Never heard of a superhero called The Tick? You may be surprised to learn that he’s been around since the 1980s when 17-year-old Ben Edlund first started creating the comic books. ScreenwritingU talks to a writer on the new Amazon superhero show.
You can say showrunner Craig Pearce has a signature style, but he claims there’s a narrative purpose for every anachronism he includes in his scripts for Will, the tale of Shakespeare's life and love on TNT.
Can you take feedback? Are you overly protective, stubborn, or what? Discover how you can pick the best writing partner to work well with your personality.
“Relatable characters” are the holy grail of screenwriting. Producers want to see them on the page and audiences want to watch them on the screen. But what makes a character truly relatable?
As writers, we are often tempted to focus on plot to raise the emotional stakes. It's not just one man in trouble, it's the whole country -- or better ...
It’s hard to believe it’s been 11 years since the documentary An Inconvenient Truth became planet Earth’s biggest wakeup call ever to be put on celluloid. Now, the Emmy-nominated directors, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (The Rape of Europa, Audrie & Daisy), have joined forces with Al Gore to tackle the sequel.
All three filmmakers ...
My lifelong obsession with Sam Shepard began in high school. I attended an arts school, where I studied acting, which really meant I spent most of my time reading plays. Checkov was good, Shakespeare was better, but nothing affected me like Sam Shepard. His dialogue came out of my mouth like molten lava.
His twisted, worn-down characters ...
Taylor Sheridan has written two films previous to Wind River: 2015’s Sicario and 2016’s Hell or Highwater, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. But Sheridan didn’t start out as a writer. He came to Hollywood to be an actor. But soon that all changed.
Sometimes a script is too personal, at least this has been my experience. What I mean by that is you don’t always have to mine your life for the sake of your art. Why? Because sometimes, it’s just not necessary. I’m not saying this is a hard and fast rule. Let me explain.
I appreciate and respect writers who can bring their darkest ...
Let’s showcase the methods of working screenwriters who are making television shows and movies now. If you’re going to study screenwriting, why not learn from the best?
We love the excitement of a thriller. Its plot twists, mistaken identities, savage villains and high anxiety brought on by the element of suspense gets our blood racing. To help us relate to the protagonist (and up the terror), he is usually an “every man,” someone just like you or me, compelling us to coldly consider that the same ...
