Links

The New York Times has been pretty good with their post-writer's strike coverage. I've found two articles particularly interesting:

Who Won the Writer's Strike?

and

Agencies See a Window to Alter the Business of Television.

And of course, if you're wondering how your favorite shows will be affected...

Some interesting points are made in both articles, and I think it's only responsible that writers, while essentially getting what they were seeking from the strike, understand that they've altered their working landscape for what could end up being a very long time.

...

I've applied to graduate programs, trying to earn my MFA in Creative Writing, and I've become enamored with this niche of a writing community. Using the MFA Blog as a starting point, there are also two sites, here and here, that I frequently visit where the blog authors are actually compiling admission notification data. The sites themselves may not mean much to you, but if you read the comments, the soul of the writing community starts to come alive. Anyone who's missing their old writing programs, or who forget what it's like to cram way too many writers together in one place, should check it out.

Write on...

what runs in the family

The following is a conversation I had with my 10 year old brother:

Brat: Are you still writing scripts?

Me: Yeah.

Brat: What's it about?

Me: Well, it's about... it's a romantic comedy...

Brat: What's that?

Me: Er... that means it.... has jokes...and is fun...and people fall in love.

Brat: Oh, like Scream 4.

Me: ....No, that's generally considered horror.

Brat: But they usually start with jokes, and then there is horror, and then end with people falling in love. So it should be romantic-comedy-horror.

Me: ....Huh.

Brat: Oh I know! You can have one person sneak up to another person, and then shoot him!

The Writing Week part 5

Well, all in all, I suppose it was a productive week. Scratch that, it was a productive week (despite the fact that I missed a night on Sunday).

The League met again on Saturday, and once again, I submitted pages from the script I’m currently working on. Originally, I gave them about 12 or so to read. This weekend, I had 31 for them. All in all, the notes weren’t anything that required I put my forward progress on halt. Sometimes, unfortunately, the notes will illuminate the fact that the script is rife with problems, that it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, or that the all important tone is completely off (if not absent entirely).

This week, however, I did not face that —thank you, screenwriting deities. Rather, my notes were still mostly questions about the world the character is living in (though Backer did have a few things he took issue with other than that). By the time we met, I had pushed on to page 59 and hit the midpoint. Interestingly, many of the questions were regarding things that I tried to answer in that second chunk of pages. But what does that mean? Should I have answered those questions earlier, or were my compatriots just excited about the idea and the gears were turning in their heads? I think it’s a combination of both, or at least, I hope it is.

Like D.O.A. concluded in her most recent post, there’s no single correct answer. Some people were urging me to take more time with the world, while others wanted me to speed everything up and show the viewers less. Notes like that (ones that don’t require immediate attention to character or vital structure) are pleasant to receive, because they get me thinking about a lot, while not forcing me to start at page one again.

The last thing this week did, and, perhaps, one of the most important things, is that it got me thinking about competitions again. Well, to be fair, Onyx is the one who has really be steering that ship. Nonetheless, I found a contest (scriptapalooza) that has a mid-March deadline, and a mid-April final deadline. I am fairly confident that if I wanted, I could have a presentable draft by the late deadline (the early one might be pushing it). That’s not to say that I am going to pay $50 to send something in that is not finished. I don’t recommend that to anyone. However, the thought of it might help compel me to finish this quickly (yet effectively) and look for other competitions to enter it into. Another reason to attack the keyboard each night is always welcome.

101 Best Screenplays

I was searching the WGA site this morning, since Captain Undead mentioned news of a potential strike resolution.

In my search, I cam upon this, http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807, the WGA's list of the 101 best screenplays.

Whether you're a screenwriting student, a recreational writer, or an expert, it always helps to read as many screenplays as possible. And, while this might not be your top 101, there is something to be said for each one chosen here. I, admittedly, have not read nearly as many of these as I should have.

So take a look, read up, study, and enjoy them!

The Writing Week part 4

You know, I was just thinking to myself last night how good ti feels to be back in it, writing on a nightly basis (maybe a bit more daily on the weekends). There’s just something to be said for writing regularly. It’s like working out. It can be hard to get into the routine in the beginning, but once I do, I feel guilty for missing a day. Writing, even just my hour a day, seems to validate something inside me when I tell people I write screenplays. I always felt I had lied when that inevitable question, “What are you working on now?” would arise, and my answer would be, “Well, nothing at the moment, but I have ideas.”

The process that I’m working with now is different than any other I have used in the past. Typically, I tended to favor having complete outlines done before writing, or at the very least an entire outline for each act before I began putting pages out. However, with this script, I find myself outlining and researching as I write. I’ll sit down and begin my nightly hour, only to realize that there is something I don’t know, a plot hole I have yet to fill, or a chunk of outline yet to complete (that last does not typically come as a surprise).

