Go Into The Story

The studios thought they could handle a strike…

They might end up sparking a revolution.

Interview (Part 3): Lindsay Michel

My interview with 2022 Black List writer for her script Caravan.

Creating Character-Driven Stories

Join me for a one-day online seminar on Saturday, August 26.

Screenwriting Tip: The Low-Down on High Concept

A high concept screenplay must have a clean, simple, and basic idea.

Page One: “Fun with Dick and Jane” (1977)

Screenplay by David Giler & Jerry Belson & Mordecai Richler, story by Gerald Gaiser

SAG-AFTRA And WGA Fears About AI Are Warranted

Christopher Nolan compares entertainment companies and AI to the ethical dilemmas nuclear scientists faced in Oppenheimer.

Interview (Part 2): Lindsay Michel

My interview with 2022 Black List writer for her script Caravan.

Script To Screen: “The Searchers”

From the 1956 movie The Searchers, screenplay by Frank S. Nugent, novel by Allan Le May.

Screenwriting 101: Michael Ballin and Thomas Aguilar

“You should always have that ‘Break-in-case-of-emergency script.’ The thing that you can turn to when, ‘Everything’s on fire, I haven’t got…

Page One: “From Russia with Love” (1963)

Screenplay by Richard Maibaum, adapted by Johanna Harwood

Deadline’s Strike Talk Podcast

Episode 11: Billy Ray talks about divisions within the AMPTP companies.

Interview (Part 1): Lindsay Michel

My interview with 2022 Black List writer for her script Caravan.

Barbie Goes on a Hero’s Journey

That’s Margot Robbie’s take on the Protagonist in Barbie …

On Writing

“Now you may ask, what if my characters won’t talk to me? What if they won’t even visit? The only answer is to think and think some more…

Page One: “From Here to Eternity” (1953)

Screen play by Daniel Taradash, based upon the novel by James Jones

Cartoonishly Evil Hollywood Execs Never Miss an Opportunity for Bad PR

Via The Daily Beast:

Script To Screen: “Se7en”

The final moments of the climactic scene in the movie Se7en (1995), written by Andrew Kevin Walker, one of the most powerful cinematic…

Interview: Erik Jendresen

A Creative Screenwriting article featuring reflections by the co-writer of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning (Part 1).

Wall Street reacts to SAG-AFTRA joining WGA strike

“Entertainment Stocks Slump as Hollywood Strike Widens to SAG-AFTRA”

How to raise the stakes in the plot?

One suggestion: Focus on and elevate the Protagonist’s psychological stakes.

Script To Screen: “Sex, Lies, and Videotape”

Anybody who cares about the indie film world should hold the 1989 movie Sex, Lies, and Videotape in high esteem. During the 80s when the…

Interview: Greta Gerwig

A conversation with the writer-director of the movie Barbie.

Page One: “Frequency” (2000)

Written by Toby Emmerich

Disney CEO Bob Iger opens mouth. Inserts foot.

“There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic.”

Script To Screen: “Shakespeare in Love”

The final scenes from the 1998 movie Shakespeare in Love, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.