November Issue Of Script Magazine

The new issue is out now!

They Gave us the Business: An Interview With Margin Call’s J.C. Chandor
by Bob Verini

It was the “Masters of the Universe” who turned all Americans into high rollers during the “Me Decade,” but it was the ordinary Wall Street Joes and Janes who brought the ride to a halt. A scintillating new suspenser, Margin Call — from first-time feature filmmaker J.C. Chandor, suggests how and why they did it.

From Script to Screen: The Rum Diary
by David S. Cohen

To adapt Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary, screenwriter Bruce Robinson (The Killing Fields) had to break a promise, go off the wagon, and risk the wrath of Thompson’s fans.

Writers on Writing: J. Edgar
by Dustin Lance Black

Scribe Dustin Lance Black (Milk) bucked preconceived public opinions in his search for the “real” J. Edgar Hoover when cracking the script for his powerful biopic of the enigmatic founder of the FBI, J. Edgar.

The Last Ride: An Interview With Writer Howie Klausner
by Randy Rudder

Howie Klausner (Space Cowboys), along with co-writer Dub Cornett, remained true to history while scripting the last days of music legend Hank Williams while retaining just enough creative license to leave their fingerprints on this touching story of an icon gone too soon.

An Interview With Final Draft, Inc. Hall of Famer Steven Zaillian
by Ray Morton

This October, Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) was presented the Final Draft, Inc. Hall of Fame Award, adding to his already extensive list of accolades — an Oscar®, a WGA Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe®, a Humanitas Prize, and, just last year, the Writers Guild of America, West’s Laurel Award honoring a lifetime of achievement. Script takes a look at his inspiring career as Zaillian recounts how he has honed his craft over more than two decades of penning unforgettable screenplays.

Beyond the Page: Change of Art
by Peter Hanson

Searching for new ways to explore his favorite themes led screenwriter Joe Forte (Firewall, Say I Do) to a thriving second career as a painter.

What are Your Real Chances of Success?
by Corey Mandell

Writers know it’s not easy to launch and sustain a career. After all, the odds aren’t necessarily stacked in your favor. But, what exactly are your chances of making it in the industry? The answer might surprise you.

Goldman’s Rule on Structure
by John Buchanan

No element of a successful script is more important than a solid, effective structure. And no fundamental discipline of screenwriting is more misunderstood or misapplied. Here experts weigh in on the art of mastering structure.

10 Tips for Talking to Hollywood
by Peter Hanson

Practicing savvy techniques can help ensure you’re taken seriously by the film industry — even before you’re a working professional. Learn why the movie business is just like any other private club: Once you learn the secret handshake (metaphorically speaking), you can get in the door.

Booze Control: Terence Winter and a Sip of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire
by David Radcliff

Last year, Terence Winter (The Sopranos) traded Mafia stories for tales of gin mills and moonshine during Prohibition-era Atlantic City in the first season of HBO’s gripping drama Boardwalk Empire. The result was a smash-hit cable series that left frenzied fans immediately clamoring for the show’s second season.

Pacing Your Script
by Mike Kuciak

One of the elements that makes a professional-level script stand out is it moves in a speed and rhythm that feels like what we’re used to seeing in a theater. There are several common missteps that often contribute to making the pacing slow or uneven in a screenplay. Finding and addressing them will help turn your works into fast, fun, professional reads.

Wind From the East, Part 2: Manga and Anime
by Northrop Davis

Script further examines the growing influence of Japanese manga and anime in Hollywood and the opportunities the global medium presents to creative minds looking to start a career in film or television.

Script Secrets: Hero is Villain?
by William C. Martell

For every yin there is a yang, for every hero there is a villain … unless they are the same person. In an excerpt from his book The Secrets of Action Screenwriting, columnist and professional scribe William C. Martell explains this unique story situation.

For more info:
http://www.ScriptMag.Com

- Bill

Still #3!

Sorry, folks, I have a terrible head cold so the LADY VANISHES entry isn't going to pop tomorrow, and the half finished links entry never got up for today. My good news is that my laptop is back from the shop, so I'm working on the SECRETS OF ACTION rewrite between nose-blows.

The miracle of the two Blue Books on Kindle continues, here's today's ranking on Amazon:

NEW!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

NEW!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Next up will be Dialogue (#10) - which is mostly rewritten and waiting for the three new articles... which I have to write between nose-blows.

Hope to have e-book version of SECRETS OF ACTION ready around the start of November. There will be an excerpt in the November issue of Script Magazine. The excerpt is 2,500 words (10 pages of typing) and was a *single sentence* in the original version! That's the problem with this danged rewrite - every chapter has more information and is twice as long!

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Do You Have The Wrong Idea - Making sure you have the best version of the story before you write it.
Dinner: Chicken breast, salad, mashed potatoes... at home while blowing my nose. Yech. Couldn't taste any of it.
Pages: Got my laptop back from repairs... but now *I* need repairs. Mon & Tue wrote a new article for Script. Also did a quick pass on a script requested by a manager.

Raindance Film Festival Winners

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE presented by Lomography

WINNER
Just Between Us / Rajko Grlic - Croatia
Set in contemporary Zagreb, Just Between Us is a beautifully told tale of infidelity charting the convoluted love lives of two middle-aged brothers, their wives and their mistresses.

BEST UK presented by Yahoo! Movies

WINNER
Stranger Things / Eleanor Burke - UK
An unusual and touching bond develops when grieving Oona reaches out to a mysterious homeless man, offering him a place to stay in her shed.

BEST DEBUT presented by Digital Cinema Media

WINNER
Tilt / Viktor Chouchkov Jr. - Bulgaria
This Bulgarian coming-of-age drama is about four friends who dream of opening up their own bar. Things get complicated when one of them falls in love, the group are busted for illegal distribution of pornography and exiled from their home country.

BEST MICROBUDGET FEATURE presented by Electric Sheep

WINNER
MONK3YS / Drew Cullingham - UK
Voluntarily locked in a cell for 48 hours with no restrictions and no outside help three emotional archetypes battle for psychological supremacy before they can be destroyed by their own weaknesses.

BEST DOCUMENTARY presented by VICE

WINNER
How to Start A Revolution / Ruaridh Arrow - UK
HOW TO START A REVOLUTION is the remarkable untold story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gene Sharp, the world's leading expert on non-violent revolution.

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORTS

WINNER
Words / Sven Vinge - Denmark
A stranger, apparently a great fan of the author, asks for a signed copy of Strøm's recent novel ... the one with the girl.

BEST UK SHORT presented by Raindance TV

WINNER
Love At First Sight / Michael Davies - UK
Do you believe in love at first sight? When Arthur spots Ruth he knows in his heart that it's true...

- Bill

Lancelot Link: Red, White, And Blonde!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz 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) RIP: Steve Jobs - Apple As Movie Star.

2) Want To Be An Intern On A Hollywood Film?

3) Robin Swicord Interview

4) WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER writers speak!

