2016 SF & 2Rounders – Austin Film Festival
Read moreWhat I Learned/Got from Submitting to Contests
What I Learned/Got from Submitting to Contests somedayscreenwriter: In the last year I submitted an Archer spec and an original pilot (Full-Time Dad) to contests and festivals to varying degrees of success. My Archer made it to the second round of Austin Film Fest. Full-Time Dad took Bronze in the PAGE awards, was a runner…
Read moreOn being directed by the Coen Brothers: They’re very locked together about what they want. The directing is tone management. When Joel approaches you to make a correction, he tells you what you don’t have to do. Oscar Isaac at the Austin Inside Llewyn Davis screening.
Read moreThe script for Inside Llewyn Davis was so lean. It was weird. There were a lot of ellipses. There would be like, one line, and then some dots, then “act here” in parentheses. Oscar Isaac and T Bone Burnett at the Inside Llewyn Davis screening at Austin Film Festival Somehow…that’s exactly how I imagined it…
Read moreVINCE GILLIGAN SCRIPT READING AT AUSTIN
Third row at the beautiful State Theater in Austin for a stage read of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan’s script 2 Face. Billy Burke, Thomas Haden Church, Will Ferrell, Linda Cardellini, Rian Johnson and Giancarlo Espositio. Also, Vince Gilligan is a really, really nice guy.
Read moreScriptnotes Live at Austin
Scriptnotes at johnaugust.com This was a live Scriptnotes for the immensely fun and useful podcast, so if you listen to it, you will be able to hear me screaming with laughter. The guests were amazing writer/director Rian Johnson and writer Kelly Marcel. Since you will be able to listen to the whole thing, I won’t…
Read moreNOIR AT AUSTIN
High point: Shane Black had a meeting with a young exec at Fox last week who passed on a script but told Shane, “You have a big future in this business.” Shane Black and Brian Helgeland talked noir. Shane smoked an e cigarette, throwing his head all the way back to exhale. Brian is only…
Read moreDialogue, Contest Readers and You
Unlike a reader who can pass on a script after the first awkwardly constructed page, a competition reader must read on, deeply, in order to provide feedback to the writer. You want this reader on your side immediately. Dialogue can help. Even how it looks on the page helps. BALANCED WHITE SPACE IS YOUR BEST…
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