Per our annual tradition, here is your printable 2021 writing tracker. No sign ups, no tricks -- just a gift for you. This isn't specific to screenwriting -- it's not even specific to writing. It's just a handy chart that you can use however you see fit track monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Check our... Continue Reading →
Announcing the 2020 Write LA Grand Prize Winner
Plus, read the loglines for the Top 15 scripts! This announcement was originally posted on the Write LA website. We are thrilled to announce the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 Write LA screenwriting competition. The 2020 Write LA Grand Prize Winner Nathan Dame – Fräulein Schreiber’s Mixtape | comedy pilot A spirited young musician chases her... Continue Reading →
Prewrite: A New Script Outlining Tool Worth Trying
by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) I recently had the opportunity to test drive a new outlining tool for screenwriters called Prewrite. Spoiler alert: it’s pretty great. (Full disclosure: I am not being paid for this review and I don’t get any sort of kickbacks if you sign up. I was, however, given a free lifetime membership... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Screenplay: The Power of Symbols
Symbols are a powerful tool that can be used in virtually any story -- whether feature, pilot, short, or other. In one of his recent Lessons from the Screenplay videos, Michael Tucker (@michaeltuckerla) takes a look at two of the most powerful symbols used in the film Parasite. Take a look at the video below,... Continue Reading →
Video: How Rian Johnson Wrote Knives Out
Today is Friday the thirteenth, because of course it is. The world is falling apart and there's a lot of fear and worry in the air. So let's, just for a moment, set all of that aside and focus on a fun story written by a fun dude. In this video from Behind the Curtain,... Continue Reading →
Video: How Noah Baumbach Wrote a Love Story About Divorce
Nehemiah Jordan over at Behind the Curtain has put together another great video about Noah Baumbach's writing process for Marriage Story. Through interview clips and footage from the film, Baumbach explains how he conceptualized the story, how he crafted that opening, that fight scene, and how he fully utilized the audience's tendency to align with... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Screenplay: The Unifying Theory of 2+2
This video by Michael Tucker of Lessons from the Screenplay is an excellent class in characterization, subverting expectations, and minimalism. It explains Andrew Stanton's Unifying Theory of 2+2 through the context of No Country for Old Men. For more masterclass videos like these, be sure to subscribe to Lessons from the Screenplay on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADoPXknQCI
A Free 2020 Writing Tracker, Just for You
I've been posting these free, one page, printable writing trackers (which you'll find at the bottom of this article) for the last four or five years, but 2019 was the first year that I really used it. Usually, I'd start with it on my wall and would try to set reasonable goals, but then a... Continue Reading →
2019 Screenplays For Your Consideration – An Ongoing List
It's award season again, and that means that all the big and small studios will start putting the screenplays that they think have a shot at the big awards online for a short period of time. Use the links below to find the scripts, read them, and learn from them. These screenplays are only to... Continue Reading →
Video: How Christopher Nolan Created His Joker
With all the conversations going on around Joker this weekend, it seems like an apt time to revisit the version of the character acted by Heath Ledger and written by Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer in The Dark Knight. N.T. Jordan has done an excellent job pulling together interview clips from the... Continue Reading →