It’s like maybe fifteen years ago and I’m reading an interview with noted playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon. And in this interview, Simon confesses that one way he forces himself to write is the judicious use of snacks. That’s right. Snacks. I don’t have the interview, but basically what I…

“[Paul] Schrader probed the edges of Hollywood, working as a reader at Warners for fifteen dollars a synopsis and teaching himself screenwriting by working on an original called Pipeliner, something he hoped to direct. Then [Pauline] Kael called him from New York — a critic’s position was about to open…

Written by Mike Mills A trailer for the movie: You may read the screenplay here. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent…

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity. Zero Draft Thirty: Day 21. Write an entire draft of a script in March — FADE IN. FADE OUT. Or any sort of creative goal you have in front of you. Feature length movie screenplay. Original TV pilot. Rewrite a…

A week-long analysis of the movie which won 7 Oscars including Best Original Screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene…

What’s at stake and what to expect. Yesterday marked the first day of negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (East and West) and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) over the terms of the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), the collective bargaining agreement that covers most of…

“Film’s thought of as a director’s medium because the director creates the end product that appears on the screen. It’s that stupid auteur theory again, that the director is the author of the film. But what does the director shoot — the telephone book? Writers became much more important when…

Animated screenplay by Linda Woolverton, story by Brenda Chapman & Chris Sanders & Burny Mattinson & Kevin Harkey & Brian Pimental & Bruce Woodside & Joe Ranft & Tom Ellery & Kelly Asbury & Robert Lence A trailer for the movie: FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a…

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity. Zero Draft Thirty: Day 20. Write an entire draft of a script in March — FADE IN. FADE OUT. Or any sort of creative goal you have in front of you. Feature length movie screenplay. Original TV pilot. Rewrite a…