William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories: first for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and then for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).
A screenwriter is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs, and video games, are based.
Robert Towne was an American screenwriter and director. He started writing films for Roger Corman, including The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964, and was later part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking.
A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show, or video game by screenwriters. A screenplay written for television is also known as a teleplay. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A screenplay is a form of narration in which the movements, actions, expressions and dialogue of the characters are described in a certain format. Visual or cinematographic cues may be given, as well as scene descriptions and scene changes.
Story structure or narrative structure is the recognizable or comprehensible way in which a narrative's different elements are unified, including in a particularly chosen order and sometimes specifically referring to the ordering of the plot: the narrative series of events, though this can vary based on culture. In a play or work of theatre especially, this can be called dramatic structure, which is presented in audiovisual form. Story structure can vary by culture and by location. The following is an overview of various story structures and components that might be considered.
Sydney Alvin Field was an American author who wrote several books on screenwriting, the first being Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. He led workshops and seminars about producing salable screenplays. Hollywood film producers use Field's ideas on structure to measure the potential of screenplays.
Bad Boys II is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and the sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys, in addition to the second film in the Bad Boys film series. Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Theresa Randle, and Joe Pantoliano reprise their roles from the previous film. New cast members include Jordi Mollà, Gabrielle Union, and Peter Stormare. The film follows detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey investigating the flow of illegal drugs going into Miami.
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).
In television and film, a plot point is any incident, episode, or event that "hooks" into the action and spins it around into another direction.
Eric Andrew Heisserer is an American filmmaker, comic book writer, television writer, and television producer. His screenplay for the film Arrival earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 89th Academy Awards in 2016.
Script coverage is a filmmaking term for the analysis and grading of screenplays, often within the "script development" department of a production company. While coverage may remain entirely oral, it usually takes the form of a written report, guided by a rubric that varies from company to company. Criteria include, but are not limited to:
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio.
Karen McCullah is an American screenwriter and novelist most known for co-writing comedies such as 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, The House Bunny, The Ugly Truth and She's the Man with her screenwriting partner Kirsten Smith. After graduating from James Madison University with a degree in marketing, McCullah worked various jobs before beginning to write. She is a faculty member at Syracuse University's Los Angeles Semester.
The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (acts), often called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution. It was popularized by Syd Field in his 1979 book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. Based on his recommendation that a play have a "beginning, middle, and end," the structure has been falsely attributed to Aristotle, who in fact argued for a two-act structure consisting of a "complication" and "dénouement" split by a peripeteia.
Blake Snyder was an American screenwriter, consultant, author and educator based in Los Angeles. His screenplays include the comedies Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) and Blank Check (1994).
This Is 40 is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. A "sort-of sequel" to Apatow's 2007 film Knocked Up, the plot centers on married couple Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Mann), whose stressful relationship is compounded by each turning 40. John Lithgow, Megan Fox, and Albert Brooks appear in supporting roles.
Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are American screenwriters, collaborating on the screenplays for animated films including the Despicable Me franchise, Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax and The Secret Life of Pets. The duo also served as the co-creators of the 2021 Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon!, with Paul also serving as the series songwriter and executive producer.
John Truby is an American screenwriter, director, screenwriting teacher and author. He has served as a consultant on over 1,000 film scripts over the past three decades, and is also known for the screenwriting software program Blockbuster. He is the author of Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, a book about screenwriting skills.
