Screenwriting

The 7 Most Overrated Things About the Movies

Mark Juddery | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Titanic, Arthouse, Citizen Kane, Douglas Trumbull, Tribeca Film Festival, Titanic 3d, Film Festivals, James Cameron, Slidepollajax, Cannes Film Festival, 3-D, Film Criticism, Screenwriting, George Lucas, Special Effects, Jmovie Stars, Entertainment News

As someone who attends film festivals with relish, I still feel a terrible urge to expose the most overrated things in today's film industry.

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"Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture"

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Honeymoon With Harry, Paul Haggis, Bradley Cooper, Self Publishing, Jonathan Demme, Writing a Novel, Bart Baker, Screenwriting, Books News

This is a tale of perseverance and taking control of one's life. It's a look behind those so-glamorous curtains of Hollywood and New York book publishing, where the real world is totally different from how rosy it looks out front.

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The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale

Todd Klick | Posted 04.19.2012

Read More: Storytelling, Film, Movies, Writing, Screenwriters, Drama, Screenwriting, Todd Klick, Entertainment News

Hi HuffPost Readers, I'm thrilled to share an excerpt from my new ebook with you. It's titled The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale: The Universal Story Withi...

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The Writers Workbench: Screenwriting Software

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 05.13.2012

Read More: Final Draft, Screenwriting Software, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Movies, Screenwriting, Technology News

While other competing products exist, the two big elephants in the room today are Screenwriter and Final Draft, both of which now work on either the Windows or Mac format. And so it is that we now look at those two. Which is The Best?

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Cormac McCarthy And 11 Other Novelists Who Wrote For The Movies

The Huffington Post | Amy Lee | Posted 01.20.2012

Read More: The Road, Screenplays, Authors and Hollywood, No Country for Old Men, Novelists, Cormac Mccarthy Movie, Hollywood Writers, Cormac Mccarthy the Counselor, Cormac McCarthy, Slidepollajax, All the Pretty Horses, Screenwriting, The Counselor Cormac Mccarthy, Culture News

Author Cormac McCarthy's novels have won the Pulitzer Prize, routinely hit the top of the bestseller lists and have been made into Academy Award-winni...

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Being Your Own Best Audience

Jane Espenson | Posted 03.11.2012

Read More: Television Writers, TV Writers, Screenwriting Tips, Writing for Tv, Screenwriting, TV Canada, TV News

When people ask me how to write toward what an audience wants to see, I say, "Why would you want to do that?" I then apologize for being so abrupt. But, really. Forget the audience.

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Tinkering With an Outline

Jane Espenson | Posted 02.21.2012

Read More: Once Upon a Time, Writing a Novel, Once Upon a Time Recap, Writing Tips, Screenwriting, Screenwriting Tip, TV News

It's the holiday season, and I know that means a lot of you are going to have some long glorious empty days away from work, with piles of new belongings, gradually less exciting turkey sandwiches, and nothing to do but come up with hilarious questions to ask Siri.

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Blacklisted 'Roman Holiday' Screenwriter Finally Awarded Credit

Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Hollywood Blacklist, Dalton Trumbo, Roman Holiday, House Un-American Activities Committee, House Committee on Un-American Activitites, Spartacus, Mccarthyism, Hollywood Ten, Film, Exodus, Movies, Audrey Hepburn, Screenwriting, Arts News

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced Monday that it would officially restore screenwriting credit on 'Roman Holiday' to blacklisted Oscar-winn...

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Screenwriting 101 For Geeks

Amy E. Berg | Posted 11.16.2011

Read More: Tv Writing, TV Writing Tips, Storytelling, Nickelodeon, Writing Tips, Screenwriting, Star Trek, Culture News

A huge part of being a successful screenwriter is the ability to win over people. You do this by selling your ideas to your colleagues in a writers room or persuading studio executives to buy your pilot or feature film concept.

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How To Write A Wildly Successful Web Series

Issa Rae | Posted 11.15.2011

Read More: Web Series, Social Media, Issa Rae, Writing, Tips, Awkward Black Girl, Advice, Screenwriting, Entertainment News

I don't claim to be an expert by any means. But, through years of trial and error, and intensive Internet research, I've found that in order to write a successful web series, it helps to adhere to these five steps.

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Top 10 Takeaways From TV/Film Summit

Abe Schwartz | Posted 09.06.2011

Read More: Screenwriting, TV Writing Tips, TV Film Summit, Filmmaking Advice, Screenwriting Tips, Tv Writing Advice, Screenwriting Advice, Tips Screenwriting, Entertainment News

I recently attended the TV/Film Summit, a two-day conference focused on writing and selling for television and film. Here are my top 10 takeaways from the event -- i.e., the bits of info that will be forever burned into my brain.

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Chris Matthews Interviews Paul Haggis on Nantucket

Linda Flanagan | Posted 09.04.2011

Read More: Flags of Our Fathers, Church of Scientology, Chris Mathews, Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale, Paul Haggis, Nantucket Film Festival, Crash, Screenwriting, James Bond, Entertainment News

In director and screenwriter Paul Haggis' interview last week with Chris Matthews at the Nantucket Film Festival, Matthews and the reverential crowd got along famously with the star.

