Scr(i)nk

Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:49:00 +0000

"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer."
Barbara Kingsolver

Isn't It Romantic? Seven Classic Romance Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Isn't It Romantic?
Seven Classic Romance Movies

by Jenelle Riley

Whether you have big Valentine's Day plans or were just going to spend it with a box of chocolates and a DVD of Love Story, CS Weekly highlights seven films that most accurately capture the reality of romance -- warts and all.

Who doesn't love the sweeping majesty of an epic film love story? Even before Humphrey Bogart told Ingrid Bergman to get on that plane and long after Ryan Gosling kissed Rachel McAdams in the rain, the romance genre has reduced even the strongest of us to tears. But despite what Disney may have told us, love isn't like in the movies. It's often painful, complicated, and unrequited. But there are several films that get it right.

CS Weekly decided to counter this Hallmark holiday with a reality check, looking at several romances that ring true on screen. (Warning: spoilers abound!)

It Happened One Night (1934)
Written by Robert Riskin
Story by Samuel Hopkins Adams
Down-and-out reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) agrees to help runaway socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) get back to her new husband, provided he gets the exclusive on her story. Of course, sparks fly.

Why it Works:
If you go back and take a look at this 1934 classic, you'll realize that not only did it set the standard for road-trip movies, but every bickering couple from The African Queen to Moonlighting owes a debt to the crackling dialogue between Peter and Ellie. From the moment Peter assures her "you're just a headline to me," it's easy to see the two are meant for each other. But the sharp banter also gives way to some sweet and unexpected moments. Some lines are a combination of both, like when Peter confesses to Ellie's father that he loves her, snapping, "But don't hold that against me, I'm a little screwy myself!" There is nothing forced about the relationship, which evolves from a place of mutual need into an appreciative friendship and, finally, to love.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Written by Donald Ogden Stewart
From the play by Philip Barry
On the eve of her wedding, heiress Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) must choose between her fiancé, her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), and reporter Macaulay Connor (James Stewart).

Why it Works:
The chemistry between the three stars is palpable, but it's the clever and insightful dialogue they deliver in a rapid-fire manner that has made The Philadelphia Story a classic in all of its many variations, including stage and screen versions and a musical (High Society). On the page, it might sound difficult to relate to Tracy's dilemma -- which suitable man should she choose? But any woman (or man) who has ever been torn between an old flame and a new love can certainly relate. Tracy knows she should move forward, but can't resist sparring with her ex. No punches need to be thrown with such cutting dialogue, as when Dexter tells Tracy, "You should've stuck to me longer" and she quips, "I thought it was for life, but the nice judge gave me a full pardon."

The Apartment (1960)
Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) allows his bosses to use his apartment for romantic trysts, never knowing one of them is trysting with his longtime crush, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine).

Why it Works:
Fran Kubelik is all-too recognizable as the decent girl who makes every wrong choice in the book. She's oblivious to the advances of sweet C.C. while wasting her time pining after married Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). Listening to her talk about how she can't break free of Sheldrake's spell and how she believes one day he will leave his wife, one wants to hand her a pint of Ben and Jerry's and a copy of He's Just Not That Into You. The fact we even care about her plight -- and hope she ends up with good guy C.C. -- is a credit to Wilder and Diamond's sharp and sparkling script. There's even an exchange between the two about suicide that manages to be both heartbreaking and hilarious.

Annie Hall (1977)
Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
The off-and-on relationship between neurotic Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and flighty Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), set against the backdrop of New York City.

Why it Works:
Over 30 years later, Woody Allen's paean to love and loss is still the standard by which all romantic comedies are judged. From the painful getting-to-know-each-other chitchat (complete with subtitles to translate what the pair really mean) to the distant sex (in one fantasy sequence, Alvy imagines Annie actually leaving her body to observe their lovemaking) the script never stumbles. Along the way are so many Allen gems -- "Don't knock masturbation, it's sex with someone I love" -- the audience almost doesn't notice the profound statements about life and love sneaking up on them.

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Written by Nora Ephron
Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) fall in love over the course of a 12-year friendship.

Why it Works:
There are those who will complain that When Harry Met Sally… is little more than an Annie Hall imitator, a Woody Allen rip-off. To them I would ask: Why is that a bad thing? Nora Ephron's script gets every detail of what makes a male/female friendship so unique as Harry and Sally offer each other perspectives on what the other sex is thinking. She also nails the strange contradiction of friends encouraging each other to date -- Harry even offers Sally advice on what to wear -- but feeling a bit uneasy when they see how happy someone else can make their friend. And perhaps no script has better captured the tenuous transition from friends to lovers in all its delicate, awkward glory.

Jerry Maguire (1996)
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe
Hotshot sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is fired from his flashy job after a crisis of conscience and left with only football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and his burgeoning romance with single mother assistant Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger).

Why it Works:
It's no surprise to see Cameron Crowe's name on this list; as he proved with Singles and Say Anything, the auteur has a knack for capturing the way people in love talk. The reason Jerry Maguire makes the cut is not because of its famous catchphrases -- "You complete me" and "Show me the money" -- in fact, those overused chestnuts almost cost it its place on this list. It's because Crowe has beautifully captured something rarely seen on screen: a man who marries the girl, but still has to learn to fall in love with her. Just when most couples would be sailing into the sunset, Jerry and Dorothy's biggest problems begin. And when Dorothy finally sits down and tells Jerry its okay to leave, what woman can't relate to her statement, "On the surface, everything seems fine. I've got this great guy. And he loves my kid. And he sure does like me a lot. And I can't live like that. It's not the way I'm built." Proving that if you truly love something, you set it free, Dorothy's selflessness is part of what brings Jerry back in the end. At this point, the film has earned its clichés: the big race through the airport, the speech to win her back, and her classic response line, "You had me at hello."

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Written by Charlie Kaufman
Story by Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth
Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) learns that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had him erased from her memory. Driven by revenge and despair, he undergoes the same procedure, only to learn that some relationships are destined to repeat themselves.

Why It Works:
Wait a second…a movie about heartbroken individuals selectively erasing certain memories to ease their pain? Does that really belong on a list of "realistic" movies? While the idea may be fantastical -- though the script manages to make it seem perfectly reasonable and within scientific means -- the depiction of a fracturing relationship is all too real. Charlie Kaufman's Oscar-winning script captures it all perfectly; beginning with Joel and Clementine's first meeting and how they're instantly drawn to each other while also recognizing their inherent differences. As the romance begins to fade, the biting dialogue hits all too close for home for anyone who's ever endured a break-up, as does the false bravado Joel hides behind when Clementine begins to disappear in bits and pieces, causing him to scream, "I'm erasing you and I'm happy!" But the film also offers hope, as the partners meet anew. Joel suggests giving things another shot, as Clementine points out they will only bring each other more pain and misery. Agreeing with this, Joel simply says, "Okay." And Clementine repeats, "Okay." It's tragic and joyful all at once -- just like real life.

