Screenwriting Basics [Story’s Holy Trinity]

screenwriting basics

Many teachers and writers have tried to capture the screenwriting basics. Unhappy with most of them, I boiled them down to a simplicity I have not seen anywhere else. This is mostly analytical. So there’s no guarantee that you will deliver a successful story. Then again, no system does. No matter what the teachers promise you. What this approach to … Read more

What the Hell is High Concept?

I’ll confess… when I started working in this business as an assistant, and heard the term “high concept” over and over, at first I assumed it meant high budget. Then I thought it had something to do with drugs. But I quickly learned that a high concept project is a unique story that can be … 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

Best of the Web 1 Dec

Story & Structure :: Screenplay Review – Once Upon A Time In Hell :: 10 Screenwriting Tips from Planes, Trains and Automobiles! :: Story as Psychological Journey Script Perfection :: Should You Write a Novel or a Screenplay? :: Writing for Stars :: Joe Eszterhas’s 10 Rules of Screenwriting :: Hemingway on How to Be … Read more