Go Into The Story

Page One: “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (1994)

Screenplay by Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey, story by Jack Bernstein

The Importance of Subplots

An in-depth exploration of the value of these mini-stories.

“Conversations With Wilder”: Part 13

Billy Wilder. Cameron Crowe. Conversation and creative insight.

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Create an argument

Let’s say you’re stuck writing a flat scene. No matter how you’ve approached it, the scene just lays there.

Great Scene: “North by Northwest”

It was one of the scenes which inspired Hitchcock to make the movie.

Page One: “You Can Count on Me” (2000)

Written by Kenneth Lonergan

Think Concepts

The foundation of a good script is a strong story concept.

“Conversations With Wilder”: Part 12

Billy Wilder. Cameron Crowe. Conversation and creative insight.

Spec Script Deal: “Foreign and Familiar”

Monarch Media acquires comedy spec script “Foreign and Familiar” written by Leah Kunnath. Via Deadline:

Screenwriting 101: Alvin Sargent

“I think too many people are too organized; they’ve got it all worked out, instead of hearing their characters first. Get the goop out…

Page One: “The Abyss” (1989)

Written by James Cameron

What makes a movie a big budget and a small budget?

There are critical choices a writer can make at the script stage which directly influence a project’s budget… and its potential viability…

“Conversations With Wilder”: Part 11

Billy Wilder is my all-time favorite filmmaker. Consider just some of his movies: Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Ace in the…

Spec Script Deal: “Darby Harper Wants You To Know”

20th Century Studios acquires teen comedy drama spec script “Darby Harper Wants You To Know” written by Wenonah Wilms and Becca Greene. Via…

On Writing

“A wise editor once observed that the easiest decision a reader can make is to stop reading. This means that every sentence has to count in…

Page One: “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005)

Written by Judd Apatow, Steve Carell

Sundays with Stephen King’s “On Writing”

A series featuring reflections on writing from the famed author’s memoir.

Is the key to creativity “unlearning”?

What if everything we have learned in our lives has actually diminished our creativity?

Script To Screen: “The Fisher King”

A notable scene from the 1991 movie The Fisher King, written by Richard LaGravenese.

The Theology of Cinema: Redemption

“Metaphorically bondage can translate into being tied to some event or circumstance in the past, a character bound to it emotionally, even…

Page One: “Twelve Angry Men” (1957)

Written by Reginald Rose

Stacking projects

One key to the craft: Learning how to manage several projects at once.

Is My Screenplay Big Enough to Be a Movie?

This is a fundamental question screenwriters must ask themselves at all stages of a screenplay’s development and writing. Why? Because it’s…

The Curse of Shiny Object Syndrome

“It’s not quite ADD/ADHD. It’s more that a new idea captures your imagination and attention in such a way that you get distracted from the…

Screenplays are stories, not formulas

“If you go in with formula, you come out with formula.”