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So You Finished a Draft... Now What?

RewritingIt’s something we all need to deal with, and there is no getting around it. Rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. In the last post, I talked about writer’s block and, well, how and why writer’s block is pretty much a whole bunch of bullshit, and to again quote Terry Pratchett, “something invented by people in California who ...
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Are Your Scenes Boring? 8 Ways To Change That

  • Staff Writer
  • .November 6, 2024
Nothing makes a reader’s mind wander faster than a boring scene which makes them lose interest in your screenplay and scroll or flip through your pages without actively reading or engaging with them. Here are some creative ways to identify and even rectify that:1) Character StereotypesThe characters are a carbon copy of what aud...
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How to Write Authentic LGBTQ+ Characters That Everyone Relates To

Writing for other identities and demographics can be a challenging undertaking when a writer does not belong to that identity group themselves. In the instance of writing for marginalized groups, it’s easy and valid to question if it’s ever okay to write for a character if the writer does not also identify with said group. Conve...
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What Make Gangster Films & TV Shows Work? (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Gangster Films:Characters: The CriminalsThe Godfather, perhaps the traditional gangster film most people know, features a family involved in organized crime. They were our focal points, our POV characters. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) was outside of this world – almost. Their daily lives i...
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Films Should Be Events

  • William Rosenfeld
  • .May 21, 2024
“Films Should Be Events” Says Producer William Rosenfeld From Such Content - William Rosenfeld is an independent producer at Such Content who’s referred to himself as “a recovering writer.” He’s been involved in the production of films like Crisis starring Gary Oldman and Mudbound starring Jason Mitchell. He co-founded the compa...
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ISA Staff Picks: May 2024

These screenplays and their writers were selected by ISA staff members as standouts in their genres and formats for the month of May 2024. They are being submitted to agents, managers, producers and production companies actively looking for writers to rep or projects to produce.  THE FINAL CUT by Chaseedaw Giles (Feature)Logline...
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Non-Conforming Genres

  • Sharon Horgan
  • .April 22, 2024
If the iconic horror film The Shining and famous author Jane Austin had a TV child, it would be called Shining Vale. Co-creators Jeff Astrof (Trial and Error, In-Laws) and Irish Comedienne Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, Pulling) went to work to add credence to the hypothesis that the symptoms of depression and possession are indist...
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10 Surefire Tips To Boost Your Screenwriting Career

  • Pen Densham
  • .January 10, 2024
Pen Densham has been telling stories since he was knee-high to a grasshopper so he knows a few things about selling your screenplay in the Hollywood jungle. He is also well-aware of the tenacity and resilience screenwriters require to succeed in this business. There will be protracted periods of wondering in the screenwriting de...
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The Question of Theme

  • Art Holcomb
  • .July 24, 2023
From academics in film school to producers in Hollywood, ‘Theme’ is a term that gets tossed around a great deal.I’ve heard it used as a label for any myriad of aspects within the narrative structure; anything from plot structure, to emotional character motivations, to ways of explaining genre designations.I believe none of these...
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Exploring Female Character Archetypes – The Wild Woman

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Female Archetypes:As we continue exploring the four major female archetypes, Wise Woman, Wild Woman, Mother and Maiden, let’s consider the Wild Woman.The Wild Woman is perhaps the most dynamic, nebulous, and incomplete archetype of all. Depending on which Jungian psychologist you ask, the ...
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The Real Objective

Screenwriters do not write movies.Screenwriters write scripts. And scripts are not movies.Movie audiences are people sitting in a theater, or at home, having a visual experience complete with actors, music, directing, editing and perhaps digital effects.The audience for a script is a reader. And all they have is the written word...
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What Exactly Is A Screenwriter’s Voice

  • Alexander Robb
  • .March 22, 2023
We asked Alexander Robb, Manager at Insignia Entertainment, to shed some light on a screenwriter’s voice. Your voice can make or break you. So many questions. Let’s get some answers.To me, a screenwriter’s voice is everything. I often tell folks, “I sign off on voice, not concept.” A writer has to be a visionary on the page. Tha...
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Six Ways to Improve Your Screenplay

  • Elan Mastai
  • .March 6, 2023
At some point, all writers get writer’s block. And when you get stuck, it’s natural to reach for something you know has worked before: a cliché.Of course we all want to write the most original, unexpected, vivid version of our story. Usually, the main challenge isn’t imagination—it’s time. Great writing takes time. The less time...
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Let's Talk About Specs

(REPOST)I hear it all the time:“I want to sell my screenplay.”“How do I sell my screenplay to studios?”“My goal is to sell a spec (or two) a year.”I hear these from writers all over the world. Writers who just finished a new piece of work, either on their own or with input from screenwriting instructors or consultants, writers w...
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Formulaic is Good!

Screenwriting guru Michael Hauge on the balancing act all commercial screenwriters must perform.Films follow patterns. TV shows have arcs. Narratives have structure. No matter the medium, stories seem to repeat the same beats, framework and through lines. Anyone who’s read a screenwriting book or taken a class or even seen a few...
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From the Over Describer to the Compulsive Recapper

  • James Napoli
  • .December 27, 2022
From the Over Describer to the Compulsive Recapper: Eight Screenwriting Screw-ups to Avoid:Many of the most common mistakes found in screenplays are also easy to rectify. So if you are working on a screenplay of your own, make sure that you do not fall into one of these types.1. The Compulsive “We See-er”We see an eyeball starin...
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Writing A Blockbuster Movie

  • Gene Del Vecchio
  • .November 15, 2022
5 Things Every Screenwriter Should Know Before Writing A Blockbuster Movie:Screenwriters should always think big in terms of their careers. Blockbuster big. We all want our films to be seen by the largest audience possible. In old studio parlance, the term blockbuster referred to audiences queuing around the block to see a movie...
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Character Arc

  • Ruth Atkinson
  • .September 19, 2022
Character Arc: The King’s Speech:Movies are about transformation. We want to see someone change. It’s the reason we are drawn to sit in a dark room and eat popcorn with a bunch of strangers. But this transformation has to have a larger meaning. This is where knowing what your story is about comes in. Without a clear theme your s...
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Elevated Emotional Stakes

  • Ishana Shyamalan
  • .September 12, 2022
Ishana Night Shyamalan Talks “Servant”:“There are definitely elevated emotional stakes in season 3 of Servant,” said writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan (daughter of M. Night Shyamalan). Baby Jericho and their nanny Leanne Grayson (Tiger Nell Free) have returned to the Turner household, but not is as well as might be. Both ar...
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A World Of Words With Images

  • Hagai Levi
  • .August 29, 2022
“A World Of Words With Images” TV Writer Hagai Levi Talks ‘In Treatment’ & ‘Scenes From A Marriage’:Hagai Levi (The Affair, Be’Tipul, Our Boys) is a prolific. critically-acclaimed writer who has two TV show in Golden Globes contention, In Treatment and Scenes From A Marriage. Both are gritty, realistic dramas exploring rich them...

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