Story. Screenplay. Sale.
The craft of telling a story starts with structure skills.
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
Spring is here, and you know what that means – many a young screenwriter’s heart will soon turn to thoughts of contest success. by The Single Screenwriter Any moment now newbie writers will start crawling out of the muck, fresh pages in hand, convinced their script is the next big thing. Coverage readers and script … Read more
We often think of the antagonist as an external obstacle to our protagonist’s forward motion. by K.M. Weiland The antagonist is usually a physical entity, something standing in the way of our protagonists’ ability to achieve their physical goals and perhaps even threatening our protagonists’ lives or their physical well-being. Consequently, it can be easy … Read more
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
Having read thousands of scripts and watched hundreds of films and television dramas I’ve found that classic stories appear over and over again. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. by Hayley McKenzie We’re always hearing that audiences and producers want films and screenplays that are ‘the same but different’. So how do you deliver … Read more