5) Charlie Kaufman On Writing.

6) 5 Secrets About BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS.

And the car chase of the week is *awful* and from SAMURAI COP:



What's up with that hair?

- Bill

NEW!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

NEW!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook! (coming soon)

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Yet Another Remake Of SCARFACE

First it was Paul Muni, then it was Al Pacino, and now...


EMBED-Scarface School Play - Watch more free videos

Gives a whole new meaning to Childrens Theater.

- Bill
Your warning:
Movies 4 Men Channel: 10/2 - 11:00 - Crash Dive - The crew of a nuclear submarine rescue supposed victims of a boat disaster, but the victims turn out to be terrorists intent on capturing nuclear weapons aboard the sub. (1997)

Lancelot Link: The Next Day

Lancelot Link Thursday! Here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz 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) Superheroes In Their Off Moments.

2) Duct Tape Tron.

3) John Landis On Movie Monsters.

4) Want To Read All Of The Christopher Nolan Screenplays?

5) Hollywood Without DVDs.

6) Linda Obst on BRIDESMAIDS and women on screen.

What happens when your search terms are "Movie Car Chase Norway"?



- Bill

More People Dying!

RIP: David Zelag Goodman - screenwriter of STRAW DOGS and the Mitchum FAIRWELL MY LOVELY.

RIP: Uan Rasey - trumpet player on the CHINATOWN soundtrack. Thanks to my brother Dave (pro musician) for the heads up on this. Jerry Goldsmith's CHINATOWN score is amazing, and Rasey's trumpet solo work carries the score.

Both will be missed.

- Bill

Lancelot Link: The Legend Of Curly's Gold

Lancelot Link Thursday! Here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) Indie Producer Who Will Not Be At AFM This Year.

2) Screenwriter Breaks His Nose Without Fighting Uwe Boll.

3) Indiana Jones 30 Years Later.

4) Universal Remakes Classic 1932 Gangster Film!

5) The Locations For DRIVE (2011)

6) How does Jason Statham make so many films in a year?

7) Prop House That Dripped Blood!

8) GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO remake full trailer.

Car Chase Of The Week: Something romantic from The Marseille Contract (1974):



- Bill

September 20...

TUESDAY:

Okay - at 4pm today: IDEA MACHINE was #1 and PROTAGONISTS was #3...

WEDNESDAY:

Neither has ever been #1 before!

NEW!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

NEW!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook! (coming soon)

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Idea Machine has been out since JULY and has stayed right around #3 the whole time. Protagonists was bounced all over the place.

- Bill

Lancelot Link: The Search For Spock!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz 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) Horror Filmmakers: Take Pride In Your Work, Please!

2) 40 Rare STAR WARS Behind The Scenes Photos!

3) Justin Samuels - Writer Suing Agencies For $8m - Rebuttal!

4) HOllywood Can Make A $450 Million Movie Unprofitable!

5) JONNY QUEST in stop motion!

6) Was RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES a political film?

And the Car Chase Of The Week:



VIOLENT CITY (1975) aka FORCED IMPACT. The cool thing about this chase is that it's old school - camera mounted behind the wheels and all of those classic shots from BULLITT and FRENCH CONNECTION.

- Bill

September Issue Of Script Magazine!

Beyond the Page: Words’ Worth
by Peter Hanson
For Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), helping at-risk youth express themselves through poetry underscores the transformative power of language.

M.Y.O.M. (Make Your Own Movie)
by Jim Cirile
As lowly writers, we are taught that we are at the mercy of others. If you can’t get a representative or your screenplay doesn’t sell, sorry, pal — you will never get produced. But the digital age has changed all that. It’s time to seize the reins. You CAN make your own movie.

Concept is King
by John Buchanan
In today’s tight spec-script market, nothing is more important than your idea. In fact, an inferior concept can render even talent and opportunity effectively meaningless. Learn why story concept is king of the screenwriting jungle.

Writers on Writing: 50/50
by Will Reiser
Diagnosed with cancer at 25, scribe Will Reiser decided he finally had firsthand knowledge of a topic deep enough to merit a movie. He tackled the misconceptions about having the dreaded disease and a wrote a poignant, funny, and sometimes irreverent … buddy comedy.

From Script to Screen: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
by David S. Cohen
It took about 17 years, but Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins turned Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark into the movie del Toro saw in his head when it scared the bejeezus out of him at age 10.

Story in Television
by John Truby
Renowned screenwriting instructor and sought-after story consultant John Truby explores why he advises: If you want to be a working writer, and the very best writer you can be, turn your sights to TV.

Emilio Estevez Shows Us The Way
By Bob Verini
Using the classic tale of The Wizard of Oz as an inspirational starting point, filmmaker Emilio Estevez writes and directs his father Martin Sheen in his modern-day spiritual epic The Way.

Writers on Writing: Martha Marcy May Marlene
by Sean Durkin
Writer-director Sean Durkin reveals the challenges in writing a character, Martha Marcy May Marlene, for whom time, like her own name and identity, is fluid. His critically acclaimed drama about a woman released from a cult back into her family challenged his ability to capture the emotions of several characters and led him to embrace the old writer’s mantra: Less is more.

Rubber Stamp Misery!
by William M. Akers
Screenwriter and teacher William M. Akers has seen the same mistakes in screenplays so many times that he created a series of rubber stamps for each common error. Learn how to avoid these tell-tale blunders and get your script on top of the read pile.

Transition Points
by Ray Morton
Over the 100 or so years of its existence, narrative cinema has developed a number of devices that screenwriters can use to effect transitions. Professional script analyst Ray Morton catalogues which devices to use to create seamless changes in time, place or perspective for the reader.

How to Get Your Script Read by Industry Players
by Michael Ferris
You can have the best screenplay in the world — but unless you can get people to read it, it might as well be a paper weight. Find out how to get your script in the right hands.

Script Secrets: Your Own Devices
by William C. Martell
MacGuffins, villains’ plans, Bellamys, and broomsticks are some of the most common types of plot devices. Do you know how to use them? If not, columnist and professional scribe William C. Martell is here to show you.

For More Info Click Here!

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursday: Across The 8th Dimension!

Lancelot Link Thursday! You know what happens when you forget to post the links one week? Twice as many links the next week! Here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) A Rejection Service For Writers!

2) Hollywood Cliches Make Sweet Infographics.

3) 21 Refs To PLANET OF THE APRES in the new RISE OF film.

4) Worst opening for a movie ever - $11 - beats the previous champ Zyzzyx Rd which made $30.

5) Studio Mandated Endings... from hell!

6) The Schwarzanegger Trilogy.

7) The Squid And The Reservoir Dogs.

And this week's car chase, from THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT:



- Bill

CIRCLE OF ENEMIES is here!

Today is the day.

