Owner: The Screenwriters League URL:http://www.ScreenwritersLeague.com Join Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 10:27:57 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The Screenwriters League is a collective of NYC-based writers sharing their experiences as they build their careers from the ground up, and hoping to impart any knowledge they gain along the way. Site statistics:Click here
Woody Weekend 2008-08-15 09:18:00 Woody Allen's annual new film opens this weekend. The reviews I've seen so far for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" all seem to be relatively positive thus far, but I'm still a bit skeptical. His new movies movies have always been an annual outing for me, but they've become more and more of a chore. I have to see them, even if they'll inevitably disappoint. The buzz around this new one, though... I hope Read more:Woody
, Weekend
On the pointless remake front... 2008-08-14 12:36:00 Hey, it's been a while since Hollywood had pointlessly retreaded old ground, and we've got a week to go before the next big, pointless remake hits theaters. In case you're feeling like you're having withdrawal:MTV is remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Why? Whyyyyyyyy? Anyone wanna take guesses now for the casting?
Trailer Trash VII: Night of a Thousand Cats (1972) 2008-08-13 09:00:00 "When the cats are hungry, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"This is one of the many "animals gone bad" horror movies I picked up during my VHS-collecting days. These genre seemed to really blow up in the wake of Hitchcock's The Birds and by the end of the 1970s it seems like humanity was wiped out by everything from chimpanzees to frogs to... earthworms. But more on those in future posts. Obviously the highlig Read more:Trailer
, Trash
, Night
, Thousand
(Belated) Competition Re-cap 2008-08-12 15:34:00 Since this site is about our climb up the screenwriting ladder, from the ground up, it's only fair that we document our lack of success, as well as our successes. As you have probably read, most of us tried our hands at the competition circuit this year. Three of us entered the Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition, and four of us entered the PAGE International Screenplay Competition. While script
4 Quadrants of Growth 2008-08-12 07:48:00 Working at a small movie distribution company in the less-than-usual nonsense New York, I don't really get much big company pep talk. I do, however, have them relayed to me through my sister. One snippet that really caught my attention was the Quadrants of Growth
(or something like that). Here's how it goes: you start out Unconsciously Incompetent (1), and move to Consciously Incompetent (2), then
The Writing Week part 32 2008-08-11 13:11:00 It’s amazing how much a group can push an individual to be the best possible. As Onyx mentioned in his latest, good cause for a drink post, we had another meeting last week. He went in thinking things in his script were in order. As did I. As, maybe, did DOA. We all got more than we had expected in the notes department. Due to that, I left the meeting very impressed by the League. While our scri
Quick, Cool Page vs. Screen link 2008-09-17 19:30:00 Kid Sis has posted a scene from her film, The Commune, along with the pages of the script for comparison. Thought some of you screenwriters out there might want to see my journey from page to screen. Even when you direct your own work, things change onset due to budget, time, and reality. Cuz real life is a bitch; not nearly as malleable as imaginaryland.It's worth checking out - especially for th Read more:Quick
Tinkering with your script/draft -- what to look out for 2008-09-17 14:30:00 Alex Epstein, over at screenwriting blog Complications Ensue, has a new post up today about revisions and what goals you should keep in mind when tinkering with your work, be it a beat sheet or the script
itself:Your first stab at a scene will often be functional. It gets information across. It gets information into the hands of the characters. It puts characters into conflict.Then see if you can
Literary vs. 'genre' writing: What's what? 2008-09-17 09:54:00 It's been an ongoing debate for, well, um, forever: is 'literary' fiction by default more important than genre
fiction, like sci-fi, thrillers/mysteries/crime novels or fantasy? Some, like TIME Magazine columnist Lev Grossman say nay, and point to the recent forays of some big-name authors into more stylized genre fiction (Michael Chabon's recent work comes to mind) as a sign that fiction is ficti Read more:Literary
