Welcome to GITS!
It’s the beginning of the month and you know what that means? Yes, it’s Welcome to Kitty City time!
Now that we are sufficiently disturbed by wasting precisely one minute and forty-nine seconds of our lives watching that video, I think I’ve set just the right mood to give a shout-out to all you screenwriters, TV writers, novelists, short story writers, poets, comic book writers, graphic novelists, memoir writers, gift card writers, writers on the storm…
Whoever you are, you are welcome here at GITS!
For these monthly welcome posts, I like to spotlight a few things about the site you may not know about.
First off, since September 2011, GoIntoTheStory has been the official screenwriting blog of the Black List. What is the Black List?
THE BLACK LIST is a snapshot of the collective taste of the people who develop, produce, and release theatrical feature films in the Hollywood studio system and the mainstream independent system.
An annual list of Hollywood’s most liked unproduced screenplays published on the second Friday of December each year, THE BLACK LIST began in 2005 as a survey with contributions from 75 film studio and production company executives. In 2011, over 300 executives contributed their opinion.
Since its inception, more than 125 past Black List scripts have become theatrically released feature films grossing over $11 billion in total and winning 20 Academy Awards from over 80 nominations.
It’s been a happy partnership primarily because of the synergy of what we are both about: spotlighting great screenwriters and their scripts, promoting good screenwriting practices, and pushing to see better stories and better movies. You can read press accounts about the Black List here.
In that vein, one of the first ideas I had when starting this site was to use it to aggregate primary source material in the form of interviews and features on screenwriters. Over the years, I have accumulated hundreds and hundreds of them:
GITS Q&A Interviews: Exclusive interviews with industry insiders including numerous professional screenwriters.
How They Write a Script: Extended interview excerpts about the craft from notable screenwriters.
Interviews — Audio: Audio interviews with professional screenwriters.
Interviews — Video: Video interviews with professional screenwriters.
Interviews — Written: Written interviews with professional screenwriters.
Screenwriting 101: Lessons from professional screenwriters about the craft.
Use the links to immerse yourself in the mindset of professional screenwriters. Or if you just need a quick lift, click through to find some words of wisdom or inspiration.
Speaking of inspiration, May 16th will be the 4th birthday of this humble blog. If you have any ideas how we should celebrate, please let me know in comments.
I can also tell you this: On Monday, May 21st, I will be making a special announcement about an idea I have been working on that is so counterintuitive and flat-out crazy, I think it just might work. All I can say is every single person in the GITS community is going to be a winner. Let that be your tease.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Wednesday, May 16 — GITS 4th Birthday
Monday, May 21 — Special Announcement
At this point, I’d like to invite each and every one of you to join me in comments!
* If you are new to the community, please introduce yourself. Tell us about your background as a writer, filmmaker, movie lover or creative person.
* If you have been a short or long-time lurker, come on in, the water’s fine! Let us hear about your aspirations as a writer.
* If you have a movie, screenwriting, TV writing or related blog, feel free to post the URL and I will add it to my Friends list.
* If you have been involved in the production of a movie, a short or feature length film, and it is hosted on YouTube or Vimeo, why don’t you post that link, then provide some background information and I’ll post as part of our ongoing Movies You Made series.
And as further enticement, if you post something in comments, I will provide you with your very own specialized splash of creative juju!
So once again, welcome. Thanks for continuing to support this site. And I look forward to learning more about you!
What better way to celebrate today than with Bret McKenzie and Kermit singing “Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets movie