by Tim Schildberger (@LiveReadLA) We are in Competition Deadline Season! Many of the biggest screenwriting competitions have their final deadlines in the next few days and weeks -- the Nicholls final deadline is May 1, and the Austin final deadline is May 15 -- so now’s the time to polish that script you've been toiling... Continue Reading →
6 Lessons Learned Adapting My Feature Script into a Radio Drama
by Onicia Muller (@OniciaMuller) After almost seven years of writing and coordinating with collaborators, I finally co-produced Sucker’s Garden, a Caribbean radio drama, with my friend Kimberly Meyers. Here are six lessons I learned while adapting our feature screenplay into a radio drama. 1. Create your vision, then worry about budgets. That was the first... Continue Reading →
Creating WONDER: A Conversation with David Hoberman
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) David Hoberman has brought some of the world’s most beloved stories to the screen. From Beauty and the Beast to The Muppets, Hoberman has developed a knack for crafting films that appeal to the widest ranges of audiences. He was nominated for an Oscar in 2011 for The Fighter but has continued to work across mediums, producing... Continue Reading →
A New Holiday Classic: A Chat with The Man Who Invented Christmas Writer, Susan Coyne
by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) Every year a few new Christmas movies are thrust upon theater audiences, and they are usually forgotten well before December 25. But once in a while, a movie strikes a chord and gives us something new to look forward to each holiday season. Any list of modern-day Christmas classics must include... Continue Reading →
4 Approaches to the Coming of Age Story
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Coming of age stories have long been a staple of storytelling. Since the early days of film and television, audiences have enjoyed watching characters that mature before our very eyes. These stories usually offer hard lessons that only experience and living life can teach us. They usually focus on the growth of... Continue Reading →
7 Templates for Character Arcs
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Seeing a character grow in her internal journey is one of the most effective ways to show that the character has arced. While a protagonist learning or realizing something is not effective as a visual external goal, these are powerful internal goals that, by necessity, characters are greatly unaware of while they are being subconsciously pursued.... Continue Reading →
5 Ways to Use the Weather in Your Story
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Depending on where you call home, the weather may be heating up right now. In Los Angeles, triple digits have started to creep into our forecast. Most writers enjoy crafting their stories in nice comfortable rooms, and because we usually seek out a pleasant environment when we write, it’s easy to forget... Continue Reading →
4 Different Approaches to Pitching
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Most writers don’t enjoy the luxury of having top talent attached to their project when pitching. We have to rely on other strengths. While there is certain content that every pitch should have, discussed in other articles on this site, writers still must choose where to lean in when pitching. Where you... Continue Reading →
The Opening Scene is the Hero Your Screenplay Deserves
by Tim Long (@ScreenplayStory) In the competitive world of screenwriting, where industry readers judge your script in the first few pages, openings are a vital part of a successful screenplay and film. Not only are they important first impressions of your writing ability, they also serve a variety of narrative purposes that can raise the... Continue Reading →
Script Check List: 5 Things Your Story Should Have
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) There are certainly no formulas to writing a good script. None that work anyway. There are, however, forms. Good music uses chords that resonate together. Painting uses color systems that work in unity or intentional disunity. Photography uses composition techniques to most effectively draw the eye through the story of the image.... Continue Reading →