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THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: MICHAEL KUHN The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, the …
12 Quotes about the Importance of Networking No matter if you are a producer, writer or director, a would-be executive or talent agent, if you want to crack film and TV …
One of the most influential auteurs of all time, Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born in Sweden and worked as a director, producer and writer across and theatre and screen. He …
10 Great Mid-Film Plot Twists by Screenwriters Too often when watching a film, especially for those of us who have seen many of them, you can read where the story …
While it’s true that the star system is not what it once was, actors can still have tremendous power. Many actors have their own production companies, partly as a route for finding interesting …
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a short amount of screen time. …
In screenwriting terms, ‘tracking’ refers to being able to follow or ‘track’ the logic of a premise smoothly. The moment the audience starts to think that the story does not …
The Coen Brothers‘ ability to create amazing, ultra-memorable secondary characters with only a few lines of writing is something that all screenwriters can learn from. Consider the giant sea of …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: PAUL WEBSTER The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, the …
In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a short amount of screen time. …
This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of …
The legendary director John Ford enjoyed a remarkably long and successful career, working on over 140 films and winning four Academy Awards for Best Director. His most well known films …
It goes without saying that reading a script does not have the same sensory effect on a human being as watching a film or TV show. That’s because there are …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: NISHA PARTI The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, the …
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 …
** SPOILER ALERT: this article reveals key plot points from THE WITCH and THE PRESTIGE ** Holed up alone and away from the world, it can be too easy for …
Genius Character Reveals: Jay Cavendish In this series we look at scenes and moments where a film or TV show has revealed a great deal of character information in a …
We all know that most good characters undergo some kind of change over the course of their story. Whether it’s a change in perspective, circumstance or goal, WE as the …
Genius Character Reveals Welcome to the first of our new series: GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS. In this series we’ll look at scenes and moments where the film or TV screenwriter/director has …
OPINION: Scope, Scale and Stakes ** SPOILER ALERT: this article reveals key plot points from 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE ** Scoped Out 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is an object lesson in the …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: CELINE HADDAD The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, …
Empire Magazine has been a staple in the film industry for many years. The magazine, and now the website, is seen as one of the world’s leading authorities on film-related content …
Understanding The Riddle of Tone The release of BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is an appropriate moment to talk about tone, one of the least understood tools in the …
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: CAROLINE HARVEY The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, …
The key is writing characters that – crucially – fascinate… Writing great, multi-dimensional characters is one of the hardest – and most important – facets to successful screenwriting. The …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: BRADLEY QUIRK The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, …
Putting A Film or TV Treatment on the Couch Treatments are misunderstood and undervalued. It’s time to investigate why they’re an invaluable tool in the screenwriter’s toolbox. Imagination can be …
Focus On: THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012) As a direct contrast to last month’s Unheralded Scene from FALLEN, this month we look at a scene that’s completely without on-screen dialogue. The …
About THE INBETWEENERS script Before we get into the cases “for” and “against” both the script reader and their report on THE INBETWEENERS script, let’s just remind ourselves what …
Focus On: FALLEN (1998) In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might …
The critical acclaim, awards nominations and profoundly-felt audience reaction to ROOM highlight one of the most powerful tools in the screenwriter’s armoury – your choice of protagonist. Whether you’re writing …
A Screenwriting Salary – how much do scribes REALLY earn? Although it’s hard to get on the screenwriting salary ladder and even harder to stay on it – let alone …
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from …
Linear Storytelling Power How important is the straight-and-narrow in screenwriting? Can so-called conformity actually get you noticed? As screenwriters, we are left to own imaginations to find ides that strike …
How to Create Intrigue – The Screenwriter’s “Golden Goose” To create intrigue is one of the greatest things a screenwriter can achieve. Be it via an urban rom-com, a micro-budget horror, …
Screenwriters and The Flash of Genius The other day I awoke having had the most glorious film idea I felt I had ever had. IN MY SLEEP. I dreamt it. …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: HUMPHREY ELLES-HILL The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S SPEECH, Ben Wheatley and Hossein Amini, …
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from …
Despite SPECTRE’s impressive show at the box office that has recently confirmed its place as the second highest-grossing James Bond movie of all time (after SKYFALL), Sam Mendes’ second outing …
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 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 Occult literally means ‘hidden’ so all Horror could be described as occult in the sense that all Horror deals with things that …
Something For Nothing – Writing Spec Scripts There’s a terrific viral that periodically does the rounds where a restaurateur advertises on Craigslist for a solo musician to play in his …
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 …
In our “Unheralded Scene” series, our consultants nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn’t received the admiration it deserves. It might be a scene from …
Using Voice-Over At the beginning of a screenwriter’s career, it is likely they will be hit by a deluge of information pertaining to offer the rules of how to write a script. Not …
Writing the Stalker Film Screenplay Stalking is an inherently cinematic activity and it crops up everywhere, in every kind of story. Following people around (with a camera) is what film-makers do, …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: ED CLARKE The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S …
THE INSIDER INTERVIEWS: ANDY BRUNSKILL The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Gareth Unwin, who produced THE KING’S …