This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with the writing/directing team Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye. This duo wrote the horror movie Becky. (The directors of Becky were interviewed in episode 337 of the podcast.) Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye also wrote and directed the thriller The Devil To Pay. Topics featured here are making The... Continue Reading →
Filmmaker Jeff Barnaby Talks BLOOD QUANTUM
This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with filmmaker Jeff Barnaby. Topics include Blood Quantum, a new horror movie Jeff Barnaby wrote and and directed, and pitching film projects at the Cannes Film Market. In the vein of 28 Days Later, Blood Quantum is a high concept zombie movie with a cast that includes Devery Jacobs... Continue Reading →
Filmmaker Wendy McColm On Writing, Directing, and Acting in Birds Without Feathers
by Ashley Scott Meyers In this episode of the podcast, filmmaker Wendy McColm talks about her debut movie as writer/director/actor, Birds Without Feathers. She talks about why filmmakers need to get their contracts in order and what it takes to get an indie film made. Birds Without Feathers is a new indie comedy which was... Continue Reading →
Video: How they Wrote ‘Game of Thrones’
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 →
A Free Chart to Track Your Writing in 2019
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash Every year we put together a simple, one-page writing tracker to help writers of all sorts keep their writing resolutions. This year's calendar follows the usual format -- an open block for each month where you can write down monthly goals or the books you read or the movies you watched; a... Continue Reading →
Prepping for a New Story
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) 2018 has only a few weeks left, and many writers will be making resolutions around their work come January 1. That may include completing a new script in 2019. While this is a worthy goal, more than one writer will abandon their new story before January has come to an end, perhaps... Continue Reading →
Announcing LA Screenwriter’s First Online Course - ON CHARACTER
We are thrilled to announce our very first online course, On Character, presented by John Bucher and Jeremy Casper. Hopefully many of you already know John as your favorite story guru -- he shares insights on LA Screenwriter every Wednesday. What you may not know is that John also teaches writing and filmmaking with his... Continue Reading →
4 Steps to Creating a World for Your Story
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) There are a number of ways that a writer can begin crafting a story. Many begin with a character – the protagonist. Others begin with a concept. While there is not one “right” way to begin constructing a story, there are many ways to help jump-start the process. One method is to... Continue Reading →
The Ironic Payoff: 4 Ways to Use Irony in Your Story’s Ending
Minor spoilers ahead for Bridesmaids, Peppermint, Brokeback Mountain, and Sierra Burgess is a Loser. by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Last week, we looked at principles of story setups and payoffs. We examined how these elements can drive the narrative journey in your script and thus the emotional voyage of the audience. This week, we will concentrate on... Continue Reading →
5 Tips for Writing Documentaries and Non-Fiction Programming
by Ken Aguado (@kaguado) There’s an entire universe of media that’s sometimes overlooked by aspiring screenwriters: writing for documentary films and non-fiction television programming. We’re living in the golden age of documentaries, and there’s never been more opportunity. Every year there are dozens of terrific documentaries released and hundreds of hours of non-fiction television programming –... Continue Reading →