The Black List is what the movie execs think are the best scripts of 2009. Some will be produced- are being produced- some will never see the light of projector. Carson of Script Shadow has them up. Go forth and read!

During one of Seagal's spying sessions, he spots Dave and assumes that Van Damme is building an army to defeat him. The unwritten rules of their feud dictate that this is forbidden so Seagal heads off to see the United Nations of the Van Damme-Seagal conflict, Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris convinces Seagal to calm down, pointing out that an army requires more than one person. But Seagal is not convinced. He goes to his old friend Dolph Lundgren for help, but Dolph is doing something that's become a bit alien to Seagal and Van Damme - a movie. Not only that, but Dolph is going to direct his first film afterwards. Excited, Seagal inquires about a possible part. But Dolph looks away. He's sorry but he doesn't have anything available.

Beat up and depressed, Seagal decides to further investigate Van Damme's secret one-man weapon and discovers that he's not a weapon at all, but rather Van Damme's biographer. Seagal seeks out Dave's biography about the Bulgarian feminist and reads it. It is so touching - he is so moved - he kidnaps Dave and insists that he write *his* biography. This is after we find out that Seagal wasn't even writing a biography in the first place. Van Damme had some bad intel. But now that he knows Van Damme is writing a biography, he wants to write one first.

What are the studios buying?

Q: What are the typical weaknesses you find in scripts?

Robert McKee: Three that jump to mind:
 
Dull scenes.  For reasons of weak conflict or perhaps the poor shaping of beats of behavior, the scene falls flat.  The value-charged condition of the characters' lives at the tale of the scene is exactly what it was at the head of the scene.  Activity never becomes story action.  In short, nothing actually happens, nothing changes. 
 
Awkward exposition.  To convenience the writer, characters tell each other what they all already know so the eavesdropping reader/audience can gather in the information.  This false behavior causes the reader/audience to lose empathy.   
 
Clichés.  The writer recycle the same events and characters we have seen countless times before, thinking that if he or she writes like other writers have, they too will find success.

Excellent. Go here.

Craig Phillips lays it down, writers. Take heed!

The following is advice I've gotten from a few different agents and producers, most of them on the independent side but with Hollywood experience, too.

 Below are some of my thoughts while reading marilynne robinson's  "The Death of Adam"   a book of her essays chiefly concerned with religion and family. Very random. Nothing to do with film just a script I am tussling with.

Marilynne Robinson’s Essay on “Family” MR’s definition:  “those toward whom one feels LOYALTY and OBLIGATION, and or to whom one gives identity, and/or with whom one shares habits, tastes, stories, customs, memories.

Includes ‘families of circumstance” and those “incapable of family.”(??)

Biological fams are arbitrary; the above things are OWED not MERRITED.

 Is the institution of family culturally created?

 The balm for fear, distrust, self-interest is always loyalty. The balm for failure of weakness and even disloyalty is always loyalty. I disagree. I believe truth comes before loyalty. I might be in the minority in this, esp as one goes East.

We have reasoned ourselves to conditional relationships.

‘Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds” (shakespeare)

The above requirements require discipline and imagination.

SOLACE- we must give real solace.

ECONOMICS are the enemy of the family.

 Religion and family must shift, as they will when a dollar is at stake.

 The “new theology” is an American-style, stripped-down, low-church theology, its clergy largely self-ordained, golf-shirted, the sort one would not at all be surprised to be selling real estate from the pulpit.”

“The Ark of Market Economics”

Industry Screenwriters Dustin Lance Black (Milk) Tom McCarthy (The Visitor) Robert Knott (Appaloosa) and Andrew Stanton (Wall*E) in conversation with Anne Thompson about how they wrestle it on to screen at the Santa Barbara Film Fest. Thanks to Jeff Wells.

Benjamin Ray is our attache,screenwriter, jounalist, and much more in Toronto. Here he gives instruction and advise on pitching your projects.

