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Would It Kill You To Smile 2? Writer/Director Returns With A Gorier Sequel

  • Staff Writer
  • .October 25, 2024
The premise of a trauma-driven supernatural entity infecting people and causing them to violently bludgeon themselves to death began in Parker Finn’s 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. It centers on the nightmares of Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey) featuring a smiling face, eventually forcing her into state of somniphobia (fear o...
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How to Format a Script

If you’re confused by how to format a script, you’re in the right place. The following post contains excerpts from our book, “Master Screenplay Format: A Clear Guide On How To Format a Screenplay For The Spec Market.”The overall message of the book when it comes to your movie script format is to stay as clear and consistent as p...
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Coloring Scenes

It's all in the writing. After all the structuring is done, the scenes themselves have to shine. Most often, when I read a script, I think to myself, "It needs color." Color the characters; color the scenes; color the dialogue. It's all in the writing.William Goldman shows howConsider William Goldman's The Princess Bride. Here i...
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The Length and Look of Your Pilot or Screenplay

First impressions: The Length and Look of Your Pilot or ScreenplayIt was a long day. I had just finished 9 client meetings back-to-back. I had a bunch of emails that I still needed to answer, and, just as importantly, a screenplay I needed to read that night for a meeting the next day. All, for the record, great problems to have...
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Reality Check

  • Dave Trottier
  • .October 17, 2023
(REPOST) In working with screenwriters for nearly three decades, I’ve noticed three writing issues that arise over and over again. In each case, a reality check should prove empowering.1. Appearance is importantAfter a tweet that touted my book, Two Screenplays, someone tweeted back, "DT sold perfectly formatted scripts that nev...
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Moving Beyond Screenplay Structure

I have been studying, practicing, and teaching screenwriting for three decades, and the one thing I’ve learned is that young screenwriters (in experience, not age) struggle to learn the craft. What they don’t always understand early on is that screenwriting a process. A process that through practice and repetition can be learned...
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What Do Typos in Your Screenplay Say About You?

  • James Napoli
  • .December 5, 2022
Script readers or people who read screenplays professionally are quite often screenwriters themselves. They are looking for reasons to shuttle your screenplay into the pass pile. Excessive typos are a common reason for them to do so. So why do screenwriters send out screenplays with typos? Is it recklessness, restlessness, lack ...
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Desperation, Dread, & Determination

I call them the triple D’s of screenwriting:DreadEvery screenwriter experiences this eventually. You get to a place where it feels like it’s all over. You’ll never get that agent. The manager will never call you back. Will anyone respond to my query? Listen my friend. I’ve been there. You are not the only one. I remember doing o...
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Everything You've Wanted To Know About Voice Over And Off Screen

QUESTION:Could you please clearly explain O.S. and V.O.? I hear different things from different people, and sometimes I see O.C. in older scripts. I'm starting to get obsessed about this.ANSWER:In addition to your question above, I have received three other emailed questions in the last couple of days asking me to explain O.S. a...
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The Same Answer to 11 Questions

There is one answer I give to a great number of questions I receive from developing screenwriters. Here is that answer:The script (or scripts) you are referring to was developed in the studio system, or was written by an established writer, or was written by a writer who is also the director of the production, or is the shooting...
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Keep It Short: Five Lessons For Crafting Short-Form Serialized Content

  • John Bucher
  • .November 18, 2021
Keep It Short: Five Lessons For Crafting Short-Form Serialized Content (aka Web Series):Many screenwriters restrict themselves to traditional writing platforms such as film and TV. We asked John Bucher about writing web series as an alternative way for writers to get their work seen.While Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have opened up...
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Dos and Don’ts in Screenwriting: The Best of Meet the Reader

  • Brianne Hogan
  • .August 17, 2021
The true gatekeepers of Hollywood are the script readers. They are the people who read script after script for a living, looking for the next great film – or at least ones that are saleable.They understand the importance of story flow and the hero’s journey. They know the three-act paradigm like the back of their hands. If anyon...
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Meet the Reader: Amanda Pendolino

  • Brianne Hogan
  • .March 12, 2021
Script Reader Amanda Pendolino talks grammar, multi-tasking and reading more:Sure, her college degree sounds scientific – a Bachelor of Science in Television – but script reader Amanda Pendolino didn’t spend much time in the lab at school.“I’m endlessly amused that I got a Bachelor of Science in Television without taking a singl...
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One Movie, Three Structures: The Avengers

  • Bob Schultz
  • .September 10, 2018
Whether you are a self-taught writer, in school, or reading books on your own, the structure of a screenplay is critical in the analysis of your professionalism. But which structure is “right?” Which structure should you adhere to in order to write the perfect screenplay?As you might surmise, there is no magic formula for screen...
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