Screenwriting

Hi Pat, I watched Carry-On with my family over the holidays, and we absolutely loved it! The way it blended suspense with deeper moral dilemmas like the "trolley problem" was so gripping. T.J. Fixman really delivered an exciting and thought-provoking Christmas thriller—such a standout film!

Sandra Isabel Correia they actually shot it in my hometown New Orleans, which conveniently just finished renovations on their airport (MSY) right before they filmed this movie. I could tell some of the pretty airport scenes were in the main (new/modern) areas, but they also looked to have access to a lot of the old airport areas which haven't been torn down, so it wasn't too much of a hassle for travelers!

T.J.Fixman...I watched Carry-On and LOVED it. Congrats on such a great job! You lifted my holidays. Thanks!

Pat Alexander I loved to know that! Because the magic behind it it’s incredible and smart! Yes, I imagine for the travelers was not so good, but results worth it! Thanks for sharing it!

The writer is on X/twitter replying to ppl. Good thriller, I was into the movie for 2/3, until the last act. Got silly when the Villain is supersmart until the ending and he got dumb/cocky, and our hero gets rewarded with dream job but lets a coworker die.

Anyways what do I know? Looks like TJ is hot; rebooting Knight Rider.

Thanks for sharing, Sandra Isabel Correia. The Bikeriders is a masterpiece. Incredible writing, directing, cinematography, and acting!

Jeff Nichols said on the podcast, "I was just writing this one scene and this couple gets into kind of an argument at a restaurant. And then they continue the argument at their house, but I'm sitting here thinking about the time period between when they get home, and I'm assuming they just didn't talk. They just sat in the car not talking. Well, do I have to show that? Because I really just want to get to the continuation. The argument." I've been there with my scripts. I used to write in-between scenes, but they didn't add anything important to the scripts, and they took up space. As I grew as a writer, I avoided writing in-between scenes.

Thank you for your comment Maurice Vaughan because this conversation it’s a masterclass and I learned so much! Yes, that was the message from Jeff that I retained most, because as you, I found the same struggle between scenes. If we avoid writing in-between scenes is much better and keeps the pace active. Also, when he shared about focus meditation to write his scripts, I found it very interesting, because I do the same :)) Happy you liked!

You're welcome, Sandra Isabel Correia. That's another reason to avoid writing in-between scenes. It affects the pacing of the script. If in-between scenes add something important to the story, it's fine to put them in the script. I suggest writers check out this podcast episode.

Indeed Maurice Vaughan thats why I shared, but has few attractions. If you want, you can make a new post and share the link, you have more visibility than me :)) I will be happy if you do that! If you want, of course :))

Tony S. you really thought I wouldn't notice you edited your comment to say "OP hasn't been edited" when it was "OP has been edited". You're forgetting I'm a professional writer. I read everything carefully, especially first drafts. "Well, the OP garnering response from here hasn't been edited " doesn't even make logical sense. What was your end goal? To try and convince everyone that I misread? You continue to show that all the writing accolades on your account are smoke and mirror. Please, don't ever reply on my posts again.

Huh???

Tony S. Bro...you literally edited your comment lol so now you're just copying what i said with the "huh" and pretend you didn't edit anything. Just stop replying dude. I'm over this. You accused me of editing my comment and then when I called you out you sent a smile emoji and then I noticed you edited your comment to make it look like I misread

One error which easily happens. Forgetting to change the paper size when sending a screenplay to another country. I first wrote in my native langauge, and like most of the world we use A4 paper. But in USA the smaller legal format is used. It took a while before I noticed. When someone makes a printout, it is easy to see the error.

Göran Johansson omg that's funny lol but also sucks!

Something I think a lot of people don't realise is just how hard it is to get people to talk about a movie that doesn't have inherent cultural significance, especially at the early stages when you might not even have basic attachments secured.

Buzz is really hard/expensive to generate, especially for stories that are perhaps more artsy or niche.

If I had a script get onto the Blacklist, I'd be jumping for joy, regardless of how close it is to production, because that kudos has value, value that will be carried forward pretty much right to release, as there's people out there who'll watch a movie off the back of that accolade. As to if that costs something to achieve, I don't know. I do know that, in principal, a script can make it on through merit alone.

There's a lot of gimmicks out there. Some would argue that paying a record amount for a script or movie is inherently an investment, because the marketing value may outweigh the cost. Then there's controversy, often in the form of actors revealing something or having a hot take during an interview, or claiming a film was shot entirely on a mobile phone.

CJ Walley ALIGNMENT was #3 on thelist this year. That 38 next to it is not its placement, but how many votes it got. ONE NIGHT ONLY was the #1 script this year with 60 votes.

Ah righty. I see. Looking at the logline for One Night Only it should be renamed to The Splurge

Yeah. It was THE PURGE as a romcom. And it was a LOT of fun (and funny).

Currently on X-verse/Twitter, nobody readers telling pro writers how to properly format screenplays lol. And Dotan is going to bank with $1.25M guaranteed.

Good point CJ. The plot of Dogs is already in motion, but the personal stories are probably told in order, similar to Memento. I should watch it again with that in mind.

As long as there is enough purpose to the start of their journey at the start of the film it can be influenced by events before it without the audience being lost or feeling too out of the loop. Think Once Upon A Time In The West and The Quick And The Dead.