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Mecca for Women Writers

Lisa Dale Norton | Posted 08.16.2011

The International Women's Writing Guild's 34th annual summer conference begins June 24 on the campus of Yale University. The Guild's goal is "personal and professional empowerment of women through writing," and it draws women from all over the world.

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Re-Truth Your Past

Jen Grisanti | Posted 08.10.2011

Read More: Writers, Story, Screenwriting, Writing, The Power of Your Past, Spirituality, Life, John Schuster, Jen Grisanti, Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story, Los Angeles News

Your past, with all its beautiful and haunted memories, is written in your mind. What if you could learn how to access your past and "re-truth" it?

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Write Better Stories; Go "Inside Story"

Abe Schwartz | Posted 05.30.2011

Read More: Therapy, Education, Southern California, Writing, English, Storytelling, Evolution, Non-Fiction, Screenwriting, Books News

It seems everyone's looking to tell better stories these days. Peter Guber's Tell to Win and Seth Godin's All Marketers are Liars are both wildly popu...

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Au Contraire: Double Take -- Another Look at The King's Speech

Glenn Young | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The King's Speech, Helena Bonham Carter, Oscars, The Oscars, Colin Firth, Tom Hooper, Geoffrey Rush, Screenwriting, Entertainment News

In Bertie's first visit to Lionel's den, Lionel solves the prince's stammering riddle that has bedeviled every orthodox voice specialist. The movie inexplicably ignores this momentous plot point.

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What I Learned From Screenwriting

Hoyt Hilsman | Posted 05.25.2011

While these tools may seem basic, I found that a great lesson of screenwriting was to pay attention to these fundamentals, even as I tackled more sophisticated writing projects.

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The Calicoon -- Diary of a Novice Film Maker -- Part Two

Pamela Glasner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Deborah Louise Robinson, Horror, Writing, Screenwriting, Calicoon, Ghosts, Horror Films, Catskill Mountains, Entertainment News, Film Making, Author, Pamela Glasner, Entertainment News

A light snow was falling as my producers and I drove 3 ½ hours to an abandoned hotel in an aging, one-horse town which put me in mind of a 1950's Sea...

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Writing Is My Lady

Mark C. Miller | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Frank Sinatra, Writing, Screenwriting, Getting to Know You, City of Angels, La Is My Lady, Bloomingdales, Writing Is My Lady, Russell Crowe, Los Angeles, Ricky Gervais, Entertainment News

So, I'm having a Rat Pack moment the other day, sipping a martini and listening to Frank Sinatra singing "L.A. Is My Lady," when it strikes me that writing Is my lady.

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The Calicoon, Diary of a Novice Film Maker: Part One

Pamela Glasner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Deborah Louise Robinson, Horror, Screenwriting, Writing, Ghosts, Horror Films, Catskill Mountains, Film Making, Author, Pamela Glasner, Calicoon, Entertainment News

On September 11th, 2010, I was vegging out in my living room for a few minutes, taking a break from the sad memories of the day and the intensity of m...

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Going Indie: From Screenwriter to Publisher

Hoyt Hilsman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Islam, Book Publishing, Kindle, Thriller, Self-Publishing, Congress, Media, Film, Screenwriting, Bestsellers, Television, Politics, Hoyt Hilsman, Spy, 19 Angels, Publishing Industry, Lightning Source, Film Studio, Middle East, President Kennedy, Christianity, Israel, Jfk, Political Thriller, Espionage, Amazon, Ebooks, Books News

For now I am enjoying the freedom -- and rewards -- of being my own publisher. And I am looking forward to the prospect of publishing the next book in my series of thrillers early next year.

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Drawing From Your Emotional Well

Jen Grisanti | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jen Grisanti, Writing a Novel, Writing, Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story, Screenwriting, Los Angeles News

We all have a story. Everyday, our story grows. Some days are good days and we feel joy and a strong sense of accomplishment. While other days somethi...

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You Kill Me

David Dean Bottrell | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Parts and Labor, Entertainment, David Dean Bottrell, Show Business, Humor, Entertainment Industry, Boston Legal, Los Angeles, :Acting, Comedy, Screenwriting, Hollywood, Entertainment News

I was 20 minutes late when I arrived at the theatre. It was a small joint carved out of an old retail space and the metal door squeaked loudly as I pu...

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"Cinema Language" Speaking to My Rewrites

Abe Schwartz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Los Angeles Events, Independent Film, Filmmaking, Directing, Los Angeles News, Class, Los Angeles, Movies, Cinema, Screenwriting, Los Angeles News

Recently I had the chance to attend Cinema Language, taught by Tom Provost and presented by Mark Stolaroff of the No Budget Film School. I've attended...

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Don't Clap For Me, Argentina

David Dean Bottrell | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Entertainment Industry, Comedy, Acting, Show Business, Parts and Labor, Entertainment, David Dean Bottrell, Humor, Hollywood, Boston Legal, Los Angeles, Screenwriting, Entertainment News

The first time I ever appeared on stage was in a high school play. I was at the time, a nerdy, nervous 15 year-old with bad skin who had only audition...

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