“‘High concept’ is a term bandied about and most can agree upon its definition. High concept is a story idea that evokes a movie with just a sentence or two. Even with this definition, high concept can be hard to nail down. One has to hear it to know whether or not it’s high concept. […]

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Shira Gotshalk interviews J. Michael Straczynski ( “Babylon 5,” “Jeremiah,” “Changeling” ) at the Writers Guild of America, West site.
“… I write 10 hours a day, every day, except for Christmas, New Year’s Day and my birthday. I have roughly since I was 17 years old. Someone said once that I am a very disciplined […]

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This one’s for high school and college filmmakers we may know — John August rejoins an A-List panel of judges for Apple’s 2008 Insomnia Film Festival two weeks from Saturday.

Go To John August’s Place …

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Match.Dead, written by Alyssa Alexandria and directed by Jon Bonnell, picked up its first written review earlier today. Phoenix reviewer Temple Stark liked it a lot, can’t wait to see it again. Please note, “orange-level” spoiler alert.
Go To Members Forum …

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“One of the books they made us read in film school way back when was Christopher Vogler’s book THE WRITER’S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS. Vogler has come out with a third edition, so I thought I’d take a read….”
Go To Alex Epstein’s Place …

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Blake Snyder’s handy guide to things screenwriters might want to check out when passing through Los Angeles is available for download here.
“Here’s the challenge: You have two days to visit Los Angeles and, aspiring screenwriter that you are, you know those 48 hours have count. Aside from doing the obvious, i.e., setting up as many […]

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“The Lighthouse” by Janet Zibell and “Bald Knob” by Roger Oliphant have just been named finalists in the 2008 Movie Script Contest. Congratulations Janet and Roger!
Go To Members Forum …

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“… I think Ageism really has less to do with age and more with the reality that older writers are tougher to push around.
“It’s much easier to bully or browbeat younger writers. They’re new…. Even if rewriting the bible umpteen times doesn’t make sense to them they’ll do it because they don’t want to appear […]

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“My youngest tweenage daughter and I were chatting as I scrolled through the tee-vee channels…she was telling me about how impressed she was by another student’s drumming talent….she wanted to know how someone got to be so good at such a young age….the word prodigy came up…she asked what that was…and I explained…and then she […]

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“After watching ‘Fringe,’ ‘Eleventh Hour’ and ‘The Mentalist,’ I realized that they’re basically the same show.  A scientist (or a ‘mentalist’) with some particular insight teams up with a tough female cop to solve crimes.  And coming soon, there’s ‘Castle,’ about a horror novelist who teams up with a tough female cop to solve crimes.  […]

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Jon Bonnell posted some great ways to build and connect with loyal fans earlier today.
“… Money is tight. And yet, we’re all still making film, right? So how do you stand out when you don’t have any money left in your advertising budget?
“Social Media.
“Over the last few years social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, […]

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“The Lighthouse” by Janet Zibell and “Bald Knob” by Roger Oliphant have been named semi-finalists in the 2008 Movie Script Contest. Congratulations Janet and Roger!
Go To Members Forum …

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ProSeries Writer Cindy Carroll posted a great interview she did with CSI: writer-producer David Rambo on her blog recently.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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Go To Cindy Carroll’s Place …

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“A mistake way too many screenwriters make is assuming that the first thing they write is The One. The One that will get them noticed. The One that will sell. The One that will transform their lives.
“The fact is, there is no One. I can’t tell you what mine would be. The one that got […]

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Jill Golick discusses six memorable examples of scenes for mature audiences.
Go To Jill Golick’s Place …

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