Jenelle Riley is a journalist and playwright living in Los Angeles. She enjoys good food and bad horror movies.

CS Weekly - 3/13/09 - Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:15:00 +0000

"The measure of artistic merit is the length to which a writer is willing to go in following his own compulsions."
John Updike

Scriptapalooza Final Deadline: April 15

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:52:00 +0000

11th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition

With Write Brothers, Robert McKee and The Writers Guild of America,west Registry all supporting Scriptapalooza, this is the
competition to enter. First place prize is $10,000. All the judging is done by 90 production companies. Scriptapalooza promotes the top 13 winners for a full year. Finalists, semifinalists and quarterfinalists get requested consistently. FINAL DEADLINE: April 15, 2009

Visit http://www.moviemaker.com/, call 323/654-5809 or e-mail info@scriptapalooza.com

Directory of Companies Who Accept Unsolicited Queries

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Access Is The Hardest Thing To Find In Hollywood

A new PDF directory of 50+ producers and agents who will take your script or query unsolicited. Only $19.95.

Click Here to Order

Beat The March 23 Price Hike -- Subscribe Now To Creative Screenwriting

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Beat The March 23 Price Hike -- Subscribe Now To Creative Screenwriting

I regret to announce that rising unit costs are forcing us to raise the subscription price of Creative Screenwriting Magazine Yes, I know these are hard economic times...They are for us, too. In order to make ends meet, we're raising the basic subscription price back to where it began: starting at $29.95/year for a U.S. subscription, a full year of Creative Screenwriting costs about the same as the now-low price of a tank of gasoline. But don't wait for the price to go up. Act now . . . Our new prices take effect on March 23. To beat those prices, click here

CS Weekly - 3/20/09 - Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:14:00 +0000

"I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because when two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties."

Agatha Christie

CS Weekly - 2/06/09 - Top 7 Remakes

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:16:00 +0000

Take Two:
Seven Great Remakes

by Peter Clines

CS Weekly takes a look at that most common (and often most reviled) of Hollywood traditions -- the remake -- and discovers they're not all as bad as some people like to think.

The remake has become one of the staples of Hollywood in recent years. Any film with name recognition is dragged out of the vaults to be rewritten and reshot (frame by frame, in some notorious cases), some from as far back as the early 1950s and some from less than 20 years ago. More often than not, audiences are left wondering who greenlit the idea of turning an Oscar-winning classic into an Ashton Kutcher vehicle.

Yet, with all the failed (and sometimes completely unnecessary) remakes, people often forget that this is neither a new trend nor an entirely unsuccessful one. Hollywood has offered up more than their fair share of bad remakes, but there have also been several films over the years that not only came through the process unscathed, but honestly improved.

The Thing (1982)
Previously Seen As -- The Thing From Another World (1951)
The members of an Antarctic research station find a sled dog being hunted by the maniacal members of another camp. When chopper pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell) and a few others go to investigate, they discover a crashed spaceship buried in the ice, and evidence that the other researchers may have found an alien body. Amazement quickly turns to fear as MacReady and the rest come to realize not only is the deadly creature alive, but they've already brought the shapechanger into their camp…disguised as a sled dog. As the temperature drops and suspicions flare, the researchers have to figure out which of them are still human before they're all replaced by the Thing.

Why it Works
While the original film is a classic of terror-through-isolation at the North Pole, the remake script by Bill Lancaster (The Bad News Bears) was far more loyal to "Who Goes There," the 1938 novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. The story was moved back to its original South Pole setting and the "obligatory" love interest was removed. The real strength, though, was that the remake focused on the sense of paranoia that dominated the novella. The Thing strikes at the primal fear that the people around you may not be what they seem. It even offers the possibility you yourself may not be what you seem, and you don't even know it yet.

Casino Royale (2006)
Previously Seen As -- Casino Royale (1967)
Newly promoted "Double-O" agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) is sent to Africa to locate a small-time bomb maker and finds a series of clues that eventually lead him to the United States and a massive attempt at industrial sabotage. The man behind it all, LeChiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), is an international financier and "terrorist banker," now deep in the hole because 007 has foiled his attempt to manipulate the stock market. When LeChiffre decides to win enough money to cover his angry clients' investments in a high stakes poker match, MI6 drops Bond into the game to force the banker's hand.

Why it Works
When the Bond movie franchise skipped over the first novel in Ian Fleming's series (after all, how exciting can you make a poker match?) it was fair game for a montage-like spy movie spoof that unofficially credited 10 writers -- Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, and Billy Wilder among them. When producers decided to reboot the series, Oscar-winner Paul Haggis (Crash) worked with the screenwriting team of Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (Die Another Day) to change Bond from a smooth, aristocratic spy into a coarse, brutal, and believable secret agent. Modern audiences were well-aware of what it took for a man to survive in the field, and a gadget-loaded playboy couldn't cut it in a realistic story. The seeds of charm and sophistication are still there, but at its heart this remake was about convincing us all that snake pits, huge construction sites, and national embassies didn't mean a damned thing if James Bond was chasing you.

The Fly (1986)
Previously Seen As -- The Fly (1958)
Brilliant and reclusive engineer Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) develops a working teleportation system. When he decides to make himself the first human test subject, though, disaster strikes in the form of a housefly that slips into the teleport pod and is mixed into his body on a genetic level. At first Brundle and his girlfriend (Geena Davis) think the teleporter may have "purified" him, as he begins to demonstrate the proportional strength and agility of an insect. But as time passes and his corrupted DNA changes him physically, the twisted creature calling himself Brundlefly comes up with a brutally simple and inhuman plan to save his humanity.

