Go Into The Story

Interview (Part 2): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Great Scene: “Saving Private Ryan”

Captain Miller finally reveals what his job is back home. Some interesting changes from script to screen.

Screenwriting 101: David Hare

“The hardest thing in film is distinguishing between good and bad input. The whole point of writing screenplays is to provide a platform…

Page One: “21 Jump Street” (2012)

Screenplay by Michael Bacall, story by Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill, television series by Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Cannell

Spec Script Deal: “Weapons”

New Line Cinema acquires horror thriller spec script “Weapons” written by Zack Cregger. Via Deadline:

Interview (Part 1): Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

Great Scene: “Rushmore”

What a terrific movie Rushmore (1998) is. Co-written by Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, who also directed the film, it’s a stellar follow-up…

On Writing

“I think there is a tremendous amount of avoidance that goes on while writing. People used to ask me if I got writers block and I’d always…

Page One: “127 Hours” (2010)

Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, book by Aron Ralston

Character Type: Loner

“The thing is, we’ve all experienced loneliness and almost all of us are, by our human nature, social creatures. So when we happen upon a…

Go Into The Story Interview: Sam Boyer

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Great Scene: “Rounders”

A scene from the 1998 movie Rounders, written by David Levien and Brian Koppelman. IMDb plot summary:

Interview (Video): Charlotte Wells

A conversation with the writer-director of Aftersun.

Page One: “12 Angry Men” (1957)

Screenplay by Reginald Rose

Character Type: Visionary

“They can see into the future… or think they can. They perceive possibilities when others see only walls. Often the power of their…

Interview (Part 6): Sam Boyer

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Great Scene: “Repo Man”

The cult classic Repo Man (1984), written and directed by Alex Cox, has many memorable scenes. I want to feature the final scene in the…

Interview (Video): Sarah Polley

A conversation with the writer-director of Women Talking.

Page One: “Bros” (2022)

Written by Billy Eichner & Nicholas Stoller

Interview (Part 5): Sam Boyer

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Writing and the Creative Life: 19 Daily Habits Of Artists…

Let go of your idea of “perfect”… Allow yourself to have fun… When in doubt, ask for help… Be prepared to find inspiration in mundane…

Page One: “Triangle of Sadness” (2022)

Written by Ruben Östlund

Five Primary Character Archetypes

Learn about a story’s Family of Characters in my upcoming one-week online course which begins Monday, February 13th.

Interview (Part 4): Sam Boyer

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Great Scene: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Many of the best movie scenes are payoffs to plot elements that have been set up earlier in the story. Often the set-up and payoff involves…