Video: 10 Screenwriting Tips from Billy Wilder

Advice from the writer-director of such notable moves as Double Indeminty, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment.

Outstanding Screenplays with a new video compilation featuring the revered filmmaker Billy Wilder. His writing credits include Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment.

Consider this video a welcome adjunct to the 10 Screenwriting Tips which emerged from the wonderful book: Conversations with Wilder. Here they are!

1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab ’em by the throat and never let ’em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then — that’s it. Don’t hang around.

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