Story. Screenplay. Sale.
The craft of telling a story starts with structure skills.
When I saw Denis Villeneuve’s Maelstrom at a film festival in 2000, I walked out. Today, I don’t remember a thing about that film. Perhaps I should give it another chance. Sicario is one of my favourite films of 2015, and the Sicario Threshold sequence is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I’m now … Read more
With symbolic depth and masterful imagery, the craftsmanship of How to train your dragon exceeds that of many Academy Award-winners. Do not take the fact that it’s animated as a sign that it’s not worth your while. But isn’t it just a kid’s movie? No. It’s an elaborate tale about finding the courage to question … Read more
THE FORCE AWAKENS – LOGLINE: An orphaned scavenger and a cowardly defector become the unlikely guardians of the location of Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi alive and the last hope for the Republic to defeat the sinister First Order who have risen from the ashes of the Empire. WRITERS: Lawrence Kasdan, JJ Abrams & Micheal Arndt. SCRIPT … Read more
Beau Willimon is a powder keg of clean-cut realism, childlike curiosity and sharp wit. During his Bafta speech, Willimon covers political writing, research in everyday life and the importance of finding your characters’ inmost needs. “I don’t think writing is a choice. It’s not a career. It’s something that’s born of necessity. If I didn’t write, … Read more
Nakedly sincere, Charlie Kaufman presents us with a strikingly insightful masterclass on writing without a formula, the responsibilities of a film-maker and the art of failing. Although diffident and somewhat gawky in appearance, Kaufman’s surety of his own work is absolute. “If what you’re doing does not have the possibility of failing, then by definition, … Read more