by Alejandro Manuel - One of the mistakes that an novice screenwriter makes is that they think that all you need a good plot, that is not true. It’s the characters that make a story more engaging. Think of a good character and you can design a plot around them. In this article I’ll explain the first three steps that most screenwriters do when they are writing a screenplay, these are; decide...

Bestselling author Amy Tan discusses the importance of drawing on personal experiences when creating fictional stories and characters, and explains how her own family experiences have influenced her writing. —– Amy Tan speaks as a part of “Roger Rosenblatt and Friends: On Writing.” Amy Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses,...

Learn about the writing process and building a story arc for your story or screenplay. This free report is a simple slide show highlighting important story structure...

by Faith Fuller - Learning how to make a documentary can be tons of fun and does not require a filmmaking degree. You simply need a burning desire to tell your story and a willingness to figure out each step of the process. Here are 10 easy-to-follow steps for making a documentary Pinpoint a documentary idea — The key here to choose a topic you are truly passionate about. Create an outline —...

The only book tie-in to “the movie of the decade.” –Esquire Magazine. Includes the complete 107-page facsimile script, an exclusive 24-page color photo album with extensive captions written by Niccol, and “A Short History of The Truman Show” written by director, Peter Weir. The Newmarket Shooting Script(tm) Series features an attractive 7 x 9 1/4 inch format that includes a...

As Alan Rosenthal states in the preface to this new edition of his acclaimed resource for filmmakers, Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos is “a book about storytelling—how to tell great and moving stories about fascinating people, whether they be villains or heroes.” In response to technological advances and the growth of the documentary hybrid in the past five years,...

Many screenwriters have different views on the structure of screenplays, but in reality, if you remove the extra detailed information, you realize that pros divide screenplays into three solid “Acts.” We will briefly cover the basics of the 3-Act screenplay structure. ACT 1: In the first Act you create the world in which your characters live — you might create a futuristic, medieval, or...

Many people cannot define what film editors are or do. This is understandable, for editors have never been celebrities. Editing involves not nearly a theoretical consideration of the effect of one shot upon another, or a linear rendition of a script, or a mechanical measurement of frames. It is all that and much more- rhythm, instinct, emotion, psychology...

Acclaimed writer-director Paul Haggis has been a fixture of television and film for over 25 years. In this wide-ranging interview, the Oscar-winning co-screenwriter, director, and producer of Crash (Best Picture 2005) discusses a three-decade career that led from writing for sitcoms like Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life to his breakthrough screenplay for Oscar-winning director Clint...

Online social networks (like Facebook and MySpace) have revolutionized the way people connect with friends and family all around the world. Although the original intent of social media sites was reconnecting people, they now provide a whole new world of marketing opportunities. Websites like Facebook use common interest groups to connect people with others who share the same passions. A person can find...