Parks and Recreation is one of my favorite comfort shows. It's something I can put on to brighten my mood, and it never fails. On his YouTube channel Behind the Curtain, N.T. Jordan, pulled together some of the best interview clips of co-creator Michael Schur (also the creator of The Good Place) and others discussing... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Screenplay: Getting Exposition Out, Matrix Style
The latest video from Michael Tucker's wonderful YouTube channel, Lessons from the Screenplay, delves into the always tricky topic of exposition. Exposition is information that you need to get across to the audience, but simply telling the audience a bunch of background info rarely goes well. So Michael takes a look at how the Wachowskis... Continue Reading →
Video: How They Wrote ‘Fight Clubâ
Behind the Curtain has posted a new video essay on the writing of Fight Club, and it's pretty friggin amazing. In the video, author Chuck Palahniuk shares his real life inspiration for this story -- which is fascinating -- then screenwriter Jim Uhls and director David Fincher weigh in on how the story adapted to... Continue Reading →
The Best Screenwriting Competitions to Enter (and Why)
In my experience, these are the screenwriting competitions and film/TV fellowships that are worth entering/applying to.
Writing Prompts for Screenwriters
If you hadn't heard, I (Angela) co-run a screenwriting competition with the wonderful Tim Schildberger of LiveRead/LA. Our joint competition is Write/LA, an international feature and pilot screenplay competition created by writers, for writers. (The Write/LA Early Deadline is tomorrow - June 5! Check it out!) One of the things we do over at Write/LA... Continue Reading →
How to Get the Rights to Adapt Your Favorite Book, Song, or Anything Else: The Complete Guide
Our good friend Ken Aguado has put together a handy new guide for screenwriters who have their sights set on adaptation but have no idea how to actually go about acquiring the rights to their favorite IP. Based On: A Non-Lawyerâs Guide to Acquiring Film and Televisions Rights from Everywhere, is available on Smashwords for... Continue Reading →
Video: How they Wrote ‘Game of Thronesâ
Whether you were adequately satisfied by the end of Game of Thrones, hated it, or found it straight-up offensive, there's no denying that this show got into the psyches of a whole heck of a lot of people with some exceptional writing in the first few seasons. It dug it's claws in deep enough that... Continue Reading →
Video: How They Wrote ‘The Officeâ
N.T. Jordan (@ntjrdn) has started a new YouTube channel called Behind the Curtain, and we are already big fans. With these videos -- so far one on Game of Thrones and one on The Office -- N.T. is digging through hours of interviews to find clips from showrunners and core writers regarding the actual writing... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Screenplay: Evolving Screenplay Format
When do we need to be strict about our formatting, and when can we break the rules to better serve our story?
A Closer Look at Hollywood Heroines: The Most Influential Women in Film History
From Greta Garbo to Penny Marshall to Thelma Schoonmaker, Hollywood Heroines is an astounding investigation of film history through the eyes of the women who helped shape it.