Script Colony

The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Writers

2012-02-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Another freebie from Script Mag... here.

TV Pilots 2012: The Complete Guide

2012-02-07T02:12:00.000-08:00

"Projects from Shonda Rhimes, Kevin Williamson, Ryan Murphy, Josh Schwartz and Greg Berlanti highlight the comedy and drama offerings for the five broadcast networks".

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Inaugural Samsung AACTA Awards Ceremony Winners Announced

2012-01-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

From Greenlight back to page one

2012-01-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

"Today’s First Person article comes from Australia via London. I chose it because it demonstrates an important point: you can’t pick the single moment at which you’ve “made it.”

Most screenwriting careers begin with fits and starts, sudden successes followed by dispiriting dry spells. It’s important to celebrate the small victories, but not overestimate their significance. They’re footholds. Use them to reach higher."

Source: johnaugust.com

25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing

2012-01-31T12:45:00.000-08:00

Source: terribleminds.com

Charlie Kaufman BAFTA lectures

2012-01-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

Screenwriting lessons from Six Feet Under

2011-12-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

Michael Hauge on High Concept

2011-12-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

"During his time in Australia, Michael Hauge presented two hugely popular public lectures at AFTRS on the principles of the high concept movie. The following clips are two recordings from these public lectures."

Source: Screen Australia

The Black List 2011

2011-12-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Black List from Hollywood is out today.

THE BLACK LIST is a snapshot of the collective taste of the people who develop, produce, and release theatrical feature films in the Hollywood studio system and the mainstream independent system.

An annual list of Hollywood's most liked unproduced screenplays published on the second Friday of December each year, THE BLACK LIST began in 2004 as a survey with contributions from 75 film studio and production company executives. In 2009, over 300 executives contributed their opinion.

Since its inception, dozens of screenplays that appeared on the list have been optioned, produced, and released, many to great commercial success.

Terror Australis Horror Script Competition

2011-10-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

The Australian Writers’ Guild has celebrated Halloween by launching the Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. Seeking the best unproduced horror feature script in Australia, the Australis Horror Script Competition is looking for the next Saw, Undead or Wolf Creek. Click on header for more.

Omm Writer

2011-09-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

OmmWriter is a program that disables your desktop while you write...

"...we are an independent creative agency based in Barcelona. We love great ideas. We also know how difficult it is to sometimes come up with those ideas.

As mere mortals, we also face the usual challenges of daily life: a multitude of windows open on our computer desktops, messages, emails, calls, meetings, and those crazy thoughts that pass through our minds.

OmmWriter emerged as an internal tool to help transport us away from the humdrum noise; allowing us to be at one with ourselves and our ideas. All said and done, after having created something so valuable, we figured that OmmWriter was just too good to keep to ourselves."

Company Link.

Review.

Miranda July: The Future

2011-09-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Artist and Filmmaker Miranda July dreams up an idiosyncratic solution to the interruptions of modern life in "A Handy Tip for the Easily Distracted."

Miranda July: The Future on Nowness.com.

2011 AWGIE Winners

2011-09-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

The Million Basic Plots

2011-09-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

"TV Tropes has swollen into a frighteningly comprehensive taxonomy of all known plot devices across all known media..." TV Tropes

Script Magazine Online

2011-08-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

An online copy of the September/October Script Magazine. Works if you have Final Draft loaded on your computer.

Primetime: How Much Should Characters Change in My Pilot?

2011-08-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

"As a general rule, how much should characters change/grow in a pilot? Slightly, but not much? Unlike that aphorism, “characters don’t change in TV, only in film” — isn’t it true that a character learns something minor in the pilot? That they AREN’T in the same place at the end of the pilot than where they started? And do all of the main characters need to change if it’s a two- or three-hander?"

Script Magazine

Rewrite: Tips for Strengthening Your Protagonist’s Aim

2011-08-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

"The protagonist is really on three journeys: the “A” story — the plot; the “B” story — the relationship; and the “C” story — the internal journey dealing with [a] flaw. And every one of these stories has a seven-point structure. And every point along each of these journeys is defined in terms of the goal: reaching the story goal; creating or mending a relationship and thus reaching the emotional goal; changing into a better person (learning something about life that will help him), and thus reaching the personal development goal..." more

Script Magazine

2011 AWGIE Award Nominations

2011-08-18T02:02:00.000-07:00

The Australian Writers’ Guild is proud to announce the nominations for this year’s AWGIE Awards...

Semifinalists for the 2011 Final Draft, Inc. Big Break™ Contest

2011-08-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

Here

The movie plots that technology killed

2011-07-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

"Hollywood's classic murders, stalkings and deceptions would never have been possible had today's technology been around. Joe Queenan rewrites the script for the digital age..."

Psycho script here

Source: www.thisnext.com

Changing perceptions, changing the world

2011-06-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

"in the past few weeks, Four Corners has changed the world for pastoralists in northern Australia, for better or worse. But how rarely it happens!

At least as often, a bigger impact comes from media efforts that aren't, strictly speaking, journalism. When I was in my first year at uni, Ken Loach's devastating television drama Cathy Come Home electrified Britain. It brought home the reality of homelessness and under-privilege in a way that many worthy current affairs programs had failed to do" read more...

TV Writer Chat

2011-06-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

TV Writer Chat is a spin off from Script Chat on Twitter. They are a weekly chat for TV writers to learn and share.

