Screenwriting

Hi Screenwriting Lounge Fam!

One question. One screenwriter. Alive or dead, working today or long gone. You get one shot, and then the door closes.

Who are you asking, and what do you actually want to know?

The fun part of this is that the obvious question is usually the wrong one. Asking Nora Ephron "where do your ideas come from" gets you nothing. Asking her how she found the exact line between funny and devastating in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, and whether it ever scared her to sit that close to something real, gets you somewhere.

So think about it properly. Do you want to know about craft, or about the specific decision that made a specific script work? Do you want to know how they handled a studio, survived a rewrite, or got through the years before anyone was reading them? Do you want the practical answer or the honest one?

Mine would be Lord and Miller, or either one of them, and I'd want to know about writing SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. Specifically how they found the balance in something that stands completely on its own while honoring the character Bendis created and the enormous Spider-Man universe that fans already love from both the page and the screen. That's a nearly impossible thing to hold all at once. Lean too far toward reverence and you get a museum piece. Lean too far the other way and you lose the people who care most. They somehow made a film that rewards decades of comics knowledge and works perfectly for someone who has never read a single issue.

I'd want to know whether they found that balance on the page or whether it came later, and how they decided what to keep and what to leave behind.

So who's yours? Drop it all in the comments. I suspect we'll learn as much about each other from your questions as we would from any answer.

Writers, if you have multiple great copyrighted scripts under your belt, but never get signed or repped by an agent or manager, do you take the scripts with you to the grave, or just throw them away because you can't do anything with them?

Hi there everybody, I'm new here. I'm Matteo. I hope this isn't considered spam, but just wanted to let you guys know that I created a screenwriting app, free to use for everybody: scenestudio7.com

It has (almost) every major feature the big ones have, like Google Drive auto-sync and Auto-backup, real-time co-writing, detailed insights about characters, location, and much much more.

I initially created it just for myself, to write my first screenplay, but the more I worked on it, the more I saw its potential.

Some of the more advanced tools require a donation, as little at $5 per year, but you don't have to spend a cent. Most of it it's free and you can use it to start writing your project.

Anyways, feel free to take a look: scenestudio7.com

Thank you for your attention

Four years ago, the debut of a series set in the Second Age of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium veered so radically from canon that it annoyed many Tolkien fans, but instead of merely joining the chorus of discontent, I asked myself what I would do if handed $1 billion and production rights to adapt that time and place for streaming media. One of my objectives was to make it more lore-accurate but also more diverse than just peppering Middle Earth with a few characters that happen to be played by non-white actors. I did a deep dive into the lore, and what has resulted is a 34-page proof-of-concept treatment for a limited, thirteen episode series, which I’ve subsequently narrated for the heck of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akoN6abUK6Y

It’s been a fun and enthralling exercise in wishful thinking. Could it be more than that? Hard to say. There’d be many big hurdles to get past in order for it to be produced, but I do hope people who listen to the narration enjoy this bit of fan-fiction. Moreover, I can’t help but suspect there is already talk of rebooting the I.P. after the current Amazon and Peter Jackson projects play out, so maybe some of what I’ve conjured might be useful to someone with more industry clout than an apartment manager with a few creative side-hustles.

Part of the exercise was envisioning which actors I’d like to play what roles, which helped in developing the characters, so here’s a list of my dream cast for this insanely ambitious project:

Principal / Recurring Leads

• Círdan the Shipwright: Brad Pitt

• Elrond / Elros (twin brothers): Will Poulter

• High King Gilgalad: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

• Lady Galadriel: Elizabeth Debicki

• Lord Celeborn: Volker Bruch

• Celebrimbor: Henry Cavill

• Sauron / Annatar / the Dark Lord: Ed Skrein

• Elendil: Mel Gibson

• Isildur: Christian Bale

• Anárion: Shia LaBeouf

Númenor

• Tar-Palantir: Edward James Olmos

• Gimilkhâd: Lorenzo Llamas

• Amandil: Jim Caviezel

• Tar-Míriel: Oona Chaplin

• Ar-Pharazôn: Rudy Reyes

Dwarves of Khazad-dûm & Allied Houses

• King Durin III & IV: Iwan Rheon

• Lord Olli Longbeard: Russell Crowe

• Princess Kalúmbé (Haradri wife of Lord Olli): Genevieve Nnaji

• Lord Vidar Ollison (son of Olli & Kalúmbé): Justice Smith

• Qariss (daughter of Olli & Kalúmbé): Amanda Nunes

• Lord Firebeard: Rupert Grint

• Lord Stonefoot: Benedict Wong

Elven Lords & Allies

• King Amdir: Adam Driver

• King Oropher: Darren Criss

• Glorfindel: Noah Centineo

• Celebrian: Saoirse Ronan

• Gwythien: Olga Kurylenko

Dúnedain of Gondor & Arnor

• Elendur (son of Isildur): Jonathan Bailey

• Aratan (son of Isildur): Tom Bateman

• Ciryon (son of Isildur): Austin Butler

• Meneldil (son of Anárion): Jack Gleeson

• Lord Eärnur: Gerard Butler

• Ohtar: Dean-Charles Chapman

• Galadwen (Meneldil’s wife): Joss Stone

• Belegorn: James Norton

• Hallas: Matthew Marsden

East & South — Blue Wizards, Rebels & Merchants

• Alatar (Blue Wizard): Mark Dacascos

• Pallando (Blue Wizard): Barkhad Abdi

• Atlan: Iko Uwais

• Gizik: Hiroyuki Sanada

• Zakhal: Ajay Devgn

• Radnam: Ranveer Singh

• Khombe: Omar Sy

• Némiya: Bukunmi Oluwasina

• Hurmil: Noxolo Dlamini

• Yazan: Daniel Kaluuya

• Abrím: Peter J. Macon

• Kagen: Kelvin Han Yee

• Tamadhur: Asmaa Abulyazeid

• Bihm of Tâüran: Kelly Marie Tran

• Lahm: Tony Jaa

• Drúedain Eldress: Jyoti Amge

Nazgûl, Melkorites & Antagonists

• Lord Angmar (later Nazgûl): Samuel Roukin

• Khamûl: Thalapathy Vijay

• Pirate-lord Nazgûl: Saïd Taghmaoui

• Dark Númenórean messenger: Walter Koenig

• Melkorite commander of charioteers: Fahadh Faasil

• Melkorite mumakil commander: Ahmed El Sakka

• Melkorite commander in Nurn: Michael Jai White

• Melkorite officer at Orodruin: Feodor Chin

• Wargmaster: Kit Harington

Goblins of the Misty Mountains

• Goblin King: William Shatner

• Goblin Queen Mother: Rita Moreno

• Ilmig (Goblin raider): Maisie Williams

• Niroht (Goblin raider): Daphne Keen

Every writer has that one piece of feedback that permanently changes how they see their own work. For me, it was realizing that a scene can be technically "correct" good dialogue, clear stakes, clean formatting and still not work, because nothing in it actually changes. A scene has to end somewhere different from where it started, emotionally or narratively, or it's just occupying space on the page.

Once I started asking "what's different by the end of this scene?" for every scene in a draft, entire subplots I thought were fine suddenly revealed themselves as filler.

Curious what note or realization did that for other writers here the one that changed how you evaluate your own pages, not just how you write them?

Hey Stage 32!

I'm Sooraj from Karachi, Pakistan

First time posting here and excited to join the community.

I'm writing a feature thriller called THE GUARD.

Logline:

For years, a night watchman protects a neighborhood. When he discovers a "magical door" hidden in the area, no one believes him.

One night, a child goes inside and disappears.

Forced to act, the guard, his brother, and a girl enter the door to rescue him. Inside, they face terrifying monsters and brutal fights.

They save the child and escape. But the moment the door opens, all the monsters rush out into our world.

Now the guard’s real battle to protect the neighborhood begins.

Think Stranger Things meets The Conjuring, but set in Pakistan.

I just finished the outline and starting the first draft.

Looking to connect with other thriller/horror writers for feedback and script swaps.

Any advice for international writers breaking into Hollywood?

Thanks everyone!

#Thriller #Horror #MonsterMovie #InternationalWriter #FirstDraft

Just finished the 2nd draft of my period drama/horror script THE DEVIL'S IN PIECES. I could use some readers/notes to polish it up.

Here's the logline:

After losing his job and fiancée, Harold joins a traveling circus and discovers it’s a front for the Knights Templar who are keeping watch over the separated pieces of a demon.

If you think you can get it read and have notes back to me by October 16, let me know!

Writers, with multiple scripts, would you consider creating a comedy parody film like Scary Movie except you have to use your greatest films and films of recent years?

Working closely with my partner to craft a story that matters — rooted in heart, strength, and purpose. Every part falling into place. Grateful for this journey and the story we're building together!