2010 Nicholl Fellowships

My screenplay “Vermin” got two positive reads but didn’t place in the Nicholl Fellowships quarterfinals. However, it was in the top 20% of 6,304 entries. Still good in my view but I still have much work to do. I am pleased. The email with the news continues to be a class act. I wish more competitions were run with such professionalism.

Moving on to the next script now.

My script "Vermin" passed the test!

Specifically the “Bechdel Test for Women in Movies”.

It boils down to three simple questions:

• Does your script have at least 2 women in it?
• Do they talk to each other?
• Do they talk to each other about things other than men?

My script Vermin passes this test with flying colours. And it’s a damn fun read, to be perfectly honest.

Does your script pass the test?

Forget Dramatica

From Go Into The Story

“Here is a set of questions I think are important for a writer to grapple with and eventually answer during the prep-writing phase:

CHARACTERS

Who is the Protagonist?
What do they want (conscious goal / external world)?
What do they need (unconscious goal / internal world)?
Who is keeping them from that goal (Nemesis)?
Who is connected to their emotional development (Attractor)?
Who is connected to their intellectual development (Mentor)?
Who tests the Protagonist by switching allegiance back and forth between ally and enemy (Trickster)?

PLOT

What is the story’s beginning (Opening)?
What is the end of Act One (Lock)?
What is the end of Act Two (All Is Lost)?
What is the story’s ending (Final Struggle)?

CHARACTER-PLOT

What is the nature of your Protagonist’s metamorphosis from Disunity to Unity?

Read the complete article.

Masters of Screenwriting Interview: Tom Mankiewicz

There’s a really excellent interview with screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz over at Masters of Screenwriting.

Read it all. Very informative. You’ll be glad you did.

A screenwriter's income

After reading about all these multi-million dollar script sales, I have often wondered how do screenwriters deal with their income. I posed the question to Scott Myers over at Go Into The Story and this was his response:

“I, like most working screenwriters I know, incorporated, what is typically referred to as a “loan-out” corporation.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Thanks, Scott.

Waitress

[3/5 stars] Warning: Don’t watch on an empty stomach. The pies in this film look fantastic. The film itself isn’t quite as good, but it comes darn close. Yeah, it’s a “chick flick” but I enjoyed it just the same. The film doesn’t offer any easy answers, and that’s what really stands out for me, what makes it real. It’s a nice slice of life, sweet and sour and just a little bit sanitized.

Trekkies

[3.5/5 stars] I had no idea. Well, I did and I didn’t. I’ve enjoyed the Star Trek films and television programs, but never to this level. This documentary is fascinating, bizarre, and completely entertaining. Often times it’s laugh-out-loud funny as well as heart-touching. There are some segments that might bring a tear to your eye. Star Trek has changed lives for the better.

Lucky

[3/5 stars] A fascinating look into the lives of some of the biggest lottery winners, and how their lives changed, some for better and some for worse. It’ll make you think twice about how such a vast amount of money cold affect you.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

[3/5 stars] I never thought I’d enjoy this film, so I was quite surprised when I laughed a lot throughout. It’s totally over the top, but the snappy dialogue kept the story moving. All the characters have little quirks that make them interesting. Charles Napier is a scream and almost steals the show.

Pandorum

[1.5/5 stars] I wasn’t expecting much from this, so a glaring continuity error at the beginning came as no surprise. This film is a complete mess. It’s really trying hard to be Alien, mixed with The Poseidon Adventure. Characters are mysteriously introduced only to be: killed off, offer exposition, or just mumble without giving any answers. Dennis Quaid’s performance is wasted, boiled down to repeating “Bower, do you copy?” over and over. No one knows where they are, what they’re doing there and how to get home, wherever that is. The only thing that is certain is that there are creatures on the ship that like to hunt and eat humans. Only in movies like this can two people have a meaningful conversation even though they speak entirely different languages. To top it off, the visual effects are really sub par.