There’s a debate raging now about whether or not the actors who play the superheroes in hit franchises are worth as much as the brand. Would we accept Chris Pine as Tony Stark or is Robert Downey, Jr. the only actor to pull off Iron Man? Mark Ruffalo was great as Bruce Banner in The [...]
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Writers on the Verge: Choosing Your Next Screenwriting Project
Choosing your next project, be it a spec screenplay, a TV pilot or a television spec, should not only be a creative decision; it should, in a perfect, business-savvy world, represent a strategic decision as well. This is a choice that my clients contemplate on a regular basis, struggling to balance passion with strategy, prolific [...]
Specs & The City: Writing Character Descriptions and ‘Last Action Hero”
Over the past couple of weeks there have been countless articles trumpeting the triumphant return of Shane Black to Hollywood’s A-List, this time as the director of Iron Man 3. Since each article was essentially breaking down the same story regarding the film, they tried valiantly to put their own spin on the backstory of [...]
The Scoggins Report: May 2013 Pitch Market Scorecard
The Scoggins Report by Jason Scoggins & Cindy Kaplan May 13, 2013 May 2013 Pitch Market Scorecard As our tifosi know, there’s nothing we like better than digging around in the data to find hidden patterns. We found a good one for you this week — glance at the Overall Pitch Numbers grid, below. 2013’s lagging a [...]
Guerrilla Screenwriting: The Demise of the Spec Script Market and the Rise of Pre-Branded Entertainment
To kick things off, I’d like to talk a little bit about the world of comic books and graphic novels, and why Hollywood producers like them so much. With its combination of words and visuals in one attractive package, a comic book can be a great sales tool when pitching your project to movie studios [...]
Legally Speaking, It Depends: Targeting Film Festivals
With this week’s starting up of the Festival de Cannes film festival season is said to be in. But with at last count over 4,000 film festivals every year it’s always festival season. Some festivals disappear, never to return, while new ones are popping up all the time. Pick any theme or a film-loving community [...]
Script Symbology
The upcoming column in Script Magazine called Script Symbology is about the study and application of symbols and symbolism to scripts. While there are so-called movie symbologists (Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code comes to mind) to our knowledge there exists no ongoing research, discussion or study of the application of symbols and symbolism [...]
‘On Becoming A Man’ Goes to Cannes Film Festival
When I speak at screenwriting conferences, I often remind people to look to their left and then to their right. The people sitting next to you are the ones you should be networking with, not just the speakers. Now I have proof. Meet Rebecca Norris and Kevin Resnick, filmmakers on their way to Cannes Film Festival [...]
Monday Morning Editor’s Picks – Everything About Character Development
For those who’ve followed my writing on Balls of Steel, you know how I love crawling into my characters’ heads. This week, I want to share with you a FREE download to help you find plot points that fit with your characters’ story arcs! Get your FREE Structure Grid of Character Development and Plot as [...]
