The Challenges of Second Seasons, Sequels, and Finales
... one of the most worrisome fears for writers is that they could end up penning something that damages ‘the brand.’
How a Great Script Paints a Whole Picture
Such brevity is all but demanded in scripts today, all the better to help readers breeze through the script, right?
The Next Great Sports Movie?
These days, anyone with a cell phone and a TikTok account can be a celebrity, so maybe our adoration of movie stars, recording artists, and athletes are going to suffer when fame seems so accessible.
Want Your Script to Get More Attention? Zag
Even if you’ve got a winner, endorsed with great notes from a pro, or some wins in a contest or two, what else can you do to give your work traction?
Where is the Love?
The worst of mankind is more sellable to the American public than the best, it would seem, so anyone attempting to tell a tale of romance is up against a burgeoning trend of nastiness.
Something Writers Can Look Forward To ... No One Knows Anything
Nothing is certain, so why not take the risk and be as bold or unusual or as personal as we want to be in whatever we are creating?
Why is Hollywood Ditching Its Rule of "Show, Don't Tell"?
Have we gotten to the point where we need our hands held so continually?
How to Write an Ensemble Movie Script
An ensemble movie and its script must recognize why such an ensemble is needed and what’s at stake in such a story.
Do Dark Times Call for Dark Stories
We can’t recognize escapism any more when hard truths are staring back at us every morning in the mirror.
Putting the Silver in the Silver Screen
At his age, he had plenty of wisdom to draw upon and apply to the characters he was auditioning to play.
When Endings Go Bad
Sticking the landing of a script is tricky. It can’t be too predictable, yet it needs to feel wholly appropriate, justifiable, and even inevitable in its way.
Making More of Metaphors
One has to hand it to a show like Severance as it’s not only chock full of metaphors about the dumbing down of America and the corruption of information sharing, but it's doing so on a platform run by those they are critiquing.
I'm Not Looking Forward to the Oscars
Why is Oscar season, the time of year when Hollywood has to do nothing but laud themselves, wrought with such silliness, offensiveness, and controversy?
Whose Story is it, Anyway? POV in Storytelling
If a writer is going to present his POV in those big, neon letters, becoming almost strident in his or her moral clarity, then one should hope to be as clever as Sorkin.
The Best Screenplay - "Drive My Car"
It’s a bumpy journey, full of twists and turns that you won’t see coming, but the last thing you should do is stop.
