Go Into The Story

Screenwriting 101: Stirling Silliphant

“I believe there is a certain preparation the writer should make before he goes each morning or afternoon or evening to his computer or…

Page One: ‘The Big Chill’ (1983)

Written by Lawrence Kasdan, Barbara Benedek

2020 Spec Script Market Analysis

Every year since I launched the blog in 2008, I do a week-long analysis of the recent year in terms of spec script deals. This week, we…

Interview (Part 1): Vanar Jaddou

My interview with the 2020 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

On Writing

“Above all, give us characters we will carry with us after meeting them. Give us people we will remember as if they were real. The books…

Page One: ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ (2011)

Screenplay by Ol Parker, novel by Deborah Moggach

60 Second Screenwriter

A video series addressing key screenwriting concerns in one minute.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Sound of Metal”

The entire 6 part series delving into the award-winning drama set in the world heavy metal music.

Spec Script Deal: “Void”

Netflix acquires science fiction spec script “Void” written by Chris Borrelli. Via Deadline:

Page One: ‘Batman Begins’ (2005)

Screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, story by David S. Goyer, characters by Bob Kane

Takeaways for screenwriters:

-- As one of my DePaul film colleagues puts it, "Scripts are actor bait." This is especially critical for lower budget films because…

60 Second Screenwriter: Should I make a short film?

A video series addressing key screenwriting concerns in sixty seconds.

Script Analysis: ‘Sound of Metal’ — Part 6: Takeaways

Read the script for this award-winning drama set in the world heavy metal music.

Interview (Video): David Lynch

A conversation during the famed writer-director’s first visit to Australia.

Page One: ‘Armageddon’ (1998)

Screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams, adaptation by Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno, story by Robert Roy Pool and Jonathan…

Picking up on my thoughts about one of the story's key themes -- noise and the associated dynamic…

Ruben: Like, what does it matter? What does it matter? It just passes. Yo. If I disappear, like, who cares? Nobody cares, man. Seriously…

Here's a theme: Noise.

In a way, psychologically speaking, one can look at the story this way:

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Transcribe Screenplays

If it worked for Johann Sebastian Bach and F. Scott Fitzgerald…

Script Analysis: ‘Sound of Metal’ — Part 5: Dialogue

Read the script for this award-winning drama set in the world heavy metal music.

Here’s to Us Night Owls!

“The conventional wisdom is that morning people are high achievers, go-getters, while late risers are lazy. But what if going to bed in the…

Page One: ‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)

Written by Taylor Sheridan

140 Scene-Writing Prompts

At a fundamental level, screenwriting is scene-writing. Use these prompts to improve your scene-writing chops.

Script Analysis: ‘Sound of Metal’ — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for this award-winning drama set in the world heavy metal music.

The Business of Screenwriting: Someday someone WILL beat you to the punch

If you traffic in high concept stories, chances are you’ll confront this scenario.

Page One: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)

Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke