It was 1979, my first year at the Yale School of Drama. A friend — the producer who had given me my first paying job as a screenwriter and paid my initiation into the Writer's Guild — was trying to get the rights to Under the Volcano. For months he had been taunting me with [...]
How losing one argument about my screenplay led to a major change in the film of Under the Volcano.
Here's a copy of the screenplay for an episode of Tales from the Darkside that I wrote back in the 80s. It is based on the John Cheever short story, The Enormous Radio. I post it for those interested in seeing how a script can be subtly altered in the process of making. The episode [...]
Worth the read: John August's Money 101 for Screenwriters. Share on Facebook
As with many things to do with screenwriting, there are conventions regarding binding. If you have a powerful agency this is taken care of, as they copy and bind your script in a nice agency logo-ed cover. If, however, you are sending the manuscript out yourself, you need to give some thought to the binding. [...]
You need to adjust your writing for the specific audience that will be reading your screenplay at any given stage in the development process. First Draft: this one's yours. If you want it purple, make it purple. It's your only chance to play god. In this draft, the first you'll be submitting to readers, don't [...]
Some thoughts on how to break through a block. It is often the case that the primary cause of being blocked on a scene (or sequence, or screenplay) is thinking it too important. That is, being precious about your agenda. You think it's got to be right, got to be perfect, got to get you [...]
Phone conversations, especially since the advent of the cell phone, are ubiquitous in films (see The Departed for an example of a film that could not exist without cell phones). And the question often arises as to how to properly format them in a screenplay. Most commonly, you will see something like this: INT. JACK'S [...]
