March Issue Of Script Magazine

The March Issue of Script Magazine is on newsstands, and it features articles on WATCHMEN and THE SOLOIST and CORALINE and and article by me about writing Character Driven screenplays...



Table Of Contents:

Saved by Art: Susannah Grant and The Soloist
by Aaron Ginsburg
After being shuffled from 2008 awards contention, The Soloist was moved around Paramount’s 2009 release slate, finally settling in late April. Though the move may have been initially disappointing, there’s something fitting about releasing the story -- a tale of two men saved by their art -- at the height of spring. Here Susannah Grant describes The Soloist’s origins on L.A.’s Skid Row and the process of collaborating with regular people to bring their remarkable lives to the screen.

Anatomy of a Scene: Watchmen
by Bob Verini
Its release was in doubt when one studio claimed the other’s rights -- a testament to the potential blockbuster appeal of Watchmen, which after almost 25 years is finally coming to the screen. Script is there as its two writers sit down for the first time together to discuss a key sequence.

Script to Screen: Coraline
by David S. Cohen
In the late 1980s, Henry Selick joined with the Tim Burton team to create the unexpected holiday perennial The Nightmare Before Christmas. With Coraline, writer-director Selick once again sets out to prove that animation can be as scary as it is fun.

Men Behaving Awkwardly: I Love You, Man
by Ray Morton
Comedy writer-director John Hamburg discusses his take on the awkward social situations surrounding male friendships. In his newest film I Love You, Man, he explores a hilarious “bromance” between a groom-to-be and his potential best man.

Scene Fix: Backwoods Barbie
by Jenna Milly
Who can forget watching Tom Hanks discover he’s big or the freeway sign that sings “Do Wah Diddy?” Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith offer their script tips on Robyn Paris’ Backwoods Barbie in the hopes that her story will join the ranks of these memorable rom-coms with a magical twist.

Writers on Writing: The Great Buck Howard
by Sean McGinly
Larger-than-life personalities typically make for larger-than-life studio fare, but writer-director Sean McGinly went another route. His portrait of the grand showman Buck Howard, in The Great Buck Howard -- starring John Malkovich and Colin Hanks -- is drawn from his own life, and on a human scale.

Writers on Writing: Notorious
by Cheo Hodari Coker and Reggie Rock Bythewood
Notorious co-scribe Cheo Hodari Coker says, “Any screenwriter that says he’s happy to be replaced on a project is lying to you.” But Coker found himself happy, and even moved, by Reggie Rock Bythewood’s take on Biggie Smalls’ journey to manhood.

ProdCo Spotlight: Ambush Entertainment
by Joshua Stecker
The industry is full of little-prodcos-that-could with talented people to power them. However, few of those production companies break out of the gate with one indie horror flick and one Oscar® contender. Learn how Ambush Entertainment came to be such a company.

New Media: Death to the Risky Online Series
by Robert Gustafson & Alec McNayr
By now you know that a fresh approach isn’t always a welcome approach in Hollywood -- but that’s not the case in the wild world of webisodes. Take one ass-kicking stuntwoman, one comic-book writer, and one marketing mission from Sony’s Crackle.com and you have one fresh approach to online distribution.

Independents: Problem Protagonists
by William Martell
Here are 10 steps to turn your flawed protagonist into the character that drives the story. Using two hits -- the 1970s’ Five Easy Pieces and Bound for Glory -- William Martell looks at how to write the character-driven screenplay.

Documentaries: Writing Real Life
by Debra L. Eckerling
Before Roger & Me jump-started a whole new approach to filmmaking, documentaries were largely viewed as public-television fare. Now, as filmmakers experiment with story structure and technology, it’s a brand-new day for nonfiction flicks.

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- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Conflict Avoidance - And SPIDER-MAN 2.
Yesterday’s Dinner: One of those huge burritos from Tortas on Ventura across from Vineland.
Pages: 9 Pages of rewrite on the Country Western script... but only a couple of those pages are progress... Because I haven't worked on it for a while, I read over all of my notes and realized I had completely screwed up two whole scenes! So I had to rewrite the last two scenes I wrote - making a bunch of major changes. But I am *writing* which makes me happy... and Script e-mailed me asking where my article was. Told ya.

PS: After 5 months, English Dave's blog is back! He was off writing a novel, and now he is blogging about his adventures trying to sell the sucker. I met English Dave online, where his posts were funny and profane and full of actual information about TV writing in the UK... then I met him in real life (he's one of the regulars who show up for my online friends pub night when I'm in London) and he is the perfect person to get drunk with - slightly crazy in all the right ways. One of my best nights in London was when the pub closed and kicked us out, and we staggered across London to a private club where Dave is a member that serves after hours... and once we got there, Dave's attire did not match the dress code: A Hawaiian shirt and shorts.

- Bill