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Articles
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Coverfly Is Closing. Here’s Why the ISA Has Always Been the Perfect Home.

  • . May 22, 2025
As many of you may have heard, Coverfly is closing its doors. While this news may feel unsettling for some in the writing community, we want to take a moment to reassure you, our ISA members, that you’ve already aligned yourself with the right platform—one that’s always prioritized writers, one that continues to grow, and one th...
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April 14, 2025
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Creative Screenwriting
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What Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof Endured for “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig"

The international film landscape is essential in shaping a global approach to cinema. Oftentimes, it isn’t simply the types of stories or the way they are told by specific voices that excite audiences, but also the way in which they were made.Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is astonishing in its raw truthfulness, ...
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Magazine
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The Facets of Tribalism: A Conversation with ‘Opus’ Writer-Director Ma...

  • Sadie Dean
  • .March 14, 2025
Mark Anthony Green discusses his approach to filmmaking, focusing on thematic anchors, like tribalism and character development, particularly Ariel’s character. As well as his overall mission to engage with audiences, his dream collaboration with music artists Nile Rodgers and The-Dream and praises his crew for giving it their a...
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Moviemaker
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12 Smart Movies Disguised as Dumb Movies

  • Tim Molloy
  • .June 09, 2025
These smart movies are only pretending to be dumb movies, in order to lull you into a false sense of superiority and catch you off guard with their — dare we say it? — brilliance.By the way, do you know what we consider a truly dumb movie? A pretentious movie that thinks it's deep and profound. Give us an unapologetically dumb m...
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Film Inquiry
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ISA TOP 25 SCREENWRITERS TO WATCH Interview With Adam Karlson

Each year, The International Screenwriters’ Association compiles a list of the 25 screenwriters to watch. This year, Film Inquiry is here to guide you through the incredible list of gifted individuals! Our next writer is Adam Karlson. Film Inquiry spoke with Adam about his writing process, the details of his script Choke, tips f...
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The Wrap
TheWrap
TheWrap

Bill Maher Begs Elon Musk Not to Reconcile With Trump: ‘He’s Not Good for you’ | V...

  • Ross A. Lincoln
  • .June 14, 2025
Bill Maher devoted the “New Rules” segment of Friday’s “Real Time” to the topic of Elon Musk. And by the end he was basically begging the billionaire not to reconcile with Donald Trump, joking that it’s a “bad relationship” and that “he’s not good for you.”The bit largely involved Maher credulously repeating some of the more uh ...
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ISA ARTICLES

9 Game-Changing Screenwriting Lessons

Everything in life has a pattern. So does a screenplay.Writing a screenplay (or a novel or anything else) can be a lot like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the manual - frustrating, a little chaotic, and filled with moments where you genuinely wonder your purpose in life (and let’s face it, those IKEA manuals aren’t mu...
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ISA ARTICLES

5 Writer Hacks That Will Save Your Story

Screenwriting is an art, and it’s never easy. When we think it’s easy, we’re probably missing something. That’s not to say that it’s supposed to be hard just for hard’s sake (I mean…telling someone a story and actually making them feel something over the course of two hours or an entire season of TV is tricky business), but it i...
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ISA ARTICLES

Horror at the Oscars: On "The Substance" and Crafting Your Own Nightmare

When we think of the Oscars, we don't immediately think of horror movies. But it happens. This year, we've got The Substance with five nominations and Nosferatu with four. Alien: Romulus can claim one nomination. Academy-lauded horror films of the past include The Sixth Sense, Get Out, Misery, The Exorcist, and Best Picture-winn...
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ISA ARTICLES

ISA Staff Picks: March 2025

The ISA staff has selected these screenplays and their writers as outstanding examples in their genres and formats for March 2025. They are being submitted to agents, managers, producers, and production companies actively seeking talented writers to represent or compelling projects to produce.Staff Picks:PRODIGAL by Chris Courtn...
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CS MAGAZINE

What Makes High School Movies Work? (Part 2)

ArchetypesParents (good and bad), teachers (good and bad), friends, teammates, and classmates (good and bad), and siblings all form the basis of an archetypal character set.In The Edge of Seventeen:Nadine’s mother: a bit unraveled and trying to cope with her own life as well as her two children. Nadine’s father is dead and that’...
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CS MAGAZINE

What Makes High School Movies Work? (Part 1)

High school movies span decades. There are thousands covering most of film and TV history. This is mainly for one reason: the themes in them are universal.The stories of high school are the stories of life. Of joy, sadness, yearning, accomplishment, and all things in-between.On The Edge of Seventeen is a prime example of the com...
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CS MAGAZINE

6 Helpful Things To Consider To Make An Impactful Short Film

Short films have been an effective way for many screenwriters to showcase their storytelling skills. They can be shown at film festivals, industry screenings and events, and online to help promote your screenwriting career.Here are some pointers that screenwriters might consider when writing a short film script:1) Make It ShortA...
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CS MAGAZINE

Halina Reijn Wrestles With Control In Erotic Thriller “Babygirl”

Erotic thrillers are back.In an electric explosion of passion, sexuality, and gender dynamics, Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn (Red Light, Bodies Bodies Bodies) tracks two super-charged and vulnerable characters Romy (Nicole Kidman) and Samuel (Harris Dickinson) who break most corporate and relationship norms when CEO Romy and her ...
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SCRIPT MAGAZINE

Interview with Director Catherine Gund about Her New Film 'Meanwhile'

