Jack Brislee

Jack Brislee is a business broker and property developer by day and a screenwriter by night. He has written dozens of scripts, including the Travis Fimmel vehicle Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan, which he co-wrote with Stuart Beattie and The Story Shop. He collects and dissects books on screenwriting.

Introduce the Hero on Page One!

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In a new regular series on The Story Department, Jack Brislee will shatter all the screenwriting principles we have so strongly advocated. First he introduces us to the rule, then explains how it has been successfully broken (or bent). The Rule: Introduce the Protagonist on Page One! Well, maybe not exactly on page one, but … Read more

Writing Drama (16)

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Yves Lavandier’s book Writing Drama currently rates as the absolute favorite of our book reviewer Jack Brislee. To give you the opportunity to delve into Lavandier’s amazing knowledge and insight, we will be publishing a weekly excerpt from the book. Nothing succeeds like excess A writer must not be afraid of excess, of taking things … Read more

Reviewed: Poetics by Aristotle

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“Poetics” by Aristotle. Penguin. London, UK. 62 pages. ISBN 014-04-4636-2 Amazon Price: US $7.88 THE INSPIRATION The Dionysia was a religious festival held once a year in ancient Athens to honour the god Dionysus. Three days of the festival were devoted to the performance of tragic plays. Three playwrights performed three tragedies and one satyr … Read more

The Art of Plotting

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“The Art of Plotting: Add Emotion, Suspense, and Depth to your Screenplay” by Linda J. Cowgill. Back Stage Books. New York, New York. 2008. 192 pages. ISBN-13: 978-58065-070-0 ISBN-10: 1-58065-070-8 Amazon: US $13.57 THE AUTHOR Linda Cowgill has written films for Paramount, Warner Brothers, Universal, MGM and several small independents. She also has television credits … Read more

Reviewed: Personality

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“Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are” by Daniel Nettle. Oxford University Press, Oxford 298 pages. ISBN-978-0-19-921142-5 Amazon Price: US $10.17 I recently watched “Public Enemies”, Michael Mann’s portrait of John Dillinger, and came away very dissatisfied. John Dillinger was Public Enemy Number One, and Johnny Depp is a great Hollywood character actor. I … Read more