George Thomas Jr.s' "Action! Romance! Intrigue!" screenwriting blog
Visual storytelling and the craft of screenwriting
As a former newspaper reporter, I was happy to see “The Post” fast-tracked to production and wide release. Director Steven Spielberg has said the urgency was a direct reaction to the Trump presidency, but, from a screenwriting and journalistic perspective, the film resonates beyond cinematic confines. It speaks to the core problems plaguing the media today, and reminds us why democracy is at risk. Continue reading ““The Post,” fake news, democracy, and the war on journalism”
Given the many flavors of comedy and personal taste, is it even possible to create something that is universally funny?
The Writers Guild of America’s list of the 101 funniest scripts ever written may be more definitive for some than others, but, if nothing else, the list reflects how broad comic appeal can be.
While the top five films appear to have little in common, at the heart of each lie shared elements of Continue reading “The best comedy writing starts with characters”
Following up on part one of the “checklist to RECOMMEND,” listed below are key coverage checklist items that, if well executed, will help you avoid the problems with more than 95 percent of the scripts out there. Remember, you are competing with established screenwriters as well as other up-and-comers, so what can you do to get your script closer to RECOMMEND? Continue reading “Script coverage: a checklist to RECOMMEND – Part 2”
Screenplay “coverage” and “analysis” tend to be used interchangeably, but there’s one key distinction:
Additionally, coverage reports actually are more objective than subjective; therefore it’s important to understand how your writing affects coverage and the steps you can take to get your screenplay recommended to producers. Continue reading “Script coverage: a checklist to RECOMMEND – Part 1”
Comedy is the most challenging genre for one simple reason: what is funny to one person is not necessarily funny to another. But that doesn’t make it impossible to write a humorous film or sitcom, because if you understand the foundation of comic situations you can inject humor into whatever it is you’re writing, regardless of genre, especially if you read Steve Kaplan’s The Hidden Tools of Comedy: The Serious Business of Being Funny
To this day “
Grab a seat at the table with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan during their 1978 story development conference sessions for “Raiders of the Lost Ark“
You most likely remember him as Ned Ryerson from the brilliantly original “Groundhog Day
The lingering confusion and disappointment about Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” is a good high-profile example of why everyone — screenwriters, directors, producers not withstanding — need editors to identify plot holes, character inconsistencies, and anything else that undermines a story’s impact and confuses audiences.
One of the most anticipated films of 2012, “Prometheus”
Continue reading “Why everyone needs an editor”
Madonna’s SuperBowl halftime show achieved what screenwriters and filmmakers strive to achieve: quite simply, it was entertaining on many levels from start to finish. Regardless of how you feel about her music, Madonna’s show delivered a highly structured full-on multimedia experience that serves as a spot-on “how to” for screenwriters and filmmakers, starting with Continue reading “Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show and what screenwriters and filmmakers can learn”