Go Into The Story

Character Introductions: Part 9

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Great Scenes: “The Natural”

“He swings — violently and perfectly — the ball exploding off his bat.”

Page One: “Molly’s Game” (2017)

Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by Molly Bloom

My Writing Workshop Schedule

Two online workshops this summer… my only ones in 2022!

Interview (Part 2): Laura Kosann

My interview with the writer who not only was named a 2021 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting recipient, but also had two scripts make…

Character Introductions: Part 8

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Screenwriting 101: Shane Black

“The feeling of finishing the script, the first draft, was the high. Everything that followed — though of interest, and sometimes slightly…

Page One: “Mistress America” (2015)

Written by Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig

Interview (Part 1): Laura Kosann

My interview with the writer who not only was named a 2021 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting recipient, but also had two scripts make…

“You are writing the story of your life”

The central theme of the invocation I delivered last Saturday to a graduating class of university students.

Character Introductions: Part 7

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

On Writing

“People say, I write for myself, and it sounds so awful and so narcissistic, but in a sense if you know how to read your own work — that…

Page One: “Missing” (1982)

Screenplay by Costa-Gavras & Donald E. Stewart, based on the book “Missing” by Thomas Hauser

Sundays with Sidney Lumet’s “Making Movies”

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

“Get the damn thing done!”

The one unalterable truth about writing a first draft.

Great Scene: “Barton Fink”

The enigmatic ending of the Coen brothers’ 1991 movie.

Page One: “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)

Screenplay by Paul Haggis, based on stories F.X. Toole

Screenwriting Mantra: Enter Late, Exit Early

“You always attack a movie scene as late as you possibly can. You always come into the scene at the last possible moment.”

Character Introductions: Part 6

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Interview (Audio): Emily Carmichael

A conversation with the co-writer of Jurassic World Dominion.

Page One: “Miles Ahead” (2015)

Screenplay by Steven Baigelman & Don Cheadle, story by Steven Baigelman & Don Cheadle and Stephen J. Rivele & Christopher Wilkinson

The Theology of Cinema: Grace

“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us.”

Character Introductions: Part 5

Think there’s nothing to introducing characters in a script? Think again!

Writing and the Creative Life: Something is Better Than Nothing

“No matter what you write, good or bad, it’s an improvement to a blank page.”

Page One: “Mighty Joe Young” (1998)

Screenplay by Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner, story by Merian C. Cooper