If you’re a screenwriter or want to be a screenwriter, then at some point you will have used Final Draft. Co-founded in 1990 and now in its 12th version, the Final Draft screenwriting software boasts both a user-friendly interface and features related to both outlining and production. Final Draft’s great success—complete with a Primetime Emmy Engineering Award it received in 2013— has led it to become known as the “industry standard” for screenwriting.   But at the same time, Final Draft has attracted a fair amount of criticism. Some screenwriters have complained about its high price, glitches, and the specifics […]

In making my Watergate historical fiction film 18½, I always knew that coming up with a consistent musical soundtrack was going to be essential for balancing the tone of a film that swings from comedy to thriller to drama at breakneck speed. One genre of music, and indeed one song, “Brasília Bella,” is the key to unlocking not only how our team navigated the tones and themes of the film, but also reflects the scale and scope of making an indie film at the high point of a global pandemic. Around 2018, I started working on the script for 18½ […]

Several years back, Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp traveled with friends to attend an out of town wedding. Opting to scrimp on lodging costs, the duo shared a crowded hotel room with four other friends. Slate just happened to be the only girl in the group, which led to her adopting a “teeny-tiny” voice to communicate her comparative petiteness to the other men in the room. The voice, a running joke for the rest of the weekend, became the eventual creative spark that would launch a web series, children’s books and feature-length film released by A24.   Soon thereafter, the first […]

Two European families—one Danish, one Dutch—meet during a picturesque Italian vacation in Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil. Their bond is immediate, and soon enough the Dutch couple enthusiastically invite the Danes to visit them in Holland. The gesture is friendly enough, but the sincerity of the statement isn’t necessarily taken at face value.  Shortly after the Danes—Bjørn (Morten Burian), Louisa (Sidsel Siem Koch) and their daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg)—return to their well-kept abode, they receive a postcard in the mail. As it turns out, the Dutch family was completely serious about their offer, inviting them to visit their home in […]

Mexican-American filmmaker Eva Aridjis announced today the launch of (Screen)Play Press, which will publish scripts that have not yet been developed into feature films. Founded by Aridjis and fellow filmmaker/screenwriter Christine Vartoughian over a cup of coffee this past May, the first six titles published by (Screen)Play Press specifically spotlight scripts written by women. Each title will be available in paperback and e-book versions. “What we’d really love to emphasize is how many great un-produced screenplays we know are out there, and our desire to get these stories out into the world regardless of whether or not a film version […]

With the Sundance Native Lab having returned to a (hybrid) in-person model for the first time in two years, Filmmaker asked 2022 fellows to reflect on their recent experiences through short diary entries. Read the rest of the 2022 cohort’s responses.  It’s an interesting thought process trying to find the right words to describe my time at the Sundance Film Festival’s Native Film Lab. From the beginning. there was an obvious feeling of kismet, an almost too good to be true energy to have when going into any creative development lab, let alone one from an institute like Sundance. But I guess […]

With the Sundance Native Lab having returned to a (hybrid) in-person model for the first time in two years, Filmmaker asked 2022 fellows to reflect on their recent experiences through short diary entries. Read the rest of the 2022 cohort’s responses.  After a week of online Zoom meetings and activities, it was finally time to fly to Santa Fe for our in-person portion of the Native Lab. My first time traveling in ages. One of the rare flights during the end of the pandemic. As soon as I got to the gate, I immediately recognize two other people going to the lab […]

With the Sundance Native Lab having returned to a (hybrid) in-person model for the first time in two years, Filmmaker asked 2022 fellows to reflect on their recent experiences through short diary entries. Read the rest of the 2022 cohort’s responses.  I will begin this by saying that my path to the Sundance Native Lab is anything but traditional. I was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and currently live in Wichita, Kansas where I work as a public librarian. Before 2022, the only writing anyone would associate with me was stand-up jokes and memes. Filmmaking was a lifelong passion of mine, but something I […]

With the Sundance Native Lab having returned to a (hybrid) in-person model for the first time in two years, Filmmaker asked 2022 fellows to reflect on their recent experiences through short diary entries. Read the rest of the 2022 cohort’s responses.  Sundance Native Lab was a transformative time that deeply reaffirmed my practice, giving me confidence in my work that I never had before. A huge part of it was being grounded by other Indigenous writers in my cohort and in the care of such amazing leaders such as Moi—I felt I was in a safe space to share my script in its […]

The script for my time-travel second feature, Speed of Life, is set in 2016: a time that a lot of people point to as pivotal, when American society felt fractured. It follows a couple from the night David Bowie dies — and they are separated — until 24 years in the future, when they are reunited. Our version of 2040 follows 2016 to its logical conclusion: that David Bowie’s death may or may not have fractured the fabric of the universe. Our version of 2040 is dark and dreary all because our hero David Bowie is absent.  I was actually […]

