How-To Guides

10 Moments Where Problem Upon Problem Hits the Protagonist

June 26, 2019May 24, 2016 by Industrial Scripts

Conflict is essential in every great story. The amount and complexity of the situation can obviously vary greatly depending on the scope, settings and characters involved. In some cases, loading …

Writing Science Fiction Screenplays

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

Ex Machina - Science Fiction Screenplays

Writing Science Fiction Screenplays Sci-Fi is one of those odd genres – like the Western – that among script theorists often stimulates more argument about ‘defining your terms’ than it …

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Teen Horror

November 17, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

Cabin in the Woods - Writing Horror Screenplays

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Teen Horror From 1974’s BLACK CHRISTMAS – rightly credited with being the god-monster of the modern mainstream genre – through to every postmodern twist …

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Occult Horror

March 15, 2019November 16, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

The Exorcist - Writing Horror Screenplays

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Occult Horror Occult literally means ‘hidden’ so all Horror could be described as occult in the sense that all Horror deals with things that …

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Supernatural Horror

March 14, 2019November 6, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

Writing Horror Screenplays: How to Write Supernatural Horror Supernatural Horror is perhaps the most writer-friendly of all Horror sub-genres because its effectiveness really does live on the page, rather than being hostage to practical …

These are the Only Screenwriting Tips Worth Keeping

March 15, 2019September 17, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

Yoda is wise, like our screenwriting tips article

In a giant sea of screenwriting tips and advice, where does one begin? It’s almost as bad as dieting these days. Cranberries are bad for you. No, scrap that, we’ve …

10 Fee-Charging Screenwriting Contests, their Likely Profits and Prestige

March 15, 2019August 21, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

screenwriting contest screenwriting contests

You’ve rewritten, redrafted, typed ‘Fade Out’ more times than you can count. You’re finally satisfied that your script, the one you’ve poured months maybe even years into writing, is finished. …

Genius Hitchcock Decisions at Screenplay Stage

June 21, 2019July 1, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

What hasn’t been written about Hitchcock already? From Francois Truffaut and Raymond Durgnat, to every casual message board user on IMDb, great swathes of humankind have discussed at length the …

Lessons From Timing the Death Sequence in PREDATOR

November 6, 2018June 23, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

Way back when… For much of the 80’s and into the 90’s, “Schwarzenegger” was a byword for a movie with a high body count. The box office was peppered with …

5 Bits of Famous Writing Advice You Should Ignore

March 15, 2019May 28, 2015 by Industrial Scripts

You’re no stranger to getting advice if you’re a writer. Thousands of books, hundreds of films, and even entire college majors have been dedicated to the art of honing the …

The Film Producer Salary & A Pocket Full of Dollars

March 15, 2019April 20, 2015 by Miranda Fleming

Let’s be blunt about it: the financial outlook isn’t great for Film Producers at the moment. A Film Producer Salary is firmly not what it once was… I remember the …

Cutting Out the Middle Man in Film Distribution

March 15, 2019February 26, 2015 by Miranda Fleming

The Berlin International Film Festival was distinctly different this year. Sure, there was the typical melee of execs taking pictures around remnants of the Berlin Wall. And yes, as per …

Swerving Development Hell in the New Dawn of Crowdfunding

March 15, 2019January 28, 2015 by Miranda Fleming

Welcome and hello to the thousands of you who visit the IS website every week. By way of an introduction, I’m Miranda Fleming, and I’m thrilled to be starting this …

Script Reader Jobs: Your Complete Guide

November 4, 2020December 23, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Like it or lump it, the role of the industry script reader is becoming increasingly important in film and TV. With the volume of scripts increasing year-on-year, the challenge for …

How to Write a Screenplay: Your 30-Step Guide

February 2, 2022December 19, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

So – you want to learn how to write a screenplay. You think about it constantly. Whenever you watch a movie you annoy your friends, going on about how you …

Five Screenwriting Rules You Can Break and Five You Can’t

October 29, 2015November 27, 2014 by Tom Williams

Even the notion of screenwriting rules gets some people into a serious tizz, and it’s this controversial topic I want to explore this week. I’ve spent the last three weeks …

My Search for a Screenwriting Truth

September 23, 2020November 8, 2014 by Tom Williams

In Screenwriting, the truth matters… Today we’re going to talk about The Truth. Not this sort of truth. Or this. Or even this. We’re going to talk about the kind …

What I’ve Learnt about Screenwriting: Part I, The Idea

September 23, 2020October 30, 2014 by Tom Williams

What I’ve Learnt about Screenwriting: Part 1, The Idea So I’ve been doing this for a while now, and for some reason I feel a powerful, hubristic, intimations-of-mortality urge to …

To Screenwrite Right, Write What You Know

March 15, 2019October 28, 2014 by Tamzin Rafn

Write What You Know or Just Say No! (and other rhymes) I’m going to give you procrastinating scribblers a little bit of advice today. Yes me, who gets up at the …

Screenplay Format: Your 30-Step Guide

August 31, 2022October 22, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Screenplay Format – Your 30-step Guide Before you start writing the next great film, it is essential that you have a comprehensive understanding of screenplay format. It won’t matter how amazing …

Seething With Screenwriting Envy!

