Black Widow, The (2006)
Watchmen, The (2005)
Iron Man (2005)
X2 (2003)
"Lost in Oz" (2002) TV Series
Scorpion King, The (2002)
X-Men (2000)
In the late 1990s Hayter was a struggling actor and amateur filmmaker living in LA. He hadn't acted in two years. He was broke. He had one option, call an old friend and beg for a job. That friend was Bryan Singer, the guy making "X-Men". Singer took mercy on Hayter allowed him to answer phones for the company. Then eventually he became Singer's driver. But during all this they struck up conversations about "X-Men", Singer learned that Hayter was an avid fan of the comic. One day while driving Singer to work, while listening to Singer talk about some problems with the script, Hayter offered some suggestions. After taking in Hayter suggestions Singer told Hayter to write it up and give it to him. Hayter thought he was joking and did nothing. The next morning when Singer asked for the pages Hayter realized he probably blew it, he told Singer he thought he was joking. Singer said he wasn't and told Hayter to do it immediately. Which he did. Soon Hayter was going to story meetings under the guise of "taking notes" for Singer. Unknown to the studio executives, Hayter would take the notes and go home and re-write the scenes. Eventually he had re-written half the script.
Eventually the producer on the project inquired about how much Hayter had written and they ended up signing him to a contract and in the end he received screenwriting credit on the film. With residuals netting him close to a million dollars.
Notes: Wrote an unused drafts of the "Hulk" (2003) and "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004). He is the voice of many EA sports commercials, and says their slogan: "EA Sports: It's in the Game!" before every game. Wrote a 324 page screenplay addaptation to the graphic novel "Watchmen" by Allan Moore and David Gibbons which has been hailed as one of the most accurate translations of comics to films ever written.
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.