A few years ago my friend Harry wrote a novel called CHILD OF FIRE that was picked up by Random House / Del Rey. Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review. It was also one of their best novels of the year. Everybody loved it. Last year the second novel in the series GAME OF CAGES came out. Once again - great starred review in Publisher's Weekly. Good reviews every place else. Hey, that Harry can write!



TODAY the third book in the series, CIRCLE OF ENEMIES, comes out in paperback. Publisher's Weekly *again* gave it a great starred review. Harry is three for three in the great reviews derby!

The new book is on bookstore shelves today, and available at Amazon and B&N Online, and maybe in airports and drugstores.

Last time I posted about CIRCLE OF ENEMIES I put up the trailer they made for all three books - and unlike those boring book trailers where the pudgy writer holds up a copy of his books and while the announcer tells you how great it is, the the writer says, "I'm James Patterson, read this week's book with my name on it", this is more like a movie trailer... kinda cool!



The other thing they are doing is selling the first two books in the series on Kindle (and other e-book platforms) at a discounted price - for anyone who missed them.

CHILD OF FIRE - 99 cents.

That is under a dollar! For one of the best novels of 2009!

GAME OF CAGES - $2 off!

This is a limited time deal to promote the new book.





Harry has already finished the next book in the series, but how brilliant is he to write a book about Google Plus "Circles" and have it hit bookstores just when Google Plus is taking off? By the way - love that cover!

- Bill

Back In My Home Town...

Back in my home town for a few weeks, and one of my first stops was Hop Sing's Chinese Take Out...

If you ever watched BONANZA on TV, Hop Sing was the cook at the Ponderosa - which isn't that far from where I grew up (though - it's fictional and I grew up in some form of reality). Hop Sing's Chinese Take Out may have been the first in a proposed chain... but I don't think that happened. Instead it's a single store. No seats, nowhere to dine in - take out only.

Map of the Ponderosa on the wall:

When I was a poor community college student Hop Sing's was close to the college (DVC) and close to one of my jobs (K-Mart) and *cheap* and great food. So I could easily dash there and grab some to-go food and munch it between classes or between jobs or just between. Even today, they have the best Chinese fast food I've ever eaten - for $5.75 you get a meal that makes Panda look like garbage. I had a #3: 4 *huge* prawns, almond chicken, BBQ pork fried rice (with a ton of BBQ pork). Their #1 is $4.99 now - BBQ pork chow mein (again - LOTS of BBQ pork), sweet & sour pork, special fried rice with the works... back when I was in community college I have no idea how much it was, but cheaper than McDonalds. I lived off Hop Sings back then.

Now, my sister works at the bowling alley across the street from Hop Sing's, so I visited with her before grabbing dinner and taking it to the park down the street.

So now that I'm here there will be some meetings on my no budget film project, and I plan to make a short film just for fun, and some other stuff.

- Bill

HOW TO MAKE A SCI-FI BLOCKBUSTER FOR LOOSE CHANGE – AND TURN A PROFIT!

My friend Marc Zicree sent me an e-mail about his new class, asking me to help him get the word out. If you don't know who Marc is, you can IMDB him - he wrote the Twilight Zone Companion and was head writer for the TV show SLIDERS and at least one of the STAR TREK spin offs... plus I think he won an award for a STAR TREK episode with Sulu. Marc and his wife do classes every month, and I used to put a blurb about them in my newsletter... only I have not sent out a newsletter in ages! So, here's Marc to tell you about the class...

Our class this upcoming weekend with Neil Johnson HOW TO MAKE A SCI-FI BLOCKBUSTER FOR LOOSE CHANGE -- AND TURN A PROFIT! is getting quite a response -- folks flying in from across the country to take it, people dying to learn the secrets only Neil knows.

It's funny -- just the other day an indie filmmaker I met was telling me that the way to make a film is to scrounge together whatever money you have, don't expect to make anything back and assume nothing will come of it.

Well, Neil, Elaine and I utterly reject that proposition!

(And who are Elaine and I, you might ask. We're Marc and Elaine Zicree, writer-producer-directors who've worked for all the major studios and networks, have hundreds of hours of produced credits -- including STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION, DEEP SPACE NINE, BABYLON 5, SLIDERS, FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES, etc. -- and have been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards and just won the 2011 Saturn Award.)

Neil's filmed with multi-million dollar budgets and budgets of only a few thousand -- and he's made a profit on everything he's shot! PLUS on his most recent film ALIEN ARMAGEDDON he got big-budget effects and name stars for a total budget of only $27,000!

Don't be left out! This is the real deal!

As a rule, shooting a movie with two people in a room talking for two hours doesn't get Hollywood to sit up and take notice. Neil's got fleets of spaceships invading Earth, major cities being nuked, big gun battles between aliens and humans, biomechanical monsters menacing beautiful heroines, the works -- LEARN HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

To see the TRAILER click on TRAILER!

Log onto http://www.scifiblockbuster.com for more info and to sign up.

Class will be Saturday and Sunday August 27-28, 10-5, L.A. Valley College, 5800 Fulton Ave., campus center room 104, first floor, Van Nuys 91401; park in Lot 3 for free.

It's going to be a great ride!

PLUS anyone who mentions my name (Bill Martell) when they sign up gets a BONUS 10-HOUR DVD set of the class (a $249 value) -- FREE. Um, I want that. I'd be there, but I'm on vacation right now.

- Bill

#2

YOUR IDEA MACHINE never made it any higher than #3 on the Amazon Top 20 Screenwriting List...

IDEA MACHINE is still in the top ten at #6.

- Bill

I'm On Vacation

Thought I was going to have another new Hitchcock entry up today, but it isn't finished because I've been goofing off. Sorry.

Okay, here's a link to PSYCHO.

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursday

Lancelot Link Thursday! Now that PLANET OF THE APES has been #1 two weekends in a row, do you think all movies should be about Monkeys? OF MICE AND MONKEYS? FINAL MONKEY 5? 30 MONKEYS OR LESS? GONE WITH THE APES? HOW GREEN WAS MY MONKEY? MONKEYBLANCA? If so, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) All Of The Final Destination Deaths!

2) Police Blow Up Suspicious Screenplay - in case you missed it.

<3) Hunter S. Thompson doesn't like your work... and makes Josh Olson look like a pussycat.

4) Interview With The Writer Suing WME & other agencies for $8 Million Bucks.

5) World's Largest Stop Motion Animation (by Aardman).

6) Groucho Marx vs. Warner Bros lawyers.

7) CONAN writer on bad reviews.

And this week's car chase:



VANISHING POINT remake - Charger & Challenger.

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Nice Antagonists - Just because they are the antagonist doesn't mean they're not nice!
Dinner: All I Could Eat.
Pages: Working on the Action Book revisions... kinda.
Bicycle: No bike where I am.
Movies: Yes, I have seen FINAL DESTINATION 5...

Number 3!

Here is the Amazon Top 10 Screenwriting List for Kindle - 8/13/11:

Also #3 today (8/14) but the top two have traded places.
Thought for sure it would be #63 by now.

