Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 356th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.

Box Office: Can Fall Movies Keep Summer Hot Streak Alive?

Why Diversity Is the Real Superhero of the Summer Box Office.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Box Office: The Secret Behind the Massive Opening.

Did ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Save the Romantic Comedy?’

Ballin’ on a Budget: How ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Made Mega-Rich World for $30 Million.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’: Co-Screenwriter Adele Lim Breaks Down Five Big Changes from Book to Film.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Producers Talk Challenging “Whiteness” in Hollywood.

Boots Riley Slams ‘BlacKkKlansman’ as “Made Up Story” Softening Realities of Police Brutality.

How Boots Riley Infiltrated Hollywood.

Spike Lee Responds to Boots Riley’s Criticism of ‘BlacKkKlansmen’: ‘Black People Are Not a Monolithic Group’.

How Documentaries Became the Hottest Genre of the Summer.

Critic’s Notebook: Summer Indies Offer Fresh Takes on Female Coming of Age.

Why James Bond Should Be Black But Batman Should Stay White.

Mark Wahlberg and the Art of Nationalistic Action Cinema.

“Screen Life” Films May Be the Next (Cheap) Genre Craze.

3 Ways Studios and Networks Can Engage Young Audiences in a Good Way.

MoviePass Reminded Us How Much People Love Going to the Movies.

How to build a better rom-com.

Netflix is Ushering in a New Era Of Romantic Comedies.

Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actresses 2018: Scarlett Johansson Is №1, Gal Gadot Makes the Cut.

How Female Filmmakers Are Changing Spanish Cinema.

Damien Chazelle Shoots the Moon: Oscar’s Youngest Best Director Grows Up With ‘First Man’.

Shane Black Wants Everyone to Know He’s More than Ready for a ‘Nice Guys’ Sequel.

The Thrilling Parallels Between Detective Somerset and John Doe in ‘Se7en’.

Tribeca TV Festival 2018 Lineup: ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’ Premiere, Meryl Streep with Tracey Ullman, and More.

‘Sharp Objects’: The Lazy Trope of the Unethical Female Journalist.

Damon Lindelof’s ‘Watchmen’ Series a Go at HBO.

Why Netflix May Build the World’s Most Valuable Movie Business.

When Will Netflix Movies Finally Be Ready for Their Close-Up?

CBS All Access Limited-Ads Plan Now Available to Amazon Prime Members as Option.

Apple Orders ‘Foundation’ Series Based on Isaac Asimov Novel.

Apple Yanks Facebook’s Onavo App Over Data Collection Violations.

YouTube to Release 50 Original Shows in 2019.

Everything We Know About the Disney Streaming Service.

For Megan Amram, ‘An Emmy for Megan’ Is Just the Beginning.

IMDbPro’s New App Includes Tap-to-Call WIF Sexual Harassment Hotline Feature.

New Google Feature Will Tell Users ‘Something Good’.

Walmart Launches Online Store for Ebooks, Audiobooks.

2018 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners.

Musicians only received 12% of the music industry’s $43 billion revenue in 2017.

Listen: 3rd & Fairfax (Episode 110).

Prominent Producer of Musicals Craig Zadan Has Died.

Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week

In the Core content of The Quest, we work with eight screenwriting principles, and the very first one is this: Plot = Structure.

On Monday, August 27, I will be starting a new cycle of Core classes, eight of them in all, beginning with Core I: Plot.

I have reduced the price of the Core classes to make them available to as many people as possible! Details below!

In this 1-week online course, you will learn the importance of Plot = Structure as well as:

• Key theoretical concepts from Aristotle, Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung
• The reality of Hollywood and the “Whammo” theory
• The External World and Internal World of a screenplay universe
• Metamorphosis: Screenplay structure grounded in character
• Analysis of movies including Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Silence of the Lambs, Shakespeare in Love, The Verdict, The Sixth Sense, Up, and others

And much more.

The course consists of four components:

• Lectures: There are six lectures written by me, each posting Monday through Saturday.
• Logline Workshop: This optional writing exercise offer you the opportunity to workshop one of your own loglines.
• Teleconference: We will have a Skype teleconference call to discuss course material.
• Forums: The online course site has 24/7 forums where you may post questions and we engage in conversation about the craft.

For those of you who have not taken an online class, the interface is extremely easy. Plus online classes can be an amazing experience. Most of the activities you can do on your own time — download and read lectures, review and respond to forum discussions, upload loglines and track comments. In addition, I’ve been teaching online for over a decade and it never ceases to amaze me how much of a community emerges in such an environment.

If you’re new to screenwriting, have intermediate experience, or you’ve read it all, but want to learn the basics of what I teach in The Quest — character based screenwriting — here is your chance to learn the foundation of screenplay structure that goes beyond formula.

I only teach my Core classes once a year and the 2018 cycle begins next month. Everything you need to know about screenwriting theory in this unique curriculum based on eight principles: Plot, Concept, Character, Style, Dialogue, Scene, Theme, Time.

CORE I: PLOT — A one-week class which begins with the principle Plot = Structure and explores the inner workings of the Screenplay Universe: Plotline and Themeline. Start date: August 27.

CORE II: CONCEPT — A one-week class which begins with the principle Concept = Hook and examines multiple strategies to generate, develop and assess story ideas. Start date: September 10.

CORE III: CHARACTER — A one-week class which begins with the principle Character = Function and delves into archetypes: Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, and Trickster. Start date: September 24.

CORE IV: STYLE — A one-week class which begins with the principle Style = Voice and surfaces keys to developing a distinctive writer’s personality on the page. Start date: October 8.

CORE V: DIALOGUE — A one-week class which begins with the principle Dialogue = Purpose and probes a variety of ways to write effective, entertaining dialogue. Start date: October 22.

CORE VI: SCENE — A one-week class which begins with the principle Scene = Point and provides six essential questions to ask when crafting and writing any scene. Start date: November 5.

CORE VII: THEME — A one-week class which begins with the principle Theme = Meaning and gives writers a concrete take on theme which can elevate the depth of any story. Start date: November 19.

CORE VIII: TIME — A one-week class which begins with the principle Time = Present and studies Present, Present-Past, Present-Future and time management in writing. Start date: December 3.

These eight Core classes represent decades of my work on the front lines of the entertainment business as a writer and producer, and engaging the craft as a teacher as well, over time pulling together a coherent, comprehensive, and cohesive approach to screenwriting theory.

This is not about secret systems or magic formulas, rather the Core content presents a story-crafting process that starts with characters, works with characters, and ends with characters. That process of engaging you with your story universe through your characters and getting you in touch with these living, breathing individuals informs every step of your creative process, leading you to story structure, themes, conflict, subplots, and all the rest. As I say, Character Based Screenwriting.

I provide feedback and am actively involved in our online chats. That includes a 90 minute teleconference for each Core class.

This cycle, I am offering a special sale price. Normally the Core classes are $95 each. In 2018, each is on sale for $79!

A popular option is the Core Package which gives you exclusive access to the content in all eight Craft classes which you can go through on your own time and at your own pace, plus automatic enrollment in each 1-week online course — all for nearly 50% off the normal price of each individual class. If you sign up now, you can have immediate access to all of the Core content.

“I’m a huge fan of Scott’s classes, and I signed up for his Core Package, which I cannot speak highly enough about. If anyone wants to take a serious look at improving their writing, there is more than enough material to keep you busy for a few… dare I say, lifetimes? He’s the best. No bones about it.”

~ Heather Farlinger

To learn about any of the Core classes, click here.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you!