PITCHING  SAMPLE – DON’T KILL YOURSELF

When pitching your script for the first time, the trick is to eliminate stress and anxiety.

One way to do that is two tackle the pitch on two levels.

STEP 1 – ON A PERSONAL LEVEL

Right off the bat, talk about why you wrote the script on a personal level as opposed to a business level.

STEP 2 – CONCISE AND SUSPENSEFUL LOGLINE

Make sure your logline is simple and direct with just a small dose of passion and then conclude with some form of suspense.

Step 1 and Step 2 are good  ice-breakers which makes for a relaxed and productive meeting. Bottom line – if the producer you’re pitching to likes the idea,  the table will be turned around and you’ll have a producer who will extrapolate on your pitch with his or her passionate take of your logline.

Don’t kill yourself with endless notes and business-like marketing pitch techniques.

Here is an example of a recent pitch of mine  using STEP1 and STEP2. I did not memorize the details but  used key points as a guide during the pitch.  The script is called “Marcus and Faith”.

STEP1 – ON A PERSONAL LEVEL

During my college and single lifestyle in Toronto and New York, I became friends with some aspiring performers – dancers, musicians, singers and stand-up comedians. What I learned and experienced during that formative time led me to write the screenplay Marcus and Faith, which reflects my observations of good people enduring and struggling against substance abuse, domestic violence and psychological torture.  But somehow they managed to pull through and subsist, fighting just to pay the rent, in the hopes of one day achieving their desires – not only to find fame, but also true romance and love.  For them, survival is dependent upon having the right partner as a windbreak, preventing each other from falling into the abyss of self-destruction.  Sadly, relationships don’t always work out and can worsen the lives of individuals, leading to desperate times – poverty, hard drugs, alcohol, prostitution and pornography while others struggle with becoming a servant to their lover’s drug-infested lifestyle.  So is there light at the end of this tunnel?  Is this hellish path worth following to become a true artist-performer? These are the concepts and issues addressed in Marcus and Faith.

With this script, I wanted to provide a prescription for survival on a cinematic level, to express a truth that encourages viewers not to escape from life but to find it, and ultimately to touch the heart of the new generation as it comes into its own.

 STEP 2 – CONCISE AND SUSPENSEFUL LOGLINE

The story follows the jagged and disjointed lives of Marcus, a stand-up comedian, and Faith, an aspiring Broadway dancer.  He’s addicted to painkillers and she’s hiding a dirty family secret.  Like two runaway trains, racing into the past as they try to save each other from themselves. Will they survive the ride? Will they jump off before they pass the point of no return? Or are they just awaiting the inevitable fiery crash that lies ahead?

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Benjamin Ray

brscreenwriter@gmail.com

Via Indiewire

The Top 10 winners of the 13th Annual Slamdance Screenplay Competition have been announced, with Neil McGowan's script "Numbers" taking top honors. McGowan, who works as an administrative assistant for a non-profit research and analysis company and is a first time screenwriter, was given a $7,000 cash prize for best feature-length screenplay during an awards presentation hosted by the Writers Guild of America, West. Other winners (ordered 2nd through 10th place) include: "Goodman's Garden" by Douglas Miller; "Want and Curiosity" by Eric Weller; "Human Resources" by Marissa Jo Cerar; "Lucas Donovan" by Keisha Poiro; "Moonbeam Fisherman" by John Dummer;" "Mendelssohn" by Joseph Yuan and Jeanette Manning; "Hair Today" by Dennis Douda; "Czechoslovakia" by Alvin Easter; and "Truckers VS. Bikers" by Aaron Grunland and Sean Huet. Slamdance received over 2,000 submissions for the competition.

Yea, I do spell like the devil a lot but this time, it's your guilty pleasure, your good friend Quentin Tarantino. He finally chopped down his 'war film homage' to about 165 pages or so. Two reviews have popped up on-line (here and here) so..ah, forget it. Just catch the movie at the theater because I know that you know Tarantino is fun if nothing else.