NEW!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Wait... There's more!

NEW!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle!

*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook! (coming soon)

Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Next up will either be Dialogue (#10) (which needs me to write 3 new articles) or one of the others that requires less work.

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursday: The Final Thursday!

Lancelot Link Thursday! They are already planning a sequel to RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES... does this mean the apes have taken over our cinemas? If so, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you or the apes who are reading this blog. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



Here are five cool links plus the car chase of the week...

1) Ian Fleming (James Bond) on writing thrillers.

2) Following The Cliche

3) JAWS in the style of PEANUTS.

4) John Sayles interview. (because I'm a massive fan, I must link every Sayles interview, sorry!)

5) All of the Hitchcock Trailers!

And this week's car chase...

LINK BECAUSE EMBED IS DISABLED... It's that good! One of Lancelot's *favorites*!

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Always The Journey - if the hero kills the villain at the end, what's the use of watching?
Dinner: Baja Fresh Fish Tacos... black beans & rice.
Pages: Finished a script, and now working on a NEW Hitchcock blog entry for Friday... then on to the Action Book revisions.
Bicycle: Some medium to longish bike rides over the past couple of days because I'll be going on vacation... and no bike. Lots of eating too much and sitting on my fat behind. Better get some exercise in now!

NEW!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle!

*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!

Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is around 155 pages!

Only $2.99 - and no postage!

Fade Out

So, the original plan was to finish up this great blog entry that has been half written for at least a month, now, and post it for Wednesday... but I'm not sure I'm going to have time to get it done, so it's coming next week.

Instead I thought I'd mention that I finally got to FADE OUT on this new spec, and I did a read-through looking for screw ups today and I think I got most of them... and the script has some scenes that seem better than I remember them when I was doing the typing. I came up with a better ending along the way – the basic end in the same but the details are different – and overall I like the script. Now all I need is to sell the sucker...

But I finished it just in the nick of time, since I want to squeeze in a vacation (which is just working in some other city) and then head back to my hometown to hang out with friends and discuss the movie project... which has already hit a little bump. One of my co-horts – the guy whose *house* we're shooting in – is booked with work until the end of the year. So it looks like we won't be filming until *next year*. We'll have some meetings and beers and come up with a new start date and plan for the film.

The big plan at this point in time is to complete the revisions on THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING and get that sucker up on Kindle and Nook (hopefully by the end of this month) and then spend next month getting the Blue Books up there. I have another spec script that I want to write by the end of this year – and I might *just* be able to squeeze that in. This year is zipping past!

I am amazed that YOUR IDEA MACHINE is still hanging in there on the Amazon Top Ten for Kindle list. Over the weekend it dropped down to 15... and then rose back to #6 on Monday.

But I have a new screenplay! And hope to have some new blog entries soon!

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursday: Lancelot Takes Manhattan!

Lancelot Link Thursday! Now that they've made BATTLESHIP: THE MOVIE, are you waiting for BARREL OF MONKEYS: THE MOTION PICTURE? If so, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) Pick Movies Based On The Writer - amazing idea!

2) 25 Ways To Become A Better Writer

3) The Overlook Hotel from THE SHINING is a house of cards... a tour. (Thanks to Brad!)

4) A Nice Little Article About Alien

5) Batman Villains - did poor potty training turn them into monsters?

6) And I am still worried about people bathing their taints in the Los Angeles water supply. That's why tap water tastes like...




And this week's car chase... is more of a foot chase...



DISTRICT B13 - one of those arty French films.

- Bill

Now on Nook!

Your Idea Machine (Blue Book #1) - for Nook! That was fast - I posted it to the site yesterday, the note said it would take 48 hours or more... but it's up today.

Your Idea Machine for Nook.

Same deal as Kindle - 160 pages (if it were a paper book) for $2.99.

And Kindle got my cover up. It was #3 on the sales list for Kindle Screenwriting books for a while today. Just think, if I had written a book about identifying ants by sex, it might *always* be #1 in its category!

Okay, you guys are tired of all of this crap, I'm going back to work on the screenplay - almost done!

- Bill

Shady Producers

So, today's Script Tip is on your first script sale with all kinds of warnings about producers who may seem a little shady. Like this guy...

Unlucky Producer? Or Fraud?

- Bill

Blue Book update

Okay, Nook ended up being easier than I thought it would be except for one minor cosmetic issue (it "page ends" after every sub-chapter - no big deal). It hasn't popped on B&N yet, but when it does I'll link it.

Due to some weird timing issue, I am locked out of uploading the cover to Kindle until tomorrow. I will fix a couple of cosmetis issues when I dfo that (two lines break in the middle of a sentence due to a stray bit of code, a couple of paragraphs didn't break - you probably wouldn't ever notice it.)

Though I'm finishing up a script right now, and next up is the Secrets Of Action Screenwriting, I may find a minute or two to get some other Blue Books up.

TUESDAY UPDATE: Nook version still in the grinder, will come out soon.

- Bill

The Blue Book Project

I hate my Blue Books. If you don’t know what they are - they’re these booklets I sell from the website, each on a specific subject of screenwriting and each 48 pages (including covers). There are supposed to be 20 of them, but I still have 3 that are in some form of “not finished” - in one case, the material is there but I just haven’t put it in booklet form.

The reason why the Blue Books exist is my friend Jim... When I was sending out preview copies of the Action Book to pro-screenwriters for cover blurbs, he asked me what I was going to sell in the book. I said, I don’t understand that question. He explained that my book would be in bookstores all over the place, and when people bought the book and took it home... what other products would I have listed in the book so that people who liked my book could buy something else like it? Okay, now I was understanding the question, but my answer was: Nothing. I didn’t have anything else to sell, and I only had the Action Book by accident: I had these xeroxed pointers on how to write an action script that I gave to my friends, which had turned into a 100 page booklet with a red cover, that turned into a 200 page book with a glossy blue cover, which turned into the 240 page version that I sold about 13,000 copies of and is now for sale on e-bay for hundreds of dollars because it has been out of print for so long. But every step along the way on the Action Book was just a reaction to whatever happened with the last version. The 240 page version was that original xerox thing with some additional articles added. I was never really trying to write a book... and I had no idea what I could use that book to sell.

So Jim said I should think about some other stuff, and I thought it would be cool to have a book where you picked the chapters yourself - if you wanted to know more about characters and visual storytelling and great endings, you could just buy those “chapters” and make your own book. I jotted down 20 “chapter” ideas - and put a page in the back of the book announcing them. Except, the problem was, people *did* like the Action Book and *did* want to but the danged booklets! So that meant I had to write them. And they kind of came in batches - a bunch came out in 2000, and then in 2002, and then in 2004... and then a couple have come out since then and the last three...

