“In Dial M for Murder, I did my best not to go outside.” Alfred Hitchcock Dial M for Murder (1954) was written by Frederick Knott based on his play. Several different TV versions of the play have been done and it was the basis for the 1998 film A Perfect Murder starring Michael Douglas and [...]
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Archive for January, 2011Finally, Hollywood has titled a movie after a town in Iowa. The film Cedar Rapids premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Though not too many people in Cedar Rapids are going to recognize many locations. The majority of the film Cedar Rapids was shot in tax-incentive friendly Michigan. And actually from the little I [...]
Jan
27
2011
 
Sputnik, Sundance & Kevin SmithPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.” President Obama State of the Union Address 1/25/11 Referencing the Soviet’s rocket launch in the 1957 which fueled the USA in the space race “The piece of advise that Walter Gretzky gave (his son) Wayne Gretzky was this…’don’t go where the puck’s been, go where it’s gonna to be.’ [...] “Tell me a story, to me, are still the four of the most beautiful words in our language. I remember my grandfather, I would ask him those words—’Tell me a story grandaddy.’ And he would tell me one. In the south, especially the rural south, the telling of stories on porches, that passing down of [...] “If man made it, don’t eat it. Eat more fresh fruits, fresh vegetables…” Jack LaLanne Sure there’s news today from Sundance as well as the Academy Award nominations, but I’d like to take the time to pay respects to Jack LaLanne who just died. Long before his Power Juicer Infomercial days, he was known as one [...]
Jan
24
2011
Screenwriting the Pixar Way (Part 2)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Toy Story 3 is about change. It’s about embracing change. It’s about people being faced with change and how they deal with it.” Lee Unkrich Director, Toy Story 3 “All the Toy Story films have been about mortality. It’s all about ‘Who am I? Am I going to be replaced?’” Darla K. Anderson Producer, Toy [...]
Jan
23
2011
“Returning to Zero”—Robert RedfordPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I was a failure at everything I tried. I worked as a box boy at a supermarket and got fired. Then my dad got me a job at Standard Oil—fired again.” Robert Redford Success magazine This year’s Sundance Film Festival began a few days ago and it’s a fitting time to look back at the [...] Three years ago today I created my first blog post ever (Life Beyond Hollywood). I started out with a modest goal to consolidated my writing notes gathered over the years from film school, books, magazines, seminars & workshops in hopes of it becoming a 50,000 word book. Three years later I’ve written 832 posts and [...] Since yesterday I quoted Pirates of the Caribbean co-screenwriter Ted Elliot, I thought today would be fitting today to quote the other half of that writing team Terry Rossio. Elliot & Rossio’s fifth Pirates script Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tide will be released later this year. Rossio won an Oscar for co-writing Shrek [...] “We didn’t intend to have sequels. The first [movie] is a story in and of itself, a sort of capital ‘r’ romance in The Prisoner of Zenda* sense that ends in an idealized love between Elizabeth and Will.” Screenwriter Ted Elliot on the first Pirates of Caribbean movie Having grown up in Orlando and spending [...] |
