Woody Allen attached to direct. Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins attached to star.
Title:
How Could You Do This To Me?
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story of a teen who feels that the divorce of her parents has improved her life. When mom and dad appear to be rekindling sparks, their daughter feels threatened and tries to break them up.
Writer:
Andy Marx, Andrea King
Genre:
Comedy , Teen
Saletype:
Pitch
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Production Company:
Nickelodeon Films
Producer:
Gil Netter, Dan Halsted
More:
Miranda Cosgrove attached to star.
Title:
Heist
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story of Myles Connor, an art connoisseur and a rock musician whose band, Myles and the Wild Ones, backed Roy Orbison. He was also an accomplished art and antiques thief who was involved in a series of museum robberies that grabbed headlines in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s.
Writer:
Myles Connor, Jenny Siler
Genre:
Drama
Saletype:
Novel
More:
William Monahan attached to direct. Project is based on the novel "The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Thief, Rock-and-Roller and Prodigal Son."
Title:
The Attack
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story about an affluent Palestinian doctor working in an Israeli hospital whose life is turned upside down when he discovers his wife may have become a suicide bomber.
Writer:
Yasmina Khadra, Ziad Doueiri
Genre:
Drama
Saletype:
Script , Novel , Adaptation
Studio:
Focus Features
Production Company:
Participant Media
Producer:
Jeff Skoll
More:
Ziad Doueiri attached to direct. Doueiri adapted Khadra's novel.
Title:
Untitled
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story about 1980s pro-democracy Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.
Writer:
Agnieszka Holland
Genre:
Drama , Period
Saletype:
Pitch
Producer:
Andrzej Wajda
More:
Andrzej Wajda attached to direct.
Title:
Fetiche
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story of a high-school boy's unrequited love for a classmate.
Genre:
Romance , Teen
Saletype:
Script
Production Company:
Mil Nubes-Cine
Producer:
Roberto Fiesco
More:
Jaime Humberto Hermosilla attached to direct.
Title:
The First Man
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story is about Algeria and its struggle for independence from France.
Writer:
Albert Camus, Gianni Amelio
Genre:
Drama , Period
Saletype:
Script , Novel , Adaptation
Production Company:
Wild Bunch
More:
Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes, Claudia Cardinale attached to star. Gianni Amelio attached to direct. Amelio adapted Camus' novel.
Title:
Lipstikka
Date:
February 11, 2009
Logline:
Story about the lifelong emotional and sexual bond between two Palestinian women.
Writer:
Jonathan Sagall
Genre:
Psychological Thriller
Saletype:
Script
Production Company:
Bavaria International
Producer:
Jonathan Sagall
More:
Jonathan Sagall attached to direct.
Title:
Untitled
Date:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Logline:
True story of Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani rape victim who waged a legal battle against her attackers and the justice system that sanctioned the crime.
All of us creative types have things we're naturally good at, and things we've learned to do, and things we aren't that good at (yet). This creates a creative trap: when approaching a project, we often work on the part we understand best — the part that scares us least. So if you're good at plot, you write the plot first, and then fill in the characters later. If you're good at characters, you write up the characters and then feel your way towards a plot.
Everyone pursuing a screenwriting career will eventually realize this journey is not for the thin of skin or for those who cannot handle the emotional ups and downs this business brings. If you haven’t yet experienced the soul crushing disappointment of finally having written a script that goes into development, but it doesn’t make it to production and sits on a shelf, I don’t envy you. It’s happened to me a handful of times out of my nearly two dozen paid screenwriting assignments. Learn this early — there are no guarantees in the screenwriting game. You take your lumps, heal, and move on to the next screenplay and the next one.
I love Readers! Yes they are the gatekeepers to the Promised Land and like it or not they do have power. But just how much? Well, I’m here to show you. I got my hands on a classified document folks, the holy grail… An actual copy of a real STUDIO MEMO covering GUIDELINES for their READERS.
Scenes must have a reason to exist in your screenplay. Each scene must advance the plot forward through dialogue and/or visual storytelling. Characters’ journeys drive the script’s narrative, and each scene must steer their journey forward. Although some scenes might not even contain any characters, these scenes must still provide information about your plot, as well as your characters’ lives and actions. There is no set rule as to how many lines, paragraphs, or pages constitute a scene.
The following has nothing to do with wet t-shirts. This entry is actually about screenwriting contests - a subject with little marquee value. One of the most popular category of questions that I find in my e-mail box is about screenwriting contests. As I say over and over, I believe that most are a waste of energy and entry fee. Some - like the Nicholl and Disney Fellowships - are very reputable and have launched a few Hollywood careers. Regardless of how reputable any contest might be, the screening process for most seems tenuous. Low fees for contest readers and a bulk of scripts guarantees a sloppy vetting system.
"Lowtide" writer, director and producer Kevin McMullin has sold his short story "Bomb" and is tabbed to write the script for "low seven figures" and "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott is attached to Direct. According to reports, 20th Century beat out studios Apple, Netflix, Sony, and Warner Bros.
Books are the fastest and easiest way you can learn from an expert. In screenwriting, it’s no different. Some of the best screenwriters and those who have mastered the craft, have created countless books trying to encapsulate all they’ve learned in their work. If you’re a new screenwriter and looking to improve or simply to learn how to create better scripts, these three books will help you out.
Everybody has a perspective. Everybody in your scene has a reason. They have their own voice, their own identity, their own history… But if you don’t know who everybody is and why they’re there, why they’re feeling what they’re feeling and why they’re doing what they’re doing, then you’re in trouble.
What is a successful second act? One that keeps the reader engaged, moves the story forward, and successfully delivers it into the falling action; that being the third act climax and the denouement. A bad screenplay has a second act that simply doesn't keep the narrative trajectory in place and thus the spine of the story sags; meaning rising tension and conflict is not taking place.