March 5, 2019October 4, 2014 by Tamzin Rafn

Screenwriting Envy “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure”. Guess who said that? You never will. It was Bill Cosby! I …

The Screenplay & The Mountain

March 15, 2019September 26, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

The Screenplay. Like some kind of Mordorian tower it looms over the land. We can barely make out the top of it, so shrouded is it in snow, ice and …

10 Ways To Irritate a Development Executive

March 15, 2019September 5, 2014 by Tamzin Rafn

The Rafn Column Part II 10 Ways to Irritate a Development Executive When I finally made the transition from being a Development Executive to becoming a writer, I believed that …

10 Honest Quotes about the Life of the Screenwriter

March 15, 2019August 28, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Nobody worships more reverently at the altar of screenwriting than us. We believe in The Screenplay. We recognise it as the critical component in whether a film or TV shows lives, …

Why Writers Should be Sceptical of Script Hosting sites

July 23, 2020August 5, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Writers Sceptical - Script Hosting Sites

Script Hosting Sites – Friend or Foe? Script hosting sites divide opinion, arguably more than any other screenwriter or filmmaker resource. Maybe it’s the business model which sticks in many …

10 Great Michael Mann Quotes for Screenwriters & Filmmakers

March 15, 2019July 30, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Michael Mann Michael Mann started out writing for TV in the 1970s but made his feature directorial debut with THE JERICHO MILE in 1979. Several films later he finally struck …

The 10 Hardest Film Genres to Write

June 21, 2019July 9, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

Be in no doubt about it – if you’re going to write for the screen, then you’re going to be writing genre. Thriller, sci-fi, crime, fantasy, comedy, horror and so …

“The Same, but Different” – Screenwriting Tips

March 15, 2019June 29, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

How many times have you heard someone describe a film as “it’s something meets something”? Unoriginal, or the keys to producers’ bank vaults? Industrial Scripts examines how to improve …

Why The Holy Trinity of Monster Movies are Impossible to Top

October 30, 2018June 27, 2014 by Industrial Scripts

With the arrival of GODZILLA at your local multiplex you might be thinking it’s time to get writing some monster movies of your own — how hard can it be, …

Framing Scenes for Maximum Impact – Lessons from BEGINNERS

March 15, 2019November 29, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

Framing scenes in BEGINNERS starring Ewan McGregor

Fertile stories and multi-faceted characters will only take a script so far if the writer cannot repeatedly craft memorable and compelling framing scenes. Industrial Scripts looks at Ewan McGregor …

Screenwriting Lessons from Midnight Cowboy

March 15, 2019November 28, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

Mastering the basics is an essential step in any screenwriter’s career progression – and yet many aspiring screenwriters forego very simple script choices which would make their projects stand out from the swirling mass of unfilmable spec scripts.

Twitter Screenwriting Accounts Screenwriters Must Follow

March 15, 2019November 21, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

As our article on Jeffrey Katzenberg highlighted, gathering industry intel is vital for making it in this business. Industrial Scripts looks to the best Twitter Screenwriting resources – from box office numbers, to job opportunities and just plain amusing screenwriters given a voice. Of course, there’s also our own @Indust_Scripts account to follow…

Jeffrey Katzenberg – 10 Lessons For Screenwriters

March 5, 2019October 22, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

Jeffrey Katzanberg From bringing STAR TREK to the big screen, reviving Disney’s fortunes in the 80s and 90s, to being the K in Dreamworks SKG, Jeffrey Katzenberg has been a …

10 Common Film Industry Excuses – and how to Avoid Making Them

March 15, 2019October 14, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

Typewriter - Avoid Making Common Film Industry Excuses

“You can make the movie or you can make excuses”

The path from script to screen is often torturous – but made longer when excuse making and defeatism set in. Industrial Scripts looks at common film industry excuses and defences no writer should be making – and how to overcome the seeming obstacles.

10 Unique Character Jobs In Movies

April 13, 2015September 30, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

Walter White - Unique Character Job In Movie

“I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills …

10 Great Quadrant Movies Screenwriters Can Learn From

March 15, 2019September 28, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

With the box office increasingly dominated by big budget ‘Four Quadrant’ movies, squeezing out mid-budget releases, Industrial Scripts looks at the recipe for quadrant movies’ success in that seemingly …

How Much do UK Screenwriters Earn?

January 9, 2019September 24, 2013 by Industrial Scripts

In America, screenwriters can earn an average annual wage of $77,260. At least, that’s what the Bureau of Labour Statistics tells us. The evidence is there: Bill Marsilii and Terry Rossio earned …

How Not to Approach a Screenplay Agent

October 29, 2015November 4, 2012 by Industrial Scripts

This is a brilliant page from the Knight Hall Literary Agency – one of the UK’s leading screenplay agent company who are representing screenwriters, directors and authors.

It’s essential reading for screenwriters in particular, and while there are some extreme (true life!) examples below, general etiquette and knowing how to deal with a screenplay agent and industry people in such a way that they think “wow, I could really work with that person” is incredibly important.