At times, screenwriting can feel overwhelming. From flaws to acts to conflict to irony to theme to subtext to arcs to suspense, the sheer number of stuff we’re asked to incorporate into a screenplay can seem paralyzing. Which sucks because once we start to fear writing, we’re less likely to write. And you’re not going […]

Genre: Family/Drama/Fantasy/Animation Premise: A group of old fashioned toys live comfortably in an abandoned house. However, their world is turned upside-down when a single mother and her daughter move in. About: This is Alex Garland’s latest script. He wrote it for his wife, Paloma Baeza, to direct. This would be her first feature. She’s directed […]

The Coens remind us why they’re two of the best screenwriters of all time. Genre: Drama/Western/Dark Comedy Premise: (from IMDB) An anthology film comprised of six stories, each dealing with a different aspect of life in the Old West. About: It’s been eight years since the Coen Brothers’ last hit (True Grit). Since then they’ve […]

Today’s batch of scripts comes with, probably, the most original-sounding idea I’ve heard all year. I have no idea if the execution matches up with the imagination, but it should be fun finding out. Also, a head’s up. Just like Halloween, I’ll be doing a HOLIDAY AMATEUR OFFERINGS right before Christmas. So if you’ve got […]

What a 1% screenwriter looks like. I’m sure you’ve heard this stat before. 97% of screenplays are bad. Or even 99% of screenplays are bad. Doesn’t take a whole lot of math to figure out, then, that only 1% of screenplays are good. This stat always messed with my head. How does one break into […]