Why it works
When the original was penned by rookie screenwriter James Clavell (who would later go on to fame with Shogun) from a George Langelaan short story, a rubbery-looking fly mask was enough for a good scare. In the 1980s, though, cancer was the boogeyman that lurked behind every symptom, and so the average moviegoer was far more terrified at the thought of what could be lurking in their own cells. The screenplay by Charles Edward Pogue (D.O.A.) and filmmaker David Cronenberg embraced that real-world anxiety while also drawing on the primal fear of change. In the classic film, Andre Delambre (David Hedison) emerges from his teleporter with the oversized head and hand of an insect, but in the remake it's not until time passes that Brundle's mutated genetic codes rebuild his body and the real terror begins. To loosely paraphrase Hitchcock, suspense is when there are fly genes spliced into your character's DNA and he doesn't know it. Perhaps even more unnerving than the physical changes, though, is the horrible moment when Brundle realizes his mind is changing as well -- and he doesn't seem to care.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Previously Seen As -- The Maltese Falcon (1931)
When his partner is murdered on a simple case, private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) finds himself at the center of a web of lies and double-crosses. His beautiful client (Mary Astor) is lying about her name and her case, a lisping man named Cairo (Peter Lorre) is convinced he's hiding something valuable, and an overweight, aristocratic treasure hunter (Sydney Greenstreet) is willing to pay handsomely for any information Sam may have gotten from either of them. At the center of it all is the titular object, an ancient, jewel-encrusted statue hidden somewhere in the city.

Why it Works
After the restrictive Hays Code was introduced, Warner Brothers found themselves unable to release their initial version of Dashiell Hammett's story and was forced to remake it -- twice. Filmmaker John Huston's version had to be much more tame and subdued than the earlier versions in many aspects. And yet, that restraint proved more of a strength than a hindrance, as the subtle hints and allusions throughout the script often held more power than the original film's more overt approach. Spade's blatant womanizing with both his secretary and his partner's wife. Cairo's homosexuality. Huston's remake became the classic example of "less is more," and launched several careers.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Previously Seen As -- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
During their family vacation in Morocco, Ben and Jo Mc Kenna (James Stewart and Doris Day) witness the murder of a recent acquaintance. Then their son (Christopher Olsen) is kidnapped to ensure they don't share the information the dying man told Ben -- someone else is being targeted for death. Ben and Jo must track the kidnappers on their own, and come to realize they've become entangled in a high-stakes assassination plot that reaches across Europe.

Why it Works
Alfred Hitchcock may be unique as a director who decided to do a complete remake of one of his own early films (George Lucas notwithstanding). Now established and much more experienced, Hitchcock and screenwriter John Michael Hayes (To Catch a Thief) had the resources and ability to expand the original film's story to almost double its length. Now the script played out on a much broader, international canvas, with a larger cast of characters. Moreso, the story became much more a product of its time, the decade of McCarthyism. The remake embodied the ongoing fear that any friend or casual acquaintance might be an "enemy agent" who could not be trusted.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Previously seen as -- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1953)
Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) discovers an unusual plant she can't identify while out walking and brings it home to study. The next morning, her slob boyfriend Geoffrey (Art Kindle) has become a new man -- efficient and emotionally distant. She confides to her coworker, Matt (Donald Sutherland), that Geoffrey seems to be an entirely different person, a stranger almost. When they meet up with psychologist David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy), they discover dozens of people across the city are having the same delusion, that their friends and loved ones are somehow being "replaced." As just a few days pass, Matt, Elizabeth, and their friends come to realize how far the problem has already spread, and how far it may go.

Why it Works
Screenwriter W.D. Richter (Brubaker) realized the horror in this remake needed to shift from the simple small-town-invasion concept of the earlier version to a broader, more sophisticated canvas. Years of free love and free thinking had come to an end, and suspicion of the government and conspiracy theories were being fueled by Kennedy's assassination and Watergate. The screenplay's subtle terror was not that our consciousness would be corrupted and we'd see things in a new, alien way, but that we'd have no consciousness. These duplicates moved as one, thought as one, and had a stern finger and a harsh wail for anyone who didn't. While Richter's update rounded out most of the female characters far more, it also eliminated much doubt about Earth's final fate. Everyone joins the establishment, everyone conforms -- the ultimate horror for the children of the '60s.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Previously seen as -- Hulk (2003)
Doctor Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is trying desperately to cure himself of the blood infection General "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) wants to develop as a weapon, because when Dr. Banner becomes angry, a startling metamorphosis occurs, changing him into an invulnerable, unstoppable powerhouse called the Hulk. After three years on the run, a cure may be in sight, but a new problem has arisen. Ross has used a prototype "super-soldier" formula on one of his men, an obsessive, power-hungry soldier named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who's willing to become an abomination if it lets him take on the Hulk mano a mano.

Why it Works
Zak Penn's screenplay grasped the two inherent Hulk elements that were missing from the previous version headed by artistic filmmaker Ang Lee. Penn's version was a vastly simplified storyline that stayed far closer to the comic book continuity fans knew. There were no tortured souls or complex father issues in this remake (and the absence of gamma-irradiated super-poodles helped, too). Second, while the remake has solid characters with strong motivations, at heart it's a giant monster movie where massive property damage is an integral part of the plot. It remembers that one of the key elements of such a story is that it's fun.

History moves in circles, always bringing people back to the same themes and ideas. There's no doubt Hollywood will continue to produce remakes as long as audiences go to see them, but here's hoping screenwriters will get to flex their creative muscles a bit more in the future and produce scripts like these, worthy of the names they're carrying.

Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

CS Weekly - 2/13/09 - Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:14:00 +0000

"One of my standard -- and fairly true -- responses to the question as to how story ideas come to me is that story ideas only come to me for short stories. With longer fiction, it is a character (or characters) coming to visit, and I am then obliged to collaborate with him/her/it/them in creating the story."
Roger Zelazny

An Interview with Robert McKee

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:55:00 +0000

They say taking Robert McKee's 3-day Story Seminar is an experience like no other. Over three intense, eleven-hour (!) days, McKee stalks the stage with the energy and enthusiasm of someone on a mission. Famously portrayed in the film Adaptation, McKee has been teaching the seminar for almost 25 years to over 50,000 students around the world.

Robert McKee recently took the time to answer several questions about writing, story, advice for writers and inspiration.

Q: What are the critical questions that a writer should be asking prior to crafting a story?

Robert McKee: Beyond imagination and insight, the most important component of talent is perseverance-the will to write and rewrite in pursuit of perfection. Therefore, when inspiration sparks the desire to write, the artist immediately asks: Is this idea so fascinating, so rich in possibility, that I want to spend months, perhaps years, of my life in pursuit of its fulfillment? Is this concept so exciting that I will get up each morning with the hunger to write? Will this inspiration compel me to sacrifice all of life's other pleasures in my quest to perfect its telling? If the answer is no, find another idea. Talent and time are a writer's only assets. Why give your life to an idea that's not worth your life?

Q: Does a story always need to be believable? What makes it believable?

