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?
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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…
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 […]
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 […]
I’d like to tell you what I love to see in a great Thriller screenplay.
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 […]
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.
It’s back! The 2-Minute Screenwriting School is back in action with this video and I’ve got more in the pipeline.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a flawless classic and my favorite film of all time. It is the benchmark of the action/adventure genre and features one of the most iconic heroes in cinema history. Download the FREE Raiders of the Lost Ark sample Story Map
My e-book Story Maps: 12 Great Screenplays includes a Full Story Map for the first Sex and the City movie, which is a great example of a well-written modern Romantic Comedy. Sex and the City took proven, beloved characters from the television series and wove them into a classic Hollywood Romantic Comedy for the big […]