A lifetime member of the Writer's Guild of America who has had three feature films produced from his screenplays, Akers offers beginning writers the tools they need to get their screenplay noticed.

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone...Inspired by the original Hogwart’s textbook by Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original screenplay marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. A feat of im...

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

Hollywood’s script guru teaches you how to write a screenplay in “the ‘bible’ of screenwriting” (The New York Times)—now celebrating over forty years of screenwriting success!Syd Field’s books on the essential structure of emotionally satisfying screenplays have ignited lucrative careers in film and television since 1979. In this revised edition of his premiere guide, the underpinnings of successful onscreen narratives are revealed in clear and encouraging...

After months pass without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes pays for three signs challenging the authority of William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon, a mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement threatens to engulf the town.Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a darkly comedic drama from Martin McDonagh.The f...

From the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright: an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywood from a filmmaker who’s always played by his own rules.Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what on earth do those producers do anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and refreshingly forthright answers to these and ...

Writing a really solid treatment is rarely taught in standard writing courses. I cover all of the main bases in this book, and I also provide what few other books do—an actual example of a high concept treatment. It's like viewing a chess game after-the-fact. You can learn from the format, the content, the plot points, the description and the story line. Read it not once but several times and you'll learn the form and more importantly, you'll intuitively know what to write about—how to cho...

This guide provides instruction and advice for aspiring writers in the following areas: Creative Coaching; Poetry; Songwriting; Screenwriting; Musical Theatre.It contains hundreds of pages of interviews from acclaimed writers and mentors as well as self-authored essays from industry experts. In each section there is also a concluding piece called "Mentor Me: An Inside View", which is an overview of the process of one-on-one mentoring sessions, including the "before and after", the f...

Austin Film Festival (AFF) is the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s creative contribution to film. Its annual Film Festival and Conference offers screenings, panels, workshops, and roundtable discussions that help new writers and filmmakers connect with mentors and gain advice and insight from masters, as well as refreshing veterans with new ideas. To extend the Festival’s reach, AFF produces On Story, a television series currently airing on PBS-affiliated st...

The horror genre has one of the longest, most distinguished, and often misunderstood bloodlines in history. It is often overlooked by critics, Watson argues, who miss the hard-hitting commentary on society and life contained in these works.

A working writer from the old studio system to the here and now, twice Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Millard Kaufman effortlessly brings the reader from Hollywood Day One to Hollywood today, infusing stories about films from the silent era to the Golden Era to the present with an equally timeless quality. His sketches of the filmmaking menagerie range from hairdressers who claim credit for the success of a film to megalomaniacal moguls who spit out barbarisms like bad seeds.B...

The unsung heroes of film, storyboard artists are the first to give vision to a screenplay, translating words on the page into shots for the screen.Their work is a unique art form in itself. Many storyboards are beautiful in their own right, but ultimately the skill of the artist lies in their visual communication of a script, with multiple factors to consider: composition, movement, camera angles, special effects, and the rhythm and pacing of a scene.The Art of Movie Story...