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...
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, ...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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’...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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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