Go Into The Story

Page One: “War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017)

Written by Mark Bomback & Matt Reeves, based on characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 8: “The Social Network”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days?

Writing Goals: 2023 [Part 4] — Practical Matters

10-part series for writers to consider what we did in 2022 and will do in 2023.

Story Type: Slasher

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and…

The Business of Screenwriting: How to Respond When Taking Script Notes

“It doesn’t matter whether you love the suggestion, hate it, or don’t know. Always give this same response.”

Page One: “Walk the Line” (2005)

Written by Gill Dennis & James Mangold, book by Johnny Cash

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 7: “Amour”

Why read 30 screenplays in 30 days?

Writing Goals: 2023 [Part 3] — Where Do You Want To Go As A Writer?

10-part series for writers to consider what we did in 2022 and will do in 2023.

Story Type: Road Picture

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and…

Update: 2022–2023 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 1 New Script, 13 Total

It’s that time of year again when studios and production companies make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season.

Page One: “The Visitor” (2007)

Written by Tom McCarthy

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 6: “A Serious Man”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

A Character-Driven Approach to Screenwriting

Beginning in January, I will be teaching a series of one-week online classes which will immerse you in a unique storytelling methodology…

Writing Goals: 2023 [Part 2] — Assessing Where You Are

Over the next two weeks, a 10-part series for writers to consider what we did in 2022 and will do in 2023.

Story Type: Revenge

“Revenge movies cut through moral ambiguity and traffic in pure violent intentions, tapping into some of our most base human instincts.”

Page One: “Vice” (2018)

Written by Adam McKay

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 5: “Dallas Buyers Club”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

Writing Goals: 2023 [Part 1] — Looking Back

Over the next two weeks, a 10-part series for writers to consider what we did in 2022 and will do in 2023.

Story Type: Post-Apocalypse

In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and…

On Writing

“A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment from which to look back or from which to look ahead. I say ‘one…

Page One: “Unfaithful” (2002)

Screenplay by Alvin Sargent and William Broyles Jr., film “La Femme infidèle” by Claude Chabrol

WM, a bunch of my friends are PKs (Preacher Kids) and one of my best friends went to Princeton…

Having grown up in a conservative Christian context and explored religion from a bunch of different perspectives, my bottom line is this…

WM, honestly, I don't know.

I just put stuff out there and hope people connect with it. And apparently, due to site traffic, it's still doing that.

Sundays with Sidney Lumet’s “Making Movies”

A series featuring reflections on filmmaking by one of the truly great movie directors.

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 4: “Spring Breakers”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?