One of the main reasons we started this site was to hone our  writing skills (the jury has returned hung on that one) but the real pleasure has been encountering other screenwriters  and their work.  One such fellow is Benjamin Ray,  winner of the Pacific NW Screenwriting Contest for his dramatic feature script "Marcus and Faith," a gritty, love action story. I recently had a chance to get to know Ben and his work through an email exchange. I'll let him tell you about his unique background.

After I graduated from University of Toronto, I realized I made the
greatest mistake of my life. No wonder my friends told me I was lost.
Ever since I could remember, I always had an interest in stand-up
comedy. I tried it, got off to decent start but soon I was  finding it
hard to behave like a LIGHT SWITCH – you know - jump on stage and you have to be ON -happy, happy, happy. Listen, I don't mind being happy, just I'm happy being unhappy, sometimes. It's too exhausting to fake this happiness thing. Well maybe I could fake it real good if I
did drugs which are fashionable in the comedy business.

But I knew if I chose that path I would be dead in the gutter. Screenwriting came to rescue. I caught the screenwriting fever and never looked back. Unlike the previous generation of screenwriters who learned their craft through film school, I'm self-taught and honed in my skills from my days on stage and while juggling three shifts and a family. Consequently, I developed a fusion of controversial pop culture and exciting cinema.

The interview

HIT: Why did you write "Marcus and Faith"?

Ben: I wanted to write a gritty love action story. One that young adults will remember into their retirements and last forever. Something that is very cinematic and unforgettable. Screenwriting is not film-school. It's cinematic angst/passion/stress in motion.

HIT: If they make this script into a movie, why should we watch it?

 Ben: Its visual treat- full of - seedy dialouges/seductive romance/comic mayhem/action and a moral premise that will knock your socks off. A coverage provider from Scriptapalooza told me that my opening scenes grabbed him by the throat and it was very well written. I believe a movie should rarely make the audience work hard. The audience job is to enjoy the adventure and to be submerged into a world that does not
exist in reality. That's the screenwriter's job-- to create life for the audience-they don't want to escape life. They come to the movies to find life.

HIT: Why do you write screenplays?

Ben:  I love visualizing my scenes and then putting them on paper on a technical level. It's too easy to get wordy when writing. But writing a screenplay, that's where you learn to write enconomically. Each sentence has to capture the scene on a visual level. Forget what your English teacher taught you. Screenwriting is new form of writing. It cannot be taught. You have to think like a camera controlled by the director and remember the screen does not lie.

HIT: Have you, or do you, ever experiement with structure beyond the tradtional three-act?

Ben: Actually my first script "Sin so Well" did not have a three act structure. It was more propelled by the art of writing action set-pieces (popular with in the 80s- 90s)  fused with R-rated dialogue and introducing romance with a Hong Kong/John Woo vibe. Most
readers and coverage providers found this too offensive. You should listen to the coverages. One guy from AFI  ripped my script apart. Currently, all my screenplays follow a three-act structure and they're doing better.

HIT: Winning the Pacific NW Competition must have been quiet a thrill. How has it helped in terms of your career? Do agents and producers give your work more time and consideration than screenwriters who have not won contests?

Ben: Yes it was. Producers are requesting the scripts, but afterwards I rarely hear from them. This is the norm and I'm learning to be more creative. The contest made me realize that we have to get established film directors and writers to read our scripts. They can open doors and make us realize that this is a business and to learn the business.
Hollywood is 10% about writing and 90% about the concept.

HIT: How about getting into production? Have you thought about producing/directing a low-budget version of your work?

Ben: Yes. I have converted the feature script Marcus and Faith into a sit-com. I plan to collaborate with a director/friend who has his own equipment and crew. Firstly we will film it like a short  and pitch it as a webisode. Then in the future we will market it to the Studios. Of course this will be piggybacked by our feature script "Marcus and Faith". You know what they say, KEEP WRITING, but above all KEEP MARKETING!

