Online Logline

Karel Segers and Nir Shelter will be reviewing loglines online in a live webinar for members, from 11am until 12.30pm on Saturday morning (Eastern Australian Time, or  7pm EST / 4pm PT Friday evening). To participate, post your logline on Logline It!, with the tag “Meetup”, and we will look at them in the order … Read more

Concept In Screenwriting [Do You Understand It?]

The screen industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. Not only have independent dramas all but disappeared, many of the cinemas that used to program them have too. It is now more difficult than ever to get a screenplay optioned or sold, if it doesn’t appeal to the main movie-going demographics. Being a great … Read more

The First Rule Of Screenwriting: Strong Concept

Last month I broke a record for the year. I saw three movies at the cinema that I truly enjoyed (and I only watched three). One of these three failed spectacularly at the box office: the Australian crime-action flick SON OF A GUN, written and competently directed by newcomer Julius Avery. It is by far the … Read more

Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso: The Truth About A Conflicted Hero

Film buffs may claim the greatest Japanese director who ever lived was Kurosawa. In my books the greatest – and at the time of writing, still living – Japanese filmmaker is surely Hayao Miyazaki. My absolute favourite from his oeuvre, is PORCO ROSSO. Miyazaki created the animation masterpieces MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO, SPIRITED AWAY, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES and … Read more

The Micro Budget Movie – Ten Tips On Writing It

“Writing a low budget or Micro budget movie is a waste of time!” Over eleven years of screenwriting I have lost count of the number of times I have heard, and indeed said, that phrase. It’s the mantra of many an arrogant writer, myself included, thinking I am god’s gift to screenwriting. After all, I have read … Read more