“Robert Stigwood Had A Good Sense Of Smell” Says John Maggio About HBO’s ‘Mr. Saturday Night’:Saturday Night Fever was a culture-defining movie of the 1970s. Platform shoes, flares, windswept hair… and...

At the beginning of your screenplay, your hero should be in a state of inertia — settling for a life that may be emotionally safe and tolerable, but that lacks passion, risk and fulfilment. Their life might be filled with activity and even give...

Personal Story Arc: The Key to Powerful Writing:Write what you know - AnonymousThis quote has been an old saw for writers for as long as I can remember, but its meaning has always been obscured.I’m currently a judge for the screenwriting...

“Get Your Script Remembered” Rachel Shukert on ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘GLOW’, & ‘Supergirl’:“I’d always been a film and television...

The following is a true story.I did a script coaching session for someone I’ll call Lisa. Lisa had spent the past four years pursuing her dream of becoming a professional screenwriter. She had written six scripts with nothing to show for it....

As a script consultant, determining the theme of a script is one of the areas I often focus on with writers. Figuring out what your story is really about is essential to the success of your piece. Without a clear central idea, the script can easily...

How Do You Execute Your Screenwriting Voice And What Goes Into Creating A Style On The Page?In this article, Alexander Robb (Literary manager at Insignia Entertainment) discusses how your voice translates into your unique writing style.I get asked...

How can I explain the never-ending irrationality of human behavior?We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the...

Aaron Sala is a Northern California native who has been writing and directing since high school. His work had received such praise as “good lord, that’s disgusting,” and “not as bad as we expected” until his spec script...

Literary manager Scott Carr talks about the screenwriter-manager-industry triad. What does a screenwriter in demand look like?Three words: Incoming call business.The goal with any writer is to position them in such a way that their work and...

“We Prefer Stories Relatable To Our World Today” Says Lawrence Bender Productions Creative Executive, Janet Jeffries:Janet Jeffries is a Development and Production executive working in both features and television for Lawrence...

QUESTION: Could you please clearly explain O.S. and V.O.? I hear different things from different people, and sometimes I see O.C. in older scripts. I'm starting to get obsessed about this.ANSWER: In addition to your question above, I have received...

General Meetings – or “generals” as they are more widely known in the industry – are effectively meet-and-greets between a producer, development executive network or studio executive, and the writer whose work the individual...

Before I read a script I don’t want to know anything about it. I like to come at the piece with an open mind and no preconceived ideas about the premise or intentions that might ultimately influence the read. Now, is this truly...

Followed is the brainchild of screenwriter Todd Klick. It’s a “Screen Life Genre” horror film about vlogger/ social media influencer DropTheMike (Matthew Soloman) who is offered a lucrative sponsorship deal to stay at one of...

Myths can conveniently be dismissed as apocryphal tales grounded anywhere from the absence of truth to the indisputable fact. They typically track a hero (real or imaginary) with a human element that helps us explore and more fully understand our...

Pixar Animation Studios have built a reputation for telling compelling, engaging, family-friendly stories since 1979. They have combined their highly-successful storytelling with equally innovative animation. Soul is co-written by Pete Docter, Mike...

Before I even get into this one, let me start with telling you that I know that as soon as you scratch the surface of this particular blog post, you are going to have the urge to click out. To go read something else. Over the years I’ve come...

(REPOST) We all know that “the devil is in the details,” but why are there so many demons in movies and on TV these days? In the past two years, there have been 26 horror movies released where the primary antagonist is some sort of...

Your characters compel you to be honest, and this creates a challenge. The actions of the characters make your story. Writers often focus on plot, structure, theme, dialogue, description, amongst many other elements, but the success of your script...