, writing
How do you avoid distractions while writing? 2008-09-16 12:48:00 Jacket Copy, the book blog of The L.A. Times, has an interesting post up today discussing how writers deal with electronic distractions -- the Internet, cell phones, iPods, etc. -- when trying to get some writing
done.Here's a quote within a quote. Very meta:Author and editor Jeff Vandermeer explains the drastic measures he's taken (via Shaken & Stirred) to keep himself from being distracted b
The Writing Week part 37 2008-09-15 15:05:00 Some weeks can be really great weeks, even if the writing wasn't one hundred percent consistent. This was one of those weeks. On the down side, there were a few days when I didn't write. On the plus side, though, I: began a new project (finally), polished and sent out query letters, and had a writers group meeting. Not a bad accomplishment for one week's time.Everything the group and I did this pa
Trunk Music 2008-09-15 14:07:00 Over at Rolling Stone, the online version of the mag lists their favorite 'crime' songs.It's a painfully obvious list, and it seems most are on there because they have some iteration of the word 'crime' in the title. Some blatant omissions: Cash's "I Got Stripes," The Stones' "Heartbreaker (Doo Doo Doo Doo)," Ice-T's "Cop Killer" and a few others that aren't immediately popping into my head (I'd h Read more:Trunk
, Music
Do you write with certain actors in mind? 2008-09-15 08:05:00 Might not be the best idea, according to Alex Epstein, over at Complications Ensue, a pretty entertaining screenwriting blog. His advice:Don't get cute with the character names, it'll be distracting.One danger in writing for a specific actor is you might not make the character strong enough. Knowing that Will Ferrell can make lots of unfunny things semi-funny, you might not sharpen the gags up eno Read more:certain
, actors
Tom Wolfe: Fiction today sucks 2008-09-14 05:00:00 Noted author Tom Wolfe, on the state of fiction in an interview with Time Magazine:"There's so little of it now that it's pathetic, and it's pathetic all over. Writers come from master of fine arts programs now. If you add up the college education of Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner, you get to spring break of freshman year."Harsh. Do you agree?[Via Jacket Copy] Read more:Fiction
, sucks
David Foster Wallace, R.I.P. 2008-09-13 23:51:00 Sad news tonight -- writer DavidFosterWallace
was found dead in his home. From the AP:David Foster Wallace, the author best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home, according to police. He was 46.Wallace's wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department.
Trailer Trash XI: Queen Kong (1976) 2008-09-13 15:00:00 "Queen
Kong - the Liberated Lady Gorilla!"Yep, this movie was made. Sometimes that's the best review you can give a film. A short history: In 1976, a pretty mediocre remake of King Kong (no, not THAT mediocre King Kong remake) was made, produced by Academy Award-winner Dino De Laurentiis. Just a short flight across the Atlantic, a bunch of Brits set to work on a parody titled... get ready... Queen Read more:Trailer
, Trash
Muderati on story structure, building a second act 2008-09-13 13:49:00 Alexandra Sokoloff, writing at crime fiction blog Murderati, has been posting a series of pieces dissecting story
structure and the elements of a strong, dramatic story.She's just posted her thoughts on Act 2:Act Two is summed up by the greats such as, like, you know, Aristotle - as “Rising Tension” or “Progressive Complications”. Or in the classic screenwriting formula: Act One is “Get
The latest on literary agents 2008-09-12 13:35:00 GalleyCat has a nice roundup of literary agent news, including a literary agent's thoughts on Amazon's Kindle, why the industry is all about waiting and a few more points of interest. Read on, friends:Over at the Guide to Literary Agents blog, Chuck Sambuchino announces the winner of the "Worst Storyline Ever" contest. Even though the winning entry will never get anywhere near an agent, somebody
Burn After Reading 2008-09-12 12:29:00 From this week's Time Out New York: Burn After Reading
is a disposable lark, and it’s treated by the filmmakers as such; Forget After Seeing would be a far more honest title.Yowch. Has anyone seen this yet who can give their opinion?