Robert McKee: Yes. The audience/reader must believe in the world of your story. Or, more precisely, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous phrase, the audience/reader must willingly suspend its disbelief. This act allows the audience/reader to temporarily believe in your story world as if it were real. The magic of as if transports the reader/audience from their private world to your fictional world. Indeed, all the beautiful and satisfying effects of story - suspense and empathy, tears and laughter, meaning and emotion - are rooted in the great as if. But when audiences or readers cannot believe as if, when they argue with the authenticity of your tale, they break out of the telling. In one case people sit in a theatre, sullen with anger, soaked in boredom; in the other, they simply toss your novel in the trash. In both cases, audiences and readers bad mouth you and your writing, inflicting the obvious damage on your career.

Bear in mind, however, that believability does not mean actuality. The genres of non-realism, such as Fantasy, Sci-fi, Animation and the Musical, invent story worlds that could never actually exist. Instead, works such as THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE MATRIX, FINDING NEMO and SOUTH PACIFIC create their own special versions of reality. No matter how bizarre some of these story worlds may be, they are internally true to themselves. Each story establishes its own one-of-a-kind rules for how things happen, its principles of time and space, of physical action and personal behavior. This is true even for works of avant-garde, postmodern ambition that deliberately call attention to the artificiality of their art. No matter what your story's unique fictional laws may be, once you establish them, the audience/reader will freely follow your telling as if it were real - so long as your laws of action and behavior are never broken.

Therefore, the key to believability is unified internal consistency. Whatever the genre, no matter your story's specific brand of realism or non-realism, your setting must be self-validating. You must give your story's setting in time, place and society enough detail to satisfy the audience/reader's natural curiosity about how things work in your world, and then your telling of the tale must stay true to its own rules of cause and effect. Once you have seduced the audience/reader into believing in the credibility of your story's setting as if it were actuality, you must not violate your own rules. Never give the audience/reader a reason to question the truth of your events, nor to doubt the motivations of your characters.

Q: How do you design an ending that keeps people talking?

Robert McKee: By "an ending that keeps people talking" do you mean the hook at the end of a series episode that keeps people wondering so that they'll tune in the following week? Or do you mean a Story Climax that sends the reader/audience into the world praising your brilliant story to their friends and family?

If the former, I know two methods to hook and hold the audience's curiosity over a span of time.

A. Create a Cliffhanger. Start a scene of high action, cut in the middle, put the audience into high suspense, then finish the action in the head of the next episode. 24 does this brilliantly week after week.

B. Create a turning point with the power and impact of an Act Climax. A major reversal naturally raises the question "What's going to happen next?" in the audience's mind and will hold interest over the commercials of a single episode (for example, Law and Order), or over the week between episodes (for example, The Sopranos).

If the latter, the most satisfying, and therefore talked about, Story Climaxes tend to be those in which the writer has saved one last rush of insight that sends the audience's mind back through the entire story. In a sudden flash of insight the audience realizes a profound truth that was buried under the surface of character, world and event. The whole reality of the story is instantly reconfigured. This insight not only brings a flood of new understanding, but with that, a deeply satisfying emotion. As a recent example: the superb Climax of GRAN TORINO.

Q: What are the typical weaknesses you find in scripts?

Robert McKee: Three that jump to mind:

Dull scenes. For reasons of weak conflict or perhaps the poor shaping of beats of behavior, the scene falls flat. The value-charged condition of the characters' lives at the tale of the scene is exactly what it was at the head of the scene. Activity never becomes story action. In short, nothing actually happens, nothing changes.

Awkward exposition. To convenience the writer, characters tell each other what they all already know so the eavesdropping reader/audience can gather in the information. This false behavior causes the reader/audience to lose empathy.

Clichés. The writer recycle the same events and characters we have seen countless times before, thinking that if he or she writes like other writers have, they too will find success.

Q: How important is the process of rewriting?

Robert McKee: Rewriting is to writing what improvisation is to acting. Actors improvise scenes countless ways in search of the perfect choice of behavior and expression. The same is true for writers. All writers, no matter their talent, are capable of their best work only ten percent of the time. Ninety percent of any writer's creative efforts are not his or her best work. To eliminate mediocrity, therefore, fine writers constantly experiment, play with, toss and turn ideas for scenes tens of different ways, rewriting in search of the perfect choice. The perfect choice, of course, is dependent of the writer's innate sense of taste. The unfortunate truth is that most struggling writers are blind to their banality.

Q: I thoroughly enjoyed your keen analysis of Casablanca, a movie made in 1942. Damn the crass modern movies (and I'm really not that old). My question: Whatever happened to subtlety and innuendo?

Robert McKee: They pulled up stakes and moved to television. Given hundreds of 24/7 channels, crap is unavoidable. God did not give out enough talent to fill those thousands of hours with quality. But setting the inevitable drek aside, we now live in a golden age of television drama and comedy. The finest writing in America is on TV. From HBO and FX to FOX and NBC, cable and commercial networks have become treasure chests of writing excellence. From Law and Order to In Treatment to The Wire to Damages to 30 Rock (to name a few of my favorites) television dramas are complex and subtle; comedies are rich in wit, irony, innuendo and outrageous schtick.

I never worry about the future of story art. Fine writers will always find a medium to express their visions of life. Today and into the foreseeable future, that medium is television.

Q: In the Story Seminar you say the best way to succeed in Hollywood is by writing a script of surpassing quality. If you have a great script, how do you get past the Hollywood system so that your script ends up in the right hands?

Robert McKee: If you write a lousy script, you haven't a prayer. But if you create a work of surpassing quality, Hollywood is still a motherfucker. Because unless you can network a back pathway to an A-list actor or top-shelf director, you must sign with an agent. And the first thing to understand about literary agents is that although they may or may not have taste, they all have careers. Selling scripts is how they put gas in their BMWs. What's more, like everybody else, they want their gas money today. So they have little or no patience for spending months or even years submitting your work, one submission at a time, to dozens of production companies, and then waiting forever to hear back. They want to read work they can sell and sell fast. So the quality of the writing absolutely matters, but what any particular agent feels is fresh vs. clichéd, arty vs. commercial, hot or cold, who can say? Luck is a big part of a writer's life.

[But] to get started, first rent every recent film and television show that is somehow like your script. Write down the names on the writing credits. Call the WGA, ask for the representation office and find out who agents these writers. This creates a list of agents who have actually made money selling scripts very much like the one you've written. Next, go to Amazon.com and buy The Hollywood Creative Directory and find the addresses of these agents. Do not call them. Instead, write an intriguing letter about you and your story and send it to every agent on your list. Wait, God knows how long, to hear back. If your letter captivates curiosity, and if you send out enough of them, the odds are that a few agents will actually want to read what you've written. When that happens, pray that your work is of surpassing quality.

