Screenwriting Tips

Hollywood, Reviving Dead Genres, screenwriting, screenwriting tips, storytelling, thematic, World War Z, Zombie genre, Zombieland - June 05, 2019

Dead Genres and How To Revive Them: The Zombie Movie

There’s a truism in Hollywood that certain genres are dead. In this 4-part series of blog posts, we’re going to look at these genres Hollywood wisdom says are dead, why their death is the prevalent theory, and what it may take for any writer to revive them with their own script. Third up is the zombie genre, which hit a saturation point in 2013, and has cooled since. In 2013, six zombie films were theatrically released. WORLD WAR Z was a smash hit at 540 million dollars worldwide gross against a 190 million dollar budget. WARM BODIES was a smash...

Dead Genres and How To Revive Them: The Mid-Budget Thriller

There’s a truism in Hollywood that certain genres are dead. In this 4-part series of blog posts, we’re going to look at these genres Hollywood wisdom says are dead, why their death is the prevalent theory, and what it may take for any writer to revive them with their own script. Second up is the mid-budget thriller, the type of film that many filmmakers complain Hollywood has largely abandoned. STX Entertainment was founded in part on the idea of pursuing these types of films, which had fallen into a gap in the market between giant comic book movies like the...

Inspiration from Life, Not Movies

Here in TV staffing season, if you read interviews or listen to podcasts with showrunners, a familiar refrain comes up repeatedly. People who have led interesting lives tend to be more compelling writers, because they are drawing inspiration from real life, not from other movies/TV shows they have seen. Writing primarily from movies/TV as a frame of reference is a bit like making a copy of a copy. The quality of the second copy is likely to decrease. The work is also likely to be derivative. Does this mean we should all drop everything and become firefighters, cops, or tiger...

They’re Making My Movie: Lessons From Set For Screenwriters

As a screenwriter there isn’t anything more exciting than going on set of a film you wrote. It’s like a projection screen realizing your consciousness. You walk past the trailers, craft services, and then notice the giant penguin you wrote exists. Some poor prop department member had to go build a giant penguin, just because, drunk in the wee hours of the morning, you typed “giant penguin.” The excitement lasts until you sit and watch the first scene filmed. But this is also where the most valuable lesson from being on set comes into play. The truth is that being...

Act II Is Hard

Writing a great second act might be the toughest part of screenwriting. A great first act is just establishing the concept of the film. A great ending tends to function as a mirror of the first act, paying off the concept. But what about the second act? The challenge of the second act is to organically complicate the concept and increasingly challenge the hero, for the longest stretch of the script. Often, this boils down to having a potent engine for the story (and the story’s conflict). Let’s consider some examples of recent hit movies, and how they handled this...

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Dead Genres and How To Revive Them: The Zombie Movie

Dead Genres and How To Revive Them: The Mid-Budget Thriller

Inspiration from Life, Not Movies

They’re Making My Movie: Lessons From Set For Screenwriters

Act II Is Hard

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