Cut to the Chase: Writing Feature Films with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program

by Linda Venis

Overview

Millions of people dream of writing a screenplay but don't know how to begin, or are already working on a script but are stuck and need some targeted advice. Or maybe they have a great script, but no clue about how to navigate the choppy waters of show business. Enter Cut To The Chase, written by professional writers who teach in UCLA Extension Writers' Programme, whose alumni's many credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; Twilight; and the Academy Award nominated Letters from Iwo Juima. From learning how to identify story ideas that make a good movie to opening career doors and keeping them open, this authoritative, comprehensive, and entertaining book, edited by Writers' Program Director Linda Venis, will be the film-writing bible for decades to come. "A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program. . . . A readable writer's how-to that goes down smoothly." - Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592408108
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/06/2013
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Over the past two decades, Linda Venis has guided the growth of the UCLA Extension Writers' Programme into the nation's largest creative writing and screenwriting program. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their daughter.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Linda Venis xi

Section I From Idea to Outline: Preparing to Write Your Feature Screenplay

1 Hollywood Storytelling: Its Enduring Appeal and Universal Principles Billy Mernit 3

2 Jump-starting the Screenplay Jon Bernstein 24

3 "What Happens Next?": Structuring the Screenplay Andy Guerdat 49

4 Building Characters Cindy Davis 75

5 Deepening Characters and Defining Their Arcs Billy Mernit 99

6 Outlining the Screenplay Juliet Aires Giglio 123

Section II Writing Your First Draft Feature Screenplay

7 Writing Through the First Draft Steve Mazur 151

8 The Who, What, Where, When, Why (and How!) of Writing a Scene Dan Vining 170

9 Pictures in Motion: Scenes and the Movement They Create Chrysanthy Balis 194

Section III Rewriting Your Feature Screenplay

10 Taking the Script to the Next Level: The Rewrite Process Begins Quinton Peeples 219

11 The Art and Craft of Dialogue Writing Karl Iglesias 242

12 "Show, Don't Tell": Visual Screenwriting Philip Eisner 271

13 Polish Workshop: Making Your Best Even Better Michael Weiss 294

Section IV Being a Professional in the Movie Business

14 Demystifying the Business of Feature Film Writing Laurence Rosenthal 319

15 Launching and Sustaining a Feature Film Writing Career Deborah Dean Davis 339

About the Editor and Contributors 365

Index 369

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Cut the Chase is a great value for aspiring screenwriters, leveraging the knowledge of numerous UCLA Extension instructors with their collective experience of 20 produced feature films in one volume.  Covering everything from the inception of the idea all the way to the business end of taking meetings and pitching, this book has it all.”
 —Iris Yamashita, Academy Award nominated screenwriter, Letters from Iwo Jima

Editorial Reviews

"Cut to the Chase is now the ONLY book I use for my advanced feature screenwriting class at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It’s a book for aspiring screenwriters, written by professional screenwriters. The layout of the material follows an organic work-flow that mirrors the writer's process.  It’s the type of book that will one day be thanked at the Oscars!"
—Keith Giglio, Professor, Syracuse University; Screenwriter and Executive Producer whose credits include Cinderella Story

"A classic. Very readable. Very informative."
—Producer Julie Corman (New World Pictures, New Horizons Pictures)

"Cut to the Chase is a state-of-the-art collection of articles by some of the best (and most prolific) teachers at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. In addition to practical information on craft, the reader also receives some pithy, entertaining and frank advice on dealing with the realities of a screenwriting career.  As a therapist who specializes in working with creative people of all stripes, I appreciate even more the book's wisdom and common sense. Plus, it's a lot of fun to read."
—Dennis Palumbo, author and licensed psychotherapist"There's a lot written about writing for the movies—but not much of it comes from professionals who know whereof they speak. With Cut to the Chase, readers hear from real professionals talking about the art and craft of screenwriting and learn not only the nuts and bolts of what it takes to be a screenwriter, but also how to mold their creativity into that most challenging of forms, the screenplay. If I was starting out today, I'd be looking for a book like Cut to the Chase—because I'd want advice and knowledge from people who have been in the trenches."

—Diane Lake, Assistant Professor, Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College; screenwriter for Columbia, Disney, Miramax, and Paramount

“A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program. . . . A readable writer’s how-to that goes down smoothly.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Cut to the Chase cuts the fat out of the screenwriting process. It's lean and mean without being intimidating. I think it's incredibly smart and cuts close to the bone of what really makes a great movie; less is really more with these wise guides taking the grizzle out of process!”
—Karen Leigh Hopkins, Because I Said So, Stepmom

“Cut the Chase is a great value for aspiring screenwriters, leveraging the knowledge of numerous UCLA Extension instructors with their collective experience of 20 produced feature films in one volume.  Covering everything from the inception of the idea all the way to the business end of taking meetings and pitching, this book has it all.”
—Iris Yamashita, Academy Award nominated screenwriter, Letters from Iwo Jima

From the Publisher

A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program. UCLA Extension Writers' Program director Venis divides the book into four sections devoted to: preparations for writing the script, writing the first draft, rewriting and polishing, and working the system to get the script produced and your screenwriting career on track. A group of professionals--screenwriters, story analyst and readers--share advice; their film credits include Scream, Citizen Ruth, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Twilight, Event Horizon, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and scores of other projects for major Hollywood studios and TV networks. Encouraging without being unrealistic, the contributors use examples from dozens of award-winning and popular screenplays (The King's Speech, Juno, Reservoir Dogs, Bridesmaids, The Hangover, etc.) to illustrate their points about how to set scenes, develop characters and propel stories through all of the scenes. Their advice to give script buyers--"The same, but different"; i.e., more of what's selling tickets already, with a twist--may seem stifling to creative types, but it's based on intimate knowledge of Hollywood tastes. Even if the fledgling screenwriter does not want to follow the UCLA team's amazingly harmonious advice to the letter, there's plenty of solid wisdom in the book to warrant giving it a careful read. The contributors insist that you can write a successful screenplay, and it's hard not to believe them. After following the practical advice included in the book, you will not want to miss Deborah Dean Davis' deliciously witty and inspiring final chapter on the life of a Hollywood writer. A readable writer's how-to that goes down smoothly.

Kirkus Reviews