Q: As a beginning fiction writer, the greatest challenge always seems to be the start. What advice would you give?

Robert McKee: By "start" do you mean writing the opening chapter or just getting into your pit and hitting keys? If the latter, you're blocked by fear. I suggest you read Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. He'll help you find the courage to face the blank page. If the former is your problem, first scenes or opening chapters are usually discovered after you have conceived of your Inciting Incident.

If you feel that your Inciting Incident, without any prior knowledge of your characters' biographies or sociologies, will immediately grip the reader, then use the Inciting Incident to launch the story. For example, the Inciting Incidents SHARK EATS SWIMMER/SHERIFF DISCOVERS CORPSE in Peter Benchley's JAWS, or MRS. KRAMER WALKS OUT ON MR. KRAMER AND HER LITTLE BOY in Avery Corman's KRAMER VS. KRAMER, dramatize Chapter One of each of these novels respectively.

If, conversely, you feel that you need to provide your readers with exposition about history, characters and setting in order for them to grasp the importance of your Inciting Incident, then this exposition - well-dramatized, of course, perhaps even building into a set-up subplot - must start the telling.

The principle is: Bring the Inciting Incident into your story as soon as possible, but not until it will hook reader empathy and arouse curiosity. Finding the perfect placement of the Inciting Incident is the key to starting any story.

Q: Do you think the state of the economy will force studios to take more risks with lower budget films, or will they become more cautious and stick with what they know works?

Robert McKee: In fact, Hollywood has never sold more tickets than this past year. 2009 looks even more promising. The worse the economy, the more people go to the movies and watch television. Hollywood is recession proof.

Q: Do you think Slumdog Millionaire would be as commercially and critically successful if we weren't in a recession? Are people looking for happy endings now?

Robert McKee: Life is hard, no matter the economy. Happy endings always make more money than tragic endings because life turns many people into emotional cowards who cannot face tragedy in life or fiction. Besides, why worry about it? By the time what you are now writing is finished, sold, packaged, produced and distributed years will have passed. Who knows? In the next decade down endings may go through the roof. To contrive an audience-pleasing, happy ending before you've created your characters, told their story and discovered a truthful climax is to think like a hack.

Q: How did you end up as a character in Adaptation? Do you think it was a fair portrayal of you?

Robert McKee: Ask Charlie Kaufman. It was his idea. I just said, "What the hell," and had the great pleasure of casting my dear friend, Brian Cox.

(Photo: Brian Cox as Robert McKee in Adaptation)

Q: Do you see the art of story via screenwriting evolving over the decades, and if so, how?

Robert McKee: No. Tastes and trends come and go, but the essential art of story has not changed since Cro-Magnon storytellers sat their tribes around the fire and held them slack-jawed with tales of the hunt. Personally, I wish filmmaking would devolve from the nervous cut-cut-cut move-move-move herky-jerky camera of today back to the expressively lit, framed, fluid images of the past. Too many contemporary directors seem inflicted with HADD.

Q: What are one or two pointers you would offer a documentary filmmaker to help guide his crafting of a story as he films his subjects?

Robert McKee: Study the classic cinema verite documentaries of Frederick Wiseman-- Racetrack (1985), The Store (1983), Model (1980), Meat (1976), Welfare (1975), Juvenile Court (1973), Basic Training (1971), Hospital (1970), High School (1968), Titicut Follies (1967). He will show you how life shapes into story.

Q: What's the best advice you can give for emerging screenwriters today? Is there one thing that you could say is most important when trying to break in?

Robert McKee: Go the gym and work out. Writing burns you out, but then you have to get up off your tired ass, put your script under your arm and knock on every door 'til your knuckles bleed. That takes the energy of a five-year old, the concentration of a chess master, the faith of an evangelist and the guts of a mountain climber. Get in shape.

Robert McKee will be giving his famed 3-day Story Seminar in Los Angeles (March 6-8, 2009) and New York (March 20-22, 2009). Please visit his website for full details.

Hot Tip For Screenplay Contest Entrants From Creative Screenwriting Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Market Your Script With A Great Filename

While looking through the scripts entered so far in the 2009 AAA Screenplay Contest, I noticed something You know that the title of your screenplay should catch the eye. Or do you? Judging by some of the titles we receive, some writers do not understand that the first step in “selling” your script is marketing it to the reader or judge with a great title.

But what does the reader or judge see first these days? Not the title, but the filename. So here’s the tip: make the filename the same as that catchy title. Not an abbreviation of it – exactly the same.

Judges and studio readers see hundreds of scripts. Start marketing your script to them the moment they get it.

Many writers miss that opportunity. For example, I’ve seen these file names recently for scripts entered into the AAA contest:

AAA.pdf. Thank you very much for pluggingr contest. But don’t you want to draw the judges’ attention to your story rather than the contest?
Final_Draft.pdf. I’m sure Final Draft appreciates the marketing boost.
Script.doc. So generic, it might as well have a barcode on it.

Is this really important? Put yourself in the position of a contest judge who has just received 50 scripts to read. Suppose the judge has been assigned the titles below (These are actual titles of new AAA contest scripts):

The Cave Where The Water Always Drips 09.fdr.
The Porcelain Girl_byWriterName.pdf
The Tortoise And The Heir.pdf
Garysaurus Rex Rewrite 3.fdr (good title, but leave out the “Rewrite.” See the Bonus Tip below.)
Oganic Svengali.pdf
In The Heart Of The Rain.pdf
Love Me Dead (new beginning).pdf (Again, see the Bonus Tip below.)
Script.doc.

Which is the judge LEAST likely to open first if he/she goes by titles? That should be obvious.

CS Weekly - 12/05/08 - Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:59:00 +0000

"The world of novels, there's corruption and mediocrity, but in the end it's still a republic of letters. But film is a tyranny, and the tyrant is money. The great thing is that, in spite of that, impossibly, some people keep on smuggling out messages of hope from the other side, past the tyrant. I mean, there shouldn't be one good movie made given the way it's structured, and yet there are many good movies made. That seems to me to be implausible and marvelous at the same time."
– Australia's Richard Flanagan

DVDs on Pitching, Dialogue, and More - Only $9.99

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:53:00 +0000

DVDS NOW ONLY $9.99!!

SAVE 50% on ALL TITLES!!!

Now is your chance to get our acclaimed screenwriting seminar series DVDs at an ALL-TIME LOW PRICE. At 50% off their normal price, you will never find these essential titles available to you in such an easy way.

