by Jason Brubaker.

Since starting Filmmaking Stuff, many screenwriters have written me, asking if I could provide advice on how they can protect their screenplay from theft. I usually tell screenwriters that most producers will not go through the process of raising a gazillion dollars without compensating the screenwriter fairly.

However, as my screenwriter friend Jurgen Wolff points out, “While most people are honest, in every business there are people who steal. Once in a while you read about such cases in the media but others are kept quiet as a condition of the settlement.”

Read the rest of this article from Filmmaking Stuff.

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This article was written by Stephen Hunt.

The stories that Hollywood tells (and that sell) haven’t changed. But the style in which they’re told has.

That’s the word from Hollywood producer and screenwriter Pen Densham, who will be in Calgary today to give a six-hour workshop in screenwriting at the University of Calgary.

Chatting with him is a combination of a history lesson in the Canadian film scene — he knew or has worked with Jewison, Marshall McLuhan and David Cronenberg back in his pre-Rabid, early ’70s days — as well as a crash course in how to pitch an idea in Hollywood, one of the more crucial job skills an aspiring screenwriter must possess.

Read the rest of this article from the Calgary Herald.

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This article was written by Jurgen Wolff.

I had an email from someone asking whether I’m really against the use of templates and formulas for writing a screenplay and, if so, how can I explain the fact that most screenplay stories do fall into a three-act structure?

Just to be clear, my belief is that templates and structures are better tools of analysis than of creation. During the rewriting phase, we often realize that what we’ve written is kind of chaotic, that we have things happening later in the story that we need to set up earlier, that a secondary character takes up too much space in the story or would add more to the story if we have her more space, and so on.

Read the rest of this article from Filmmakingstuff.

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This article was written by Franciscan University.

A movie “is a story that celebrates and combines all of the art forms that we have,” Francis Xavier “Chip” Flaherty, Jr., executive vice president of Walden Media, told an attentive audience at Franciscan University on October 13.

Flaherty explained the power and gift of story and its importance in filmmaking, which he described as “the industry of storytelling.” He used the example of the evil king Miraz from the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, one of Walden Media’s recent films, who banned the telling of certain stories to keep control of Narnia.

Read the rest of this article from Franciscan University.

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This article was written for Bachelors Degree.

“Creative industries seem impenetrable for those attempting to launch their careers, owing to the minimum amount of jobs and exhausting crush of people thinking they hold the next Citizen Kane in their hot little hands. The film and television industries especially suffer from this phenomenon, intimidating many who genuinely have something to offer the mediums. As countless G.I. Joe episodes have touted, “knowing is half the battle” — and this mantra especially applies to aspirant screenwriters and filmmakers.

Staying on top of the latest people, places and pieces, opinions, and trends is almost as crucial to forging a career as completely understanding the narrative devices that make a script stand out. The internet, per usual, delivers on this front with a cascade of reading material poking and prodding every nook and cranny of the cinematic arts. While this list is by no means comprehensive — nor does it dismiss the contributions of other resources out there — it does provide a hopefully valuable and diverse starting point for anyone hoping to see their stories get told.”

Read the rest of this article from Bachelors Degree.

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This article was written by Richard Verrier.

“Screenwriter David Steinberg was invited last fall by a producer to pitch his idea for a rewrite of a “high-concept comedy” about an adult slacker for a major studio.

Steinberg figured he had a good shot at the assignment with credits like “American Pie 2″ under his belt, even though he heard there were many other writers competing for the opening.

After an initial meeting, the producer asked him to prepare a more detailed proposal, known as a “beat sheet,” outlining each scene and character. Steinberg reworked four drafts of his pitch and met with other producers, each one offering a different take while praising him for a “great job.”

Normally, jumping through all those hoops signaled he had the job in the bag. Not this time. Steinberg was vacationing with his family in Aruba over the winter holiday when his agent e-mailed him that the studio picked another writer.”

Read the rest of this article from LA Times.

This article was written by Andrew Regan.

“If there’s one thing every aspiring script writer knows, it’s that the best way to learn their craft is to watch endless films and shows. While formal education and training is a huge part of learning how to create good concepts and scripts, there’s nothing that quite compares to seeing the way that some programs work perfectly – while others don’t – for yourself.

Breaking down your favourite shows to see how they work under the skin will give you valuable understanding of the creative processes and is the best way to find out how to create good shows.”

Read the rest of this article from Screen Writing Basics.

This article was written by Yolanda.

“The thrilling, challenging and terrifying thing about the arts is that there is no guarantee that you’ll have a career with actual income.  We continue blindly down this long and winding road toward uncertainty, hoping to reach our destination, never knowing how far we have to travel.

Everyone says, “You’ll get there if you stay on the road long enough”, but just where exactly is ‘there’?”

Read the rest of this article from Write for Hollywood.

“Generally, Art cannot afford the luxury of vague, unreconstructed fear. This is not to say that fear is ever completely absent from the creative process, but it must never be permitted to intrude on the work in such as way as to warrant or validate stupidity. The essence of Art is, indeed, the absence of stupidity.

Applying this notion to dramatic screen storytelling, one might say that a successful screen story is the fearless realisation in us – as both storyteller and audience – of a meaningful (emotional) connection or interaction with the strivings of characters. Such an interaction compels identification. Their needs become our needs; their suffering, our suffering.”

Read this article from Billy Marshall Stoneking.

“The Science & Entertainment Exchange is a program of the National Academy of Sciences that provides entertainment industry professionals with access to top scientists and engineers to help bring the reality of cutting-edge science to creative and engaging storylines.”

Read this artice from The Science & Entertainment Exchange.