Story. Screenplay. Sale.
Until Mystery Man disappeared in 2010, he was a regular contributor to The Story Department. His very last public article was published here and it is still ranking as the most popular post on the site.
Here’s a reviewer’s dilemma. You love horror. You’re given a horror assignment, and the writer tells you in the Production Notes that “the story is intended as a ‘popcorn horror’ … … the kind of old school, old fashioned summer-screamer that is scary and a general good time, it’s not a heavy, dark psych. horror, … Read more
Some people say nothing in their reviews because they don’t want to reveal their “secret insights” on screenwriting. Let me ask you – how do you know that what you know is correct? How will you find out if you’re correct unless you talk about it? (Continued from Part 1) Just because you have a … Read more
As the great Mickey Lee Bukowski once told me, “Sometimes you just gotta lay the smackdown.” However – ONLY the most thoughtless, banal, idiotic, indecipherable, hideously written DRIVEL put together under the pretense of a “screenplay” deserves a smackdown. You’ll know it when you see it. Because we’re about mastering the craft, not sending it … Read more
How should a writer handle a story in which the protagonist is a serial killer? It’s an interesting dilemma, isn’t it? Because every book tells you that your protagonist should be “empathetic” and/or “sympathetic,” right? The audience has to “connect” with him/her on some level, “feel” for the character, and hopefully “root” for that person … Read more
In Boys Don’t Cry, you may recall the moment when Teena is arrested and in jail Candace discovers her secret. Then Candace tells Lana who quickly sees Teena in prison. Teena tells her she’s a hermaphrodite but it “sounds a lot more complicated than it is.” IT’S MORE THAN SEXUAL ORIENTATION Lana tells her she … Read more