Saturday Hot Links
Time again for another installment of Saturday Hot Links.
Today: The Curiosity Mars Rover Edition!
July 2012: The hottest month in U.S. history.
38 ways the film industry is failing today.
The seven genres of Russia’s literary giants.
Infographic: Hollywood budgets.
Billy Crystal sells book on aging for $4M.
A brief history of Olympic defectors.
Bill & Ted to rock and roll again.
Six reasons why women like to drink.
1938 ballot for the Screen Writers’ Guild executive board.
We are very near the end of civilization as we know it.
Related: Surprising group of screenwriters considered to adapt “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The decision must be torture!
Semi-related: Women on the rise among the world’s top-earning authors.
Is this the list of the greatest films ever?
13 brazen Harry Potter knock-offs around the world.
Deleted scene from The Dark Knight Rises.
Spider found living inside woman’s ear canal.
50 greatest indie horror films.
Why cats land on their feet.
Crowdfunding: Getting beyond your family and friends.
Does peeing on a jellyfish sting really help?
Here’s a guy who has written 10 screenplay pages a day for 4 years. So quit your whining!
D/F Management to merge with Circle Of Confusion.
Happy National Book Lovers Day!
10 amazing recycled houses.
11 of the craziest events in Hwood history.
McSweeney’s: Beyond the 4th wall.
The Hollywood Bowl salutes the original scores of Pixar.
How to write a Malcolm Gladwell book.
Secret screening of The Master draws raves.
Warner Bros. moves The Great Gatsby to summer 2013.
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch banned commercial use of his music in will.
Infographic: The Business of Bond.
A Google maps tour of famous author’s home.
Just what you need: The Avengers cologne set.
11 offbeat college essay topics.
Bob Hoskins retires from acting after Parkinson’s diagnosis.
How Magic Johnson convinced Peter Guber to join his L.A. Dodgers bid.
The Shining to return to U.K. theaters.
Learn how a Slushie machine works.
5 films that could be sleeper-hits this summer.
Psychology: You are (probably) wrong about you.
Moonrise Kingdom’s unconventional path to the Oscars.
5 geniuses who renounced their work.
“Arrested Development” begins production on a new season.
The 10 sexiest movies ever made [video].
Do the films of Christopher Nolan owe a debt to video games?
Self-publishing success stories.
TotalFilm: 50 moves offensive movie characters.
10 incredible perfect crimes.
Roman Coppola to curate screenplay competition.
10 lost treasures which could make you very rich.
Unforgiven: 20 years old.
How to write a Malcolm reader book.
What to do when your iPad or iPhone gets stolen.
Hollywood Bowl honors the music of Pixar.
Elite colleges transform online higher education.
Mexican B.O. up 12%.
Self-publishing success stories.
Aaron Sorkin befriends dude who made “Sorkinisms” viral video.
10 lost treasures that could make you very rich.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Two new classes begin this Monday. I will be teaching a 1-week course called Create A Compelling Protagonist. One of the keys to a screenplay’s success is a lead character who grabs a reader’s attention and keeps it from FADE IN to FADE OUT. But how to craft a truly compelling Protagonist? This class goes beyond the typical advice — Make him sympathetic… Give her a flaw — and provides an approach you can use with every story you write to dig deep, discover and develop dynamics within your Protagonist to make them worth writing… and reading.
Also on Monday, Tom Benedek launches something for writers interested in television: Write Your Own Original TV Pilot Script. Did you know that screenwriters are getting repped nowadays by managers and agents based on 30 or 60 page spec pilot scripts? In this 10 week online writing workshop, you will develop and write an original TV pilot script you can use to sell yourself to Hollywood. The workshop includes weekly teleconferences with Tom, lectures, pilot script case studies, forum feedback 24/7, and exclusive interviews with TV writers, producers and showrunners.
To learn more about Tom’s class, go here.
For my course, go here.
As always, we look forward to the opportunity to work with you!