Go Into The Story

Go Into The Story Interview: Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Character Type: Advocate

“The Advocate taps into powerful psychological and emotional strains at work in our collective psyche. The hope there are good people out…

Interview (Video): M. Night Shyamalan

An hour-plus conversation with the writer-director of Knock at the Cabin.

Page One: “A Dangerous Method” (2011)

Screenplay Christopher Hampton, play by Christopher Hampton, book by John Kerr

Hollywood Tales

“The Conversation was an original screenplay written probably in the mid-sixties. It’s difficult for me sometimes to place these scripts…

Interview (Part 6): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Great Scene: “The Silence of the Lambs”

Two flashbacks to Clarice as a young girl are critical to the narrative. Plus, the script for a third flashback which was never shot.

Video: 10 Screenwriting Tips from Ruben Östlund

Insights into the craft from the writer-director of Triangle of Sadness.

Page One: “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019)

Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, inspired by the article “Can You Say… Hero?” by Tom Junod, based on the work of Fred…

Reader Question: How to convey a character’s emotional state in scene description?

How much latitude does a screenwriter have to editorialize in scene description?

Interview (Part 5): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Great Scene: “The Shawshank Redemption”

Red’s parole board scenes — three of them — are their own mini-story.

Writing and the Creative Life: 4 Tips On Creativity From The Creator Of Calvin & Hobbes

I saw this article in Fast Company a while back and in reading it, I realized how important comic strips have been in my adult life…

Page One: “42” (2013)

Written by Brian Helgeland

Writing on Assignment

In Hollywood, it’s known as an O.W.A.. In the film school at DePaul University, it’s called SCWR 305 405.

Interview (Part 4): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Great Scene: “Shakespeare In Love”

A revelation scene from the Academy Award winning screenplay and movie Shakespeare In Love (1998), written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.

The Business of Screenwriting: Chilled Whine

On March 7, 1988, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. It lasted 155 days and is the longest work stoppage in Guild history…

Page One: “28 Weeks Later” (2007)

Screenplay by Rowan Joffe & Juan Carlos Fresnadillo & Enrique López Lavigne & Jesús Olmo

High Concept vs. Strong Story Concept

What should you be looking for when generating story ideas? A conversation I had in one of my recent online classes.

Interview (Part 3): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Character Type: Addict

“The struggle between self-control and the pull of the addiction. It represents conflict on a fundamental level, powerful physical needs…

Great Scene: “Schindler’s List”

There are many scenes from the 1993 film Schindler’s List that are seared into my memory, but perhaps the most haunting one involves the…

Page One: “27 Dresses” (2008)

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Spec Script Deal: “Undo”

New Line Cinema acquires the action thriller spec script “Undo” written by Will Simmons. Via Deadline: