 10 indie movies in iTunes store this week.
Richard Branson on the secret to success: Failure.
Who killed the Halloween horror movie.
Watch SNL spoof of “Girls” with Tina Fey [video].
Famous authors favorite first lines from books.
Feature on Matthew Weiner and his TV series “Mad Men.”
12 animal adjectives to bolster your vocabulary.
Seth MacFarlane’s 17 golden rules of filmmaking.
Scientists identify major cause of age-related memory loss.
Producer Cassian Elwes explains independent film financing step by step.
The Fine Brothers just passed 1 billion views.
The 5 people filmmakers need for a tiny skeleton crew.
Dishonest deeds lead to a ‘cheater’s high.’
Analysis of the movie Prisoners.
Football and the fall of Jack Kerouac.
TotalFilm: 50 best movie screenplays.
Best-selling author Tom Clancy dies at the age of 66.
Paramount’s longest tenured employees A.C. Lyles died at the age of 95.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: It’s easy to say, “Writing is rewriting,” but how to actually do it? There is no right way to rewrite and ultimately each of us must figure out our own approach. However the Pages II: Rewriting Your Script workshop has proved to be an effective path for many writers.
Two things. First, the workshop environment provides a structure within which a writer makes measured weekly progress through the rewrite. Feedback from myself and other participants, a combination of written notes and teleconference discussions, can prove invaluable in providing new and different narrative possibilities.
Second, the ten lectures I have written for the workshop represents a proven approach to identify what works and doesn’t work in your present draft, tools to rework the material and sharpen your understanding of characters, themes, plot and pace, a revision outline, and a weekly step by step process for rewriting your script all the way through polishing and editing.
Here is a testimonial about the Pages II workshop:
Scott’s course is superb. He possesses an enviable combination of honesty, bravery and mercy. As long as you are prepared to work hard, this course WILL improve your craftsmanship. I fed a feature through Scott’s dynamo brain and, out the other end is a piece of which I’m intensely proud. If you’re hesitating, stop. You’ll be thankful.” — Russell Simpson
Rewriting is a critical part of the screenwriting craft. No one needs to read a book or take a class to acquire their own process over time. If, however, you feel like you want to jump-start your understanding while also reworking the current draft of one of your original screenplays, consider this workshop.
The next session of Pages II: Rewriting Your Script begins Monday, October 7. For more information or to sign up, go here.
I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.