Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 325th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…
Time for the 325th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
The 20 Most-Anticipated Movies at Sundance This Year.
Sundance Buyers & Sellers Try To Find Optimism In Changing Market: Hot Sundance Titles.
Sundance: Will Fox Searchlight Still Be a Player in Shadow of Disney Acquisition?
Water bottles, waitlists and watching the shorts: Tips for surviving the Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance in the Post-Weinstein Age: “You Won’t See Those Massive Parties”.
Women say the rise of #MeToo changes how their Sundance films will resonate with audiences.
Sundance 2018 Deals: The Complete List of Festival Purchases So Far.
Sundance Film Festival: Every Grand Jury Drama Prize Winner in History.
Movie Theater Attendance Hits 24-Year Low, Ticket Prices Rise Nearly 4 Percent.
Female trouble: How can the Oscars fix the scandal of all-male director lists?
Why Tech’s Giants May Have Hollywood Dreams.
The New Social Realism of American Cinema.
Abigail Disney, Killer Content Partner to Launch Female-Led Level Forward Studio.
Why Lucasfilm Retconned the Star Wars Expanded Universe for the Sequels.
Why Disney’s ‘Last Jedi’ Mind Trick Isn’t Working in China.
J.J. Abrams Returns to Sci-Fi Television With a New, Female-Led Creation All His Own.
James L. Brooks To Receive WGA West’s Laurel Award For Screenwriting.
‘The Post’s’ Liz Hannah, Josh Singer to Be Honored by Writers Guild.
Vince Gilligan On The Toughest Jams The ‘Breaking Bad’ Writers Put Walter White Into.
Santa Barbara Film Festival to Open as Planned in Wake of Montecito Mudslides.
Santa Barbara Film Festival Announces 2018 Slate.
Variety Unveils 10 Europeans to Watch for 2018.
Mary Pickford, Frances Marion, and the Influence of Women in Hollywood’s Early Days.
Holy Moly: Depictions Of The Catholic Church In Cinema.
After ‘The Road Movie’, Imagining Four Possible Futures of the Viral Film.
Saudi Arabia begins screening films after decades-long ban lifted.
Peak TV Brings New Models, Windows, Problems and Opportunities for TV’s Busiest Producers.
Paramount Network: A Guide to All the Programming (and Who’s Calling the Shots).
How TV Changed Our Definition of ‘Housewife’.
The Overwhelming Whiteness of Queer Women on Teen TV.
Hip-hop’s television takeover.
Amazon Isn’t Going to Buy Your Cute Little Rom-Com Anymore.
Apple Takes Bigger Bite Out of LA, Leases Massive Culver City Building.
Hulu Subscriber Base Passes 17 Million.
Four Disney-Managed YouTube Stars Launch Twitch Channels.
Snapchat Content Execs Talk App Redesign, Push Into Scripted Programming.
Snapchat Lays Off Two Dozen, Relocates Content Team.
Watch: Taylor Sheridan — Defining The Neo-Western.
Watch: See With Your Ears: Spielberg And Sound Design.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week: Private Script Workshops
On a limited basis, I work one-on-one with writers on their script project.
Imagine having your very own private script workshop. A structured environment with content and a schedule tailored to meet your specific creative needs. Your own unique online course site. And a one-on-one mentor relationship with a professional screenwriter and educator.
You can do this through Screenwriting Master Class.
Perhaps all you need is a 4-week rewrite workshop to add more depth to a couple of characters in your script and polish the overall dialogue.
Maybe you have gotten through a few drafts of your story, but you need to do a page 1 rewrite.
You could have already worked out your story and want guidance during the first draft process.
Or you’re starting with a concept and want to do prep and page-writing.
Maybe you are a beginner looking to learn the essentials of screenwriting and end up with a finished screenplay.
At Screenwriting Master Class, we can create private script workshops to match up with your individual goals as a writer.
Since launching SMC in 2010, Tom Benedek and I have worked with writers of all backgrounds and interests in the context of numerous private script workshops. Here are testimonials from two:
“Working with Scott in SMC’s private workshop was an invaluable experience. The private workshop gave me the attention I needed to address my script’s problem. I was so impressed with the quality of his teaching, the way the course was structured and the interactive process. In the end, not only did Scott help me solve my character problem, he elevated my script as a whole. He is a wonderful mentor and I learned a lot about the craft of screenwriting.” — Gladys Stone, screenwriter of “Tulio” (Semifinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition)
“Working with Scott in a private workshop arrangement through SMC greatly accelerated my screenwriting knowledge and craftsmanship. Scott is a most dynamic, gifted and generous educator. He offered a holistic, character-driven approach to story that helped bring out my best as a writer. The flexible syllabus of the mentorship invites exploration of creative impulses without fear of losing direction or purpose. The script on which Scott consulted placed in the top one percent of the 2011 AFF screenwriting competition and has opened industry doors. Most importantly the SMC has cemented lasting self confidence in my abilities as a writer.” — Gyan Alexander, screenwriter of “Convinced” (Semifinalist, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition)
People who have done private script workshops through Screenwriting Master Class include professional screenwriters, actors, directors, best-selling non-fiction authors, playwrights, and novelists, as well as beginning, intermediate and advanced writers.
We offer one-on-one sessions with any of our popular group workshops:
Pages II: Rewriting Your Script
For those who want a comprehensive approach to learning the craft — immersing yourself in screenwriting theory, then putting that to use in developing an original story and writing a complete draft — there is The Quest, a unique 20 week program.
The Quest changed my life. It gave me the structure to be immersed in screenwriting and the flexibility needed to write and accommodate work and family life. Not only did I come out with a quality screenplay, but a practical approach that I can apply to each script I write.
Scott’s instincts as a mentor are spot on. He can tell the difference between when you need encouragement and when you need a good kick in the pants. Under his guidance, you become the kind of writer you want to be, the kind that doesn’t need to wait for inspiration.
You can spend your time reading through screenwriting inspiration, tips or shortcuts, thinking it will help more than actually doing the work, or you can take the leap and do The Quest.
— Taylor Gordon
Here are three big reasons to consider an SMC private script workshop:
- Writing a screenplay involves making thousands of choices about characters, plot, theme and so forth. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have feedback from a professional to help steer you through the process enabling you to avoid huge story pitfalls that could derail your scripting process?
- Writing a screenplay is a thankless, lonely job. Wouldn’t it be great to have the ongoing support of a professional to enable you to overcome inevitable story problems and emotional downswings?
- Writing a screenplay is a mystery. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to learn proven principles and practices from a professional with years of experience working in the entertainment industry, an approach to writing you can use again and again on your future stories?
For more information, contact us here.