Go Into The Story

The Huge, Fast-Growing Audience That Hollywood is Just Ignoring

People over 50 represent a third of the U.S. population and they’re desperate for stories and characters geared to their interests.

Interview (Part 2): Jonathan Levine

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

A Matter of Survival: How the WGA Is Trying to Save Feature Screenwriters

John August and Writers Guild leaders weigh in about the exploitation of feature screenwriters and the contract proposals that would help…

Screenwriting 101: Chris Borrelli

“We always think of us as the writer, and of course the movie, which is sort of step Z, we’re step A. You have to think about the exec who…

“Disturbing Behavior” (1998)

Written by Scott Rosenberg

Interview (Part 1): Jonathan Levine

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Tár”

The entire 6-part series delving into the award-winning drama.

What the Writers Really Fear About AI in Hollywood

The Town podcast conversation with a member of the AI working group in the WGA.

On Writing

“Don’t bludgeon us over the head with description. A line or three about the character is good enough — and it doesn’t need to be purely…

Page One: “The Distinguished Gentleman” (1992)

Screenplay by Marty Kaplan, story by Marty Kaplan and Jonathan Reynolds

Script Analysis: “Tár” — Part 6: Takeaways

A week-long analysis of the screenplay for the award-winning drama. Download. Read. Discuss.

In previous responses, I’ve touched on the theme of control and how innate it is to the…

There is an ancillary theme worth noting: Time. Consider this exchange at the very beginning of the script in which Adam Gopnik is…

So many sides to choose from. How about this?

Lydia: You want to dance the mask, you must service the composer. You gotta sublimate yourself, your ego, and, yes, your identity. You…

Let’s see what I come up with in thinking about the characters in terms of the set of primary…

Protagonist: Lydia. See the Plot response for a detailed analysis of her disintegration journey.

Tár is what I call a Disintegration Story.

Such is the case with Lydia Tár. When we first meet her amidst the glowing introduction by the New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik, followed by her…

As always, one of the first things I did when opening the script for Tár was to see how long it is.

Normally, the opposite is true: Long scripts with shorter run times. For example, The Social Network is 163 pages. Its run time: 2 hours.

Story and Self-Identity

Every story raises this question about the Protagonist: “Who are you?”

Deadline’s Strike Talk Podcast With Billy Ray And Todd Garner

Episode 5: Featured guests independent movie producers Julie Lynn & Bonnie Curtis.

Read ‘The Last Of Us’ Script “Long Long Time”

With an introduction from the episode’s writer Craig Mazin.

Page One: “Disobedience” (2017)

Written by Sebastián Lelio & Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman

“The hard is what makes it great”

Wisdom about writing and creativity from the movie A League of Their Own.

Screenwriting: Alexander Payne on appealing characters vs. sympathetic characters

“I hate when movie people say, ‘Your lead character has to be sympathetic,’ which for them means ‘likable.’ I don’t give a shit about…

Black List Suspends Studio Memberships

Lowers scribes’ fees in support of WGA strike

Interview (Written): Amy Holden Jones

Screenwriter Cole Haddon’s in-depth conversation with writer-director-producer whose credits include Mystic Pizza, Indecent Proposal, and…

Page One: “Die Hard with a Vengeance” (1995)

Written by Jonathan Hensleigh, certain original characters by Roderick Thorp