Stop digging: Holy Grail found!

This may well be the best you will find on screenwriting this year. Thanks to Mystery Man & crew, we have access to the minds of Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan at the time they were putting together the story elements of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not only will you find a link to the … Read more

From One to Many

In a series about screenwriting software, some of the main screenwriting software titles out there will contribute an article to The Story Department. We open the series with Mark Kennedy, CEO of Celtx. “Just a few days ago, we released version 2.0 of the Celtx software. A lot of people don’t quite get what Celtx … Read more

Kenny – Plumbing the depths

National Screenwriters’ Conference 2009: Kenny – Plumbing the depths by: David Tiley Screen Hub Thursday 26 February, 2009 Before opening a completely charming discussion with Andrew Knight about the writing of ‘Kenny’, Clayton Jacobson produced some very sobering numbers. Kenny cost $500,000. By the time the film returned $5m, he was still $250,000 in debt. … Read more

To McKee or not to McKee

A friend asked me if I would be offended should he spend $600 to go see McKee in Melbourne. Years ago I happened to be in LA in the first days of release of the first edition of STORY (McKee’s bestselling book). I purchased two copies: one for myself and one for my best friend … Read more

The (Necessary) Evil of Dialogue

Zinneman called it a ‘necessary evil’ and wordsmith par excellence David Mamet says: “A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue.“ I am not an expert, not even a native English speaker and I most certainly lack a deep knowledge of vocabulary. My passion is for story and structure. So much … Read more