Go Into The Story

The Business of Screenwriting: There’s a green light…

I’m attending a fundraiser for my son’s elementary school. It’s an alternative private school on the Westside, an institution that prides…

Page One: “French Exit” (2020)

Written by Patrick DeWitt based on his book

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Denouement [Part 3]

“Coincidence does not enter into real life every day. It is quite permissible, however, as a basis for a story, but it is bad form to base…

Screenwriting 101: Amy Berg

“For me, there’s no set formula, but you always want your characters to lead the plot, rather than plot leading your characters. The way to…

Page One: “Free Guy” (2021)

Screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, story by Matt Lieberman

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Denouement [Part 2]

“The two important rules in building up to the denouement of your plot are: First, bring the situation to the highest or lowest possible…

What do ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Logan’ have in common?

Both movies use a simple gesture to pack an emotional wallop.

Page One: “Frank” (2014)

Written by Jon Ronson & Peter Straughan, newspaper article by Jon Ronson

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Denouement [Part 1]

“Working up to the denouement, or in other words, the moment of revelation when the audience sees the point of the story, unquestionably…

On Writing

“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”

Page One: “Frankie” (2019)

Screenplay by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias

Great Scene: “Network”

“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: The Pictorial Element

“Most tableaus, of course, have been done many times. It is up to you to think up new and unique ways of combining beauty with drama in one…

Page One: “The Fourth Kind” (2009)

Screenplay by Olatunde Osunsanmi, story by Olatunde Osunsanmi & Terry Robbins

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Writing for the Censors [Part 3]

“You must be twice as careful as writers in any other field or your story will surely be returned to you with a rejection slip.”

Script Analysis: “Argo” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

Page One: “Four Rooms” (1995)

Allison Anders (segment “The Missing Ingredient”), Alexandre Rockwell (segment “The Wrong Man”), Robert Rodriguez (segment “The…

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Writing for the Censors [Part 2]

“While no human mind can remember the innumerable conflicting rules of these small town boards, since each local censor has his own ideas…

Great Scenes: “The Natural”

“He swings — violently and perfectly — the ball exploding off his bat.”

Page One: “Focus” (2015)

Written by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

Spec Script Deal: “Outdueled”

Amazon MGM acquires action adventure spec script “Outdueled” written by F. Scott Frazier and Jimmy Loweree. Via Deadline:

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Writing for the Censors [Part 1]

“No producer will take a chance on a story which may be disapproved entirely or mangled by the cutting of important scenes after it is…

The Business of Screenwriting: There are three kinds of people in Hollywood

Story. Some get it. Some kinda get it. And some… well…

Page One: “The Founder” (2016)

Written by Robert Siegel

Great Scene: “Moonrise Kingdom”

My favorite movie sequence of 2012 is this one from Moonrise Kingdom, written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola.