Go Into The Story

Page One: “Happy Death Day” (2017)

Written by Scott Lobdell

30 Things About Screenwriting: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages.

You can learn pretty much everything you need to know about screenwriting by doing these three things:

Great Scene: “North by Northwest”

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

Page One: “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” (1982)

A trailer for the movie:

30 Things About Screenwriting: Learn the craft

Being a screenwriter is much more than just writing a script.

The Business of Screenwriting: They will pigeonhole you (and why this can be a good thing)

The co-star of K-9 was a dog named Jerry Lee.

Page One: “Halloween II” (1981)

Written by John Carpenter & Debra Hill

30 Things About Screenwriting: Screenplays are stories, not formulas

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

Page One: “Grandma” (2015)

Written by Paul Weitz

2024 Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference

I’ll be there moderating panels and participating in roundtables. Hope to see you there!

30 Things About Screenwriting: There is no right way to write

Learn all you can, but ultimately it’s about your Stories and your Creative Self.

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Loos & Emerson (1920)

In my ongoing research into screenwriting, I discovered the book “How to Write Photoplays,” written in 1920 by Anita Loos and her husband…

Page One: “Grace of Monaco” (2014)

Written by Arash Amel

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Final Close-Up [Part 4]

“The genuine natural bent for photoplay writing is shown only in those who can write well and like to write. Before you attempt to write…

Screenwriting 101: Brad Bird

“To make something really great and different and interesting means taking risks and following these ideas in your head.”

Page One: “The Good Nurse” (2022)

Screenplay by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, based on the book by Charles Graeber

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…

On Writing

“I only sleep two or three hours a day, so I’m writing all the time. I make notes wherever I can make them. I write in toilets, on planes…

Page One: “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005)

Written by George Clooney & Grant Heslov

Great Scene: “Past Lives”

The quiet emotionally rich ending of this beautiful movie.

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Final Close-Up [Part 2]

“If any considerable action takes place after the climax in the ‘big scene,’ you will have ruined your photoplay with one of these deadly…

Page One: “Good Kids” (2016)

Written by Chris McCoy

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Final Close-Up [Part 1]

“Knowing when and how to stop is as important to a photoplay writer as to an after dinner speaker, but amateur scenarists, like amateur…

The Business of Screenwriting: Three Scripts

You write, you learn. And three scripts is a good target as a baseline for studying the craft. Then keeping writing … keep learning …

Page One: “The Front Runner” (2018)

Written by Matt Bai & Jay Carson & Jason Reitman, based on a book written by Matt Bai