Go Into The Story

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 9: “The Matrix”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

Make Words Your Friend

“Putting one right word after another” — that is so right. When you bust it all down, writing is about choosing words. A writer can choose…

Story Types: The [Blank] From Hell

This was a popular story conceit back in the 80s and 90s.

Great Scene: “Blade Runner”

The dramatic final confrontation between Deckard and Batty.

Page One: “The Danish Girl” (2015)

Screenplay by Lucinda Coxon, book by David Ebershoff

30 Days of Screenplays, Day 8: “Dead Poets Society”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

The Coen Brothers and the Long Shadow of Authority Figures

If there is one thing about the craft writers hear ad nauseam, it’s this: There is no drama without conflict. And there is no story without…

Story Types: Biopic

“The process of adapting a real person’s life into a movie is one of the trickiest writing jobs around. The wealth of historical anecdotes…

Screenwriting 101: Byron Hamel

“If I have a good idea, I try to write a brief summary of what that story would look like. We’re talking five paragraphs, maybe. If I can…

Page One: “The Croods” (2013)

Screenplay by Chris Sanders & Kirk DeMicco, story by John Cleese & Kirk DeMicco & Chris Sanders

30 Days of Screenplays — Day 7: “Thelma & Louise”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

This is something you can do because this is something you have done!

I get email:

Story Type: Assumed Identity

“At the deepest level of meaning for assumed identity stories, there are two questions: Who am I? Do I really know what another person is…

On Writing

“If we’re lucky, writer and reader alike, we’ll finish the last line or two of a short story and then just sit for a minute, quietly…

Page One: “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (2007)

Screenplay by Andrew Dominik, novel by Ron Hansen

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 6: “Die Hard”

Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?

Great Scene: “Bottle Rocket”

It’s a heist gone awry in this funny scene from the 1996 movie co-written Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, who also directed the film.

Interview (Video): Zach Cregger

An hour-long conversation with the writer-director of the surprise horror hit film Barbarian.

Page One: “The Artist” (2011)

Written by Michel Hazanavicius

30 Days of Screenplays — Day 5: “The Shawshank Redemption”

Read 30 movie scripts in 30 days.

Celebrate Your Victories

Based on my experiences as a screenwriter in Hollywood, there are many things I can advise you to do that are not particularly enjoyable…

Great Scene: “Bonnie and Clyde)

The famous — and bloody — ending of the groundbreaking 1967 film.

Interview: Parker Finn

Conversations with the writer-director of the hit horror film Smile.

Page One: “The Aeronauts” (2019)

Screenplay by Jack Thorne, story by Tom Harperand Jack Thorne, inspired by the book by Richard Holmes