Creating Surprise Every 5 Pages, Part 1

Often, I'll interview a producer in front of a group of screenwriters and ask why they choose to produce a certain movie. Beyond the obvious answers about marketability, there's a few others that stand out and one of them is… …"The script surprised me in many ways." At first, I didn't think that much of

One of the big differences between an amateur and a pro is the quality of their scenes. Much is said about the basic rules of a scene, but I haven't seen anyone cover this one thing: How do you elevate the interest level of every scene? This isn't about having more explosions or fights or

See Part 1 of this Article here. Imagine this: An assistant at a production company is on lunch break. On one side of him is a box with 150 query letters. One of them is yours. On the other side is a trash can. He does this routine twice a month. 150 letters in 30

See Part 1 of this Article here. Whether you are sending a query letter to an Agent, Manager, or Producer, there are three extremely important pieces of advice: Keep it SHORT. Hook them as soon as possible. Make sure the writing is great! Obvious, right? About 5% (that's right, five percent) of all query letters

Situation: You've written an amazing script. The story is riveting. The characters are engaging. The dialogue is unique, emotional, and delivers multiple levels of depth. Great job! Now, what does it take to get agents and producers to read it? Probably the most common complaint of advanced writers is that they can't get anyone in

Over the last year, we've received about 200 query letters and have found some to be inspiring, some to be shocking and some caused us to laugh out loud — unintentionally. Believe it or not, I've had emails sent to me from four different screenwriters who used this approach: > >Hi Hal, > >I'm desperate

I've heard this line hundreds of times — in offices, gyms, bars, and even church. I've heard it from friends, comedians, and even politicians. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." It came from THE GODFATHER in 1972. Written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, the line instantly became part of our everyday

Have you ever wondered why bad movies get made? I mean, it is hard to believe that some movies ever made it past the first reader, let alone making it to the screen. Here, I'm not talking about movies like "Jackass," because liking a movie like that is just a matter of taste (or no

One of the elements of every single scene in your script is the setting. If you have 60 scenes, you likely have fifteen or more settings. How many of those settings make your script more dramatic? There are plenty of ways to increase the interest level of the settings you use in a scene, but

Here's a Solution. Ever read a script you couldn't put down for a second? Ever been so engaged in a script that you forgot your surroundings? Chances are, the main conflict of that script demanded that you keep turning the pages. On the other hand, most of the screenplays submitted to contests slow down and