‘Show Don’t Tell’ – Why The Screenwriting Mantra Endures
‘Show Don’t Tell’ – How to Best Follow the Principle It’s a term you hear frequently when it comes to storytelling – ‘Show Don’t Tell’. But what does it …
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How to Expertly Develop Your Character’s Fatal Flaw
A Character’s Fatal Flaw – What Does it Mean? In good stories, as in life, one of the most important aspects is the search for growth and the striving …
How to Properly Nail Your Character Arc: The Ultimate Guide
How to Nail Your Character Arc: The Ultimate Guide A crucial part of any screenplay is the main character’s growth and evolution from beginning to end. This is their …
How to Write an Awesome Beat Sheet for Your Screenplay
Why a Beat Sheet is Important to Your Screenplay Whilst inspiration can strike at any minute and writing can be incredibly spontaneous business, screenwriting is usually smoothest when you’ve got …
35 Movie Tropes and How to Avoid Them in Screenwriting
35 Movie Tropes and How to Avoid Them in Screenwriting Most audiences can agree that movies often lose their impact when writers cut corners and rely on cliches and …
Writing Great Film Treatments: The ULTIMATE Guide
Film Treatments: The ULTIMATE Guide So you’ve managed to come up with a brilliant idea for a film. You’ve developed the idea into a logline and thought through a synopsis …
15 Cunning Red Herring Examples in TV and Film
15 Cunning Red Herring Examples in TV and Film Surprise is one of the most important elements in movies and tv. Knowing how to write a killer plot twist …
16 Powerful Plot Devices To Use in Your Screenplay
16 Powerful Plot Devices To Use in Your Screenplay It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot but what exactly is a plot device? A plot device is …
What Are The Must-Know Keys to Writing Great Character Descriptions?
The Must-Know Keys to Writing Great Character Descriptions Great character descriptions are what help ease the reader into your great characterization. They’re the entrée, if you will, to the …
15 Phoebe Waller-Bridge Quotes Writers and Filmmakers Can Learn From
15 Phoebe Waller-Bridge Quotes Writers & Filmmakers Can Learn From Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s career is an inspiring tale of talent, perseverance and ultimate success. Starting her career primarily as an actor, …
Protagonist and Antagonist: How to Craft The PERFECT Dynamic
How Do You Craft the PERFECT Dynamic Between Protagonist and Antagonist? The conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is an essential part of screenwriting. However, this crucial conflict can …
Writing the Perfect Controlling Idea for Film and TV: The ULTIMATE Guide
Writing the Perfect Controlling Idea for Film and TV: The Ultimate Guide A controlling idea is a foundation. Writing a screenplay is a lot like building a house. It …
15 Examples of Bad Writing in Really GOOD Movies and Shows
If you pay even a sliver of attention to people’s critiques of TV and film, then you understand that great screenwriting isn’t necessarily a given, even for shows and movies …
15 Crafty Exposition Examples: How to Do It Right
15 Crafty Exposition Examples: How to Get Exposition Right Exposition is an essential part of any screenplay. However, there is a fine line between pulling it off smoothly and …
How to Write a Great Biopic: Pitfalls Screenwriters Should Avoid
How to Write a Biopic: Pitfalls Screenwriters Should Avoid From BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY to JUDY, the biopic is a seriously popular modern movie genre. But having such a concrete story …
Save the Cat! Analysis Series: MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …
Your First Draft : 9 Essential Steps to Getting it Right
Your First Draft : 9 Essential Steps to Getting it Right It might not be what you want to hear after months, maybe years, of painstaking screenwriting work. But …
201 Character Archetypes Writers MUST Have In Their Armoury
Every screenwriter knows that writing a great screenplay takes more than just a good plot or good world building. It relies heavily on constructing memorable characters. Understanding character archetypes are an important step in this endeavor. Character archetypes are broad character types that represent aspects of human nature that transcend time, location, and circumstance. In short, they reflect universal human motifs and experiences. Because of this, they are mouldable and can be used again and again as a character template.
