FORMATTING YOUR SCREENPLAY Hello, screenwriters. The most fundamental thing you need to master when becoming a screenwriter is formatting.  It doesn’t take a genius to understand the basics of this unique way of writing but it is crucial if you ever want to sell your screenplays. This is how I can figure out in the […]

Hello, screenwriters. I asked you guys last week who could find the formatting errors on the first page of this screenplay.  Here is the page once again: FADE IN: “GIANT DIPPER” ROLLER COASTER – SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK – SUMMER DAY Riding in the 90-year-old Five Star wooden type COASTER, pitched nearly straight up, tracks stretching […]

Hello, everyone. As you know my mission statement is provide information you wouldn’t normally hear in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting class or screenwriting workshop.  This certainly fits that bill. We’re going to take a little break from talking about writing great scenes to address an area I regularly see being overlooked in the private […]

Hello, everyone. As you know the guiding principle of these posts is to provide information you wouldn’t normally hear in your typical screenwriting class, screenwriting workshop or screenwriting course. This post certainly fits that bill. I just read a quote recently from Edmund Burke, the great statesman, which got me thinking about screenwriting. This is […]

Hello, everyone. As you all know, my only purpose in this blog is to provide information you wouldn’t normally get in your typical screenwriting class, screenwriting course or screenwriting workshop. I hope I’ve acclmplished that purpose with these posts. For now, let’s look at one of my favorite movies – (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, written […]

Hello, everyone. As you well know, my mission is to offer information that you wouldn’t normally hear in your typical screenwriting class, screenwriting course, or screenwriting workshop. Well, it’s come that time that I need to reprimand most of you – for very few members of this group are really doing their job. My job […]

Hello, screenwriters. As you are all aware, my purpose in this blog is to provide detailed information you wouldn’t normally hear in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting workshop or screenwriting class.  This certainly fits that bill. So here is our last part of the flashback sequence where Salt hears what Zykov has to reveal about […]

Writing Action Scenes: “A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.” – Alistair Cooke, journalist Okay, everyone. As you know my mission statement is to provide information you wouldn’t normally hear in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting workshop or screenwriting class.  So, let’s get away from thoughts […]

Hello, everyone. I try in these posts to present information one wouldn’t normally garner in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting class or screenwriting workshop.  Here is another example of that. As promised, we will now discuss ‘SALT,” written by Kurt Wimmer and Brian Helgeland. Eveylyn Salt, played brilliantly by Angelina Jolie, is a C.I.A. agent, […]

Hello, everyone. As you all know, I do my best to present information you wouldn’t normally receive in your typical screenwriting class, screenwriting course, or screenwriting workshop.  This is another example of that. For the next few weeks, we are going to look at some action films, where great scene writing has contributed to their […]