From never being on a TV staff, to becoming the creator and showrunner of “House of Cards,” Netflix’s original foray into dramatic television and the corrupted world of politics… this week’s interview with screenwriter, painter, and playwright Beau Willimon is sure to inspire you! Click image to play video; more details are below. Beau Willimon [...]
Behind the Lines with DR: The Smoking Gun, Part 1 Behind the Lines with DR: The Smoking Gun, Part 2 The perps had been nailed red-handed. One of whom had mistakenly faxed me a transcript of an audio recording that featured me pitching my legal thriller. This was the very same legal thriller they later [...]
From the digital archives of ‘Script Magazine,’ we bring you a past interview of Syd Field. Screenwriting “Guru” Syd Field sits down with Script Magazine to share his knowledge on story structure and discuss the difficult task of breaking in the industry. Ask screenwriters what the fundamental structure of a feature screenplay is and they’re likely [...]
I recently signed my first NDA for a feature-length writing assignment. I did it without an agent (although I’ve had one), without living in L.A. (although I was born there), and without pinning a producer to the file cabinet with brass brads until s/he agreed to read one of my scripts (although I have almost [...]
I’ve written about theft before. Both stories and ideas nicked by scumbag producers without consequence. What follows is an epic tale. All true. With multiple endings that, to this day, still leave me and others gob-smacked. This sordid trip down memory lane begins like most in LalaLand. With a meeting. The sit-down was a “general.” [...]
Like most directors shooting their first full-length feature, Adam Leon would have been happy just to have a finished film. To be able to look back and say, “I did that.” But that’s not what the film gods had in store for this writer-director from New York City. The last year or so since wrapping [...]
Last week, I flew to L.A. to spend four days locked in Doug Richardson’s writing cave. It may seem extreme to fly cross-country to sit in a room full of cigar smoke with another writer, but he isn’t just any writer. He has 30 years of screenwriting experience, wrote box-office hits like Die Hard 2, [...]
The odds of a pilot script being sold and produced are incredibly small. What if you absolutely must see your story come to life? This week we meet Corinna Mendis, who despite having no film schooling or previous experience, independently produced and shot her own spec pilot! Click image to play video; more details are [...]
Some time ago, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt quit their jobs in corporate America and moved west. They endured the many trials of aspiring screenwriters, among them, dwindling financial security and countless near-miss opportunities. They also got married. Last year, they sold their first spec script. This Friday, that movie opens nationwide. The film is [...]
