A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 24 This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas. Today’s story: “Did an AI drone go rogue and kill its human operator?” Reports of an Artificial Intelligent (AI) drone killing its military operator in a simulation in London have made appearances in global media over the last week. However, the US military den ..read more

My interview with 2023 Black List writer for his script The Adults in the Room. Sam Bankman-Fried [Photo: FT Montage/Bloomberg] Jake Disch has made the annual Black List two times: In 2018 for his script Gunfight, then in 2023 with The Adults in the Room. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Jake about his creative background, the craft of screenwriting, and the challenges associated with writing a story based on actual historical events. Today in Part 3 of a 6-part series to run each day this week, Jake discusses some narrative choices he made to adapt historical events and real ..read more

Photo by Venti Views on Unsplash Paramount Pictures acquires supernatural thriller spec script “Here Comes the Dark” written by Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke. Via THR: Paramount Pictures has renewed its first-look deal with Lindsey Anderson Beer and her production banner Lab Brew. In re-upping the deal, the studio has also picked up Here Comes the Dark, a supernatural thriller spec script by Shane and Carey Van Dyke, the duo who co-wrote the 2022 thriller Don’t Worry Darling. Anderson Beer and Lab Brew will produce. The Van Dykes are repped by CAA and Kaplan/Perrone Ent ..read more

Written by Richard Curtis & Robin Driscoll A trailer for the movie: https://medium.com/media/ea24aeb6de6ed90d2d071c74168c9e05/href You may read the screenplay here. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of movie and TV scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story. For more Page One posts, go here. Page One: “Bean” (1997) was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, w ..read more

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 23 This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas. Today’s story: “How a Man in Prison Stole Millions from Billionaires.” Arthur Cofield probably stole more money from behind bars than any inmate in American history. His methods were fairly straightforward, if distinctly contemporary: using cell phones that he ..read more

“Don’t let anybody outwork you. Don’t let anybody out-hustle you. Be the person who’s always willing to do more drafts and push yourself harder… Hollywood is filled with talented failures who are completely mystified why it never came together for them, and the answer is always they just didn’t work hard enough.” — Billy Ray Via The Panther IMDb: Billy Ray For 100s more Screenwriting 101 articles, go here. Screenwriting 101: Billy Ray was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to ..read more

Screenplay by Albert Maltz and Irene Kamp, novel by Thomas Cullinan A trailer for the movie: https://medium.com/media/e8d0fe71c20d0cf8e9dc388901cf6b51/href You may read the screenplay here. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of movie and TV scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story. For more Page One posts, go here. Page One: “The Beguiled” (1971) was originally published in G ..read more

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 22 This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas. Today’s story: “Prank Ends in Arrest of Frat Bros Who Dumped Cow Carcass on Rival Lawn.” Four members of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity in Oklahoma were arrested for a long-standing prank war between their house and another that turned grisly when they dum ..read more

My interview with 2023 Black List writer for his script The Adults in the Room. Jake Disch has made the annual Black List two times: In 2018 for his script Gunfight, then in 2023 with The Adults in the Room. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Jake about his creative background, the craft of screenwriting, and the challenges associated with writing a story based on actual historical events. Today in Part 1 of a 6-part series to run each day this week, Jake talks about how he discovered an interest in writing while growing up in Wisconsin and how he entered an MFA program as a pl ..read more

A ..read more