Save Ferris!

Interesting thread about which crimes Ferris Bueller was guilty of during his day off.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25047

FREE Screenwriting Telephone Seminar Today!

Just a reminder that tonight is my next FREE Screenwriting Teleseminar. I will be discussing how to use The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting to structure your genre screenplay. I hope you will be able to join me.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN TONIGHT'S FREE CLASS:
Step 1 - On April 28, 2009 at 9:15PM Eastern Time call 1-218-936-7999
Step 2 - Enter 6-digit Access Code 383302
Step 3 - If the Access Code is correct press #
Step 4 - Say your name and press #
Done! You are in the teleseminar!

As a screenwriter, there's no better feeling than hearing the words you have written read by an actor. If you're in the New York City area tomorrow, I hope you'll take the opportunity to support my friend Dayle Ann Hunt as actors read the screenplay The Winter House Haunting. Info below.

Saturday, April 25th 1:30 pm
Ripley-Grier Studios
520 Eighth Avenue
(between 36th & 37th) 16th Floor
Studio 17A (up the stairs)
New York, NY 10018

AFI Fest Now Accepting Submissions

Just passing along:

AFI FEST now accepting submissions.

To submit your film, click here.

Here's Your Sign

Interesting article on NPR about Endangered Movie Characters.

As an exercise, decide which signs your own characters wear? It's a good way to decide what drives them.

You can read the article here.

Screenwriting Expo 2009

I loved presenting at last year's Screenwriting Expo and now the organizers are looking for help planning the next one. Please take a moment to fill out the survey below (that saves you an additional $10).

From Bill Donovan:


Dear Screenwriter,

This is your chance to make the 2009 Screenwriting Expo as useful and relevant to your screenwriting career goals as possible.

And it's a way to save an extra $10 off the already discounted price of an early Expo registration (and sneak to the head of the line for pitch tickets).

Please give us your input on who we should invite to speak and what the 2009 Expo program should be by going to this URL:

Take the survey

If your email client doesn't provide a clickable URL above, use this one:

http://tinyurl.com/expo2009survey

This survey is confidential, and will be viewed only by the executive staff of the Expo. Your response will not be shared with anyone else.

When you finish the survey, we'll tell you how to save an $10 (in addition to early- registration discounts) on an Expo registration. Thank you very much for participating!

Bill Donovan
Publisher, Creative Screenwriting Magazine
Executive Manager, The Screenwriting Expo

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs

My friend Kate Corcoran mentioned that one of her friends from college, Molly Harper, has published her first book. I'm always happy to celebrate the success of writers. Her book is available here.

The Secret to Good Dialogue

Is not to worry about the words but, instead, focus on why the characters are speaking.

In the example below, try to guess WHY the character is speaking. Let me know what you think.

Lunafest

Just passing along:

Filled with stories of reflection and whimsy, hope and humor, grace and perseverance, LUNAFEST films are renowned for celebrating the talents and stories of women. Our films include many off the traditional “festival circuit.” Collectively, LUNAFEST films captivate audiences, compel dialogue and arm those who participate with both the knowledge and the motivation to make a difference in their communities.

LUNAFEST’s films have won industry awards and audience accolades, and the films selected for 2008-09 LUNAFEST share this brilliance. From quirky animation to touching documentaries, the 10 selected films are incredibly diverse in both style and subject matter, united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling by…for…about women.

For a glimpse into LUNAFEST, watch the trailer below or read on to learn more about this year’s selected films.


http://www.lunafest.org/the-films.cfm

Matter at Cinebarre

My friend Arthur Vincie, the writer and director of Caleb's Door, will have his short "Matter" screened at a theater/restaurant chain called Cinebarre. They pair up shorts with a feature, and screen them at their various locations around the country (they currently have three and are in the process of adding more).

For more info, please visit: http://cinebarre.blogspot.com

Seigel on Legal

A hearty congratulations to my good friend (and lawyer) Robert Seigel who is now writing a monthly column for MovieOutline.com. The column is chock full of tips and insider information about how to protect yourself legally when working in a creative market.

To subscribe to "Seigel on Legal" simply visit MovieOutline.com and submit your email.

Movies with Mr. Mayo

A few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with a Grade 6 class who is using my Middle School book to write and produce their own short films as part of the wonderful Lights, Camera, Literacy! program.

The class posed very thoughtful questions to me and I only hope they enjoyed the talk as much as I did.

I will try and post video/MP3s of the talk soon. But in the meantime, please visit the blog run by their teacher, Mr. Mayo:

www.mrmayo.org

Jonathan Stark on RewBee's World

My friend Jonathan Stark was the guest on yesterday's episode of RewBee's World to discuss his new film "Hellmira." Please take a moment to watch the clip!

Last day to pre-order The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting

Just a reminder that today is the last day to pre-order my new book The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting.

