John and Craig cover endings, both for craft and for business. First they articulate the importance of the denouement and the social contract it fulfills with the audience. Then they discuss what happens to a writer’s work after their death. We also follow up on pitching, and introduce a new segment: Change Craig’s Mind. This […]
Maybe I’m hyper-aware because yesterday was the 15th anniversary of Go, but I’m encountering sorts of references to past projects this week.
Over the weekend, I revamped my YouTube channel and uploaded a bunch of videos, including my 1998 short film God, starring a young Melissa McCarthy.
The deal between Starz and Netflix expires March 1st, so if you have any titles you’re eager to watch online, get cracking. Among my movies, that includes Go and the first Charlie’s Angels. The Nines and Titan A.E. will still be available.
Keith Kuramoto takes a look back at Go, which I always forget is technically a Christmas movie.
Todd also didn’t come across as stupid, reckless or naive. It seems if he wanted to kill someone, he would have chosen a better place than a very public party where he likely would have been recognized by his clientele.
Having worked with many emerging filmmakers through the Sundance Institute and other programs, I’m convinced it’s usually the wrong choice.
If both plotlines are key to your story, you need to make that clear in the logline. Otherwise, you risk future readers feeling like you bait-and-switched them.
I did an interview this afternoon with Sam Heer at BlogTalkRadio’s 123Film station, in which we talked about Go, The Nines, the Burton movies and screenwriting in general.
My first movie, Go, will finally be coming out on Blu-ray on August 18th.
When you’re auditioning actors for a role, the scenes as scripted are sometimes not especially useful. The solution: write new material specifically for casting.
Online video service Hulu is now featuring my first movie, Go. If you haven’t seen it — and you live in U.S., and you’re over 17 — it’s worth a look.
IMDb has message boards for every film and every filmmaker. I would strongly advise you to never read them, and in particular, don’t read them for any film you’ve worked on. You will walk away feeling a little worse about yourself and humanity. But today, while looking up the name of an actor in Go, […]
This Distracted Globe has a new look back and review of my first movie, Go.
Just as important, what NOT to do when trying to cut length. Don’t cheat.
A tough question. Here are some signs that you should quit or stick with it.
Alex Wurman, the composer for The Nines (as well as many other great scores, including March of the Penguins and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) has posted five tracks from the movie on his website. Of them, “Cold Turkey” is probably the most interesting without a visual to go with it. The “Knowing Theme” is […]
When writers do and don’t get paid residuals.
Most screenplays are about 120 pages, and most movies are around two hours. But the conversion rate between paper and celluloid is rarely one-to-one.
Something that’s always bothered me about Go. When Ronna is in Todd’s apartment she says “Todd, I would never fuck you like that.” And he says, “How would -you- fuck -me-?” Like, how would a nothing like you ever screw over a big drug dealer like me? But he just explained how she could fuck […]
Although it’s available elsewhere on the net, I’ve decided to make the screenplay for Go available on the site. There are two variations to choose from. The first is the original spec script I wrote in 1997. The second is the final shooting draft, which incorporates the changes that happened during production. As a bonus […]
Tickets for the special screening of GO at Arclight in Hollywood on November 25th are now available for sale. The movie starts at 7:00 p.m., followed by a Q&A with John, hosted by MENACE II SOCIETY screenwriter Tyger Williams. A couple of nice coincidences: the Arclight is just down the street from the supermarket that […]
On Tuesday, November 25th, GO is being screened as part of the “Story to Glory” series at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A with me. Will I say something profound and brilliant? No. But I’ll hopefully be coherent.
I haven’t seen GO on a big screen since 1999, so I’ll probably just watch it beforehand so I remember the plot. Plus, the ArcLight is by far my favorite movie theater in Los Angeles, since they let you reserve your individual seat. Along with my TiVo and my Prius, the ArcLight is one of my favorite modern conveniences.
The ArcLight theaters are big, so I’m not expecting it to sell out. But as soon as there is ticket information, I’ll put it up.
If someone offered you a lot of money to do a sequel to GO, would you do it? Do you think a screenwriter has to take big money projects whenever they come along, just to survive in the business? –L.M. Dix First off, no one is going to offer me a lot of money to […]
How long did it take to write GO? How long does it take to write a finished script? Do you work at an office day in, day out, or is it different? –Floris GO took about two years to write, but it was an unusual case in that I wrote it as a short film, […]