But just writing them was only one of the problems. I had to manufacture them myself. At first, this was fairly easy - the place that copied my scripts gave me a great deal if I ordered about a zillion Blue Books - they would not only knock the price down, if they had nothing better to do they would fold and staple them for free. If you have ever priced folding and stapling (called “saddle stitching” for some reason) at Kinkos, you know this was the deal of the century. Kinkos charges folds by the page - and a 48 page booklet would cost a pile of money in addition to the copy costs. Then, my script copy place went out of business - and to this day that has caused all kinds of issues with the Blue Books, main one being the fold and staple thing.

The other wonderful issue with the Blue Books is that people order weird things. For instance, I suddenly got a bunch or orders for #12 and #4 - and ran out of those two booklets. The new place that prints them has a “bulk discount”, but when I only need some odds and ends, the price goes up and sometimes I basically break even. I might run 20 sets of 17 booklets and get a price break, then get 30 orders for #12 for some weird reason and it screws up everything. If next batch I get extra #12s, there will be a run on #6. You just can’t predict this.

But the biggest problem? Postage. If I mail a complete set of Blue Books to Australia, it costs more that half the cost of the Blue Books themselves - and people often complain. And they are right to complain - if you pay more than half for shipping, something is wrong. The books are heavy - they cost a lot to ship. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve tried to switch over to classes on audio CD - they cost much less to ship. Even with the $1.50 padded envelope, I can get more info sent to someone on a CD that weighs less than that same amount of info on *paper*. But I’ve had a couple of CD classes waiting for me to go into a booth and record.

So I have a possible solution... what do you think?

I’m reading more books on my Kindle than on paper... and someone gave me a link to an article that said 75% (or some large number) of Kindle books sold are technical and educational books with a niche audience. So maybe that’s the answer for the Blue Books? No expensive postage - you just pay for the book. And I knock some money off because there’s no paper involved. (There will still be the paper versions if people want them.) At first I thought I’d do a page one rewrite on every book - a lot of them were written *11 years ago* and could use some work (many have film examples that no one remembers anymore... or examples from films that stink). But a full rewrite would take a long time... that’s 816 pages! And you know, by the time I finished it would be at least 2,000 pages because I’d want to add more. The danged Script Tips from the year 2000 started off as 2 paragraphs and once I get done rewriting them they usually end up 8-10 pages!

I talked this over with some friends, who all said: If you sell them on paper as they are now, why would you need to rewrite them for Kindle/Nook/e-book? Just put out exactly what you have! Good question. But changing formats means I’ll be touching the words again, not just the paper the words are printed on... and I feel kind of compelled to rewrite them while I’m at it.

So look for the new Blue Books in about 20 years...

Or, dang it! What if I did a touch up on each Blue Book for now, and add 4-5 Script Tips on the same subject? The Script Tips pop up every year and a half on the website for free, and eventually it will be every 2 years... but they would be a “bonus” in the e-Blue Books, so I wouldn’t be charging for something you get for free. Does that make sense? And the older Blue Books will probably get a lot more touching up than the more recent ones - since they need it.

Eventually all of the Blue Books will get a more thorough rewrite, but this will work for now... and hopefully I'll get those last three finished and up as well. I will also code them for Nook and other platforms.

I am also *considering* setting up the paper versions on Amazon as a print on demand. When I looked into it, the main problem is that to print a 48 page booklet costs the same as printing a 100 page booklet. And if I charge less than $6.99 it would literally cost me money. So if I do that, I would make the paper Blue Books 100 pages and charge about $7.99 – which is $3 more than now, but for twice the material. I may play around and see if $7.49 for twice the material works. This would solve all of my printing problems – but kind of by passing on a price increase to you. I hate doing that, but sometimes I have too many things going on and this would take one thing off my To Do List.

What do you think?


PS: First one is done and up on Kindle right now - the Your Idea Machine Blue Book. I added about 10,000 words in the rewrite (new techniques to come up with story ideas), not counting the Script Tips. Total words = 40,052, which is about 160 pages. Paper price was $4.99 plus postage for 48 pages, Kindle price is $2.99 and no postage costs at all. Hey, there's even Kindle for your computer if you don't have the device... free. Nook version is on the way, and other platforms, too. This is the first, most of the rest should come out in September if all goes as planned.

Of course, it never does.

- Bill

PS: Due to a screw up the cover isn't up, yet.

Lancelot Link Thursday: Lancelot Goes To Hell!

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who want can't wait to see that documentary about the family who raised a chimp as their child (mom actually breast fed it!)... here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) The Brit List.

2) The DARK KNIGHT RISES poster.

3) Terrible Movie Taglines

4) Production Budget = $0, Income so far = $20k.

And this week's car chase...



The remake of OUT OF THE PAST.

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Tom Cruise Takes You For A Ride - Where?
Dinner: Panda - that garlic chicken.
Pages: Still screwed up - I'm way behind.
Movies: THE TRIP... weird combo of improv and fiction.

Book Reports #2

Okay, I actually read this book a while back, and a friend of mine wrote it... but he has a new wrinkle and I thought I'd mention it. If you've ever clicked on But The Third One Was Great! blog over there --> you've read some of Joshua Grover-David Patterson's work. His blog looks at the never-ending sequels to horror movies and has a good time making fun of the bad ones. He's an award winning film maker and has written for film related magazines like FILM THREAT and others.




Well, he wrote a novel called MERCY - a Kindle & Nook original - that is kind of LOST meets DAWN OF THE DEAD. A plane from Ethiopia crashes on a remote island and the survivors thought just finding food and shelter (and rescue) was going to be the worst of their problems... until the zombies began attacking. The zombie plague has broken out - and those passengers who went down with the plane, seat belted in? Once the seat belts rot their bloated corpses rise to the surface and come looking for flesh to eat!

Now, here's the interesting thing about MERCY - it's really a story about a mother (named Georgina Fulci - this book is fun) who will do anything to be reunited with her young adopted daughter (Mercy) and husband (Rob). The plane crash and zombies are the obstacles. So it's a story with lots of heart. Though there are plenty of zombie attacks, Josh doesn't go overboard on the gore - and that may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you like. I think by not overdoing the gross out stuff he makes the novel more human... and focuses on what makes us human. Those dead people attacking look like humans, but they aren't anymore, why?

The great thing about this book is that it never loses sight of the human side - Georgina's reason to live is to return home to her husband and daughter. Each of the characters is a real person with real problems, and the conflicts between the survivors form the real meat of the story. This, and specifically the character of Marshall (big guy, doesn't talk, deeply religious - reminded me of Tom Cullen) are the things that echoes Stephen King's THE STAND for me. On the island they must form a society and decide what's right and wrong and who lives and who dies - and some of the deaths are shocking.

One of the elements of the book is that Georgina becomes the surrogate mother for a child survivor, in a way adopting the kid the way she and her husband adopted their daughter. Motherhood, and that strength and power that comes from being a mother, are major elements in the story. That makes it more than just a zombie story - though it's a zombie story, too. A handful of people trapped on an island surrounded by zombies.