@Mike Non linear time jumps & often parallel narrative more than one story seems mainstream now but @CJ has a good point in importance of “opening” theme. EG Reservoir Dogs was about bonding & audience needs to care about characters or wouldn’t hang around to find out what went right or wrong with their particular plot. Aside characters Macro theme is also strong in some non linear. EG Nashville where political campaign was the umbrella for different story versions of how affected the whole of society. Regards flashbacks some of my favourites are in f/b dreams such as in The Green Mile.

Ewan, thanks for suggesting The Quick and the Dead. When it starts Sharon Stone is already in her vengeance mission… I’ll have to see how they ramp it up to shift into act two.

Okay, I just watched the first 20 min of Quick and the Dead. Sharon Stone goes to town to find Gene Hackman and get revenge. But she’s visibly scared whenever he’s present. She lets everybody else join the quick-draw contest first, and we get a look at the steep competition. Hackman joins. Still not enough for her, until Hackman goes to hang Russell Crowe publicly. This has meaning for her (we’ll find out later). She stops the hanging by shooting the rope, a dramatic way of entering the contest— no turning back. End of act one.

So is this a major change for her? No, but it is a change. She still had doubts about making the choice to compete until she saw Crowe about to get hanged. Stone plays it well with little dialogue.

Congrats, everyone!!

Robert Herold

Witch Ever Way You Go--semifinalist!

Congratulations to all semifinalists:)) You rock :))

Excited to have my script “Black Girl Magic” named as a semi finalists! Congrats everyone!

Congratulations Sasha Kai! I am cheering for you :))

Grateful that BLEEDTHROUGH advanced to the Semifinals! Congratulations to everyone!

"Margolin makes old people look both heroic and flawed." Complex/layered characters are the best characters to write and watch, Jon Shallit. One type of character I don't like writing/watching is the "all bad" villain or character.

Thanks for the link. I heard great things about Thelma. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie and reading the script.

Jon Shallit maybe that was the point the writer wanted to get across, Jon. That character takes time to develop and then the younger ones are not given the same weight as the older ones? Just a thought.

Maurice Vaughan Yea, exactly! I would write a pilot if I'm actually gonna pitch the show and do it the professional way. But I think someone is just writing for fun and wants to jump right into the shark tank I think writing a whole series is great! Obviously, you're not gonna want to pitch the entire thing but I feel like by that point they'll have learned more about how the industry works

I think if you have a great concept, there's nothing wrong with writing the first season since shows don't need a 22-24 episode season anymore. If it's a 1/2 hour show, you can knock that out in 4 months if you push yourself, You only have to push the pilot to sell it. It's all about time and motivation. If you have the goods, it won't hurt you you to write it. If you have to deal with a writer's room, you might hear some good stuff to add to it, but you don't have to add anything either. It's all about entertaining an audience.

I've got my pilot out there and have had several requests to read it, but no takers after that. Because this idea became my passion project I've kept writing not just scripts but the plot lines, look book, tech book and series bible for the entire series. I mention in the pitch that I have more than just an idea ready for them if they want. Not one producer has ever passed on the project on the grounds that "there's just to much there."

Reddit. Eewww.

That’s an amazing advice Ryu Reeves before my screenplay, I wrote a pilot for the same story, but because I wanted to write the all story, I changed for a feature, but now I have two version, Pilot and Feature:))

You're welcome, Laquan Copeland. And you're right. Using lesser-known holidays in scripts is a great way to add originality and intrigue. Take Gorilla Suit Day. A writer could come up with a heist script. A zoo heist!

Good point, Maurice. I’ve got an idea for Arbor Day. it’s the story of killer trees that go on a murderous rampage in a small, midwestern town, where the sheriff is the first victim, followed by his one deputy, followed by the school crossing guard.

I think the lesser known National days of the year can be used for comedic banter or a really ultra low budget film if you want to play it off as a comedy or horror film or even a comedy/horror film. Trying to turn it into a serious action film or award winning drama would take a top artistic and technical commitment from all parties for basically an IMDB credit.. Is it impossible? Find an investor group and go for it. If you keep it under $100K, you'll either have a quirky hit or a tax write off.

That's a wild concept, Bill Brock! Unique!

Great point, Philip David Lee. There are some lesser known holidays that could be used for a serious Action film or award-winning Drama though, like International Asteroid Day and Giving Tuesday. The budget for an action-packed International Asteroid Day movie would probably be higher though.

Fresh take on the Zombie sub-genre, Curt Fulster. Since your story has potential to be a big-budget movie, I think you should reach out to the producers, directors, etc. who can make big-budget movies happen. Here are some blogs about networking (www.stage32.com/blog/tags/networking-41). And you could search for industry professionals in the Browse Members section (www.stage32.com/people) and IMDbPro (https://pro.imdb.com/signup/index.html).

You could be networking with producers, directors, etc. who can make big-budget movies happen while waiting for the 2025 book competitions to wrap up and your book wins awards/gets nominations.

Also, I can see this being a 28 Days Later or The Last of Us type movie, but I think the book description reads like a Shaun of the Dead type of movie.

Understandable. It's my first novel, since I did children's books before, so I may have been a little off on the description on the beginning.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll definitely check those links out.

You're welcome, Curt Fulster. I'm looking forward to seeing Martha's Notebook: A Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy on screen! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hopefully one day.