Recommended Screenwriters

When it comes to writing great dialogue, I believe the more options you have, the better.  One of the toughest things to do is stare at a screen hoping that something brilliant will just pop out of your mind and somehow fit the script you’re writing. Instead, I’d rather have many options.  Today, we’re going

  Craig James here from the ISA. I recently had the chance to interview Hal Croasmun of ScreenwritingU about loglines and felt this was so good that I just had to share it with our group. CRAIG: Hey Hal, you’ve met a lot of producers and pitched scripts. What are the basics that have to

Julie Kenner (ProSeries 20) got news that her book “Carpe Demon: The adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom” has been funded for a movie as part of a deal between 1492 Pictures and CJ Entertainment.  The project was unveiled last week as part of the new slate of the two companies who have signed a three-year development deal. 

    About a year ago, we started having a curious thing happen in our more advanced classes.  People started asking me this question: “This is the best script I’ve ever written.  How can I possibly improve the best I’ve ever done?” My normal thought on this is to learn more skills and then apply

For winners of the big contests, Hollywood doors open magically and suddenly, your work is considered, read, and sometimes even bought. It can be a dream come true. Even the medium sized or smaller contests offer some industry exposure and bragging rights. But with 500 – 5,000 entries, the competition is fierce. Before we discuss

One of the most satisfying things to write is a great character- driven story. When you delve deep into the psyches of characters and watch them make the tough decisions, it can be absolutely fascinating… But is it marketable? Can you sell it? Producers say they want great character pieces. Actors talk about how they chose

In Part 1 of this Article, I analyzed half of a scene from the movie OUT OF SIGHT, written by Scott Frank to determine what skills he used to make that script a page-turner. Now, we’ll look at the second half of that scene to see even more of what keeps a reader’s attention and

Scripts that are labeled “a page-turner” almost always have more success.  They move up in contests, get more recommendations, and quickly gain a reputation in Hollywood. A real “page-turner” causes the reader to wonder what will happen next.  Each page is somehow connected to the future.   In fact, each page creates a possible future.

In Part 1, I gave some examples of unique situations in movies we’ve all seen.  In Part 2, we’ll use the process below to create some new situations.  If you haven’t read Part 1, you can read it here. Before we do that, let me clarify something. Situation = Entertainment Value. When you put your

Joshua Durkin (ProSeries 23) will write and co-produce the feature film “Dead Cat Bounce” with director Daric Gates.  Earlier, the two completed the short for “Dead Cat Bounce” and it won “best short” at the Idyllwild Film Festival and the Monaco Film Festival. On the heels of the festival wins, they have have commitments for half the