  • Susan Kouguell
  • . March 13, 2025
In this wide-ranging interview, Susan Kouguell discusses with filmmaker Catherine Gund their respective work and shared artistic sensibilities in terms of employing nontraditional filmmaking structures, the inclusion of poetry in film, tackling challenging subject matter, and how to make it the most honest. It was a pleasure to ...
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SCRIPT MAGAZINE

What Happens in the Field, Stays in the Field: David Koepp Discusses His New Thriller 'Black Bag'

  • Andrew Bloomenthal
  • . March 12, 2025
David Koepp talks about penning this crackling thriller, writing on spec, and utilizing a MacGuffin that’s simple and powerful. Espionage films are notoriously delicious. Black Bag--the new spy thriller written by David Koepp, is no exception. In this taut tale of British intrigue, National Cyber Security Centre agent George Woo...
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SCRIPT MAGAZINE

Make Your Script's Opening Pages Stand Out

  • Script Magazine
  • . March 11, 2025
This live webinar will explore why these pages matter so much, and how you can entice a reader to stay with your script.The opening pages of a script matter far more than you think. They are the chance a busy Literary Manager/Agent/Producer/Actor gives you to impress them with your command of craft, story and above all, characte...
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SCRIPT MAGAZINE

Writing the Sci-Fi Screenplay

  • The Writers Store
  • . March 11, 2025
When writing the Sci-Fi script, audiences are looking for entertaining stories with interesting, developed characters that take them out of this world and into another. The Writer’s Store staff created this bundle of ten products to help Sci-Fi writers take their script to the next level and get it sold. With examples from block...
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MOVIEMAKER

In ‘Who’s There?,’ Boston’s DIY Film Scene Comes Knocking

  • Tim Molloy
  • . June 10, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F62KXQCiC-s"Who's There?," directed by Ryan Doris and written by the buzzed-about A24 screenwriters Todd Spence and Zak White, a loving stepfather played by Garland Scott awaits his daughter's return after a big night out. He hears her voice behind the door, but doesn't see her — and soon he reali...
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MOVIEMAKER

12 Comfort Movies to Cheer You Up Anytime

  • Margeaux Sippell
  • . June 10, 2025
Sometimes, we all need some cheering up. Here are 13 classic comfort movies that just might help.Spirited Away (2001)A still from Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli - Credit: C/OIf this isn't one of the greatest animated films of all time, I'll eat my shoe. There's something so magical about Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli. It follow...
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MOVIEMAKER

A Fond Farewell to Netflix Interactive Content 

  • MM Writers
  • . June 10, 2025
At the start of May, Netflix quietly removed its last two pieces of interactive content. Kimmy vs. the Reverend and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch were the final two shows clinging onto a streaming service that had pulled the plug on its experiments months earlier. A form of television that allowed viewers to make decisions and shap...
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MOVIEMAKER

Ari Aster’s Eddington Trailer: When Reality Is a Horror Movie

  • Tim Molloy
  • . June 10, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL6jZqExlIkThe small American town of Ari Aster's new Eddington doesn't look so different from the real world presented by CNN or the Drudge Report: People can spin anything into a conspiracy, government is turned against itself, and gunfire erupts with seemingly little provocation.The small, fict...
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FILM INQUIRY

Glasgow Film Festival 2024: THE G

There seems no end to the vulturous nature of late-stage capitalism. Just when it seems every crevice of society has been mined for content, a fresh new subject crops up waiting to be explored. In this wintery cold noir from Karl R. Hearne, the subject is elder care facilities and the way they’re used to exploit the elderly and ...
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FILM INQUIRY

SKIN DEEP: A Body Swap Romance Exploring The Modern “Self”

Skin Deep opens as a disoriented man totters through a bedroom. There’s a catatonic figure lying in the bed nearby as light streams through the window. His befuddlement is ours as well. It sets a perturbing mood against the Gregorian undertones of the music. There’s something strikingly beautiful in another subsequent image: a y...
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FILM INQUIRY

Scream Dreams Podcast Interview

In the world of horror podcasts, some can be a nightmare. Or, in the case of Scream Dreams, AMP’s podcast, the horrors are actual nightmares, as the podcast dives into them in a compelling and unique fashion. With a myriad of guests from within the horror genre, co-hosts Catherine Corcoran and James A Janisse interview and get i...
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FILM INQUIRY

TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR: A Lightning In A Bottle Cultural Phenomenon

In her ongoing quest for world domination, Taylor Swift made a quick detour at the gates of cinema last year with her uniquely marketed concert film. Being released in tandem with her ongoing Eras Tour, which the film documents, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was a box office juggernaut that defied expectations. And while the film ...
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THE WRAP

John Stamos Says He Broke the News of Brian Wilson’s Death to Cousin and Beach Boys Vocalist Mike Love: ‘His F...

  • Sharon Knolle
  • . June 13, 2025
John Stamos, who has been an honorary Beach Boy for 40 years, said he was the one to break the news of Brian Wilson’s death to his cousin and the band’s vocalist, Mike Love.“I was with Mike, I got off the plane, and I got the text,” Stamos told the New York Post at the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday at t...
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THE WRAP

Where Was the Live-Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Filmed?

  • Andi Ortiz
  • . June 13, 2025
The Isle of of Berk is insane, which Hiccup makes a point to warn you about multiple times in “How to Train Your Dragon,” cautioning that if you want to visit, you’ll have to be cool with dragons. But he doesn’t tell you exactly where to go, so that’s what we’re here to do.To be clear, no, the Isle of Berk itself isn’t a real pl...

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