Go Into The Story

Great Scene: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Many of the best movie scenes are payoffs to plot elements that have been set up earlier in the story. Often the set-up and payoff…

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge!

31 days. Fade In. Fade Out. Write an entire zero draft.

Daily Dialogue — February 3, 2019

“It’s all right, Andy. It’s just Bolognese.”

Go Into The Story at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival: January 31

Notes and reflections from Park City, Utah.

Download 2019 Oscar Nominated Best Original and Adapted Screenplays

The Favourite, First Reformed, Green Book, Roma, Vice, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, BlacKkKlansman, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, If Beale…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Science

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,915 consecutive days and counting.

Script To Screen: “Notting Hill”

A scene from the 1999 movie Notting Hill, written by Richard Curtis.

Daily Dialogue — February 2, 2019

Seth: You dropped your purse, ma’am. Would you like me to help you with your groceries? Old Lady: Well, that would be lovely young man…

Reader Question: What should I do if a project sells in Hollywood which is similar to a script I’m…

Before you jump, step back from the ledge, and consider the following.

Writing Mantra: “Make words your friend”

“In the beginning was the word.” So begins the Gospel of John. Setting aside theological implications, this is where writing begins as…

Daily Dialogue — February 1, 2019

“The parole board got me into this halfway house called The Brewer and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It’s hard work and I try to…

Go Into The Story at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival: January 30

Notes and reflections from Park City, Utah.

Reader Question: What are three good ‘how to’ scripts to read?

Three scripts essential for learning the craft.

Character Type: Rebel

Tradition. Ordinary. The Way Things Are. Enter… The Rebel.

The Business of Screenwriting: The Travails of Pitching (Part 2) — The Surprise Visitor

After the humbling experience of pitching the latest project to a distracted exec, we actually sell it to another studio. We head out to…

Daily Dialogue — January 31, 2019

Ronna: Dead celebrities. Loser goes up. Mannie: Omar Sharif. Ronna: Steve McQueen. Claire: Michael Landon. Mannie: Lee Marvin.

Character Type: Rebel

Tradition. Ordinary. The Way Things Are. Enter… The Rebel.

Go Into The Story at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival: January 29

Notes and reflections from Park City, Utah.

How To Read A Screenplay

If you’re serious about learning the craft, here are 7 exercises you can use to make the most of your script-reading and analysis.

Dialogue-Writing Exercises [2019]

Here are prompts for the 5th annual GITS Dialogue-Writing Challenge. Use these to improve your dialogue writing chops.

Great Scene: “On the Waterfront”

“This is my church. And if you don’t think Christ is down here on the waterfront, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Daily Dialogue — January 30, 2019

“We have to go through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. We just have to hold on and not go soft inside. Stick close…

Go Into The Story at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival: January 28

Notes and reflections from Park City, Utah.

Mickey Fisher on Writing, Selling, and Producing a TV Pilot Spec Script

An excellent guide from TV writer-producer (Extant, The Strain, Reverie).

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 20

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!