Primetime: The Truth About Protecting Your Work

2011-06-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Is an idea protectable?
What’s the best way to protect your writing?
Is it worth it to legally protect your work?

Script Magazine July/August online copy

2011-06-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here’s an online copy of the July/August Script Magazine. The link should open if you have Final Draft loaded on your computer… hopefully.

2011-06-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Kit Denton Disfellowship 2011

2011-06-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

THE PURPOSE

The purpose of the Kit Denton Disfellowship is to discover strong, exciting, subversive ideas; to find a project of exceptional quality that would make for great Australian television, film or new media.

We want ideas of substance, intelligence and purpose that will take viewers outside their comfort zone. They could be comedy, drama, documentary or a mixture of all three. And we want writers with the talent, tenacity and passion to tell the story the way it needs to be told.

More details...

Hollywood snubs scandals

2011-05-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

Biz leaves salacious stories to the tabloids...

InkTip Pitch & Networking Summit

2011-04-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

"At the typical pitching event, you only pitch to 10 to 15 companies and that’s just not enough. At InkTip Pitch & Networking Summit we expect writers to personally meet with and pitch to an average of 25 different companies & professionals in a single day. To ensure this expectation is met, all of the top studios and agencies will have representation at 3 tables to decrease the wait in popular lines."

July 22nd & 23rd, 2011

Marriott Burbank Airport, CA

More information.

Attending companies.

Writers' Dens

2011-04-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Creative share spaces for writers and artists.

Getting Your Script Read

2011-03-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Very helpful article from scriptangel.wordpress.com...

"There aren’t many production companies that will accept scripts from writers who don’t have agents. I’ve recently come across another that will – One Eyed Dog Films – and added it to the list on Script Angel.

In the meantime, don’t forget that there are ways of trying to get your script read even if the submissions policy says no unsolicited material. Make sure you check out these great articles on the subject by Lucy Hay and Ashley Scott Meyers."

courtesy of scriptangel.wordpress.com

courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/pyrokinetic/2899693843

Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast

2011-03-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

The Official Podcast of Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

And more from Wagstaff...

2011-03-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Handling Notes

Getting notes on your work is a big part of the job of a screenwriter. You'll be collaborating (you hope!) with producers, directors, and actors in the future. How you handle notes as an amateur, reflects the professionalism and devotion to the craft you have at this level. If you can't handle them now, you won't handle them later and you'll blow opportunities or have a short lived career.

Read more...

2011-03-15T05:02:00.000-07:00

This guy in Hollywood is fighting with this guy in Hollywood. Could be a script in it?

The Secret to Subplots

2011-02-28T02:46:00.000-08:00

The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet © 2002

2011-02-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

click on header

Black Swan Script

2011-02-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

courtesy of www.mymoviescripts.com

66 great movie taglines from the past 30 years

2011-02-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

Writer added flair to Italian cinema classics

2011-02-02T02:32:00.000-08:00

The writer's task, especially when it came to adapting books, was to subtract rather than to add and to avoid producing a self-consciously literary text. "Cinema," she said, "should be written with the eyes."

Register your Script

2011-01-30T01:52:00.000-08:00

The Black List

2011-01-30T01:43:00.000-08:00

THE BLACK LIST is a snapshot of the collective taste of the people who develop, produce, and release theatrical feature films in the Hollywood studio system and the mainstream independent system.

An annual list of Hollywood's most liked unproduced screenplays published on the second Friday of December each year, THE BLACK LIST began in 2004 as a survey with contributions from 75 film studio and production company executives. In 2009, over 300 executives contributed their opinion.

Since its inception, dozens of screenplays that appeared on the list have been optioned, produced, and released, many to great commercial success... read the list.

In The Raw

2011-01-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

In The Raw is a script development program that supports talented screenwriters and helps pave the road to production, while presenting a wholly unique viewing experience for audiences.

The program is staged bi-monthly at the Sydney Theatre’s historic Richard Wherrett Studio in Walsh Bay.

Inside Aaron Sorkin's Writing Process

2011-01-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

"The difference between Page 2 and Page Nothing is the difference between life and death," says the "Social Network" scribe.

Final Draft App

2011-01-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

Final Draft are (hopefully) releasing an app for the Ipad.

More news here (but not much more).

Sign up here to be notified when the product comes out.

"On the front page of Final Draft’s web site is short statement indicating that the company is developing an iPad version of its screen writing software, Final Draft. A link leads to a signup page that doesn’t provide much more information. It may be that the company is both gauging interest in the port of the application while securing a data base of prospective beta testers once the handheld device is released in early April" secondchairvideo.com

Blue Valentine Script

2011-01-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

...even though (apparently) a lot was improvised. (click on header)

Australian television's change of course

2011-01-05T12:32:00.001-08:00

National Screenwriters Conference

2010-12-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

Enough said.

Tragedy of Comedy

2010-09-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

“Why can’t studios and stars find witty writers to go beyond bridesmaid dress movies?”

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

2010-08-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

Living the Romantic Comedy

2010-08-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Billy Mernit's Rom Com blog

The 10 Best Academic Programs for Screenwriters

2010-08-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

"Aspiring screenwriters need only recognize the myriad options that are out there—a vast number of choices range from prominent degree programs to more alternative non-degree or certificate programs..."