ScreenTalk #15: Mike Rich This week we are excited to feature professional screenwriter Mike Rich. Mike’s screenwriting breakthrough came in 1998 when his script FINDING FORRESTER was honored by the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship competition. Within weeks it was picked up by Columbia Pictures and was a holiday season release in 2000, starring Sean Connery and directed by Gus Van Sant. Mike’s second screenplay THE ROOKIE starred Dennis Quaid and Rachel Griffiths and was both a commercial and critical success for Disney in 2002. The following year, Mike wrote the script for RADIO which starred Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Debra Winger. He has been a contributing writer on MIRACLE EIGHT BELOW and “INVINCIBLE Mike’s most recent works include MANHUNT a historical piece on the search for Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, “The Nativity Story,”THE NATIVITY a feature film on the Christmas story starring Keisha Castle Hughes and Oscar Isaac, and SECRETARIAT a feature film currently in development at Disney. Mike and his wife Grace continue to make their home in the Portland area.
DVD fans have waited five years since THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION first came out for a proper special edition treatment. Now, for the film’s 10th anniversary, writer/director Frank Darabont has put together two discs of commentary and interviews. Darabont was generous enough to speak with SU about the re-release. Originally scheduled for 10 minutes, he offered to extend it to 30, so we had plenty of time to discuss writer’s issues, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and his recent rewrite work on high profile projects like INDIANA JONES 4 and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3.
Hollywood loves buzzwords, and one of the latest is "vertical," as in make your screenplays vertical. Like many buzzwords, this one is based on a fundamental truism: it is easier to read a manuscript that is "vertical" with lots of white space on the page than one that has great text density.
has become a launching pad for many emerging screenwriters through its relationships with some of Hollywood’s top producers, managers and agents. This year the Shootout is better than every with over $8,500 in cash and prizes, including prizes from our sponsors Write Brothers, The Writers Store and InkTip.com. For more information visit Click Here
Professional classes designed by professional and working writers. Select from "Your First Screenplay" to "How to Sell" and everything in between: "First Ten Pages," "Screenwriting 101," "Character Development," and much more. For more information, visit: Click Here
CRAFT: Action/Thriller Writing: The DIE HARD Method
Think back to the mid-90s and after DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON became big hits and established a new genre of Action/Thriller writing. Looks at this list of films that went into development immediately after DIE HARD became big.
MARKET: Pitch Perfect - NEW!
Each year, thousands of spec scripts are written. Many of these scripts are written by established screenwriters who have agents and/or managers and an existing track record, all of which aids in actually getting someone to read the script.
MARKET: You’re an Idiot: Making Value from Reaction to your Screenwriting
If you’re like me, if someone doesn’t like something about my screenplay, my very first reaction is always the same.
ScreenTalk #5: Paul Haggis & Gordy Hoffman
We have an interview with Paul Haggis who is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, film director and producer of television programs working in Hollywood. Haggis has directed several feature films and written several successful screenplays. As a screenwriter he received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood, which won four Oscars, including Best Picture. His second directorial effort performed equally as well. Crash, which he co-wrote, directed and co-produced. Most recently he wrote the screenplay for Quantum of Solace (2008).
MARKET: The Construction of a Pitch
It seems a cruel irony, after months and months of carefully plotting story, creating vivid characters and structuring a hundred and twenty pages in such a way for maximum dramatic impact, that screenwriters must become orators if they are to convince anyone to read their screenplay.
OP/ED: Modern Screenwriting: Style Over Substance Lets face it, today most of the movies we see are just plain bad. There hasn’t been a lot to get excited about lately (the last ten years or so.) I think the majority of professional screenwriters out there are not producing quality material. They’re collecting paychecks. I don’t blame them, I wish I could collect six-figures for some of the trash that is being written.
MARKET: P.O.V. - All About Coverage Coverage seems to get a pretty bad wrap from writers. It seems that there is a general consensus among writers that coverage is part of a dark conspiracy against them. Often, they are wary of the qualifications of readers and feel that coverage is a hindrance, not a help, to the process.
CRAFT: Understanding Spec Scripts A number of readers responded to my last column on Verticality and raised several interesting issues, most of which relate to a confusion about the nature of spec scripts.
OLD SCHOOL to NEW SCHOOL: A New Take on Screenwriting Manuals It’s time to consider something besides the Old School approach to screenwriting. The books that I’m about to categorize as Old School were the books I first read in the early 1990s when I started writing. They are good books, great books, and today still offer plenty to the screenwriter, just not enough anymore.
This week we are excited to feature professional screenwriter Mike Rich. Mike’s screenwriting breakthrough came in 1998 when his script FINDING FORRESTER was honored by the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship competition. Within weeks it was picked up by Columbia Pictures and was a holiday season release in 2000, starring Sean Connery and directed by Gus Van Sant. Mike’s second screenplay THE ROOKIE starred Dennis Quaid and Rachel Griffiths and was both a commercial and critical success for Disney in 2002. The following year, Mike wrote the script for RADIO which starred Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Debra Winger. He has been a contributing writer on MIRACLE EIGHT BELOW and “INVINCIBLE Mike’s most recent works include MANHUNT a historical piece on the search for Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, “The Nativity Story,”THE NATIVITY a feature film on the Christmas story starring Keisha Castle Hughes and Oscar Isaac, and SECRETARIAT a feature film currently in development at Disney. Mike and his wife Grace continue to make their home in the Portland area.
