Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — December 22, 2019

Ratso Rizzo: Here I am, goin’ to Florida, my leg hurts, my butt hurts, my chest hurts, my face hurts, and like that ain’t enough, I gotta…

Darameja, Focus List is basically what I’m talking about.

Congrats on getting that sci-fi pilot done. Here’s to a creative and productive 2020!

Michael, sorry I didn’t get to your response earlier, but yes, writing is very much a long haul…

Here’s to your 2020! May it be a creatively rewarding one!

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Final Close-Up [Part 3]

“Many amateurs are prone to cheat their audiences by ending the story without some bit of action which spectators have been led to expect…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Angel

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 4,237 consecutive days and counting.

Interview (Written): Krysty Wilson-Cairns

In-depth conversation with the screenwriter of the movie 1917.

Daily Dialogue — December 21, 2019

Passenger: You are the MAN! Annie: Thank you. Thank you very much.

“Go Into Yourself”

Words of wisdom from Rainer Maria Rilke in his Letters to a Young Poet.

Reader Question: Do characters “own” a scene?

Ownership is less important than underlying conflict between characters.

Writing and the Creative Life: Boundaries of Space, Boundaries of Time

“What if in the face of our hectic lives, we claimed our creative time to be our own ‘sacred space’?”

Daily Dialogue — December 20, 2019

“Make her feel scared. That’ll change her mind.”

Sex in Cinema

Reflections on a Playboy magazine article by the Black List’s Director of Community on what’s happening to sex on the silver screen.

Update: 2019 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 2 New Scripts, 35 Total

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

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs [Part 12]

“So sometimes a script gets slipped to Person A who gives it to Person B who is married to Person C who works at Studio D. And you can be…

Daily Dialogue — December 19, 2019

Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the…

Analysis: 2019 Black List

A deep dive into the scripts named to this year’s annual Black List.

Great Scene: “Saving Private Ryan”

Captain Miller finally reveals what his job is back home in a scene which is considerably different than an early draft of the script.

Spec Script Deal: Untitled Warden Horror Comedy

Universal Pictures acquires untitled Warden horror comedy spec script written by Jimmy Warden. Via Deadline:

Daily Dialogue — December 18, 2019

“Excuse me, lady. That upon which you sit is mine.”

2019 Black List Word Cloud Logline Challenge!

Check out this word cloud from the 2019 Black List loglines, then write your OWN logline from those words to win some great prizes!

Script To Screen: “Field of Dreams”

Ray meets his father… and they have a game of catch in the final scene from this 1989 movie, screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson, novel by…

Screenwriting 101: Wenonah Wilms

“For me, it’s character first. I have a person in my head and I just go through the basics like, ‘What are their flaws. What are their…

Daily Dialogue — December 17, 2019

“You better get some help! You’re becoming Ralph Kramden’s evil twin!”

2019 Black List: Final

All 66 scripts listed in order of votes received including loglines, plus a link where you can download the official list.

Black List 2019 — Live Blogging 3

Live updates of the unveiling of this year’s annual Black List.