As a special bonus, when you pre-order the book, you will also receive a FREE movie breakdown, access to my private breakdown collection, an invitation to a FREE instructional teleseminar and a member's only Q & A session.

Screenwriting Seminar

I've had the pleasure of presenting for the NYC Screenwriter group on a number of occasions over the years and it's always a highlight for me.

Even though I am not directly involved in it, I wanted to mention what sounds like a terrific seminar. It's tomorrow at 3PM. More details below.

USING ARCHETYPAL STORIES TO CREATE UNFORGETTABLE SCRIPTS

Knowing how to fashion a plot, create characters, and write dialogue are skills that form the foundation of a good screenplay. But creating stories that haunt the imagination of the reader, stories full of poetic resonance, stories that strike a deep chord in the mind of the industry professionals who consider your script for production -- this is where successful writers leave the rest of the crowd behind.

One key technique for creating screenplays of unforgettable power is to use the collective myths, tales, and narratives of our shared past. These stories are called archetypes.

And in this lecture I will walk you through three powerful archetypes that can be used immediately to create haunting screenplays that industry professionals will find hard to forget.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 18th, Saturday

3pm - 6pm

400 west 43 Street

Ellington Room

LOW member price: $14.99

BUY NOW OR RSVP

Screen Talk Radio

I had the privilege of appearing on Screen Talk Radio with Chris Wehner and Devin Watson last night. It's such a great show to do because they are both so passionate about writing.

The other guests on the show were Harold Jackson III (a talented documentary filmmaker) and Chris Soth (the creator of the Mini-Movie Method, who I had the pleasure of meeting at last year's Expo).

For a recap of the show, please visit Insane Ramblings of a Sane Madman, Devin Watson's wonderful blog.

If you want to hear it, Chris Wehner has posted the entire show as an audio file here.

The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting - Now Available

I'm very excited to announce that my new book - The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting - is now available for pre-order. If you order it before April 17th, you'll save $10! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!

Marilyn

P.S. Anyone who orders before the 17th will receive a FREE never-before-released MOVIE BREAKDOWN and FULL ACCESS to my Private Movie Breakdown Collection.

FREE Screenwriting Telephone Seminar Tonight!

Tonight I am hosting a SPECIAL ENCORE PRESENTATION of my first telephone seminar - An Introduction to The Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting. If you're looking for a FAST and EASY way to get your screenplay written, I hope you'll be able to join me.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FREE CLASS

Caleb's Door available on DVD

Exciting news! Caleb's Door, the micro-budget feature written and directed by Arthur Vince that I executive produced, is now available on DVD.

Watch the trailer here.

I Am Not An Animal (or an actor)!

Many thanks to my Canadian assistant for passing along this link.

Kosher 4 Passover

For all of those who are interested in Four Questions that don't deal with Screenwriting. Happy Passover!

Insane Ramblings of a Sane Madman

If you listened to last week's ScreenTalk, you know I had the pleasure of speaking about screenwriting with Devin Watson. He was kind enough to mention our discussion on his very informative blog. Please take a moment to visit his site here.

Devin's latest book Horror Screenwriting: The Nature of Fear is available for purchase here.

I Want To Kiss You!

House of Wax? House of Awesome!

I happened upon this entertaining blog post about bad movies:

I don’t watch that many movies. I mean, I enjoy movies (I also enjoy food, sports, and vagueness) but I just don’t sit down and watch them very often, even the ones I love. It’s funny how we tend to accumulate our favorite movies and display them but hardly ever throw them into the DVD player. Here’s a movie that cracked me up/moved me to tears/taught me invaluable life lessons and as its reward it gets to live out the rest of its plastic-encased years on a Bed Bath and Beyond stand in my den.

I especially don’t watch many Good Movies. You can argue that that label is subjective, but let’s put it like this: In 2007 I opted for I Know Who Killed Me over An Inconvenient Truth, and in 2005 paid money to see House of Wax but not Million Dollar Baby. No regrets, people.

My love for crap movies is something that was born in me and that I’ve painstakingly nurtured over the years. If you’re not a crap movie aficionado, you may not realize that they actually have their own set of parameters that must be adhered to. For example, none of those painful scary movie spoofs count. There’s a special place in hell reserved for humorless parodies.

Read the full post here.

Dining Alone

My good friend Jonathan Boorstein has just been named a restaurant reviewer for Examiner.com. His first review can be found here:


http://www.examiner.com/x-6100-Manhattan-Dining-Alone-Examiner

Screenwriters Utopia

I have been invited to appear on SU's Script Talk Radio tonight. I will be discussing the Four Magic Questions of Screenwriting with the show's amazing hosts. I hope you can join me.

UPDATE: If you missed tonight's show, you can find an audio download of the whole show at:

http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/ScreenTalk/?p=121