The opening five pages of your screenplay give me a ton of information about the breadth and scope of your project. As with the opening of a novel or any other literary work, the opening of your screenplay should be a microcosm of the world of your script. It’s the first taste – but as […]
Archive | Screenwriting Competitions
The Small Character Drama: Life or Death Stakes
I’m not someone who generally loves small indie movies that blow some minor human drama into a hysteria for the ages. I love real stories – stories with action, externalized drama, physical obstacles, where something transformative happens. To me, most small character dramas that I read don’t offer up enough dramatic stakes to warrant a […]
Look at It From the Reader’s Perspective…
I just got through another big push of scripts. There were a handful of recommends, but overall many of them were dismal. When writing, just get the words down on the page. Get through that first draft. But, then rewrite. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. As you get closer to the time you’re going to send your […]
Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition OPENS
From the people at Scriptapalooza: Hey all you TV writers, this is your chance to change the way you watch TV! Scriptapalooza TV has seen major success in their 10 years… 2 writers won Emmys, numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings. The four categories include existing 1 hour shows like True Blood and […]
Screenwriting Basics: The Importance of Theme
A reader asked me to write something about theme, as it is possibly the most nebulous component of good writing and yet arguably the most important. Theme, to me, is the soul of the piece. It’s a part of the unspoken meaning to each of the scenes that is continually omnipresent. Most scripts I read […]
Writing is Rewriting: You Have To Do the Work
For me as a reader, I can tell you that most scripts I read are a sparkling, resounding, operatic voice calling out from the heavens, “PASS!” There’s just nothing in them. Sometimes I wonder why that writer actually wanted to invest the time. What they thought was so interesting in their little project as to […]
The 2009 List of CineStory Screenwriting Awards Semifinalists
The 2009 List of CineStory Screenwriting Awards Semifinalists ARMY ANTS, Andy Cannistra, Sleepy Hollow, NY BEADED ROAD, Wenonah Wilms, Minneapolis, MN BLACK GARDEN, THE, Joe Bright, Studio City, CA FROZEN FIRE, Paul Pawlowski, Redondo Beach, CA GIRLS ON THE RUN, Lukas Hassel, New York, NY IN THE COMPANY OF THE UPRIGHT, Cyndi McLean, Alberta, Canada […]