Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 338th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.

Major Studios Will Need to Wrestle Disney to Get a Piece of Popcorn Season.

The Tribeca Film Festival: 22 Most Must-Watch Movies.

Tribeca Festival Highlights: 10 Can’t-Miss Events.

Film Festivals Face a #MeToo Dilemma: Should Accused Harassers Be Banned?

Writers Guild Seeks to Reshape Talent Agency Business in Proposed Deal.

Guilds Express Concern Over Residuals Payments Amid The Weinstein Co. Bankruptcy.

The Great Disruptor: MoviePass Upends the Movie Business, but Can It Survive?

Studio Executive Calls MoviePass A “Cancer On The Industry”.

Here Is Exactly How Much Money MoviePass Is Losing.

MoviePass Owner Lost $150 Million Last Year, Auditor Raises ‘Substantial Doubt’ About Service’s Future.

MoviePass Parent’s Shares Crushed After Disclosing Pricing of Stock Sale.

Scriptation Completes Series B Funding Round.

FilmNation Secures $120M in New Slate Financing.

Hollywood Studio Chiefs Hail Opening of Saudi Arabia’s First Cinema.

New Jersey Makes Its Move To Steal Production Away From New York.

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Lawsuit May Prevent Future Sequels.

Why Is Hollywood Suddenly Hot for Biopics About People Who Are Still Alive?

Netflix Could Start Buying Movie Theaters to Help Films Gain a Boost in Oscar Race.

Netflix Booms in Q1 to Hit 125 Million Streaming Subscribers, Again Beating Forecasts.

Netflix Q1 Preview: Another Blockbuster Quarter Despite Price Hikes?

Academy Board Member Bill Mechanic Quit With a Scorched-Earth Letter, and Hollywood’s Paying Attention.

Lorne Michaels Exits Paramount for Universal Film Deal, Extends NBC Pacts.

Noah Baumbach Tapped for Screenwriters Tribute at Nantucket Film Festival.

Ava DuVernay to Receive GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award.

Writing About Women Telling Stories: An Interview with ‘The Post’ Screenwriter Liz Hannah.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Next Film Has a 600-Page Screenplay.

The Unruly Genius of Milos Forman.

‘Westworld’ Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s New Sci-Fi Series ‘The Peripheral’ Lands at Amazon.

Westworld Season 2 Review: A Dramatic Improvement.

‘Westworld’ Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s New Sci-Fi Series ‘The Peripheral’ Lands at Amazon.

Amazon Studios Shuts Down Open Script-Submission Program.

Netflix and Hulu Users Are Watching Much More Licensed Content Than Originals.

Introducing the Waller-Bridgeian Woman.

FiveThirtyEight Leaves ESPN for ABC News.

Apple’s Still-Secretive TV Plans: Here’s What We Know So Far, Including a List of Shows.

Location-Based VR Predicted to Surpass $800 Million by 2022.

U.S. iPhone Owners Spent $58 on Apps Last Year, More Than Half of That on Games.

Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize for ‘Damn’.

What Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Means for Hip-Hop.

Broadway Box Office: Sales Off 11% After Spring Break Rush.

Protecting Your Writing Time In This Weird Time of Ours.

Watch: Breaking Bad // POV.

Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week

Some say the ability to write dialogue is a talent one is born with… or not. While I think there are writers who have a natural ear for dialogue, it is certainly a skill which can be honed and developed.

In my upcoming one-week online Dialogue-Writing Workshop, you will learn and put into practice numerous techniques and tips to elevate your ability at writing dialogue. However the single most critical thing you can do to make your dialogue come alive is this: Immerse yourself in the lives of your characters. For when you get to know them, they will start talking to you.

The late great playwright August Wilson was once asked how he wrote such compelling, realistic dialogue. His answer: “I don’t. They do.”

‘They’ as in characters.

That’s the focus on the Dialogue-Writing Workshop. In it, you will start from scratch in choosing a single character to work with, then over the course of the week use several proven character development techniques with a specific focus on getting them to speak to you.

As August Wilson suggests, it’s much easier to write good dialogue… if your characters are largely doing it for you.

This Dialogue-Writing Workshop is a new Screenwriting Master Class course and if it’s anything like the Scene-Writing Workshop, it will be a great learning opportunity for each and every participating writer.

COURSE DETAILS

• Analyze great dialogue from notable movies
• Download seven lectures written by Scott Myers
• Put theory into practice by writing and workshopping your own scenes
• 24/7 online forum Q&As moderated by instructor
• Pro insider writing tips
• A 90-minute live teleconference with instructor and class members

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE

Screenwriters, TV writers, novelists, playwrights, and anyone interested in upgrading their ability at writing dialogue.

The ability to write dialogue — not just characters talking, but good dialogue — is a critical skill-set for anyone wishing to work as a writer in the film or TV business.

So if you feel like your dialogue-writing chops could use an upgrade…

If you want to learn techniques you can use to write better dialogue…

If you would like to see how developing your characters can result in their voices emerging for you to tap into and use in your own writing…

Check out my Dialogue-Writing Workshop. It begins Monday, April 30.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.