Notes from a Screenreader: Low Readability
Photo via Go Into the Story. An active voice stands out immediately from the rest of the pile. It’s such a huge advantage to write action lines as if you want to tell a story rather than sketch in the background. INT. LIVING ROOM – DAYTim is sitting at the table, playing solitaire. Molly is...
READ MORETerry’s Pick: Women’s Media Center, WGA & a Power Lunch
Julie Louis-Dreyfus playing the VP of the United States in Veep GLOWING: with laughter and admiration at this “high concept” Power Lunch article in last week’s New York Times, in which Julie Louis-Dreyfus of Veep and Nancy Pelosi of the US Senate sit down to talk about female leadership, charcuterie and all sorts of other delights. FINDING MYSELF: unsurprised with...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Bang a Gong
Photo via Go Into the Story. Theme is the beating heart of the screenplay, the proposition about the human condition that your story explores—the big issues. Love. Faith. Resilience. Trust. Power. Courage. All the goosebumpy things. The theme, that single, simple thesis that creates clarity and scope and resonance through the arcs of your story,...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Commuter Blues
Photo via Go Into the Story. You drove 20 miles home in heavy traffic and don’t remember any of it. That’s the dissociation you use to deal with the sameness of your commute. It also happens when you read your script. Your brain fills in what’s supposed to be there and you blow right by your...
READ MORESign Up for NYWIFT’s April Events
Photo courtesy of NASA. New York Women in Film & Television’s events for April 2014: Power Player Breakfast: Jana Bennett, President, A+E Networks’ FYI & LMN Thursday, April 3, 8:30 am Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, 488 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor A+E Networks executive Jana Bennett, who manages two of the company’s fastest growing...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: The Wonkavator
Photo via Go Into the Story. Willy Wonka: No, it’s a Wonkavator. An elevator can only go up and down, but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways… A screenplay should not be a Wonkavator, even if it isn’t linear. What you want in a spec script is a ride straight...
READ MORENotes From a Screenreader: ’20 Feet From Stardom’
Photo via Go Into the Story. If you have not seen 20 Feet from Stardom, put it at the top of your to-do list. It won an Oscar, and it is the non plus ultra of setting your inner star loose on the world. A voice is a voice, whether it is raised in song or committed...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Old News
Photo via Go Into the Story. How long ago did you write your script? Does it show? It is impossible to stay convincingly up to the minute with technology and pop culture in a script, but it is possible to blow the dust off by doing a careful read for obsolescence. There’s an app for that....
READ MORENotes From a Screenreader: The Likability Trap
Photo via Go Into the Story. Protagonists need a bigger than life personality. Most spec scripts have protagonists without one. The average protagonist is unobjectionable. They color inside the lines and find a way to get what they want without breaking any rules. That is the likability trap. In an effort to create a sympathetic protagonist,...
READ MOREFree Help for the Screenwriter
Screengrab of quote on The Blacklist Film & TV Writer’s Calendar Not all screenwriters are brainstorming in the writer’s room of a hit TV show or arguing dialogue lines on the set of a summer blockbuster with a director or cast member. Many, let’s face it, most, are toiling away either waiting for their first...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Texas Hold ‘Em
Photo via Go Into the Story. The difference between a yes and a no in the first round of a screenplay competition can be summed up by a hand of Texas hold ‘em. You fold early, you didn’t post a blind, and your cards were bad enough to make you think, Why am I being punished...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Why Now?
Photo via Go Into the Story. To perform well in a competition, your script has to be able to answer the critical question, “Why now?” Successful, readable scripts hinge on an event, the outcome of which has the power to change the life of the protagonist. A showdown, a mountain to climb, a home run to...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Start by Finishing
Photo via Go Into the Story. In the same way that a recipe is not a batch of warm cookies on a baking sheet, an unfinished draft is merely an intention — and like raw dough, a story won’t show its shape until it comes out of the oven. Most contest submissions suffer from a half-baking....
READ MORESubmit It! Winter & Spring Calls for Entries
We’ve rounded up the top film festivals, writing competitions, and grants with winter or spring deadlines. It’s time to polish that script, shoot that video, upload that film. We’ll be updating this list as more submission dates become available, so check back often. Film/Video/TV Festivals, Contests, Labs & ScreeningsNashville Film Festival (WAB 1/10)LA Film Festival (1/10,...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Writing IKEA Style
Photo via Go Into the Story. A script, ideally, is one of those 300 square foot IKEA show apartments with every nook and cranny made useful two or three times over. Static placeholder scenes stick out like a farmhouse table. Written to clarify the writer’s thoughts on a single element, it sneaks through rewrites without ever...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Your Tenth Idea
Photo via Go Into the Story. No amount of technique can make up for a weak story. Weak stories are bland and predictable; they treat familiar themes and conflicts in familiar ways. They feel recycled. A fresh and original take on your story does 75% of the work for you. Give or take. To put the...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Meaningful Images
Photo via Go Into the Story. A script is a story that will be told with images. It feels like that goes without saying, but spec scripts are so often crushed under the weight of their own dialogue that it bears repeating. Meaningful images are revealing, memorable, interesting to read, and space saving. To rewrite for...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: The Deep Freeze Script
Photo via Go Into the Story. Scripts that feel rote turn readers off right away even though rote scripts are written by people who know exactly what they’re doing. The plot moves forward, the conflicts are in place, the beats come and go like clockwork. Scoring high marks for plot and structure, these scripts still feel...
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