“I did a million drafts. And then I did the thing everybody does—I read Syd Field and I used my index cards.” Producer/writer/actress Tina Fey The note card/index card method of plotting out your story has been covered a couple of times on this blog in the posts Screenwriting Via Index Cards and Dustin Lance Black Screenwriting Tutorial […]
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“For screenwriters hungry for an even deeper education, reading the actual scripts is about as good as it gets.” John Jarrell Why single out just five screenplays to read? Because it’s more doable than climbing WGA’s mountain of 101 Greatest Screenplays. I bet you can track the five screenplays below online and read them by […]
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Screenwriter John Jarrell spends a part of the time in his 400+ page book, Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro, on anecdotes based on his experience in the film industry. And part of the time he offers advice on how to improve your screenwriting skills and film knowledge. Here’s an example of some of his practical […]
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“Making a living writing movies is a privilege, something that’ll come hard- earned, if at all. Hollywood doesn’t need you, doesn’t give a sh** whether you live or die, and nobody — and I mean NOBODY — is gonna cry if your Tinseltown dreams don’t come true.” John Jarrell Screenwriter and instructor John Jarrell’s book Tough […]
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“The only thing I can control is how hard I play, my effort and my attitude.” George Springer USA Today interview You may have never heard of George Springer, but I think his career can help your career. Springer is not a screenwriter or filmmaker, but a professional baseball player with the Houston Astros. This […]
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“Our film project, The Emperor of All Maladies, is about as close to the bone as filmmaking gets for me.” Filmmaker Ken Burns “More will die from cancer over the next two years than died in combat in all the wars the United States has ever fought, combined.” Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies PBS […]
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“The idea of the movie came out of the very first meeting, was if I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know where I come from, I can only identify myself by the things I do, know how to do. What if I find out that all the things that I know how […]
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“I’ve ignored most of the things I’m going to tell you tonight, which is why this lecture is for me as much as you, to remind me of what an asshole I am for ignoring my own rules. And I’m serious about that.” Tony Gilroy My last post covered screenwriter, novelist, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank D. […]
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“What have you done for me recently? That’s part of the American ethic, and one just accepts it. Nothing’s old in America…It’s very tough, and if you start thinking that people owe you something, you can go around feeling very sorry for yourself.” Writer/director Frank D. Gilroy You can file this under, “The fruit doesn’t […]
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My St. Patrick’s Day Special on the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Eugene O’Neill (1888-1952) : “I spent a year in Professor Baker’s famous class at Harvard. There, too, I learned some things that were useful to me—particularly what not to do. Not to take ten lines, for instance, to say something that can be said […]
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