The Dark Knight Strikes Again 2008-09-11 14:42:00 According to E! Online, in an article I read here, the Dark Knight
is set to hit theaters again in January as a "reminder" for all Academy voters. As a huge fan of The Dark Knight (and all things Batman), I have this to say:Awesome.Yet, I have to wonder a bit about the decision. Dark Knight should be hitting DVDs well in time to cause a few mad dashes and tramplings around holiday season when stor Read more:Strikes
, Again
Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday 2008-09-11 06:45:00 The annual Brooklyn
Book Festival
takes place on Sunday
, September 14th. These guys do a great job rounding up hundreds of vendors, author signings and Q&A events every year. One event of particular interest to screenwriters:2:00 p.m. PENUltimate Lit: Literature and the Small Screen. Join authors A.M. Homes (The L Word) and Richard Price (The Wire) as they discuss the challenges and opportunities
New Yorker Festival 2008 lineup announced 2008-09-10 12:30:00 The New YorkerFestival
has announced their 2008 lineup
of events, and there are a lot of great ones. These ones have me drooling specifically: Saturday, October 4thWriters and Their Subjects: Clint Eastwood and Lillian Ross1 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)Lynda Barry in conversation with Matt Groening4 p.m. Festival HQMetropolitan Pavilion ($25)Worst Nightmares Part 1: Horror MoviesWith Wes Read more:lineup announced
Got any unused, unsold manuscripts? 2008-09-10 11:08:00 Maybe they can work as an eBook?About a year ago, there was an item on GalleyCat about authors turning old, unsold manuscripts into free ebooks, with Melanie Lynne Hauser's Jumble Pie cited as a prime example. Hauser emailed yesterday to say that the novel's trackable readership had just passed the 1,300 mark—and, thanks to what she describes as a "lucky accident," more than 60 percent of those
What are you reading? 2008-09-10 10:48:00 I'm stealing an idea from Connie at The Miami Herald and asking a question via the InterGoogle that I often ask people in person: What are you reading now? And, more importantly, how is it?I'm still tearing through Michael Connelly's library. I'm on my ninth book of his (which, I realized last night, I've read in little over a month), eight of which have been installments in the Harry Bosch detect
Sarah Palin: A novelist's view 2008-09-09 23:49:00 The L.A. Times book blog, JACKET COPY considers VP candidate Sarah
Palin as a character. Worth reading:As a novelist, I am fascinated by the emergence of Sarah Palin as a character. This lively cross between Annie Oakley and Eva Braun seems to have released Republican chakras to a degree that could be matched only by the resurrection of Ronald Reagan. This is more extraordinary by virtue of her ha
LOST writer Brian K. Vaughan's advice to new writers 2008-09-09 06:05:00 I mentioned this in the comments to Suckerman's post about Heinlein... Brian
K. Vaughan
(Lost, Y the Last Man) wrote a nice piece on establishing yourself as a writer. The piece isn't very long, but here's my favorite bit:WRITE MORE, DO OTHER STUFF LESS.That's it. Everything else is meaningless. You can take all the classes in the world and read every book on the craft out there, but at the end of
The Writing Week part 36 2008-09-08 11:26:00 This week’s subject: Query Letters.They’ve been on my mind a lot recently. With a draft of my post-Apocalyptic spec that I’m very pleased with to the point of being ready to show it to industry people, I’ve been thinking about what the next step is. In truth, there seem to be few answers; there aren’t a ton of contests right now, and even if there were, I don’t really feel like spendin
Literary agent opens up blog to authors to share their experience 2008-09-08 09:38:00 Pretty interesting post, from MediaBistro's GalleyCat book blog:Earlier this year, GalleyCat explained how science-fiction author John Scalzi was opening up his blog to guest essayists for a series of posts called "The Big Idea." Here's another iteration of that basic concept: Literary
agent Jenny Rappaport is devoting a portion of her blog, Lit Soup, to "Book Blocks," which she describes as short Read more:authors
, experience
Dean Wesley Smith on Heinlein's Rules 2008-09-06 19:37:00 Pretty interesting post over at novelist Dean WesleySmith
's blog, where the novelist -- who has written a number of movie adaptations and tie-in books in addition to his own work -- expands on author Robert Heinlein's famous rules for writers.Follow Heinlein’s Rules
every week. His rules are simple.1) You must write.2) You must finish what you write.3) You must not rewrite unless to editorial d
Trailer Trash X: Hell Night (1981) 2008-09-06 06:01:00 "Why is this night so special?""Because 12 years ago Raymond Garth killed his family here and then committed suicide!"Very, very by-the-books '80s slasher. Nothing exceptionally new or exciting in this one, but I must have watched it a few dozen times in my early teens. Why? It starred Linda Blair - the little girl from the Exorcist. The little girl from the Exorcist who grew up really hot. Oh, Li Read more:Trailer
, Trash
, Night
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