But one of the interesting factors of this story is that Josh and his wife have an adopted daughter from Ethiopia in real life... so this is kind of "write what youy know" (except for the whole plane crash and zombie attack part). The early chapter of the book in Ethiopia has that authenic feel because Josh has been there... that's where his daughter comes from. In an online conversation with a bunch of friends, he told a fascinating story about a man from Ethiopia who went to college in the United States (San Francisco I believe) and returned to Ethiopia to get kids interested in reading. In Ethiopia there are no libraries where a kid can get a book... and really no books for children. This guy has changed that - travelling from village to village on a *donkey* loaded with books! His version of a mobile library. He has since built some actual libraries, and now has several donkey mobile libraries making the rounds. That's an amazing story!

Well, Josh's new wrinkle is that he's going to donate 10% of all of his book sales to this guy with his donkey-libraries in his daughter's home country. He has a blog entry about it here. And if you just want to donate without buying his zombie book, there's a link on his blog.

But the zombie book is a lot of fun... and only $2.99. And lots of great reviews on Amazon that *aren't* from me.

- Bill

Script Magazine - July issue is out!

On newstands, in book stores (if any still exist) and in your mailbox or in box!




Captain America: The First Avenger
By Aaron Ginsburg

When screenwriting duo Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely heard that Marvel Studios was rebooting America’s most iconic superhero, they chased the job … and got it. But re–imagining Captain America proved a daunting task, with over 70 years of material on the Man Behind the Shield. Markus and McFeely recount their journey from research to set rewrites on Captain America: The First Avenger.

Cowboys & Aliens: A Genre Mash–up With Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
By Tom Benedek

With Cowboys & Aliens, the graphic novel had no famous characters, no famous situations. Scribes Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were thrilled with the idea and the chance to do a genre mash–up like no other. Here they explain how John Ford’s films and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind helped inspire this summer’s highly anticipated sci–fi Western adaptation.

From Script to Screen: A Better Life
by David S. Cohen

Through 22 years of development, two screenwriters, a title change, and a page–one rewrite, Summit Entertainment’s A Better Life still remained remarkably true to its original concept. Roger L. Simon (story) and Eric Eason (screenplay) share their experiences scripting the East Los Angeles drama.

Dread Ringer: Summoning Up The Devil’s Double
by Bob Verini

Latif Yahia was given an offer he couldn’t refuse: Become the body double for Saddam Hussein’s vicious elder son Uday, or let his family suffer the consequences. Scribe Michael Thomas couldn’t pass up the chance to delve into the terrifying world of the Black Prince of Iraq and the man forced to do his bidding in the upcoming drama The Devil’s Double.

Taming the Script: Stranger Comics’ Sebastian A. Jones
by Joshua Stecker

Sebastian A. Jones, comic book writer and founder of Stranger Comics, talks about the challenges and advantages he faces when translating his tales of modern fantasy from the script to the screen.

Writers on Writing: Road to Nowhere
by Steven Gaydos

Writer Steven Gaydos recounts his experience scripting Road to Nowhere, a meta–noir crime tale about a filmmaker determined to make a great movie from a crime story written by his screenwriting pal. The story echoes the longtime working relationship and friendship between Gaydos and director Monte Hellman, who realized Gaydos’ vision for the dark and complex film.

Chemical Dependency: Breaking Bad
by David Radcliff

Script rounds up Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Dean Norris to discuss the mad science behind their award–winning AMC series.

How to Sell Out!
by Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant

Everyone has an idea for a script, but most aren’t able to cash in on it. Comedy hyphenates Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Reno 911!, Night at the Museum) provide 10 easy tips for writers on the “art” of selling out to the Hollywood studio machine and scripting movies for profit.

Script Secrets: No Dramatic Stone Unturned
by William C. Martell

Film is a dramatic medium, so as writers we should always be looking to mine those tense moments in our scripts. Columnist William Martell encourages scribes—in any genre—to show their stories’ drama, not try to avoid it, and he uses the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a great example of dramatic gold.

Script Magazine homepage.

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursdays: The New Blood

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who wonder if that crested black macaque in Indonesia would take *your* picture, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) Story Notes From Hell!

2) 5 free videos on how to make it in the biz.

3) Literary Greats... In Their Bathing Suits! - closest we're getting to a swimsuit issue around here.

4) Your Last Girlfriend's IMDB Page

5) Lawrence Block's new Parker intro... which is about titles and characters and first sentences.

And this week's car chase:



Yes, I hate shaky-cam. I think BOURNE 2 would have been much better with a different director, and gets a lot of flack due to the danged shaking camera thing. Story is fine.

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: When People Explode - You need explosions in your screenplay, especially the dramas.
Dinner: Hawaiian burger at Islands.
Pages: Totally screwed up - I'm way behind.

Lancelot Link - The Final Chapter

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who wonder if the new PLANET OF THE APES movie is based on a true story, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) Book Cover Paintings - fascinating artwork!

2) Crime writer Lawrence Block does the blindfold test.

3) Interview with director Nic Roeg (DON'T LOOK NOW).

4) The story behind Short Films at Palm Springs Film Fest.

5) Chart Your Star Or Director! (near the bottom of the pages is a radiobox - enter the star or director's name and see how they did on Rotten Tomatoes.)

Plus this week's car chase...



Michael Bay in all his glory! You will believe a cable car can fly! (even though they are attached to underground cables.)

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: On The Nose Scenes - And the STAR WARS prequels vs. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Dinner: El Pollo Loco - okay, here's the problem: I always order black beans because they're tasty. But now they have "premium sides" that are more expensive, and they put black beans on that list... except there is no listing for how much more expensive they are in a combo, and no one at Pollo Loco knows. So, it's impossible to order them!
Pages: Insomnia issues persist. I'm sleepwalking - and that isn't getting pages written.
Bicycle: Mostly short rides because I'm half alseep - though yesterday and Monday did longer rides to get the blood flowing in hopes that would wake me up. I think it helped... though still could be an extra in a zombie film.
Movies: Have seen both BAD TEACHER and GREEN LANTERN.

Mondays With Hitchcock... on TCM

Thanks to Richard for mentioning that TCM is showing 5 Hitchcock films from the 1950s on Monday June 27th. Here's the line up, along with links to the Fridays With Hitchcock blog entries and the screenwriting lessons:

STAGE FRIGHT - 08:00 PM - Flashbacks The Lie, Not My Problem (wrong protag).

I CONFESS - 10:00 PM - Character & Story Flow, Chess Dialogue, Misunderstandings, String Theory.

DIAL M FOR MURDER - 12:00 AM - Focus Objects, Suspense Triggers, Unlikeable Leads.

THE WRONG MAN - 02:00 AM - Passive Protagonists, Verite, Faith On Film.

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN - 04:00 AM - Transference Of Guilt, Sound Triggers, Suspense.

- Bill

You Have Been Warned!

A couple of my films are invading the UK again...

