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In story development there is a term: gimme. A gimme is a story beat that’s built on a coincidence. There are big gimmes and small gimmes. Typically, a well-constructed story has room for one big gimme. Even then, the big gimme is usually found in the set-up, i.e. the coincidence that either creates the set-up, or gets our protagonist into the set-up. For example, in AVATAR our gimme is that Sully’s brother was fitted for a Na’vi avatar, so he’s the only person who can also inhabit it. In ALIEN our gimme is that Ripley’s ship the Nostromo just-so-happens to...

“World-building” is the term used for crafting the details of a fantasy world, whatever that might be. It’s the expression of the project’s internal mythology as reflected by the “reality” of the characters inhabiting this world. The most obvious example of world-building is something based on, for example, thoroughly detailed fantasy IP: LORD OF THE RINGS, HARRY POTTER, GAME OF THRONES, and so on. That is: What our mythical countries are, where they reside in the larger fantasy world, who are the main players in this space, if magic exists and how it works, the backstory of how this world...

Last week, we talked about the elements that make for a strong denouement. Now let’s get super laser specific and discuss the kind of denouement that best helps a project shape itself toward a potential franchise. To clarify: “franchise” is the term the industry uses for an intellectual property (including a film) that can be taken to other projects beyond itself: more films (sequels, prequels, remakes, etc.), TV series, video games, novels and graphic novels, and so on. The current industry is strongly focused on projects that have franchise potential. This is because a movie by itself represents a massive...

One of the most important parts of the script is the opening sequence. This is sometimes referred to as the first-10, as we’re talking about business that happens in the first ten pages or so. Basically, the first, opening scenes of the movie. It’s typically best to use the opening sequence as statement of intention. Simply put: we’re letting the reader/audience know right off the bat what the movie intends to deliver. So if it’s a comedy, we open on a funny scene; if it’s horror, we open on a scary scene; if it’s action, we open on an action...

I run one of the largest writers’ groups in Hollywood, with writers at all different skill levels. Every week the group hears 30 pages of a screenplay acted out by professional actors (like a table read), then the rest of the writers in the group gives notes on the pages. As you can probably imagine, people mostly present the first 30 pages of a feature. At this point I have heard nearly 1000 Act One’s, and in this article, I want to discuss what makes an Act One FLY or DIE. There are multiple things you need to accomplish in...