Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 188th installment of Saturday Hot Links.
Cannes 2015: Full List of Winners.
‘Late Show’ Writer Gives Inside Account of David Letterman’s Goodbye.
‘Inside Out,’ Pixar’s New Movie From Pete Docter, Goes Inside the Mind.
Why Pete Docter’s ‘Inside Out’ Was So Tough to Make Into Must-See Pixar.
Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Tracking for $60 Million Debut.
The 30 Most Underappreciated American Movies of The 21st Century So Far.
‘Grace of Monaco’ Writer Defends Harvey Weinstein, “Catastrophe” Film During Lifetime Premiere.
A History Of The Term ‘Chick Flick’ And How It Marginalizes Female Filmmakers.
Editorial: How the Original ‘Star Wars’ Redefined the Blockbuster.
The Secret History of Ultimate Marvel, the Experiment That Changed Superheroes Forever.
The science behind Netflix’s first major redesign in four years.
Backlash Brewing Against Binge TV as ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Creator Speaks Out.
George R.R. Martin Bows Out of ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6.
Ontario Amends Foreign Film Tax Credit Cut for Hollywood.
The 25 Best Drama Schools for a Master of Fine Arts.
Hulu Getting Rid of Hulu Plus.
Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer and Comedy Actress A-List in Raunchy, R-Rated Roundtable.
Cary Fukunaga Exits Adaptation Of Stephen King’s ‘It’ Over Budget Cuts.
TV In Memoriam: 17 Characters We Lost in 2015 From Killings, Exits and Recastings.
Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: Letterman’s Sign Comes Down From Broadway.
Jon Stewart, Iraq War Critic, Runs a Program That Helps Veterans Enter TV.
Hollywood Gender Imbalance, Even if Suspect, May Be Difficult to Challenge.
A Gender Quake in the Film World.
Hollywood Bracing for ACLU Gender Probe, Possible Subpoenas.
The Producer’s Predicament: Gender and Diversity Issues and Bloated Budgets.
Female Students Studying Animation in Increasing Numbers, but Future Uncertain for Grads.
‘Serial’ Seasons 2 and 3 Get Premiere Dates.
15 Essential Buster Keaton Films You Need To Watch.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and Buster Keaton’s ‘The General’: Together at Last.
How the Long Take Died a Death by 1,000 Cuts.
Russian Box Office Remained Resilient in 2014 Despite Economic Woes.
5 Times ‘San Andreas’ Made California’s Chief Earthquake Scientist Laugh Out Loud.
New Documentary Planned About George Miller’s Ill-Fated Justice League.
6 Filmmaking Tips From Brad Bird.
‘Jaws’ Returning to Theaters for 40th Anniversary.
How Fury Road Debunks Tomorrowland.
Disney’s ‘Tomorrowland’ Failure Is Not About Audiences Rejecting Originality.
10 New ‘Tomorrowland’ Character and Behind the Scenes Details.
‘Tomorrowland’ Exposes Hollywood’s Originality Problem.
Disneyland Celebrates 60 Years With Three New Attractions.
The 9 Best Music Documentaries On Netflix.
Oscar-Winning Makeup Artist Rick Baker Announces Retirement, Says Industry Is All About “Cheap and Fast”.
Glossary of TV Writer Jargon.
Periscope Piles Up 380 Years’ Worth of Broadcasts in Just 3 Months.
Hollywood Studios Sued for Recycling Film Soundtracks Too Much.
What Movies Nixon Saw and When He Saw Them.
Snapchat Hires Fox Veteran Marcus Wiley for Original Programming.
Hollywood’s Dog TV Show Explosion: Inside the $60 Billion Canine Industry.
Attention, Filmmakers: Here’s How to Make a Million Dollar Movie for Thousands.
‘The Shining’ 35th Anniversary: Cast and Crew Talk Kubrick, Ghosts and Conspiracy Theories.
‘Fight Club’s’ Twisted Mastermind: Chuck Palahniuk on God, Men Vs. Women, and ‘Fight Club 2’.
