Are you a sci fi fan? Then you are certain to love this week’s interview with Mark Verheiden, EP of Hemlock Grove on Netflix! Mark is a veteran of sci fi in several forms: TV, features, and comics. Click image to play video; more details are below. Mark Verheiden is an executive producer of the [...]
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Story Location, Life Location: Where is Your Character Going?
Today I want to talk about the importance of location, both in screenplays and in life. We behave differently in different places, and so do our characters. Travelling abroad, we speak to people we wouldn’t necessarily speak to, face fears we wouldn’t normally face, and get in touch with aspects of ourselves we wouldn’t normally [...]
Book Review: Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan by Dan Calvisi and William Robert Rich
When Story Analyst Dan Calvisi published Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay a few years ago, he presented screenwriters with a detailed look inside his own personalized method for breaking down a story. His unique approach to constructing a story in the grand tradition of Syd Field, Blake Snyder, and others, allowed any [...]
Sci Fi Circuit: Breaking Into the Sci Fi Spec Market
As a sci fi screenwriter, I’m fascinated with understanding what the current market is looking for in terms of science fiction spec scripts. This question is usually on my mind in some form or another: When it comes to breaking into the spec market as a sci fi screenwriter, what does it take? To begin [...]
Balls of Steel: Crowdfunding Competition – Sink or Swim
I’m feeling a need to stick up for the little people today. I always root for the little guy. Hell, I am a little guy. Hence, this is why I love indie filmmakers. We have day jobs, work tirelessly to get our art noticed, and stick our tin cups out to crowdsource via Kickstarter and [...]
Script Tip: Writing Concepts First
Here’s the Exercise: There are three steps to developing material concept first. I always work with a timer set to 15 minutes and write by hand. In each of the exercises below, allow yourself to go outside and beyond your story. Step 1. Trace the source of your original inspiration for the idea. How did [...]
Break Into a New Genre – Write Crime Scripts with Fred Rosen
In my night job, I showed Bonnie and Clyde and In the Heat of the Night, both 1967 Oscar nominees for script and picture. I’m an Adjunct Associate Professor of Film at the New York Institute of Technology. I was teaching my graduate seminar. The scripts from both films blew away my students. That year, [...]
Producer’s POV: Writer Fears – I’m Not Good Enough
Isn’t that every writer’s greatest fear? Producer Anne Marie Gillen recently posed this question to our Mastermind Group: ”What keeps you awake at night?What are those nasty thoughts that keep playing around in your head? The shoulda-coulda-woulda?” It stimulated such an open and honest discussion about our communal fears and insecurities that we entrepreneurial artists all share but rarely [...]
Story Structure: Linking Your Series Dilemma To Your Pilot Dilemma
During my story consults, the current most-discussed topic is the idea of “linking dilemmas” in the TV pilot. A hot trend in story structure is having the series dilemma link to the pilot dilemma. When done correctly, you set up both a closed-ended arc and an ongoing serialized arc for your story. The basic rule [...]
