The Bare Bones Book Of Screenwriting

Written in a simple, straight-forward, witty style by a professional in the field, "The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting" is a treasure chest for anyone interested in the screenwriting trade.

Finally, a workbook that lets you outline your script in days rather than weeks or months. Let's face it you need to know where you're going before you step out the door. You wouldn't take a trip across the country for the first time without a map, right? Why take something even more complex--a multi-layered story--and head off without any direction?So I've done the heavy lifting and synthesized various methods of outlining into my own sure-fire way to make your story more manageable--having all your ducks in a row, so to speak.With this indispensable guide to fleshing out your monumental or intimate story, you will have the tools necessary to not only become a better writer but a hired one. Taking those first steps is always the hardest part, but also the most necessary. With THE SCREENPLAY WORKBOOK, those steps just became a whole lot easier.YOU'LL GET:A WORKBOOK you can download as many times as you want for as many stories as you want.A NO B.S. GUIDE that allows you to set up your story without all the fluff so you can dive into pages ASAP.SAVE YOURSELF TIME, ENERGY, AND STRESSKNOW WHERE YOUR STORY IS GOING

Writing Short Films is one of the bestselling university text books on writing short film screenplays. This updated and revised edition includes several new chapters.

To survive and thrive in the fantasyland that is show business, you need to know the realities of writing and selling. J. Michael Straczynski learned these realities the hard way. With his help, you'll learn them the easy way. Here the writer/producer of Murder, She Wrote and creator of Babylon 5 tells you how it really is - and how you can really succeed writing scripts. Straczynski shows you the importance of distinguishing yourself, through professionalism and discipline, from the wannabes. He helps you strengthen your writing technique while urging you to bring your own vision to your work, avoid formula, and create from passion. And he takes you in for a close look at every entertainment medium hungry for good scriptwriters.

$50 Billion of Advice in One Book* Have you ever wondered why some books and stories are adapted into movies, and others aren't? Or wished you could sit down and pick the brains of the people whose stories have been adapted--or the screenwriters, producers, and directors who adapted them? Author John Robert Marlow has done it for you. He spoke to book authors, playwrights, comic book creators and publishers, as well as Hollywood screenwriters, producers and directors responsible for adapting fictional and true stories into Emmy-winning TV shows, Oscar-winning films, billion-dollar megahits and smaller independents. Then he talked to the entertainment attorneys who made the deals. He came away with a unique understanding of adaptations--an understanding he shares in this book: which stories make good source material (and why); what Hollywood wants (and doesn't); what you can (and can't) get in a movie deal; how to write and pitch your story to maximize the chances of a Hollywood adaptation--and how much (and when) you can expect to be paid. *This book contains the distilled experience of creators, storytellers and others whose works have earned over $50 billion worldwide. Whether you're looking to sell film rights, adapt your own story (alone or with help), or option and adapt someone else's property--this book is for you.

Austin Film Festival (AFF) is the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s creative contribution to film. Its annual Film Festival and Conference offers screenings, panels, workshops, and roundtable discussions that help new writers and filmmakers connect with mentors and gain advice and insight from masters, as well as refreshing veterans with new ideas. To extend the Festival’s reach, AFF produces On Story, a television series currently airing on PBS-affiliated stations and streaming online that presents footage of high-caliber artists talking candidly and provocatively about the art and craft of screenwriting and filmmaking, often using examples from their own films. This book distills the advice of renowned, award-winning screenwriters who have appeared on On Story, including John Lee Hancock, Peter Hedges, Lawrence Kasdan, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Randall Wallace. In their own lively words and stories transcribed from interviews and panel discussions, they cover the entire development of a screenplay, from inspiration, story, process, structure, characters, and dialogue to rewriting and collaboration. Their advice is fresh, practical, and proven—these writers know how to tell a story on screen. Enjoy this collection of ideas and use it to jumpstart your own screenwriting career.

Screenwriting for micro-budget films can present its own challenges and this book takes the reader through all the considerations that need to be made to write an effective screenplay for a low-budget film. Drawing on his own experience, case studies from films such as Primer, Coherence and Reservoir Dogs, as well as the perspectives of working screenwriters such as Joe Swanberg and Alex Ross-Perry, Greenberg explores common pitfalls screenwriters face and suggests practical solutions. This book lays the groundworks of the realities of low-budget filmmaking and also talks through the practical aspects, such as story structure and genre considerations. Greenberg makes the process of writing a screenplay for a low-budget film accessible and creative, allowing student and independent filmmakers to tailor their writing for their films. This book is ideal for aspiring screenwriters, independent filmmakers and students of screenwriting.

Screenwriters often joke that “no one ever paid a dollar at a movie theater to watch a screenplay.” Yet the screenplay is where a movie begins, determining whether a production gets the “green light” from its financial backers and wins approval from its audience. This innovative volume gives readers a comprehensive portrait of the art and business of screenwriting, while showing how the role of the screenwriter has evolved over the years. Reaching back to the early days of Hollywood, when moonlighting novelists, playwrights, and journalists were first hired to write scenarios and photoplays, Screenwriting illuminates the profound ways that screenwriters have contributed to the films we love. This book explores the social, political, and economic implications of the changing craft of American screenwriting from the silent screen through the classical Hollywood years, the rise of independent cinema, and on to the contemporary global multi-media marketplace. From The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind (1939), and Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) to Chinatown (1974), American Beauty (1999), and Lost in Translation (2003), each project began as writers with pen and ink, typewriters, or computers captured the hopes and dreams, the nightmares and concerns of the periods in which they were writing. As the contributors take us behind the silver screen to chronicle the history of screenwriting, they spotlight a range of key screenplays that changed the game in Hollywood and beyond. With original essays from both distinguished film scholars and accomplished screenwriters, Screenwriting is sure to fascinate anyone with an interest in Hollywood, from movie buffs to industry professionals.