Logline of Maestro: The life of the legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and his complicated, decades-long marriage to Felicia Montealegre. Script Can Be Found Here Summary of Maestro: Maestro begins with Leonard Bernstein (a.k.a. LB; played by Bradley Cooper) giving an interview to PBS in 1989, playing the piano…
Save the Cat Sundays
‘When Harry Met Sally’: A ‘Save the Cat’ Experiment
Logline of When Harry Met Sally: Harry and Sally meet on a trip to New York after graduating. As their lives and careers grow separately, their paths cross over and over again, causing them to consider a romance with each other. Writer: Nora Ephron Director: Rob Reiner Genre: Romantic comedy-drama…
Oscar-Nominated Scripts
‘Barbie’: Screenwriting Takeaways
Logline of Barbie: To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. Script Can Be Found Here Barbie Summary: After Helen Mirren narrates the origin story of the beloved doll (Margot Robbie), Barbie begins…
Formatting Fridays
Q. How to Format Music in a Screenplay?
If there’s background music, how do I include it? When a character sings, how on Earth do you format that? What about formatting lyrics? Great questions. In general, it’s best to not indicate specific songs unless it’s absolutely integral to the story (i.e., you’re writing a movie about the Beatles,…
Oscar-Nominated Scripts
‘The Zone of Interest’: Screenwriting Takeaways
Logline of The Zone of Interest: The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. Script Can Be Found Here The Zone of Interest Summary: The Zone of Interest presents a…
Save the Cat Sundays
‘Rocky’: A ‘Save the Cat’ Experiment
Logline of Rocky: A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. Writer: Sylvester Stallone Director: John Avildsen Genre: Sports drama Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers,…
Oscar-Nominated Scripts
‘American Fiction’: Screenwriting Takeaways
Logline of American Fiction: Fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on offensive tropes, a frustrated novelist decides to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, one that propels him to the heart of the hypocrisy he disdains. Script Can Be Found Here American Fiction…
Formatting Fridays
Q. How to Format Phone Conversations?
Last week, we covered the basics of how to cover texting. This week, we’ll cover phone conversations, and there are several different ways you can do it. For this post, I’m sharing an excerpt from Dave Trottier’s The Screenwriter’s Bible (pages 301-303), an excellent resource. (Please note that the below…
Save the Cat Sundays
‘Groundhog Day’: A ‘Save the Cat’ Experiment
Logline of Groundhog Day: A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day. Writer: Danny Rubin Director: Harold Ramis Genre: Fantasy Comedy Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott Release Date: February 12, 1993 Script Can Be Found Here As part of a weekly series, I’m…
Oscar-Nominated Scripts
‘The Holdovers’: Screenwriting Takeaways
Logline of “The Holdovers”: A curmudgeonly instructor at a prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. Script Can Be Found Here Summary of “The Holdovers”: It’s December 1970, and sourpuss teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) at…