Movie Reviews · 2 min

Mini Review – Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson Anna is the dutiful wife of St Petersburg statesman Karenin; he’d look a lot like Jude Law if…

Logline It! · 5 min

Logline it! Week 27

Writing loglines is an essential skill for screenwriters, from early development through to the pitch. In this section, we review the loglines and short synopses of…

Story & Structure · 1 min

[Video]: How Movies Teach Manhood

From The Wizard of Oz to Star Wars, TED Talks speaker Colin Stokes makes some surprisingly far-reaching observations about how male and female heroes influence how…

Story & Structure · 6 min

Writing For Games

As a writer, there’s really no bigger buzz than when it’s all just working. You’re humming along, cranking out page after page (or... you know, word…

Best of the Web · 2 min

Best of the Web 10 Feb

Story & Structure :: Inherently Dramatic Characters :: Empathetic Heroes and ‘Cinderella Man’ :: Is 80's Style Action Dead? :: Great Scene: Die Hard :: Villains:…

Stuff · 4 min

[The Graduate]: Take It From The Top and Start From The Bottom

No, I'm not talking about the film - sorry to disappoint - but I am inclined to feel like Benjamin Braddock every now and then. Where…

Movie Reviews · 1 min

Mini Review – Elles

Elles Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson Anne (Juliette Binoche) is a writing a magazine feature on two young women who are paying their way through…

Story & Structure · 1 min

[Video]: ‘Wire Me The Money’ – Louie C.K. on Creative Freedom

Legendary writer, filmmaker, actor and comedian Louie C.K (Louie, Saturday Night Live, The Chris Rock Show) discusses his partnership with FX Network President John Landgraf, how…

Story & Structure · 5 min

The Great Paradox of Creativity

When my college creative writing teacher asked me about my sloppy essay, I explained myself in clear terms: “I am a writer. Therefore, I must be…

Best of the Web · 2 min

Best of the Web 3 Feb

Story & Structure :: Story Themes and ‘Road To Perdition’ :: Some Stories Don't Need a Nemesis Character :: Go Into The Story: Groundhog Day ::…

Movie Reviews · 2 min

Mini Review – Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty  Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson  This is not an action film. At least, not until late in the piece. The story of…

Logline It! · 6 min

Logline it! – Week 25

Writing loglines is an essential skill for screenwriters, from early development through to the pitch. In this section, we review the loglines and short synopses of…

Story & Structure · 1 min

[Video]: David O Russell on Silver Linings Playbook

David O Russell (The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees, Three Kings) sits down with his editor Jay Cassidy to discuss how they were able to experiment with…

Story & Structure · 5 min

Writing the High ROI Screenplay (Part 1)

This week we kick off the first in a twelve part series of JT Velikovsky's doctoral thesis: “Understanding And Exploring The Relationship Between: Creativity; Theories Of…

Best of the Web · 1 min

Best of the Web 27 Jan

Story & Structure :: Screenwriting lessons you can learn from The Big Lebowski/a> :: Is The Three Act Structure Dead? :: MacGuffins and ‘Raiders of the…