Screenwriting

Writer's Strike: A Conclusion

The fifth and final segment in The Independent's screenplay series on the Writer's Strike.


The lonely striker.

As the Writers Guild of America Strike seems to be finally nearing its end after three months, The Independent offers this concluding segment in its screenplay series. You can also read the other strike screenplays, written by Rufus Chaffee, Dorothy Blyskal, Dane Young and Randy Steinberg.

"Writer Interruptus" A Writers' Strike Screenplay

A non-WGA writer tries to find his way into Hollywood during the strike


The WGA strike nears a month.

INT. STUDY - DAY

A WRITER sits at his desk, hunched over a keyboard. He types in a few words; we see over his shoulder the words are FADE TO BLACK.

"1971": A Writer's Strike Screenplay

Two young screenwriters get an unexpected lesson in guild history


Stand Off: The guild and the studios are set to resume negotiations on November 26. Photo credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos

EXT. SILVERCUP STUDIOS - AFTERNOON

We pan down the sidewalk to see a bunch of PICKET SIGNS leaning up against the wall. The signs all read UNION SLOGANS signifying that they are part of the WRITER'S STRIKE.

We pan further to see people standing on line. Further still, we see them standing on line for an UPSCALE CATERING TRUCK.

The Writer's Strike: A Screenplay, Part II

Screenwriter Rufus Chaffee takes a crack at writing about the writer's strike


Deadline: The Writer's Guild of America went on strike on Monday, November 5.

RUPERT GOLD AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR WGA STRIKE
an original scene by Rufus Chaffee

FADE IN:

INTERIOR GOLD PRODUCTIONS EXECUTIVE OFFICE -- DAY

The Writer's Strike: A Screenplay

Given that the strike is on everyone's mind, we asked some screenwriters we know to conjure up a treatment related to the week's events


Deadline: The Writer's Guild of America went on strike on Monday, November 5.

Fade in.

An actor sits at his desk, coloring in a coloring book with a Crayola. He is coloring so emphatically that he breaks his only blue crayon. The actor reaches for his intercom and presses the button.

ACTOR
Lonny, can you bring me a blue crayon? I’d like it only to be dark blue, not like a smurf blue, more like a…navy blue, but less navy more…army. But not green, blue.

Voices from Issues Past

What happened at AIVF over the last 30 years?

AIVF: And What it Meant to Me

I first became aware of AIVF when Martha Gever was editor of The Independent. I marveled at this national organization that put out each month a magazine chock full of weighty, intellectual and critical articles on film and video.

One-Two Punch

From script to screen, Shadowboxer’s wild ride


I thought that making Monster’s Ball was rough. I vowed upon wrapping that film that I would never make another. After the accolades and success of that film, I was offered tons of projects from studios for lots of money (which I really could have used.) But all of them were jokes: Who’s My Baby’s Cousin’s Daddy, Leprechauns From the Hood (really). I felt that as a black filmmaker, my sophomore attempt at film should be just as interesting as my first; that I should not sell out.

Moving Images

The best docs do more than educate—they inspire real change


Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me (2004) was an unqualified hit. The documentary, which followed Spurlock as he ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and interviewed a string of experts on the rapidly worsening American obesity epidemic, was nominated for an Oscar. It won at Sundance and at countless other festivals. It earned glowing reviews and a wide theatrical release—still a rarity for documentaries. It became the sixth highest grossing documentary in history, and it even made Spurlock some money—almost miraculous for a documentarian.

Guys on Girls on Film

In a year full of masculine movies, five men wrote women very well


From time to time there is a banner year for female characters. A great fuss is made about how movie-land has changed, allowing women into a club that hadn’t previously given them more than a handful of meaty roles at a time.

2005 was not one of those years.

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