Archive for the “Screenwriting From Iowa” Category


“When I was about 30, I had three shows running on Broadway. And that made me happy.” Sidney Sheldon “I won an Oscar, for The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer. And that was one of the worst nights of my life. I should have been exhilarated and I was depressed. And I thought, you know, this [...]

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“When did you last see a movie that engaged your mind a week or a month later?…When crap drives out class, our taste grow coarser and the life of the imagination grows smaller.” Stephen King What’s Next For Pop Culture? Recently I looked at what movies were playing at a four-plex theater by my house and [...]

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“You’ve got to remember that the story is much more about the audience than it is about the characters or the plot. And it is much more about the audience than it is about the storyteller. “ Agent Julian Friedmann “Aristotle described the formula. He did that two and a half thousand years ago. Not only [...]

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“I found myself seeking shelter against the wind.” Bob Seger/Against the Wind “Run, Forrest! Run! Jenny in Forrest Gump Many of you weren’t even born when Bob Seger’s album Against the Wind was released in February of 1980. Some of you have never heard the title song on the album. And since this blog has a [...]

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“A screenwriter friend of mine said your number one goal is to get to the end. So write it fast; don’t look back. If you have to have characters yak about something and you don’t have a solution, do it anyway and let it suck. Then go back over it in a couple of weeks, [...]

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“I was working on The Simpsons as a consultant, and I was trying to get movie ideas off the ground. I could always get on the runway—I could always get a project backed, and I could develop it—but I was never getting cleared for takeoff. And I wasn’t getting cleared for a really dull reasons—because [...]

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“There are no shortcuts. There is only hard work. Perseverance. Luck. Craft. Failure. Success. Mistakes. And yes, dreams that come true.” Screenwriter Bob DeRosa Last week screenwriter Bob DeRosa started a new screenwriting blog and the above quote was pulled from his post Shortcuts. While it’s true that screenwriter Diablo Cody not only sold the first screenplay [...]

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“It’s hard to find a decent story.” Ira Glass The above video is an abridged video (and a well done one of that) from the four videos below that are worth your time as Ira Glass does an exceptional job of exploring the mystery of good storytelling.  Glass has hosted and produced of the radio [...]

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“In my life I’ve experienced tremendous success across diverse ventures and industries, but I’ve also had a boatload of professional tip-overs, economic mishaps, managerial disasters, and creative flops.” Peter Guber Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story Peter Guber has not only produced or executive produced 50 Academy Award nominated [...]

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“I’m in the emotional transportation business. If you want to be in that position, you have to understand drama. You have to understand how characters interact. You must understand how to move audiences emotionally, because that’s what they talk about in word of mouth. You don’t talk about what the film was about, you talk [...]

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