Lancelot Link: You Only Link Twice

Lancelot Link Thursday! Now that the Oscars are over, you can take off the gown and get back to work! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Also Didn't Win An Oscar...

2) I know you have all seen DEADHEAD MILES, but here are *lost* screenplays of Terrence Malick.

3) How much fiction can you have in a fact-based movie?

4) A *much* better 50 Years Of Bond than the Oscars showed.

5) NEW GIRL - from script to final cut.

6) John August - How To Write A Scene.

And the car chase of the week!



- Bill

And the Oscar for Best Actress goes to...

Jennifer Lawrence on MONK.



- Bill

Spirit Winners

BEST FEATURE
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” -- Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey and Josh Penn
“Bernie” -- Producers: Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams
“Keep the Lights On” -- Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs
“Moonrise Kingdom” -- Producers: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin
WINNER: “Silver Linings Playbook” -- Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

BEST SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson – “Moonrise Kingdom”
WINNER: David O. Russell – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Ira Sachs – “Keep the Lights On”
Zoe Kazan – “Ruby Sparks”
Martin McDonagh – “Seven Psychopaths”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 
WINNER: Derek Connolly – “Safety Not Guaranteed”
Rama Burshstein – “Fill the Void”
Christopher Ford – “Robot & Frank”
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack – “Celeste and Jesse Forever”
Jonathan Lisecki – “Gayby”


BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – “Moonrise Kingdom”
WINNER: David O. Russell – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Julia Loktev – “The Loneliest Planet”
Ira Sachs – “Keep the Lights On”
Benh Zeitlin – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Fill the Void” -- Director: Rama Burshtein; Producer: Assaf Amir
“Gimme the Loot” -- Director: Adam Leon; Producers: Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington
“Safety Not Guaranteed” -- Director: Colin Trevorrow; Producer: Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow,MarcTurtletaub
“Sound of My Voice” -- Director: Zal Batmanglij; Producers: Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin
WINNER: “The Perks of Being a Wallfower” -- Director: Stephen Chbosky; Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“Breakfast with Curtis” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Laura Colella
WINNER:  “Middle of Nowhere” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay; Producers: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes
“Mosquita y Mari” -- Writer/Director:  Aurora Guerrero; Producer: Chad Burris
“Starlet” -- Writer/Director: Sean Baker; Producers: Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach,FrancescaSilvestri
“The Color Wheel” -- Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Carlen Altman Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardinelli – “Return”
Emayatzy Corinealdi – “Middle of Nowhere”
WINNER:  Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Quvenzhane Wallis – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Mary Elizabeth Winstead – “Smashed”

BEST MALE LEAD
Jack Black – “Bernie”
Bradley Cooper – “Silver Linings Playbook”
WINNER: John Hawkes – “The Sessions”
Matthew McConaughey – “Killer Joe”
Wendell Pierce – “Four”
Thure Lindhardt – “Keep the Lights On”

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt – “Your Sister's Sister”
Ann Dowd – “Compliance”
WINNER:  Helen Hunt – “The Sessions”
Brit Marling – “Sound of My Voice”
Lorraine Toussant – “Middle of Nowhere”

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
WINNER:  Matthew McConaughey – “Magic Mike”
David Oyelowo – “Middle of Nowhere”
Michael Pena – “End of Watch”
Sam Rockwell – “Seven Psychopaths”
Bruce Willis – “Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Yoni Brook – “Valley of Saints”
Lol Crawley – “Here”
WINNER:  Ben Richardson – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Roman Vasyanov – “End of Watch”
Robert Yeoman – “Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“How to Survive a Plague” -- Director: David France; Producers: David France, Howard Gertler
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present” -- Director: Matthew Akers; Producers: Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre
“The Central Park Five” -- Directors/Producers: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
WINNER:  “The Invisible War” -- Director: Kirby Dick; Producers: Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering
“The Waiting Room” -- Director/Producer: Peter Nicks; Producers: Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
WINNER:  “Amour” -- Director: Michael Haneke
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” -- Director:  Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“Rust and Bone” -- Director: Jacques Audiard
“Sister” -- Director: Ursula Meier
“War Witch” -- Director: Kim Nguyen

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
“Nobody Walks” -- Producer: Alicia Van Couvering
“Prince Avalanche” -- Producer: Derrick Tseng
WINNER:  “Stones in the Sun” -- Producer: Mynette Louie

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
“Pincus” -- Director: David Fenster
WINNER:  “Gimme the Loot” -- Director: Adam Leon
“Electrick Children” -- Director: Rebecca Thomas

 TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
“Leviathan” -- Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
WINNER:  “The Waiting Room” -- Director: Peter Nicks
“Only the Young” -- Directors: Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
WINNER: “Starlet” -- Director: Sean Baker; Casting Director: Julia Kim; Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

- Bill

Lancelot Link: Oscar Edition

Lancelot Link Thursday! The Oscars are Sunday... do you have your gown picked out, yet? Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Inspiration From 17 Film Professionals.

2) Making PULP FICTION. (oh, that third writer-director was Adam Rifkin, you'd think these guys would have done 5 seconds of research before writing the article).

3) Budgets For All Of This Year's Oscar Nominees.

4) The Producer Has Some Notes...

5) New Wordplay Column! Awesome piece on revealing information rather than just dumping it on the audience... and the Rules Of Gremlins.

6) Santa Barbara Film Festival Writer's Panel.

And the car chase of the week!



- Bill

WGA Awards Winners

Here are the winners of the Writers Guild Awards...

MOTION PICTURES

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty, Written by Mark Boal

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man, Written by Malik Bendjelloul.

TELEVISION

DRAMA Series
Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett

COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.

NEW SERIES
Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling

EPISODIC DRAMA
Mad Men, Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner – “The Other Woman”

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL
Hatfields & McCoys, Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann, Nights Two and Three

LONG FORM – ADAPTED
Game Change, Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann

EPISODIC COMEDY
Modern Family: “Virgin Territory” – Written by Elaine Ko

COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Portlandia, Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley

CHILDREN’S – EPISODIC & SPECIALS
Sesame Street: “The Good Sport” – Written by Christine Ferraro

CHILDREN’S – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Girl vs. Monster, Teleplay by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee, Story by Annie DeYoung.

Congratulations to all of the writers!

And I've had a new addition to the family!

BRAND NEW!

*** ACT TWO SECRETS *** - For Kindle!

Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is well over 200 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

- Bill

Lancelot Link: A Good Day To Link

Lancelot Link Thursday! Happy VD! Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are three cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Return Of The Spec Market?

2) What's It Like To Be A Screenwriter?

3) QT Goes To The DOGS.

This week's Car Chase...



- Bill

Lancelot Link: The Jar Jar Saga!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Post Superbowl Hangover? Here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are six cool links plus this week's car chase...


1) Erik Bork (BANK OF BROTHERS) on Inciting Incidents.

2) Edgar Wright on ANT MAN.

3) STAR WARS: THE JAR JAR BINKS SAGA (three films) gets a greenlight!

4) Dave Clary on Harry Potter.

5) Oldie But Goodie: AFI's 100 Movie Quotes.

6) Free Book on why JOHN CARTER tanked.

And this week's car chase...



- Bill