Start the new year off right and re-dedicate yourself to your writing career! These DVDs are the perfect place to start.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL DVDS WILL TAKE UP TO SHIP DUE TO THE EXPECTED OVERWHELMING DEMAND

With individual courses on writing compelling characters... Dialogue... Openings... Endings .. Romantic comedy... Sci-fi... Horror writing... How to pitch... How to find an agent... And much more... This curriculum of 60 DVDs is the most advanced education on screenwriting craft, the business, and screenwriting careers available anywhere -- at about 3% of the cost of a screenwriting degree at a major film school.

CRAFT THE PERFECT OUTLINE

Knowing how to write a great outline can be a life saver for the writer. It can be indispensible. In this seminar you'll learn how to craft an outline that will make the writing process a breeze! This DVD - Crafting the Outline For Your Feature Film - benefits from Brian Herskowitz 20+ years of screenwriting and teaching experience.

You'll be given clear and specific tools for brainstorming, developing, and rewriting your outline. You also learn how the outline can lead you to, not just a script, but a career.

"As a collaborator with Brian and a guest in his class, I am hugely impressed with his screenwriting knowledge. I heartily recommend him and his course."
-Jason Alexander, actor "Seinfeld"

DVDs on DIALOGUE

The ultimate challenge for scribes today is creating compelling, authentic, fresh dialogue that individualizes characters, and entertains the reader.

In this DVD Credible "Dialogue", Expo speaker Rob Tobin speaks to you about how your characters should speak. Dialogue is how we remember the best movies, and it's how you make your script something special, something agents, producers, execs, and actors will be dying to read.

Et cetera, et cetera.

NEWSFLASH: Specials & Announcements

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:26:00 +0000

See your script come to life! Sit back in the director's chair and watch as your script comes to life with FRAMEFORGE 3D STUDIO. Unlike the convoluted storyboarding software of the past, FrameForge makes it effortless to plan and present your project like never before. With FrameForge, you can import a complete script from either Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter and start storyboarding right away. You'll also save time and money with optically correct storyboards that display shots just as they would be seen through the camera! Best of all, FrameForge 3D Studio allows you to easily share your work with the people who can turn your cinematic vision into reality. SRP $399; Sale Price $349. Save $50 when you enter or mention promo code MOVIEMAKER during checkout. Available at The Writers Store: 800/272-8927; 310/441-5151.

The 2009 PAGE INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITING AWARDS: Presenting 31 awards in 10 genre categories—$50,000 in cash & prizes, including a $25,000 Grand Prize!! The PAGE Awards have rapidly become one of the most important sources for new screenwriting talent within the Hollywood community and worldwide. Their award-winning screenplays are
solicited by dozens of producers, agents and development execs, and, as a result, many of their winning writers land script assignments, secure representation and sign option agreements on their work. Are you their next award-winning screenwriter?? EARLY ENTRY DISCOUNT
DEADLINE: Thursday, January 15th. Don't miss it! Enter online.

FILM EDUCATION & WORKSHOPS

ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY's School of Motion Pictures and Television fosters creativity and independence in the art of filmmaking. Students are immersed in producing, directing,
cinematography, editing, screenwriting, production design and acting. Programs offer state-of-the-art-equipment and guidance from top industry professionals in the classroom and on-set productions. Accredited degrees in AA, BFA, MFA are available on campus in San
Francisco or online. To learn more about the School of Motion Picture and Television at the Academy of Art University call 800/544-2787.

The COLORADO FILM SCHOOL offers hands-on training programs in state-of-the-art facilities with emphases in Writing/Directing, Cinematography/Videography, Post Production, Writing/Producing and Acting for the Screen with new programs upcoming in Art Direction,
Film Studies and Animation & Graphics. An Advanced Immersion program that offers 60 credits in 11 months offers a high-speed route to working in film. Their excellent faculty are industry-engaged, and all courses are University accredited and fully transferable. Their students make over 1,000 films per year. Their alumni have had feature work in competition at Sundance and SXSW festivals.

UPCOMING FESTIVALS & CALL FOR ENTRIES

2009 BIG BEAR LAKE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL & SCREENPLAY COMPETITION is accepting film entries for the September 10-13, 2009 festival. Festival screens feature films, short films, student short films, High School short films, documentaries and features seminars,
panels and pitchfest. Film deadline: May 15, 2009. Contact 909/866-3433 or info@bigbearlakefilmfestival.com

DC SHORTS gives all entries feedback from the judges—a point which impressed MovieMaker Magazine to name them as "one of 25 festivals worth the entry fee," and "one of the leading film festivals." DC Shorts turns the spotlight on truly independent short films, created by new and established filmmakers in an era when the art of filmmaking is opening to all. They select films from every genre for their competition screenings.
info@dcfilm.org

"Great Stories Bring Families Together" is the 2009 slogan for the 14th annual INTERNATIONAL FAMILY FILM FESTIVAL on February 26 to March 1, 2009 at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA. At the Film Awards Ceremony, the "Friz Award" for Animation will be presented to Phil Roman, along with Awards for the Best Films, and the most coveted Award of all: The Top Applause Award (the audience favorite). The Screenwriters Showcase is where the Finalists have one scene performed by actors for the general audience, followed by the
Screenplay Awards Ceremony. For deadlines and entry information, call 661/257-3131.

The MAGNOLIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL was founded by Ron Tibbett in 1996 to celebrate his vision of independent film in Mississippi. "The Mag" has been called the most filmmaker friendly festival by many past contributors. The festival takes place in mid-February, in Starkville, Mississippi, and welcomes all genres and all lengths, in competition for awards. Receptions, workshops and luncheons are held in the Starkville and West Point, MS area. Housing, meals, events and local transportation are provided for filmmakers whose work is chosen for screening.

MOONDANCE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL cordially invites screenwriters and filmmakers, playwrights, short story writers, TV writers, librettists, composers, children's filmmakers & writers, and young (18 & under), plus seniors (75 & over), and all filmmakers &
screenwriters, music video filmmakers, and multi-media filmmakers to participate in the truly international 2009 film festival competition. Moondance offers everyone a unique opportunity to come together with other writers, directors and producers to create new opportunities,
develop tools for success and forge new alliances within the international film and entertainment industry. The 2009 Moondance call-for-entries opens in January 2009. E-mail:
director@moondancefilmfestival.com

PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL'S STUDENT SHOWCASE OF FILMS
(April 23-30, 2009) This one-of-a-kind competition and awards gala presents $25,000 in cash, scholarships and prizes to Florida student filmmakers. Submission deadline: January 21, 2009. For film categories and submission info, please call 561/233-1000.

The SEDONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL invites you to the 15th annual festival, February 24 – March 1, 2009. The six-day festival features more than 125 films, including features, documentaries, shorts and animation. Filmmakers and audiences from around the world have heralded Sedona's festival as one of their favorites. For more information, please call the festival office at 928/282-1177.

14TH ANNUAL STONY BROOK FILM FESTIVAL, July 23 - August 1, 2009. A highly competitive festival, with shorts and features screened over 10 days, every evening and all weekend, in Staller Center's Main Stage Theater on a 40-foot screen. 15,000 attended screenings in 2008. Closing Night Awards Reception hosted by film critic John Anderson.
Filmmakers enjoy screening to one of the largest audiences on the festival circuit, with up to 1,000 people at a screening. Entry is free thanks to sponsors. Deadline to enter: May 1. Questions? E-mail: filmfestival@stonybrookfilmfestival.com

The 18TH WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL is seeking film submissions. The nationally acclaimed Woods Hole Film Festival will take place from July 25 through August 1, 2009 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. For more information, contact info@woodsholefilmfestival.org

Got a Story to Tell? MM Wants to Hear It.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:26:00 +0000

MovieMaker at Sundance

As always, MovieMaker is proud to be a part of the premier event for American indies, as we unveil our Winter 2009 edition. If you're in Utah, pick up an advance copy at
Sundance's Headquarters, Filmmaker Lounge, Sundance House, New Frontier on Main, Yarrow or the Volunteer Villa. You can also find us at Tromadance and X-DANCE.

Can't make it to Park City? Let MM bring Park City to you. Beginning Thursday, visit MovieMaker.com daily for the latest film happenings—including an all-new daily video podcast.

Subscribe Today—and Save

In 2009 I will get my movie made. Sound familiar? Well, luckily, our New Year's resolution is to help make sure that happens by offering you a year's worth of exclusive interviews, invaluable how-to articles, and insider industry tips for the lowest price imaginable.

To help you realize your movie-making goals, we're offering you the chance to purchase a year of the world's best-selling independent movie magazine for just $9.95*

Sign up today to start with our Winter 2009 issue, in which we count down the 25 Best Places for Moviemakers to Live (and survive), go inside Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro's Che, reveal the top deadly sins of screenwriting (and how to fix them), unearth a lost 1985 John Cassavetes interview, watch James Gray bid a fond farewell to Joaquin Phoenix and commend the 10 moviemakers who are saving the world one reel at a time. And that's just one issue.

Think You've Got a Story to Tell? MovieMaker Wants to Hear It!

Tales from the Trenches

You've been there: Your lead got a new tattoo halfway through shooting; your dolly track was run over by the equipment truck; you lost your financing the morning you were to start principal
photography . .

MovieMaker wants to hear your production nightmares—your struggles with cast and crew, your technical pitfalls and (most importantly) the steps you've taken to reign the project back in—for an all-new blog called Tales from the Trenches. Now's your chance to let it all out—publicize your movie, show off your problem-solving skills and help your moviemaking brethren in the process.

So make us laugh, cry or cringe in horror. Submit your story today (no more than 1,000 words) to tales@moviemaker.com. Who knows, you just may be the next featured blogger at MovieMaker.com, reaching out to our more than one million readers!

Coming Attractions

Speaking of publicizing your movie, we're also looking for your help with our new Coming Attractions section. We want to keep our readers up to date on all the hottest upcoming movies—including yours. Send us a few choice photos from the movie you're working on right now
along with all the pertinent info (director, actors, synopsis, completion/release dates, etc.) and you may just see it posted on MovieMaker.com for all the world to see.

2009 BlueCat Screenplay Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Every writer receives a written 600 word script analysis of their screenplay. Winner $10,000. Four finalists $1500. Our alumni sell scripts, secure representation, direct award-winning films, and build careers. BlueCat has discovered more writers than any screenplay contest in the world. Deadline March 2. Entry fee $50.
www.bluecatscreenplay.com

DEC Film School Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:53:00 +0000

Classes start February 5, 2009

June and October semester starts are also available.

Click the link below to watch a tour through the amazing environment at Douglas Education Center, guided by Tom Savini.

http://www.moviemaker.com/mailinglist/lt.php?id=N0sAD1VZBQYCS1cBBEoLAglV

� 2008 Douglas Education Center

130 Seventh Street Monessen, PA 15062 1.800.413.6013

'Dark Drama or Gritty Thriller Scripts'

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:51:00 +0000

SQuid Brothers, INC. is looking for a completed, feature length dark drama or gritty thriller scripts which involve a hardened male character (24-28 preferred but not required) who interacts with a young, “quirky but bright” 11-13 year old female character,

i.e. Something in the vein of “The Professional,” “Sling Blade,” “Taxi Driver,” or “City of Lost Children.” The male character in the story should have enough moral sense to not hurt the child, and should learn something from the kid as the story unfolds, perhaps even becoming a mentor to, and then later becoming mentored by the child character. We especially favor stories where the communication between the main characters takes place more through body language than dialogue, such that the acting is more in the eyes and less in the conversation. And we’re especially interested in a hard, gritty, dark role for the female character. Budget for this project will not exceed $1.5 million. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

INSTRUCTIONS to SUBMIT:

Email a QUERY LETTER or SYNOPSIS ONLY to:

NetworkISAQuery@gmail.com

CUT AND PASTE TEXT INTO BODY OF EMAIL - ALL ATTACHMENTS WILL BE DELETED

11th Annual International Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:18:00 +0000

Early deadline: January 5th

Grand Prize: $10,000
Two writers got scripts made into movies by LifeTime Network
in 2007
All the reading done by 90 production companies
Entertainment Weekly calls it "One of the Best"
Scriptapalooza promotes the winners, runners-up, finalists and
semifinalists for a full year
Each year dozens of production companies and literary representatives sign on as participants to read Scriptapalooza's winners, resulting in many scripts being optioned, sold or bought outright.

Questions? Comments? Call the Scriptapalooza office at 323/654-5809
or e-mail info@scriptapalooza.com.

CS Weekly - 12/12/08 - Frost/Nixon Author Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:17:00 +0000

The Limelight and the Wilderness: Peter Morgan on Frost/Nixon
BY AMY DAWES

The famous interviews on which it's based take up very little of the screen time -- it's mostly about the context and the machinations leading up to them. You structured it like a prize fight. How did you hit on that approach?