HIT: Finally Ben, the ubiquitous advice question for screenwriters starting out in the game. What can you tell'em?

Ben:  Get as much coverage and developments as you can from reliable and honest film consultants. Rewrite until you have winner. And listen to only 20% of their advice. Stick to your vision. Then tests it in the top five contests in North America. Afterwards, query to Managers and producers. Keep writing and above all keep marketing.

Thanks Ben! For more info on Ben and his work, visit www.hollywoodtoronto.com or email him at brscreenwriter@gmail.com

"…Then one fine day you realize that it’s better to see as little as possible. You have a sort of reduction, only it’s not a reduction; it’s a concentration and it actually says more. But you don’t do this immediately from one day to the next! You need patience. A sigh can become a novel."

- So says Jean-Marie Straub in Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?

Ray Pride has a great interview with Tamara Jenkins, the writer-director of The Savages. Have not seen it yet, but loved her first movie from many moons ago, The Slums of Beverly Hills. Here she is on writing

Yeah, and you’ve sucked out all the descriptive juices because that’s what you’re going to see and that’s what people are going to do. It helped me when I got stuck to just pretend it was just a novel, to just keep going and write this stuff that I eventually would rip out, stuff that had to do with describing internal states — things that you would never really be able to have in a screenplay. And it was really long — the first draft of the script was 200 pages. In a weird way, I felt like I wrote a novel and then had to do an adaptation of the novel to turn it into a screenplay, which brought it down to 120 pages. I spent a year going from 200 pages to 120 pages, and it took me years to get to the 200 pages. So a year to kind of, what’s it called, reduction? When they do that to a sauce, the reduction sauce?

I just read Ms (Mrs.?) Cody's screenplay Juno (have not seen the movie) and despite the snarky turns of phrase, it is a solid effort. But nothing breeds contempt like success and over-the-top self-promotion. Here Something Awful's Bob Mackey piles on one of her latest leaked efforts. Funny stuff.

Paramount Vantage is putting PDF files of its five 2007 potential year-end contenders on a public page. The titles include A Mighty Heart; Into the Wild; The Kite Runner and Margot at The Wedding. And if you follow the format of the four other URLs, you'll find Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood.

This is so great for screenwriters, sure, but by all means, GO see the films.

Yves Lavandier’s Writing Drama, a comprehensive guide for playwrights and scriptwriters scriptwriters (translated by Bernard Besserglik)  is that rare kind of writing textbook: Inspirational and instructive yet fun to read. Lavandier, who is French, brings a European perspective to the art and craft of writing. He cites over 1400 works-not just film but TV shows, plays, comic books, operas, and even the circus-to get at what drama consist of and how we write it.

Starting with the basics of conflict and emotion, Lavandier analyses each aspect of  drama and human nature and offers examples of classical to modern works to back-up, and often times, disagree with his points. One idea that struck me was his emphasis on the audience and how the writer must think of it in every stage of the writing. To not do so is to have not only a flawed film but a bad script as well. Very, very, good advice. If every writer will think of the role of the audience when he or she sits down to write, we would have stronger films and plays.

I also gained a lot of insight in his chapter on Dramatic Irony, which is when a character lacks an essential piece of information that the spectator is in on. Many examples are gone into in depth to illustrate this principle and how it works-or not-in practice. In a part entitled The Local Mechanisms, Lavandier explores Exposition, Activity, Dialogue, and Effects and how they are used in works of high and ‘low’art.

Lavandier breaks down two classic pieces of drama, Moliere’s The School for Wives and Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, using what he calls The Synthetic Model which he defines as “a canonical form or prototype that identifies the recurring techniques in classic works as Aristotle did.” I think everyone is in agreement that you have to learn the rules of writing first before breaking them. Admittedly this brings us some repetitive boring movies, especially from many Hollywood studios, but it need not Lavandier argues, as The Synthetic Model provides only a framework, leaving the writer to pour his soul into it. Lavandier provides several exercises for the writer to sharpen his or her skills, work with concepts, and other mechanics for a good script.

