Screenwriting From Iowa

It would be hard to find more of a contrast to the slums of Mumbi, India than the wealth and beauty of Telluride, Colorado. But that is part of the ride that Danny Boyle has been on the last year or so. And last night in Hollywood he collected an Academy Award for best director. [...]

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It only takes about 13 seconds to make an Oscar. Make, not win.
And the 13 1/2 inch tall and 8 1/2 pound statuettes are made in Chicago.   And just in case you wondered, they’re made of a gold-plated  high-grade pewter alloy known as britannia. It only takes about 2 days to make the 50 or so Oscars [...]

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In her book Advanced Screenwriting Linda Seger talks about “the ever-present identity theme.” She explains that some examples would be be finding one’s identity (Dead Poets Society), holding on to one’s identity despite oppression (Erin Brockovich), and finding one’s identity within a sport (Rocky).  
“If we look at some of the Academy Award winners of the [...]

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Since the 81st Oscars are this Sunday I thought I’d mention the only screenwriting books I am aware of the comes from the perspective of screenplays that are Oscar winners. Dr. Linda Seger is a much respected script consultant and the author of several books on screenwriting including Academy Awards Advanced Screenwriting: Raising Your Script [...]

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Every once in a while on a shoot I get to meet some cool people. Even in Iowa.
Such was the case yesterday in Moravia, Iowa (pop. 713)  when I walked into a 110 year-old barn where Jim & Shaun (pictured) Wubben make custom choppers. PB Choppers manufactures motorcycles from the frame to the finished product and in [...]

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John Patrick Shanley won an Oscar in 1988 for writing the script for Moonstruck. He started as a playwright and has written more plays than screenplays. But his found success in both worlds. His play Doubt, A Parable won the Tony Award and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. And he’s nominated this [...]

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It’s interesting to me that the screenwriter who wrote one of the most memorable lines in recent cinema didn’t start out wanting to be a writer.
Before Aaron Sorkin wrote the Jack Nickolson line “You can’t handle the truth” in A Few Good Men, and before his multiple Emmy’s for West Wing, he was an actor. [...]

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Just a quick thank you to all the people that stopped by this blog last week and helped make it the single biggest week view-wise since I started this blog just over a year ago. Those kinds of things are always encouraging. Also, Sunday I ran into a short film director I worked with a [...]

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Edward Dmytryk is not the most recognizable name in film history but you could benefit from knowing his work. First he directed 56 feature films, one of which was nominated for an Academy Award (Crossfire) and two others were nominated for DGA Awards (The Caine Mutiny, The Young Lions).  Though some believe his best films [...]

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I Hate Valentine’s Day!
That’s a movie now in post-production and was written by the female screenwriter who actually wrote the most successful romantic comedy in box office history. Any guesses on what movie she wrote?
Here’s a hint, the screenwriter was born in Canada.  Another hint? The writer’s name is Nia Vardalos and she starred in the [...]

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