I had the idea to do it this way, before I wrote either The Queen or The Last King of Scotland, from the minute I saw Frost talking about it in one of those dreadful biographical TV pieces. Watching him talk about the interviews, I thought, "That would be like a verbal Rocky." You've got the outsider who takes a shot at the champ. It's a David and Goliath story. But when I first met with Frost, he painted a picture of it going terribly smoothly, so I thought, "I haven't got anything (to work with) after all." It wasn't until I met the real James Reston that I realized how chaotic and calamitous it had all been. And far from putting me off, that immediately inspired me.

And the inciting incident was?

They paid Nixon $600,000 to do these interviews. It was a breathtaking amount -- something like $5 million in today's money. This is a leader who had abused his power and completely devalued the American democratic process. Some people wanted to indict him for war crimes. That these payments were made -- the American networks were so angry, and Frost was vilified. [I imagined] the pressure he would have felt. And that he skated into it with no real comprehension, as an outsider, of how important this was to Americans. So I really thought this was a great, great idea, but I didn't have the confidence to write it. And then at a certain point, I had this hiccup with (director) Stephen Frears, where he postponed shooting The Queen for a year, and I thought, "I'll actually try that idea that I never had the courage to write."

Read Amy Dawes' entire interview with Peter Morgan in the latest issue of Creative Screenwriting.

$50,000 Kairos Prize Screenwriting Competition -- Dec. 1 Deadline

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:27:00 +0000

The 4TH Annual $50,000 Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays --
Deadline is December 1, 2008

Sponsored by The John Templeton Foundation, MOVIEGUDE® announces the 4th Annual Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays. The primary purpose of the prize is to further the influence of moral and spiritual values within the film and television industries. Set up to help inspire first-time and beginning screenwriters to produce compelling, entertaining and spiritually uplifting scripts, the winning scripts are read by top execs in addition to the monetary awards.

PRIZES: Grand Prize: $25,000 · 1st Runner Up: $15,000 · 2nd Runner Up: $10,000

FINAL DEADLINE: December 1st, 2008

For complete information please visit www.kairosprize.com

CS Weekly - 11/21/08 - 24: Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:12:00 +0000

"Abuse is often of service. There is nothing so dangerous to an author as silence."
– Samuel Johnson

Find a Script at InkTip

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:17:00 +0000

At InkTip.com four scripts are optioned and writers are hired every week.

Our password-protected website is designed for writers to place their works. Writers can place a logline, synopsis, treatment and/or script for the big screen, television or a novel. Searches can be very detailed so that when an industry member is looking for your kind of script, it will be easy to find.

Prior to building this site, hundreds of industry pros were surveyed to discover what they needed in order to use the web to find scripts. The website was designed accordingly.

From the scripts/writers found on InkTip.com, at least 70 films have been produced. For example, AmberGreen Entertainment recently completed production on a script by an InkTip scribe, with Vivica A. Fox starring, and Rich Newey recently directed I Tried, starring world-famous rap group Bone Thugs-N- Harmony, and written by an InkTip writer. For more info, please see http://www.inktip.com/prod.php

Only industry professionals who are registered and are verified by us can access the site. Writers may not view other writers' works.

Subscribe to our newsletter, which contains lead(s) every week telling you what producers are looking for right now at http://www.inktip.com/newsletter_writers.php

It is $60 to place one script for six months on the website (this includes your logline, synopsis, description, treatment, and script, as well as your resume).

InkTip.com can help take your writing career to the next level. Register now at www.InkTip.com

Pavaline's Team

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:12:00 +0000

Become part of a welcoming environment where serious filmmakers get support and advice from both their peers and Pavaline's Team of experienced industry professionals. Participate in online forums, blogs, private consultations and webinars all specifically focused on filmmaking and
script polishing.

With our open door submission policy, script coverage and script competitions, each member has a distinct opportunity to develop great material that will be part of the Pavaline Studios production slate.

www.pavaline.com/sw08

Prizes Boosted For CS Open at the Screenwriting Expo

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Farrand) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:09:00 +0000

Over $6,000 in prizes plus Hollywood exposure for just three
90-minute writing sessions; top prize is $4,000+

PRIZES BOOSTED FOR A Unique Round-Robin Writing Competition

Potential for Hollywood and national publicity
The 2008 Creative Screenwriting Open allows you to match your screenwriting skills over two days with other screenwriters from across the U.S. The CS Open is a two-day writing competition with big prizes.

The Biggest Prize: The Publicity And Exposure of Your Talents

If you are a finalist, your scene, written under deadline pressure, will be acted out in a live reading in front of hundreds of screenwriters, producers, agents, and others in the audience at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Screenwriting Expo. By making it to the finals, you will have proved, in the only competition of its kind, that you can write creatively under major deadline pressure -- a rare and valuable ability in Hollywood.

National Public Radio has expressed interest in covering the CS Open. We don't know what that coverage might be, but this is potentially national publicity for the winners.

So we have decided to increase the prizes for this event:

Total Grand Prize Value:

The Grand Prize was $3,000 and a free copy of Movie Magic Screenwriter. It is now:

Still $3,000 cash, plus
Movie Magic Screenwriter ($159.95 value), plus
Free Expo Admission: we will refund winner's Expo registration fee up to the cost of a Basic Pass ($94.95 if winner paid for early Basic Registration, $144.95 if winner bought a Gold Pass or regular Basic Pass); plus
Refund of the winner's CS Open entry fee ($10); plus
A free subscription to Creative Screenwriting Magazine or one-year extension ($24.95 US); plus
A free full set of our Screenwriting DVDs ($717.97 value at the sale price)

Second Prize More Than Doubled In Value:

$750 cash, plus
Free Expo Admission, same as for Grand Prize above, up to $144.95, plus
Refund Of second prize winner's CS Open entry fee ($10); plus
$100 coupon to buy any of our other products (DVDs, Creative Screenwriting subscription, next year's Expo)

Third Prize More Than Doubled In Value:

Third Prize was formerly $300. It is now:

$500 cash
Free Expo Admission (same as Grand Prize, up to $144.95); plus
Refund of third prize winner's CS Open entry fee ($10); plus
$50 coupon for any of our other products.

Prizes For Finalists 7 Through 10 Increased In Value:

The previously listed prizes for semifinalists 7 through 10 were "goods and services." Now, each of the remaining Top Ten semifinalists will receive:

$50 coupon for any of our other products; plus
Refund of CS Open admission ($10)

How to enter the CS Open:

1. Register for the Screenwriting Expo (you can register on site -- but registering now will avoid the lines)

2. Buy a CS Open ticket. Go to the CS Open web page and choose a ticket for your preferred time, or buy a ticket on site.

3. Read how the contest is conducted at the CS Open home page.

4. Show up and write, and good luck!