Having read several books on screenwriting, I would say that Yves Lavandier’s work is one of the best I have come across. I will refer to it often in the future while working on scripts. Highly recommended. Go here to read an interview with the author and how to get a copy.

Just finished a draft of the next short film LaughCalvin wants to make tentatively titled "My Attorney Bernie." Below is the first part of it. It will be up on the Laughcalvin site soon in its entirety. Feel free to fire away at it in the comments section.

INT. GROCERY STORE- DAY
A few shoppers mill about. BERNIE, MID-30’S, looks intently at items on a shelf. He wears a cheap blue vest that has a tag with MYSTEREY(SIC) SHOPPER printed on it.
A VERY TALL WOMAN, turns her shopping cart down Bernie’s aisle. He glances at her and quickly pulls out a small video camera.
He moves items, some which drop to the floor, to arrange it on the shelf just so. He aims it at the Very Tall Woman.
He looks through the view finder to make sure she is in the shot.
VIDEO CAM VIEWFINDER SHOT of Very Tall Woman. More items are knocked to the floor.
Breathing faster, Bernie begins pacing back and forth and then, trying to play it cool, freezes and reads the labels of FEMININE NAPKINS.
He glances over at The Very Tall Woman again. He glances at the hidden video cam. He goes over and stops inches from her.
She looks at him but he studies the labels of the same toothpaste.
He suddenly wheels around and goes back to the feminine napkins section.
Then, as if suddenly remembering an item he must not forget, he heads over to The Very Tall Woman again and bumps into her.
She is startled and almost falls but Bernie grabs her to catch her fall and grope her simultaneously.
An odd DANCE hangs perfectly balanced for a moment.

I have been back 14 hours from a trip down home to see family and friends. If you have never been to the Carolinas, I do recco. it. There is more to it than religion, racing, 'rastling, and racism, I tell you what. Email me and I'll let you in on some tips for really enjoying the beautiful south.

For now however, here is an excerpt from my screenplay in progress, working-titled "The Father Suit." It's a cross between "Night of the Hunter" and "Paper Moon." In this scene, our father, who suffers from schizophrenia, has abducted his two young children and taken off down a dark river. Pardon the format problems. Until then.

INT. PORGY & BESS- SAME
Lee Wayne and the kids step into the cabin. There is a table, a few broken chairs, a dead sofa, a hot-plate, etc.
It is an unholy mess.
ADDY
Peeew! It stinks.
DILL
Looks like the janitor crew is lazy, Mr. Livingstone.
He turns to Lee-Wayne who does not answer. Lee-Wayne walks toward a dark hatch in the rear. Dill motions for Addy to wait and follows.
Dill steps quietly through the opening into a closet with a filthy bathroom on the right and another shadowy room ahead.
Dill stops and listens. He can hear Lee-Wayne moving around in there and muttering to himself.
A chair moves.
ADDY (V.O.)
Dill..?
Dill looks up. He’s sweating from fear and heat. Trembling,  he goes to peek inside the room but stops.
He hurries back to Addy.
DILL
You OK?
ADDY
Yea..
She looks odd.
DILL
What is it, Sister?
She motions for him to be quiet.
DILL (CONT’D)
What is it?
ADDY
Shhh..listen.
There is only the occasional lapping of water against the boat, of decaying wood creaking, a faraway bird chirping.
Sunlight comes down in shafts through the cabin.
Dill and Addy, covered in sweat, look around and at each other.
Suddenly footsteps are heard moving across the top of the boat.
Then the sound of an outboard motor being started.
It sputters to life and the boat begins to move. Dill and Addy rush up top to the deck.
They are moving away from the shipwreck dock, through the dark water.
No one is at the wheel.

If you are serious about finding a director or movie producer, who is
looking to option a script go to
http://www.screenplayshollywood.blogspot.com

It lists "Screenplays Wanted" ads written by film directors and movie
producers looking for screenplays. It's free and it's updated daily.