Why This is Good Screenwriting

07/28/2011

Passive Princesses

As briefly touched on in my post on Formatting Basics-INT./EXT. there is rarely, if ever a reason to use the combination INT./EXT. in a slug line. I won’t say never, because I’m sure someone will come up with some bizarre circumstance where it works, or cite some famous screenplay that won 17 awards

01/31/2011

If you haven’t seen The King’s Speech yet, you’ve no doubt at least heard about how good it is and seen it winning awards and garnering Oscar buzz. If you have seen it, you know it’s amazing. I went into the film with high expectations and left with them fulfilled. The acting, of course, was incredi

01/28/2011

As the new year begins, there are a lot of articles and lists online about the worst movies of 2010. Since I think studying bad movies can teach as much if not more than looking at the good ones, I wanted to compile a list. Since I didn’t go see any of these awful films myself since I am not a masoc

01/07/2011

Nearly two decades of hard work and dedication were completely undone by a semi-early typo in Scott Frank’s latest script, according to a production company intern.

01/03/2011

One of the primary focuses of my critiques is the likability of the hero. Beyond just being a nice person, it is important that your audience care about your hero either because they are so nice and lovable, they are someone we are drawn to because of their success and charisma, or they are in dange

12/23/2010

TRON

Over the weekend I had the chance to go see TRON:Legacy in 3D. Since I was only 13 months old when the original TRON came out, I was always vaguely aware of it as a part of pop culture, but I had never actually seen the movie. My husband and I sat down and watched the original and were mildly amused

12/20/2010

They're called wrylies, not obviouslies

Today I want to talk about parentheticals, or wrylies. You know, the little note in parentheses that indicates to the actor how they should read a line, or that they should pick up their Coke and take a sip in the middle of their dialogue. I hate them. I know some screenwriters love them, and they’

12/13/2010

One day a year, Franklin Leonard transforms from midlevel studio executive mired in development meetings, script readings and note-taking into Hollywood's most important soothsayer. The 32-year-old native of Columbus, Ohio, is the mastermind and compiler of the Black List, a compendium of the year's

12/09/2010

Heroes Solve Problems

Heroes do not sit around and wait for an easy way out to come along. Heroes do not complain about what happened to them, they actively seek out ways to improve their situation.

12/01/2010

Why not to set your story in L.A.

Please don’t set your film in Los Angeles. I know you are thinking about it. I know you want to. I know you think it will make your film appeal to those who live and work in Hollywood, or maybe it will make them think you understand the movie industry. But please, please do not set your film in Los

11/29/2010

Congratulations Eric Shapiro and Rhoda Jordan on Rule of Three!

Rule of Three film featured by Big Screen Entertainment Group BSEG. Jon Morrow loses himself in panic at the lack of police follow-ups in the investigation of his daughter's disappearance.

11/29/2010

Writers to brag about!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays, as I believe being grateful is the key to happiness. Though this year has been the most difficult of my life, there is still always so much to be thankful for.