Best o/t Web 19 Sep

:: Finally: The great Bill Martell on video. (& Hitch, too)
:: Carson Reeves: How To Write For An A-List Actor
:: A Declaration Of Love To The Expendables
:: I’m Still Here Reviewed – And Exposed
:: The Social Network: Early Review
:: Bill Martell On Luck In Screenwriting
:: A Story Should Have Multiple Themes
:: SubPlots Add Emotional Depth
:: Best Of SciFi On io9 This Week
:: Script Worth The Read: Now You See Me
:: From Porn Set Dresser To Don Draper: John Hamm
:: Roger Ebert’s Seance With Errol Morris

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Best o/t Web 5 Sep

:: Carson Reeves is impressed with Drive
:: Original Synopsis for Close Encounters for download
:: The Ultimate Guide to 20 Classic SF Shows
:: Scripts for Piranha 3-D and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
:: Sci-Fi in September: Charlie Jane Anders’ Guide
:: All Roads Lead To Evil Dead: Bruce Campbell
:: Alexandra Sokoloff on the subplot pass
:: ScreenCulture.net: New ozzy site to strengthen industry by strengthening ideas
:: Indiewire’s Top 20 Indie Movies of the 2000’s (via Scott Myers)
:: Part 2 of the Steven Spielberg profile (Flickering Myth)
:: How To Get An Agent? (success not guaranteed)
:: Repeaters: more low budget sci-fi time travel
:: Ron Moore will make Harry Potter fans happy on TV
:: The Art of Napoleon Dynamite‘s Title Sequence
::
What you need to know about the Protag

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Best o/t Web 24 Jan 10

:: Never in cinemas. But read the treatment here: Spider-M4n. :: Subplots: What are they? How can they enhance my script? :: Subplot up close: “Back to the Future”. :: The Sherlock Holmes Screenplay. :: 10 (well.. 9) Sci-Fi Heroes who don’t need origin stories. :: Modern writing technology and their speeds (via Kottke) :: High school … Read more

Structure: Michael Clayton

A structural overview of Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, 2007) in 8 Sequences. When I watched the film during its theatrical release, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Because of the relatively low budget (an estimated USD$25m) for its production values, Tony Gilroy was able to make some brave non-commercial decisions with his screen story. This didn’t go … Read more

Learn from other people’s mistakes

When the Australian Writers Guild NSW organised a night with prominent script editors, one of the questions to the panel was about the most common mistakes. From the answers I have compiled the list below, together with ten common problems from my own experience. These are not just issues with scripts of my clients, but … Read more