It is a hell of a lot easier to write someone else’s idea because you aren’t attached to it.
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: Bang a Gong
Notes from a Screenreader: Bang a Gong nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. Theme is the beating heart of the screenplay, the proposition about the human condition that your story explores—the big issues. Love. Faith. Resilience. Trust. Power. Courage. All the goosebumpy things. The theme, that single, simple thesis that creates…
Read moreWhy producers will not read your script – shocking case study from one exec
Why producers will not read your script – shocking case study from one exec writerofscreen: “A producer friend at a production company recently shared this email interchange with a writer. It painfully illustrates why most producers will only accept solicited submissions or via a reputable agent. Irrespective of the talent this writer may show in…
Read moreI get a lot of resistance about my wrathful judgment of flashbacks. Here’s the caveat. Flashbacks are not the enemy. Unless they are lazy. Then they are the enemy. Like any other expositional scene that spoon feeds the reader information. A good flashback is dramatic and illuminating, like the flashbacks in The Usual Suspects, to…
Read moreIT OPENS WITH A GUY WAKING UP IN HIS MESSY ROOM
HOW MANY THINGS IS YOUR SCRIPT ABOUT?
CLONE SCRIPTS: THE M.E.S.
There is a whole family of spec scripts that is identified by these elements in the first ten pages. A male lead 20-29. Who is white. Who pines for a better class of girlfriend than his own materialistic and demanding one. Whose job is unrewarding. Who is put upon by people who have expectations of…
Read moredrarna: before blaming others, think: whats the 1 constant in all your failed relationships? its that cursed egyptian amulet why do u even have that How to Dialogue: Give some attention here to how jokes work.
Read moreYOUR STORY IS INFINITE
Your screenplay is not. There are millions upon millions of ways to tell the story, and most of them are the best way. As you go along, more and more of them will become apparent. You can only have one. It should be one that hasn’t been chosen before, and you have to rewrite as…
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