Ira Sachs will get a lot of the credit for his latest film, Frankie, an ensemble drama with an all-star cast anchored by top-billed Isabelle Huppert, playing an international movie star whos been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Many will call it “Ira Sach’s Frankie” and single him out as its main creator. But just as the film isn’t only about Huppert’s character (Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei, Greg Kinnear play her blended family), Frankie is not just about Sachs. Only one of his features, his 1996 debut The Delta, has been written solo. And four of the rest, Frankie included, have […]

Film Independent announced today the six screenwriters selected for its 21st annual Screenwriting Lab. Mikki Crisostomo, Billy Luther, Haitham Dabbour, Anya Meksin, Sontenish Myers and Andrew Huang will all received story and career development from the non-profit organization’s annual program for their first fiction screenplays. Notes FIND in a press release, “One hundred percent of this year’s participants are from communities underrepresented in film and half the participants are women. This year’s projects, selected from 550 submissions, explore a range of compelling fictional topics from ancient magic to widespread pandemics and tiger spirits.” More from the press release: “Being a […]

The Sundance Institute announced the eleven screenwriters who will take part in their seventh annual Screenwriters Intensive. Taking place in Los Angeles tomorrow and Friday, the Intensive is “a two-day workshop for writers or writer/directors from underrepresented communities developing their first fiction feature. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and in collaboration with Institute’s Feature Film Program.” Advisors are Andrew Ahn, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Patricia Cardoso, Deena Goldstone, Tanya Hamilton, Elgin James, So Yong Kim, Sarah Koskoff, Tracy Oliver, Joan Tewkesbury, and Andy Wolk. The program is […]

As with life, beginnings are easy but endings are hard. At least, that’s what one might take away from the two very different running times of videos screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story, Little Miss Sunshine) has posted about these crucial elements of any movie. His “beginnings video” runs eight minutes while his video on endings has a whopping feature-length running time! Using three films as his examples — Star Wars, The Graduate and Little Miss Sunshine — Arndt talks about internal and external conflict, philosophical resolutions and much, much more. As the screengrab above illustrates, Arndt is heavy into structure, […]

Recently, I had to correct a friend of mine who referred to Thelma & Louise as an independent film. “Actually,” I said, “Thelma & Louise was 100% Hollywood, incredible as that may seem today.” It is not surprising that the Callie Khouri-penned story of two women escaping the law after killing a man for his attempted rape has developed an outlier reputation considering Hollywood’s response to it. Despite its critical and box office success, there were no copycat films made, no new genre emerged, no film movement was sparked. Since then, Hollywood has come nowhere close to producing another such […]

David Barker is a hard one to put a finger on. He is an American writer and editor who over the past 10 years has gained an international reputation for his analytical ability and open, unconventional approach. Recent collaborations include Deepak Rauniyar’s sensitive exploration of the impact of Nepalese civil war White Sun (opening today at New York’s MOMA and running through September 12) and Josephine Decker’s upcoming feature with Molly Parker, Mirandy July and Helena Howard, Madeline Madeline. Things happen with David differently than you’d expect them to. You walk an entirely other route than you wanted and end […]

We’ve seen our fair share of films about teacher-student relationships, but they tend to fall into either the titillating or inspirational categories. Miss Stevens is neither. It’s a quiet drama which is powerful in its subtlety. The plot itself is understated, but the execution is surprisingly compelling. The set-up involves Rachel Stevens (Lily Rabe), a lonely high school teacher who reluctantly chaperones three teens – including the troubled and charismatic Billy (Timothee Chalamet) – to a drama competition. In her directorial debut, Julia Hart, who co-wrote the film with her husband Jordan Horowitz, exhibits an aptitude for working with actors. Rabe won the Best Actress […]

In theaters now from Cohen Media, Les Cowboys is the directorial debut of acclaimed French screenwriter Thomas Bidegain, best known in recent years for his collaborations with French director Jacques Audiard. (He has co-scripted all of Audiard’s films following The Beat My Heart Skipped.) In an age when the value of the cinematic medium is being challenged, Bidegain has made a haunting and bold first feature that is both intimate as well as epic in scope. It’s a film steeped in the history of cinema, drawing both visual and narrative inspiration from classic American westerns. At the same time, Les […]

Alexis Wilkinson went from being the first black woman President of Harvard’s acclaimed humor publication, The Lampoon, to writing for HBO’s hit comedy series, Veep. She’s become an outspoken public figure and writer–with work featured in Slate, Opening Ceremony and TIME–but as we know, big victories such as these don’t come without a lot of work, a few disruptions and some twists and turns in the road. In this episode of She Does podcast, Alexis recalls her experiences of “comping” or trying out for The Lampoon multiple times, finding her place in the middle of an elitist institution, losing her […]

Pamela Ribon is a television writer, screenwriter, best-selling novelist and all around hilarious human. She’s been a writer in comedy rooms for both network and cable television and is the author of four novels. NPR called her new memoir, Notes to Boys, “brain-breakingly funny.” Ribon has developed original series and features for ABC, ABC Family, Warner Bros., Disney Channel and 20th Century Fox Productions. She recently finished working on a feature for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and she’s currently writing for Sony Pictures Animation on an upcoming feature. Ribon started writing on the web in 1998, before most people even […]