Screenwriting
The 10 Best Academic Programs for Aspiring Screenwriters
The Independent takes a look at the best degree and non-degree granting programs for screenwriters.
December 20th, 2008 | Jericho Parms
The Independent's Jericho Parms sifts through the multitude of programs for aspiring screenwriters and boils down the essentials so you can find the best fit to help you achieve your screenwriting goal, whether that be having as many finished screenplays by the end of the program as possible, or walking away with an education that not only helps you put your ideas on paper, but helps prepare you to sell your ideas to the people who can get them up on the big screen.
Whether or not to pursue an education in the film industry has long been a hot topic. Clearly, there are identifiable pros and cons of electing to formally study film, more particularly choosing to concentrate on a single element, such as screenwriting.
From Dreams to the Screen: From Nightmare to Toronto
Australian screenwriting duo, Armstrong & Krause talk about their writing process, horrific influences and how near-death experiences led them to the craft of portraying nightmares.
September 22nd, 2008 | Courtney Fathom Sell
Up-and-coming Austrialian screenwriting duo, Armstrong & Krause, talk to the Independent about brainstorming horror films and their new film, Acolytes (see trailer), which screened at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
For the most part, our nightmares are something on which we try not to dwell. However, in the case of Australian screenwriting duo Shanye Armstrong and S.P. Krause, nightmares are explored, outlined and used as the basis for many of their chilling storylines.
Writer's Strike: A Conclusion
The fifth and final segment in The Independent's screenplay series on the Writer's Strike.
February 12th, 2008 | Laura LaMura
As the Writers Guild of America Strike seems to be finally nearing its end after three months, The Independent offers this concluding segment in its screenplay series. You can also read the other strike screenplays, written by Rufus Chaffee, Dorothy Blyskal, Dane Young and Randy Steinberg. (Photo source: Salomedusa.)
As the Writers Guild of America Strike seems to be finally nearing its end after three months, The Independent offers this concluding segment in its screenplay series. You can also read the other strike screenplays, written by Rufus Chaffee, Dorothy Blyskal, Dane Young and Randy Steinberg.
"Writer Interruptus" A Writers' Strike Screenplay
A non-WGA writer tries to find his way into Hollywood during the strike
November 29th, 2007 | Randy Steinberg
Randy Steinberg's Writer Interruptus is the fourth in our series of original screenplays inspired by the Writer's Guild of America strike, which began on November 5. Most recently, the Television Critics Association cancelled its winter press tour as talks between the studios and the WGA broke down. In the meantime, you can enjoy our other strike screenplays, written by Rufus Chaffee, Dorothy Blyskal and Dane Young. (Photo source.)
INT. STUDY - DAY
A WRITER sits at his desk, hunched over a keyboard. He types in a few words; we see over his shoulder the words are FADE TO BLACK.
"1971": A Writer's Strike Screenplay
Two young screenwriters get an unexpected lesson in guild history
November 18th, 2007 | Dane Young
Dane Young's 1971 is the third in our series of original screenplays inspired by the Writer's Guild of America strike, which began on November 5. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the studios and the guild have agreed to return to the negotiating table on the Monday after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, you can enjoy our other strike screeplays, written by Rufus Chaffee and Dorothy Blyskal. (Photo source.)
EXT. SILVERCUP STUDIOS - AFTERNOON
We pan down the sidewalk to see a bunch of PICKET SIGNS leaning up against the wall. The signs all read UNION SLOGANS signifying that they are part of the WRITER'S STRIKE.
We pan further to see people standing on line. Further still, we see them standing on line for an UPSCALE CATERING TRUCK.
The Writer's Strike: A Screenplay, Part II
Screenwriter Rufus Chaffee takes a crack at writing about the writer's strike
November 12th, 2007 | Rufus Chaffee
In the second of a series (which may last for months!), screenwriter Rufus Chaffee offers his take on the Writers Guild of America strike. Chaffee's bawdy directoral debut, Divine Intervention, came out in February. To read the first screenplay in our totally fictional strike coverage, click here.
RUPERT GOLD AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR WGA STRIKE
an original scene by Rufus Chaffee
FADE IN:
INTERIOR GOLD PRODUCTIONS EXECUTIVE OFFICE -- DAY
The Writer's Strike: A Screenplay
Given that the strike is on everyone's mind, we asked some screenwriters we know to conjure up a treatment related to the week's events
November 9th, 2007 | Dorothy BlyskalGiven that the strike is on everyone's mind, we asked some screenwriters we know to conjure up a treatment related to the week's events. The first installment comes from Dorothy Blyskal, a freelance scriptwriter who has recently been working with Shortbus Productions on Stereotyped, a social-satire mockumentary, as well as a project set in Africa that is currently in production.
Fade in.
An actor sits at his desk, coloring in a coloring book with a Crayola. He is coloring so emphatically that he breaks his only blue crayon. The actor reaches for his intercom and presses the button.
ACTOR
Lonny, can you bring me a blue crayon? I’d like it only to be dark blue, not like a smurf blue, more like a…navy blue, but less navy more…army. But not green, blue.
AIVF: And What it Meant to Me
July 1st, 2006I first became aware of AIVF when Martha Gever was editor of The Independent. I marveled at this national organization that put out each month a magazine chock full of weighty, intellectual and critical articles on film and video.
One-Two Punch
From script to screen, Shadowboxer’s wild ride
May 1st, 2006 | Lee DanielsI thought that making Monster’s Ball was rough. I vowed upon wrapping that film that I would never make another. After the accolades and success of that film, I was offered tons of projects from studios for lots of money (which I really could have used.) But all of them were jokes: Who’s My Baby’s Cousin’s Daddy, Leprechauns From the Hood (really). I felt that as a black filmmaker, my sophomore attempt at film should be just as interesting as my first; that I should not sell out.
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