Badlands and the Art of the Voiceover
Terrence Malick’s editor Billy Weber talks about using voice-over in their classic films Badlands and Days of Heaven and their inspiration (Truffaut) for how to use it well. Via Creative PlanetRead More
Screenwriting
What is a Story?: Conflict – The Foundation of Storytelling
Jerry Flattum discusses conflict as a central element of story. Storytelling is based on conflict. Without conflict there’s no drama. Drama is conflict. By no means is this a new definition but a confirmation of the very foundation of storytelling. What is needed is to understand the role conflict plays, and in the process of Read MoreRead More
30 Minutes with Lincoln Screenwriter Tony Kushner
DP/30 sits down with Tony Kushner who adapted “Team of Rivals” into a theatrical glimpse of the political manuevering for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.Read More
Five Steps To Pitching Success
Jacob Krueger presents 5 steps to getting your script off the ground and into producers’ hands. Step 1: Target The Right Producers It’s astounding how many writers disregard this vital principal—and I’m not just talking about emerging writers. I’m talking about professional writers, with fancy agents and big mortgages. In fact, Hollywood is clogged like Read MoreRead More
How to Succeed in Screenwriting Without Even Trying
Susan Kouguell explains how to increase the chances getting your screenplay actually read. Now that I’ve caught your attention with a spin on this infamous Broadway musical title — I must make a confession. This title is wishful thinking. How to succeed in the screenwriting world is not all about trying. It’s so much more Read MoreRead More
How (and Where) Should I Pitch My TV Show?
You’ve got a great idea for a TV show… now what do you do with it? Heather Hale explains what you need to consider next. “It depends.” William Goldman was right: “Nobody knows anything.” Still, you’ve got to start somewhere. Like any other sales activity, you have to consider: What it is you’re trying to Read MoreRead More
Building the World of Your Screenplay: Your First 10 Pages
Daniel Manus discusses the first ten all important pages of your screenplay. As religious lore has it, God took 6 days to build the world… You have 10 pages. You’ve all heard the horror stories of producers who only read the first 10 or 20 pages, and if they’re not hooked, intrigued and impressed, they Read MoreRead More
Idea Theft – Threat or Myth?
Julie Grey answers a common question about plagiarism that make writers paranoid about their ideas. If you are particularly worried that your concept is so original that it needs to be protected post haste, you can go ahead and register your script with the WGA when you have a complete first draft. If you want Read MoreRead More
John August on How to Write a Scene
John August outlines the steps of how to contruct a scene piece by piece. Spend a few years as a screenwriter, and writing a scene becomes an almost unconscious process. It’s like driving a car. Most of us don’t think about the ignition and the pedals and the turn signals — but we used Read MoreRead More
A Conversation with Argo Screenwriter Chris Terrio
DP/30 talks to Argo Screenwriter Chris Terrio in December of 2012 before winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.Read More
How a ‘New Girl’ script gets made: From outline to final cut on ‘TinFinity’
How does the Zooey Deschanel vehicle come into Fruition? Alan Sepinwell tracks writers Kim Rosenstock and Josh Malmuth as they create an episode. “You must think we’re such dummies,” an exasperated J.J. Philbin tells me. This is somewhere in the fourth of five hours I’ll spend at the writers offices of “New Girl” late on a Friday afternoon in Read MoreRead More