Where Did The Romcom Go? by Tamzin Rafn
Where Did The Romcom Go? I have a question. Where did the romcom go, please? Has anyone seen it of late because I seek and ye does not find? Let’s …
The Fourth Wall Break in Screenwriting – How to Do it & Why
The Fourth Wall Break – How to Do it and Why An increasingly common device used in modern Film and Television, the fourth wall break can serve as a …
World Building in Film and TV: The Essential Steps
World Building in Film & TV: The Essential Steps If you’ve ever enjoyed losing yourself in the world of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, you know how …
15 Inspiring Ava DuVernay Quotes for Writers & Filmmakers
15 Inspiring Ava DuVernay Quotes for Writers & Filmmakers As the first black woman nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director, Ava DuVernay is ushering in a new …
50 Hollywood Screenwriters Reveal Their Writing Process
What’s Your Personal Writing Process? In screenwriting, sometimes the biggest challenge is discovering the most effective writing process That Works For You. For example, each and every writer has a different approach to how they: summon key plot points establish characters use subtext utilize themes generate dialogue control pacing optimize structure stay disciplined, hit deadlines, manage workloads generally generate inspiration etc. As explored in our “Which Species of Screenwriter Are You?” article, no two writers are the same. And their
20 Great Patty Jenkins Quotes for Writers and Filmmakers
20 Great Patty Jenkins Quotes for Writers & Filmmakers Filmmaking didn’t come easily to Patty Jenkins. After many years working as a painter she realised her true passion was …
How to Definitively Nail Your Movie Theme – The ULTIMATE Guide
How to Nail Your Movie Theme: What is Your Screenplay Actually About? What is your screenplay about? What is your movie’s theme? These may seem like obvious questions. But …
Bold and Brave Screenplay Structure: 10 Great Examples
Bold Screenplay Structure: 10 Great Examples A great script requires great dialogue, great characterization and layered conflict. One of the most crucial elements however, screenplay structure, is occasionally taken …
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS Series: Part 2 – Omar Little
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS Series: Part 2 Welcome to Original Characters, an ongoing series of Industrial Scripts articles examining the most original characters to appear in both TV and film. Want to …
15 Genius Foreshadowing Examples in Film and TV
15 Genius Foreshadowing Examples in Film and TV Foreshadowing is typically used to enhance the audience’s experience of the intended themes and messages of the movie or TV show …
Save the Cat! Analysis Series: THE WEDDING SINGER (1998)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …
10 Fantastic Internal Conflict Examples
10 Fantastic Internal Conflict Examples Internal conflict is a powerful and absolutely essential tool used by writers and filmmakers in drama. These ten examples, as well as the internal conflict …
The Insider Interviews: Rob Sprackling
This month’s featured industry guest at The Insider Interviews is Rob Sprackling. A screenwriter known for his work on THE QUEEN’S CORGI (2019) and GNOMEO AND JULIET (2011) The Insider Interviews series …
15 Eye-Watering Screenwriting Salaries to Inspire
15 Fascinating & Eye Watering Screenwriting Salaries It may seem hard to believe in the tricky early years of the screenwriter but it’s undeniably true: if you can build …
Save the Cat Analysis Series: HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1978)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …
How to Write a Whodunnit or Detective Movie
How to Write a Whodunnit A whodunnit is more a narrative structure, than a genre (although one could easily argue it’s a sub-genre). That’s why it can be presented …
Save the Cat Analysis Series: SLIDING DOORS (1998)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …
25 Inspirational David Lynch Quotes Screenwriters and Filmmakers Can Learn From
25 Great David Lynch Quotes Screenwriters and Filmmakers Can Learn From A master of surrealism, David Lynch is very much the king of crazy within Hollywood. His enigmatic 1977 …
An Honest WriterDuet Review: Is It Worth It?
An Honest WriterDuet Review by Industrial Scripts WriterDuet is a software for writing and editing screenplays, focused on being modern, intuitive, and user-friendly. It’s got a variety of different …
19 Awesome Denis Villeneuve Quotes About His Creative Process
19 Awesome Denis Villeneuve Quotes About His Creative Process Denis Villeneuve began his career as a film-maker in his native Canada, as part of the National Film Board of …
Thriller vs Horror – Why The Subtle Differences Can Save Your Script
Thriller vs Horror – What Are the Critical Differences? In terms of movie genres, Thriller and Horror are often mistakenly confused, or even lumped in together. The truth is, …
How to Generate Great Script Ideas – 5-Step Guide
Generating Script Ideas – 5 Top Tips Whether you’re sitting down to write your first script or are an experienced writer writing your tenth screenplay – where you get your …
How to Write A Coming-Of-Age Movie
How to Write a Coming-Of-Age Movie As its name implies, a Coming-Of-Age movie focuses on the growth of the main character from youth to adulthood. In this context, it’s quite …
Save the Cat Analysis Series: THE STING (1973)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …
The Insider Interviews – Tom Daley
This month’s featured industry guest at The Insider Interviews is Tom Daley of eOne Entertainment. The Insider Interviews series started in 2010 as a set of recorded interviews, featuring the likes …
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS Series: Part 1 – Tony Soprano
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS Series: Part 1 Welcome to Original Characters, an ongoing series of articles that will examine the most original characters to appear in both TV and film. What …
Crafting Ideas for Great Movie Titles: Your 5-Step Guide
Crafting Ideas for Great Movie Titles: Your 5-Step Guide It is often argued that the first 5 pages of your script will make or break your chances in screenwriting …
How to Write Outstanding TV & Movie Loglines: The ULTIMATE Guide
How to Write Outstanding TV & Movie Loglines: The ULTIMATE Guide There’s no doubt about it: A fundamental step in the initial stages of writing a screenplay is devising the …
15 Inspiring Russo Brothers Quotes for Writers & Filmmakers
15 Inspiring Russo Brothers Quotes for Filmmakers The career of the Russo Brothers has been anything but conventional. From independent cinema, through award-winning TV to shattering box office records …
Why Screenwriters Need Pro Script Analysis Now, More Than Ever
Why Pro Film & TV Script Analysis is Critical to Writers There’s often an element of mystery or confusion surrounding script analysis services. Sitting at home, watching a bad film or TV show, it’s the easiest thing in the world to play “backseat writer.” The thinking goes: “I could write better than that. All I have to do is write something slightly better than what I watch, and that will completely unlock my writing career.” While this might be a useful
GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Nick Dunne (GONE GIRL)
In our Genius Character Reveals series we examine scenes and moments where a film or TV show reveals a tremendous amount of character information in a compressed amount of screen …
Save the Cat! Analysis Series: KNOCKED UP (2007)
One of the world’s most popular screenwriting books, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat has brought clarity and a sense of direction to thousands of screenwriters, many of whom were looking for the logical …