Universal Pictures to restore 15 classic silent films.
‘Point Break’ Remake Highlights a Problem with Today’s Blockbuster Films & No, It’s Not the Story.
HBO Now Coming to Google Play and Chromecast.
Can a New Class of Billionaire Make a Mark on Hollywood?
Ben Stiller Pays Tribute to Late Mother Anne Meara.
Famed ‘A Beautiful Mind’ mathematician John Nash, wife, killed in N.J. Turnpike crash.
Black List Table Reads: The Other Side (Part 3)
Chicks Who Script: Episode 42 (Jason Hellerman)
Scriptnotes: Episode 199.
John August: 8 Common Mistakes Made by New Screenwriters.
Geoff LaTulippe: Let’s Talk a Little Bit About “Write What You Know”.
Michael J. Martinez: A look at outlining in Excel.
Doug Richardson: Being Exceptional — Hustle and Show.
Chuck Wendig: How Mad Max: Fury Road Turns Your Writing Advice Into Roadkill.
Jack Lemmon talks about Marilyn Monroe & Billy Wilder’s ‘Some Like it Hot’ [video].
Watch Actresses Read Ridiculously Sexist Casting Calls Out Loud [video].
Watch: Patton Oswalt’s ‘Deleted Scene’ From ‘Mad Max’ Gives [video].
Watch: Deleted Animated Sequence By Pixar From ‘Tomorrowland’ [video].
Watch: 3-Minute ‘The Wire’ Tautology Supercut [video].
Watch: Here Are the First 8 Minutes of Cameron Crowe’s Aloha [video].
David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ Cast Spills Season 3 Secrets [video].
The Shining: What are the Differences Between Book and Movie [video].
Finally this Short Film Was Shot on the Last Batch of Fuji Film [video].
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: If you’re ready to prep a story or primed to go to script, I’ve got two online writing workshops geared for you:
Prep: From Concept to Outline: This 6-week online workshop guides you through the story development process from concept to outline.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
A proven, professional approach to prep-writing: From a Protagonist Character Treatment to a Master Brainstorming List, Ten Major Plotline Points to Narrative Throughline.
COURSE DETAILS
- Six lectures to guide you through the prep-writing process
- 24/7 online forum discussions moderated by instructor
- Weekly writing assignments to develop and build your story
- Instructor and class feedback
- Due dates to motivate you to write and post assignments
- A weekly teleconference with instructor and class members
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
Screenwriters, TV writers, novelists, and playwrights who want to develop their story to an outline enabling them to have the confidence to pound out a first draft.
“The Prep class has given me a set of practical tools to use to take the bare glimmer of a concept to outline in six weeks.”
— James Tichenor
Start Date: Monday, June 8.
For more information, go here.
Pages I: Writing the First Draft: There is only one rule about a first draft: “Get the damn thing done.” In this 10-week online workshop, you will use a series of lectures and weekly writing assignments to pound out pages and push you from FADE IN to FADE OUT.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
A professional approach to writing a first draft, everything from hitting deadlines to constructive critique, how to handle page notes to finding the motivation to write even when you don’t want to, and much more.
COURSE DETAILS
- One written lecture posted each week
- 24/7 Online Forum Q&As moderated by instructor
- Page-writing assignments with instructor and class comments
- Due dates to motivate you to write and post pages
- A weekly teleconference with instructor and class members
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
Screenwriters who will benefit from the structure of an online class to encourage them to start and finish a complete screenplay draft.
“Pages I: The First Draft is the best screenwriting workshop I’ve ever taken, hands down.”
— Valli Leigh
Start Date: June 22, 2015
For more information, go here.
Many writers benefit from the structure of a writing workshop to encourage them through their story-crafting process. Plus in both of these classes, you receive the benefit of feedback and support from your peers and myself. Finally, you not only work your way through your story, you also learn proven principles and practices you may adopt and adapt on all future writing projects.
If you think either of these workshops would help you and your creative process, consider them. As always, I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!