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#screenwriting #damon lindelof #prometheus

Ava DuVernay talks writing over at Go Into The Story

There are many schools of thought regarding just exactly what makes the “perfect” screenplay – many would argue that no such thing exists. But there are a handful of screenplays out there that come pretty damn close to perfect, all of which make essential reading for anybody who hopes, dreams or has even fully-realized their dreams of screenwriting as a professional.

#screenwriting #screenplay

Today, we’re introducing a new typeface designed for screenwriters. It’s called Courier Prime.

It’s Courier, just better...

I had a few pages and some notes, but I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t get past the first 10 pages or so. I asked Roman to read them to see if he could help me and work with me on it. He was very encouraging but also immediately asked several key questions that got the thing going again, and the two of us had a complete script in a month or five weeks.

--Wes Anderson on Moonrise Kingdom

#film #screenwriting #Wes Anderson #Roman Coppola #Moonrise Kingdom #collaboration

If you’re having a hard time finding a character’s voice, get him talking about something unrelated to the scene at hand.

#John August #Screenwriting #Film

The concept of your movie should be unique -- something that hasn't been done before -- and at the same time, it must 'attract' people to it. There must be some aspect that is compelling, enticing, and intriguing. Some element that is so inventive, so alluring, it has people in Hollywood kicking themselves for not thinking of it first. Kicking themselves so hard, in fact, that they're willing to give you lots of money because you did think of it first.

Terry Rossio, Wordplay

#Terry Rossio #high concept #screenwriting #Wordplay

Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, & John Swetnam via Go Into the Story

#screenwriting #Chris Borrelli #F. Scott Frazier #Jeremiah Friedman #Nick Palmer #Justin Rhodes #Greg Russo #John Swetnam

From The Hollywood Reporter: The full uncensored interview with Judd Apatow, Mark Boal, David Magee, Chris Terrio, Michael Haneke, and John Krasinski

I think women writers and actors for that matter have been sort of ghettoized into this rom-com or romantic drama storytelling. And so Nicholas Sparks is a place where you might find women, but you know, forget Iron Man. And that’s something that I hope to bridge.

--Melissa Silverstein, Indiewire

There's only one that I really stick to now that I feel I've discovered it (the hard way). Your main character needs to be active, not passive, needs to be driving the story. Film is a kinetic medium- it's not called the movies for nothing. Keep your central character moving, discovering, learning.

The only advice I can give is that you should write. Write every day. Write all the time. Write. Honestly, that is more than half the battle, and a good piece of writing is all you need to get your foot in the door. Hollywood, believe it or not, loves good writing, is desperate for good writing, and when they can find good writing, they reward. There's a lot of bad writing out there. Write good stuff and show it to everyone you know.

--Shonda Rhimes, USA Today

I want more movies showing us the potential of ourselves. People seeking what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature,” rather than necessarily being mired in all the ways in which we can fail—spiritually or emotionally. I want to see more movies about working through those pitfalls and coming to a better place. Hey, I just described Frank Capra, didn’t I? [Laughs] That’s another thing I’ve always admired so much about Steven Spielberg’s work, and George Lucas’s work. Not to say that there isn’t room in this world for nihilism, but we seem to be nihilistic at the exclusion of all else in our movies of late. And that’s very disheartening to me.

—Frank Darabont, Creative Screenwriting, Volume 4, #2 (Summer 1997) & Volume 6, #6 (November/December 1999)

I suggest that everyone get Francis Ferguson’s edition of Aristotle’s Poetics. Read it once—it’ll make the point—and then retire to your typewriters...

Paul Thomas Anderson on Dialogue

What’s the most common mistake in written dialogue?

Complete sentences. Bad movie dialogue speaks in complete sentences without any overlapping or interruption, and avoids elliptical speech, which is truer to how people actually talk.

— Paul Thomas Anderson, Creative Screenwriting, Volume 5, #1 (January/February 1998) & Volume 7, #1 (January/February 2000)

#Paul Thomas Anderson #dialogue #film #screenwriting #screenwriting tips

The first step in breaking an episode, once we know what the story is about, is deciding on the act breaks. These are the moments before each commercial that introduce danger or unexpected revelations into the story… the moments that make you come back after the commercials.

#TV #Jane Espenson #screenwriting #screenwriting tips

When I have an idea I start taking notes around that idea. There’s always four or five scripts on my desk, in progress. I’m not organized, but just taking notes. So when I get around one hundred pages of notes, I feel that I have enough material to develop a script.

—Pedro Almodovar on research, Creative Screenwriting, VOLUME 11, #6 (NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004)

#film #screenwriting #Pedro Almodovar

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