The result is that I am getting pages written much more slowly than normal. Usually, with an outline all set to go, I can write about 5 pages in an hour (why is it that we talk so much in terms of pages?). These nights, I get maybe 2-4, depending on how many gaps in the outline and research I’m facing.

But that doesn’t mean that I feel the process is any less efficient. In a way, perhaps it’s more so. Rather than just banging out pages mechanically, I’m still thinking about them, thinking about what should come next, what would come next, and how to progress. The story has more room to evolve naturally than it ever could if I had an outline that I felt—whether consciously or not—obligated to adhere to. It’s also more fun for me. I am still discovering the story each night, rather than simply elaborating upon the bullet points I’ve laid out for myself.

Really, I don’t know if this process is going to make the story any stronger or not. We have our next meeting on Saturday, and I’m eager to see what people think. There are almost always problems within a first draft of a first act (that’s how much I sent out to the League), so I’m not expecting solid praise. But, I am curious to see how well the script is received, if at all. Perhaps, too, it could just be that I’m more engaged with this project than I have been with others. Then again, that could be because it is still almost as much a mystery ride for me as it is for the rest of the League.

"Juno" reaches 100 Million while "Meet the Spartans"...F*ck

I remember back when we really started doing this thing back in March of last year. There wasn't much to report at the box office at the time, and I remember thinking it was the end of the world when Wild Hogs was aggressively going up against Ghost Rider for box office supremacy.

Well folks, it always gets worse.

I don't really consider myself a movie snob, mostly because I like cheesy, awful movies about as much as I like "good" ones, but on a weekend where I was watching Chinatown for the first time, for free, a collective $36.8 million was spent by movie-goers nationwide to see Meet the Spartans and Rambo. I mean...hasn't anyone heard of Netflix?

In other news, Juno grossed $10.3 million to put it at the $100 million mark, while the Paul Thomas Anderson drama There Will Be Blood brought in just $4.89 M (for a $14.8 M total thus far). For anyone keeping track, through 1/13 the grosses of the other three Oscar nominees for best film are: No Country for Old Men at $46.7 M; Michael Clayton at $39.3 M; Atonement at $25 M. I guess these figures shouldn't surprise me, but it does go to show you (I'm looking at you There Will Be Blood) that it, literally, pays to get in the theaters earlier on in the Oscar season.

The top ten, by the by, looks like this:

Meet the Spartans - $18.7 M
Rambo - $18.1 M
27 Dresses - $13.6 M
Cloverfield - $12.7 M
Untraceable - $11.2 M
Juno - $10.3 M
The Bucket List - $10.3 M
There Will Be Blood - $4.89 M
National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $4.66 M
Mad Money - $4.61 M

Write on...

The As-Late-As-We-Can-Get Week in Review

While I'm sure a lot happened this week, I'm going to condense this because it doesn't feel appropriate any other way.


The nominations for the 80th Oscars were announced


What happened: the nominations for the Oscars were announced this week. I'll be honest with you, I don't know if there are any surprises in the lot. Seeing the nominations just made me realize how out of touch I've been with movies this "Oscar Season." That being said, Oscar.com is up and running, and you can find all the nominees plus some hooplah. The ceremony is set to begin at 8:00pm on February 24th. John Stewart is set to host.

Why it matters: It's really the granddaddy of them all, and whatever you think about giving awards for films or what have you, you have to give the Oscars credit- the pageantry of the show really captures the size and magic of the movies. If that makes you want to puke a little, that's fine by me. There is a running subplot about whether or not this thing is even going to happen. The writers are saying they will boycott and picket the ceremony, and the Screen Actors' Guild has said they won't cross picket lines. Of course, my girlfriend points out that there are a lot of people in movies than just the actors. Point taken. Tracking...


Heath Ledger, 28, dies.

What happened: if you don't know by now, Heath Ledger was found dead in an apartment in Soho on Tuesday morning. There was a bottle of prescription sleeping pills on the nightstand where his body was found, but so far the police do not suspect foul play.

Why it matters: I should note that there's more to report about this story, including a masseuse that didn't call the cops when she found his body, and Mary Kate Olsen's involvement in the whole thing. So as to not speculate, please see above when I say, "...so far the police do not suspect foul play." I guess defining something as a tragedy is completely relative: for example, Mr. Ledger's death is 8 billion times more sad for Michelle Williams than it is for me. That being said, I find his death to be profoundly sad in that there's no real way to evaluate Heath Ledger's potential. He was already a wildly talented actor with a well-reputed work ethic. I've already been entertained and moved by his performances, and I know if he had lived, he would have continued to entertain not only me, but millions of people worldwide. You can't always say this about celebrities, but you can for him. I didn't know the guy, and I won't pretend that my life can't go on anymore, but I'm going to find it deeply troubling when his face pops up on the Oscars death montage.


What stood out in the week for you? Post away in the comments.


Write on...