Best of the Web

When we find good stuff for screenwriters, we pass it on. If the news is breaking or time-sensitive we re-publish immediately, otherwise check the weekly digest.

Best o/t Web 16 May

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:: Robin Hood: Robbing From the Poor
:: John August about Theme.
:: Where do you find good ideas?
:: Can a writer have more than one agent?
:: Short(film)Cut to Hollywood Success
:: Facebook: Reality vs. the Movie
:: Gladiator screenplay at mypdfscripts.com
:: When Backstory is Too Much Information
:: Legendary Screenwriters (by the other Craig Mazin)
:: Great scifi fiction novel on its way to the big screen
:: Roger Ebert hates 3D too (as does Alex Epstein)
:: About nitpicking. This is not about your screenplay. Yet it is.
:: Movies shouldn’t be like books. And vice versa.
:: Who are you writing for? Or… Who are you kidding?
:: Inception + Toy Story 3 = Scary Genius

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Best o/t Web 9 May 10

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:: Failed screenplays: don’t be another statistic.
:: With so much action, how to balance character and plot.
:: How to pull off an unscripted documentary.
:: Make it rain- for fifty bucks!
 :: It feels like everything has been done… because it has.
:: Give your villain his monologue, he needs air time too.
:: Frank Cottrell Boyce says to forget the 3-act structure- thoughts, feelings, concerns?

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Best o/t Web 2 May 10

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:: Don’t let your script’s Sunk Costs mislead you.
:: The pulp science fiction renaissance has begun.
:: First thought: Best or worst?
:: The struggling indie scene: the rebuild.
:: Discouraged? The spec script market is not dead!
:: Fight for your right to rewrite, and get paid.
:: The WWYD question: why are you writing this?
:: A babbling pitch makes for a babbling script.
:: Wait, do I have to write for 3D now?
:: Don’t make a feature version of your short.
:: How do I cut down my script without breaking my heart?
:: The scripts for Nightmare on Elm Street, Kick-Ass etc.

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Best o/t Web 25 Apr

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:: The Matrix: Act I breakdown. Is Neo the One?
:: Get writing. Bring the good movies back!
:: Plots 101: a breakdown in threes.
:: IndieWire’s top 25 independent films to see this summer.
:: Could your character bio distract you from your story?
:: Find the voice of your series, then the show writes the show.
:: Save the trouble, your loved ones can be your experts.
:: Act II:2, weeding out the theme. What’s your story really about?
:: Great scene to ‘rattle your characters’ cages’: Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.”
:: “There Will be Blood” Paul Thomas Anderson in the Hollywood Conversation Series.
:: Screenwriting help: how to write numbers in your dialogue.

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Best o/t Web 18 Apr 10

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:: Check out the “Death at a Funeral” script.
:: Stop talking, checking, blogging and start writing.
:: David Lynch’s favorite filmmakers in 60 seconds.
:: Organic characters, memorable dialogue.
:: Facing all your bad scripts, once and for all.
:: What they mean by “pre-awareness title.”
:: A quick and easy rom-com idea, they’re everywhere.
:: Theme and character through flashback, the “flashpresent.”
:: Words with Matthew Vaughn of “Kick-Ass.”
:: Archetypal structure 101: The Virgin’s Promise.
:: Know how know now, script clearance and screenwriting business.
:: Jane Goldman of “Kick-Ass” on the 11-year-old girl kicking ass.
:: Keith Calder on the Arc of Awesome.

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