Tag Archives: Screenwriting

Hollywood was built on the work of underappreciated writers. Just ask Chandler, Faulkner and Fitzgerald

By Stacy Perman, Staff Writer  May 8, 2023 5 AM PT

(Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; photo via Getty Images)

In 1945, barely two years into Raymond Chandler’s career as a screenwriter, the man whose hard-boiled fiction did much to make film noir into an art form had already wearied of the town and its treatment of writers.“Hollywood is a showman’s paradise. But showmen make nothing; they exploit what someone else has made,” he wrote in an acerbic essay published in the Atlantic.

In barbed zinger after zinger, the man who gave us private investigator Philip Marlowe described Hollywood as a cauldron of “egos,” “credit stealing” and “self-promotion” where scribes were ruthlessly neglected, marginalized and stripped of respect; toiling at the mercy of producers, some of whom, he wrote, had “the artistic integrity of slot machines and the manners of a floorwalker with delusions of grandeur.”

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: Hollywood was built on unappreciated and undervalued writers – Los Angeles Times

How John Wick 4 Writer Broke in With His Extreme Spec Script | Final Draft

By Final Draft Blog, March 16, 2023

From article…

John Wick is one of the most visually spectacular and emotionally unrelenting action franchises around. Chapter 4 is about to hit theaters – part Western, part Kung Fu film, part Samurai story and part redemption tale, this genre mash up is thrilling, sexy, violent and – oh yeah, one hell of a good time.

From a screenplay by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, based on characters by Derek Kolstad, the latest sequel picks up after a tense cliff hanger in Chapter 3 only to bewitch the audience with another jaw-dropping twist at the end of Chapter 4. We sat down with writer Shay Hatton to find out more about his writing process and the unconventional spec that landed him the job writing for the John Wick films.

Source: How John Wick 4 Writer Broke in With His Extreme Spec Script

The Backstory to American Graffiti

https://richardwalter.substack.com/p/the-backstory-to-american-graffiti

Aug 24 • 12 Minutes

The Backstory to American Graffiti

Lesson: Nobody knows anything

Source: The Backstory to American Graffiti

Best Screenwriting Books | IndieWire

ProfilesInHistory/Bournemouth News/REX/Shutterstock

By Christian Zilko, Mar 8, 2021 5:15 pm

From formatting guides to memoirs, no writer’s bookshelf is complete without these eight titles.

Every great movie began as a blank sheet of paper. Before a filmmaker or actor can create onscreen magic, they need something to say. So it should come as no surprise that many directors and performers credit scripts for much of their success. Good screenwriters lay the foundation for the beautiful shots and memorable performances that stick with us throughout our lives. In the words of George Clooney, “It’s possible for me to make a bad movie out of a good script, but I can’t make a good movie from a bad script.”

Source: Best Screenwriting Books | IndieWire

Legendary Billy Wilder’s 10 Rules of Good Filmmaking – ScreenCraft

“Samuel “Billy” Wilder (June 22, 1906– March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist and journalist, whose career spanned more than fifty years and sixty films. He’s one of the most versatile and brilliant filmmakers from the Golden Age of Hollywood. A few of his most successful films are Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. With The Apartment, Wilder became the first person to win Academy Awards as producer, director and screenwriter for the same film. His films show an extraordinary range, from film noir to screwball comedy.”

Source: Legendary Billy Wilder’s 10 Rules of Good Filmmaking – ScreenCraft

IMDb: MyMovies: Helped Create – a list by DrWeb

IMDB image…

 

 

 

 

 

MyMovies: Helped Create

My so-called film career. I worked on films to learn more about the production, but mostly to learn to write better screenplays. Still working on them…

Source: IMDb: MyMovies: Helped Create – a list by DrWeb