Cast of Sunny in Philly on a Great Script
Dearest screenwriter,
They can stop me, but they will never stop my Flip Cam.
I’ve once again turned my tiny (yet 1080p!) lens on an unsuspecting batch of celebrities and asked them what they want to see in a screenplay. Here’s another clip from my video interview of the cast of the sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Read more
Cool Viral Campaign: American Horror Story
I’m really liking this viral campaign for the upcoming series on FX, “American Horror Story,” which is created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Galchuk of Nip/Tuck and Glee Fame.
I know what you’re thinking: Wait, the guys from Glee are doing an edgy, creepy horror genre show? Can the guys from Glee actually SCARE us? Read more
Billion dollar screenwriters Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon
A clunky first draft is a million times more valuable than a perfect 10 pages or only 3/4 of a script that that never gets finished.
Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon are a very successful screenwriting team whose films have grossed $1.4 billion worldwide (with the Night at the Museum franchise, their creation, being the heavy lifters in their filmography). Garant and Lennon met in 1988 while at NYU film school and joined with other students to form the comedy group, “The State,” which would later become an MTV sketch comedy series and land them a movie deal. Garant and Lennon were the only two members of the group with the discipline to sit down and write a feature-length screenplay, but they were newcomers and the deal fell through (in their words, they “would go out to L.A. and people would yell at us” because their ideas were just too weird for mainstream producers). Read more
I Love You, Man | Setups and Payoffs Part 2
Excerpt from Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay, Chapter 12: Scene Work:
“One could say that a screenplay is merely Setups and Payoffs, nothing more; I wouldn’t disagree. Often the strongest payoffs come in the third act and are set up in the first act.
A payoff is always best when WE get to recognize it, without it being explained to us. In Kill Bill Vol. 2, The Bride uses her hand technique to escape the buried coffin, which we just learned about in the flashback entitled, ‘The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei.’ Read more
Louis C.K. Interview — Writing and Directing “Louie” on FX
I can’t call upon the writing the same as the other jobs…The writing has the most pressure, it’s the toughest but it’s also the most rewarding when it works out.
Superman Returns opening and other bad ideas
I recently found the deleted opening scene from Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, which is rumored to have cost $10 million (huh?) and was meant to show where Superman went and thus where he’s returning from (thus the title), so I was psyched to view it since I’ve always felt that this unanswered question in the theatrical release was the biggest thing that torpedoed the first half of the film (and the second half’s torpedo came in the form of Lex Luthor’s preposterous real-estate plan). Read more
Kill Bill | Setups and Payoffs Part One
Like Hannibal in The A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together, but especially when it happens in a screenplay in the form of a terrific, unforeseen Payoff to an earlier Setup. If you can call back to an earlier scene and reward me for remembering it, then surprise me with a clever way to use that knowledge, you’ve got me. Read more
Contest – Win free Story Maps E-books and E-Book Consultation!
Calling all screenwriters,
I’m launching a contest in which you can win a free copy of my e-book, Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay, and the first place winner gets the book as well as a free E-Book Consultation, which is a $49.95 value.
It’s FREE to enter and each entrant will receive a special discounted offer from me very soon. Read more
What are readers saying about Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay?
Dear screenwriters,
I’m getting lots of positive reviews from my readers on the e-book and the booster pack and I’d like to share some of them with you.
“I vowed I’d never look at another story map/plot plan/paradigm etc. again because they seem to throw me in a different direction each time I read one. But your examples guided rather than confined me, so I broke my own rule.”
-Beverley M. Read more
Emmy nominations 2011
The Emmy Nominations are in. Major categories listed below; for the full list, see The Hollywood Reporter.
Writing noms are at bottom, highlighted in blue.
There’s some great choices this year. I’m most excited about these noms… Read more
Pro Screenwriters Panel Part 2
Dan’s 2-Minute Screenwriting School brings you Part 2 of this panel of top script doctors, including Oscar winners Diablo Cody (Juno) and Dustin Lance Black (Milk, Big Love) as well as Josh Olson (A History of Violence) and Emmy-winning writing team Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America, Chronicles of Narnia, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers).
Pro Screenwriters Panel Part 2 (video)
Dan’s 2-Minute Screenwriting School brings you Part 2 of this expert panel of top screenwriters including Oscar winners Diablo Cody (Juno) and Dustin Lance Black (Milk, Big Love) as well as Josh Olson (A History of Violence) and Emmy-winning writing team Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America, Chronicles of Narnia, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers).
In this clip, these professional script doctors talk about dealing with studio notes and interference. Read more
A Great Thriller
I’d like to tell you what I love to see in a great Thriller screenplay.
Read more
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” cast interview part 1 (video)
I had the opportunity to visit the set of one of my favorite shows on television: the sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” which shoots on the Fox lot. A group of us observed the shooting of a very funny scene in Paddy’s pub (I wish I could tell you the premise, but I can’t reveal any spoilers), toured the set and interviewed the cast. Read more
Pro Screenwriters Panel at L.A. Film Fest (video)
Even Spike "the Story Analysis cat" is not entertained by me.
Dan’s 2-Minute Screenwriting School is back in action with an expert panel of top screenwriters including Dustin Lance Black (Milk, Big Love), Josh Olson (A History of Violence), Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America, Chronicles of Narnia) and Diablo Cody (Juno). These professional script doctors discuss the importance of writing multiple projects at once. Read more
Dan’s 2-Minute Screenwriting School: Pro Screenwriters Panel
It’s back! The 2-Minute Screenwriting School is back in action with this video and I’ve got more in the pipeline.
The “Mike Teavee is the Worst Character Name ever” Rule of Screenwriting
Dearest Screenwriters: If you find yourself wanting to give a character a supremely obvious name, please heed my “Mike Teavee is the worst character name ever” Rule, which states as follows:
Roald Dahl can name a character who watches too much television, MIKE TEAVEE, which is pretty much the definition of on the nose, because he’s Roald Dahl. You can’t because you’re not.
-Dan Calvisi
p.s. If you would like to receive more life-changing pearls o’ wisdom like the above, then you must redeem your (non-existent) golden ticket for Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay.
The “You are not J.R.R. Tolkien” rule of screenwriting
Dearest screenwriters: If you are thinking of giving two characters very similar names, please heed my “You are not J.R.R. Tolkien” Rule:
J.R.R. Tolkien can name two separate villains SARUMAN and SAURON, which is a horrible idea, only because he’s J.R.R. Tolkien. You can’t because you’re not.
-Dan Calvisi
p.s. If you would like to discover more nuggets of wisdom such as this, then you must enter the realm known only as Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay.
Black Swan story map screenplay analysis
Black Swan is a tight, merciless thriller that forges one, driving throughline that is supported by every character and element in the story. In order to become the Black Swan and achieve her dream of ballet perfection, Nina must prove to her director Thomas that she can transform herself on stage, fight off her mother’s attempts to stifle her and defeat her rival Lily, all while suffering from the rapid deterioration of her psyche. She loses the battle for her mind but she achieves her artistic dream, dancing a perfect Black Swan, at the ultimate cost of her life.