6/23 Movies4Men Channel- 15:30 - Crash Dive - The crew of a nuclear submarine rescue supposed victims of a boat disaster, but the victims turn out to be terrorists intent on capturing nuclear weapons aboard the sub.

6/28 Movies4Men 2 - 1:05 - The Base - A US Army Investigator is assigned to bring down a drugs ring from within. Only when infiltrated does Major Murphy realise how high the corruption runs and now the danger he faces.

I am sorry.

- Bill

What *Everybody* Wants To See!

I am not a fan of IMDB's user ratings, and not just because they all give my films bad grades. Their Top 100 is filled with fan boy films and often excludes great films... and that's just strange. The problem is, people go to IMDB in the first place are film fans and fanboys rather than the general movie going public, and we have already learned from movies like WATCHMEN that you can have a film that seems to be the hottest movie ever made according to those on the internet... but it doesn't turn into the hottest movie at the box office. The avereage ticket buyer probably doesn't even know what IMDB is. The main purpose of IMDB is to list credits, and how many ticket buyers are interested in the credits in the first place? Most people don't even sit through them any more.

Here is some dramatic proof... Every week IMDB prints a little chart of the new films users are most interested in seeing this weekend, and here's that chart from Thursday:



So, was JUDY MOODY the number one film over the weekend? Was TROLLHUNTER number two?

I have no idea how JUDY MOODY ranked higher than TROLLHUNTER on their interest list, doesn't seem to be a fanboy pick or a film snob pick... but maybe those film snobs have little kids? Whatever the reason, both of those films are freak picks.

I may have mentioned Cinemascore in a past blog entry, and that is a scientific poll. They poll *every* ticket buyer in cinemas all over the United States on opening night with a simple card that asks them to grade the film A to F and asks their sex and age range. Everyone in the cinema gets a card and responds, not just the fanboys and film fans. You end up getting not just the opinions of those with strong enough opinions that they're going to rush home, get on the computer, and say how much they lover or hated a film - you also get the middle ground. And the middle ground is where most ticket buyers are... and where most word of mouth recommendations come from. If you get every ticket buyer in the cinema, and cinemas all across the United States (a good cross section of the country) you get a realistic look at what ticket buyers thought of the film. Not just the fanboys and filmsnobs.

Cinemascore is also a good barometer for how many tickets a film will sell next weekend - though whatever else opens next weekend is a big variable. If a film gets A+ to A it will have great word of mouth. Even a B+ usually means that a film will keep selling tickets, like BRIDESMAIDS. When we get to a B grade we are in that gray area - the audience thought the film was good but not great, and sometimes that has their friends thinking they might wait for Netflix. And, yes, people do give films an F grade sometimes - remember THE BOX? But by polling *everyone* you get a much better idea of what people really think.

It's easy for us (screenwriters) to think that because we like a movie and everyone we know likes a movie, that the rest of the world likes that movie. But we know about IMDB, right? Chances are, we are either fanboys or film snobs - and often some weird extreme version because we are often literary people as well. We might see TRANSFORMERS and think it is the worst piece of garbage ever made (I did) but the average ticket buyer did not share those feelings. It managed an A grade from Cinemascore... and the box office showed that despite the reviews the word of mouth from the ticket buyers was good. That A grade meant they thought the film was great and told their friends to go see it. Often films that I think are terrible get great scores from the ticket buyers and are huge hits. On the website I have a Script Tip in circulation on the Two Kinds Of Good - quality good and entertainment good - and how as much as we may not like it, Entertainment Good is more important. People go to the cinema to be entertained.

This doesn't mean we have to lower our standards and start thinking that TRANSFORMERS is the greatest film ever made, but it does mean we are in a strange position as screenwriters: we are writing for those ticket buyers who thought TRANSFORMERS was "great" and yet we can easily see a million reasons why it was not great at all. Instead of hacking out some piece of garbage we think the stupid audience might like, we need to write something that we think is great and that they will think is great. Some *quality* entertainment. You know, those popular movies that *you* thought were great. And it also helps to stay in touch with folks that aren't film snobs and fanboys - those regular ticket buyers. Over the holidays I always see movies with my friends from back home and (over beers) discuss what they liked about the films or what they hated about them. This helps me to understand why they liked some film that I did not like, and vice versa. Usually, I am patient with a film... and they want the rollercoaster ride to begin as soon as they sit down and never let up. This is why I pay close attention to pacing when I'm writing a screenplay. I am fascinated by those films like TRANSFORMERS that I really don't like but my friends did like, and want to figure out what, exactly, made that film work for them. These are lessons that I can apply to my (hopefully more intelligent) screenplays. I do my own form of audience research, and am more interested in talking to people who disagree with my opinion than those who agree with me. I already agree with myself, I don't need that information.

Though I love movies and have strong opinions on which ones are great and which ones suck (and try to figure out why), I try to find the common ground between what I love and what that mass audience of ticket buyers love. I love fast paced films, they love fast paced films - so I can write a fast paced script that would be a film that *I* would love to see, and I hope they would, too. I love cool big scenes, they love cool big scenes. I love emotional scenes, they love them, too. My personal audience research has found plenty of common ground between a guy who lists AMARCORD as one of his 5 favorite films and all of those ticket buyers who have never heard of Fellini. I can write my scripts in a way that appeals to those other people... even the fanboys and film snobs!

(WATCHMEN is on IMDB's Top 500 List, AMARCORD (Oscar Winner) is not!)

So, how many of you were most interested in seeing TROLLHUNTER over the weekend?

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Cool World - Is the world your story takes place in interetsing and unusual?
Dinner: Ruben at Togos.
Pages: Getting back on the horse... 4 pages.
Bicycle: Mostly short rides.

Lancelot Link Thursday: The Revenge

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who want can't wait to see that documentary about the family who raised a chimp as their child (mom actually breast fed it!)... here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz 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) Intelligent comedy vs. the other kind.

2) The top loglines at Amazon Studios.

3) Film School Thesis Generator.

4) The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema doesn't want you to talk or text during the film.

5) Actor Richard E Grant on development hell.

6) My friend Jonathan King isn't only the brilliant director of BLACK SHEEP and UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, he is also a talented cartoonist... and here is his new comic strip THREAT LEVEL. Enjoy!

This week's car chase: Maybe it's just because I grew up in the Bay Area, but is there a better city for a car chase than San Francisco? Lots of variety, lots of hills, lots of things to crash into...



And you thought it was going to be BULLITT, didn't you!

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Adaptation - and what I learned adapting a New York Times best selling novel for a producer at MGM.
Dinner: Italian Hoagie.
Pages: Nope - still snotty.
Bicycle: Nope - went to the movies.


Movies: THE DOUBLE HOUR - Italian. A twisty thriller about Sonia (Kseniya Rappoport) a hotel maid in her early 30s who meets ex-cop Guido (Filippo Timi) now working as a security guard, at a speed dating thing. Both are emotionally damaged. At first they decide not to go out with each other... but they have sadness in common, and start dating. He works as a guard at a huge country estate while the owner is away - watching monitors all day. She cleans up after messy people and is learning Spanish from CD classes. Because she loves the country, he invites her to hang out with him at work, and they go hiking around the country estate... on the day a violent crew of thieves comes to rob the place. They steal all of the antique furnishings, all of the paintings and ceramics and sculptures... and then the couple is shot.

But who is killed and who is alive is a mystery, as Sonia wakes up in the hospital alive and goes back to work at the hotel. But is she really alive? And is the ex-cop Guido she grew to love really dead? Or is it the other way around?

This film has a great triple twist that has your questioning what is real... And at its heart is a sad romance about people trapped by their past mistakes.

- Bill

Lancelot Link Thursday...

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who want HANGOVER 3 to be that monkey getting married and the four guys have a bachelor party for the moneky and go to a monkey strip bar and then wake up the next morning and... here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) How about a free Film Festival Guide?

2) How to tell if you're a writer.

3) Totally cool retro movie posters - I love the one for ROCKY!

4) Did Robert Redford write ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN?

5) Pencil art... *unusual* pencil art!

6) And this week's car chase...



Cool! Reminds me of the stuff I was doing when I was a kid.

I'm suffering from an awful summer cold, so the planned new entry in the Fridays With Hitchcock series will be next week. Sorry! There will be a rerun tomorrow... but it'll be a good one!

- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Genre Is Emotion - and why the audience liked HANGOVER 2 and the critics hated it... with cameos by Hope & Crosby!
Dinner: Panda Express - sweetfire chicken & orange chicken.
Pages: I wrote 2 pages - I am fighting a head cold right now and my brain is 93.7% snot. I'm sorry I had to share that with you.
Bicycle: Short bike ride.
Movies: PIRATES 4 on Monday, because the cold was starting to take hold and I didn't feel like working. More on that later - but mostly I thought it was bland and had boring action scenes and wasn't as fun as previous films.

Lancelot Link Thursday?

Lancelot Link Thursday! For those of you who can't wait to see the new PLANET OF THE APES movie with James Franco, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...



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

1) Movie Ball Flow Chart!

2) The TV Pilots This Year.

3) Hollywood Films Overseas.

4) RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - stuntman's diary.

5) AVATAR 2 and 3 news.

6) STAR WARS opened 34 years ago yesterday...

7) Jimmy Stewart's VERTIGO apartment... today!

8) NETWORK notes.

And this week's car chase...



The genius of Bigelow.

Oh, and PIRATES 4 has made over $400 million in less than a week with bad reviews... So, why do they make sequels?

- Bill

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Act 2 Is Quicksand! - one of reader's favorite tips - about the perils of act 2.
Dinner: Subway ham & swiss before a movie.
Pages: In act 3! Wrote a good scene, but needed to write 2.
Bicycle: Short bike ride.

MOVIES: THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS - a documentary about the STAR WARS movies and the fans love and hate for them... and the absolute stupidity of medichlorians. One of the reasons why I went was my friend and fellow screenwriter Chris Valin was one of the angry fans interviewed, and his name in the closing credits *twice* - once with middle initial, once without. But the film ended up *full* of people I know, to the point that I felt left out. The main thrust of the film is that Lucas made these magical movies... sold us all of the toys and action figures... then made three crappy prequels and recut the original three films and turned them into crap. We all know that Han Solo shot first - and having him just return fire changes the very core of his character. A big part of the film were the fan films... But how can you do an movie about STAR WARS and fan films and not have a single clip from HARDWARE WARS or interview with Ernie Foss? HARDWARE WARS was the original fan film, and was a huge hit back in the late 70s. One of the weird things was that the film seemed to focus on younger fans, with very few people in the film who saw STAR WARS without the crappy A NEW HOPE subtitle. Though there are no new interviews with Lucas, they use some footage from old interviews where he laments that he always wanted to make edgy indie films and now he can’t. Dude, you have all of the money in the world, if you want to make a movie just go make it. Who cares if it flops? If you’re afraid you won’t get a fair shake because you’re George Lucas, make it under a another name and see what happens. But complaining just seems false. Lucas also seems aware that many fans do not like the prequels... and there’s a cool solution for that: In some interview in the late 70s Lucas said he had planned 3 trilogies and claimed to have synopsis for all of them. Oddly enough, the prequels are fairly close to what he described back then... I think Lucas ought to produce the last trilogy, just to make up for the prequels. Skip whatever stories he had planned and do three more kick-ass space westerns like STAR WARS and EMPIRE.

MOVIES: INCENDIES - Canadian film in French that was nominated for Best Foreign Film (and lost) - and it's quietly disturbing. Emotional puzzle with a bunch of OMG! moments. When a kind of a boring middle class woman who worked 20 years as a secretary dies, her will is just weird: her twin children (one female, one male) now in their late-20s are each given a task. One must find the father they thought was dead, the other must find a brother they never knew they had... in the Middle East where there mother was born and raised. We follow the female twin as she discover's her mother's violent hellish past (not much of a spoiler, since someone gets their brains blown out in the first ten minutes). Seems they had no idea who their mother was... and that kind of means they have no idea who they are. The story just keeps escalating - the more she finds out about her mother the more frightening the story becomes. The movie is a little confusing because it alternates between the daughter’s quest and the mother as a young woman - and the actress who plays the daughter looks like the actress who plays the mother... and as the daughter follows her mother’s path she begins to *dress* like her mother - adding to the confusion! The mother wore a distinctive crucifix, and that could have helped tell them apart... until the daughter begins wearing the crucifix! But there are some *great* bits of visual storytelling - the long lost brother is given a tattoo on his foot when he is born, and there are some great shocking moments of flashback as we see a child soldier... who has the tattoo on his foot! Sometimes you think one character might be the lost brother grown up... and then we see that tattoo and realize the guy we thought was the villain is the hero or vice versa. Lots and lots of twists! This film is brutal! The more the twins learn about their mother, the more they realize she was just pretending to be that typical middle class secretary for 20 years. After seeing this film, I'm wondering what the hell my sweet old mom did when she was young!

MOVIES: Also saw another film that I will talk about later.

- Bill

TOSSERS...

My friend Danny's short film has completed its festival run and is now online. I saw it at some festival in Santa Monica and laughed my ass off. It's a 13 minute mocdoc about a Frisbee Dancing Competition...

Tossers from Danny Grossman on Vimeo.

By the way, today is his birthday.

- Bill

It's For You....

Don Siegel's film TELEFON based on the novel by Walter Wager (DIE HARD 2) was shot in San Francisco - and we you see the underground parking garage scenes in the trailer, I was there for that!



This film (and the book - read it back then) were inspirations for my SLEEPER AGENT script.

What's amusing about the trailer is that it uses the old landline telephone as its logo... and within a few years I'm not sure many people will still have traditional land lines.

- Bill