Industry Books
Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders), providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. No one better understands how all the elements of a screenplay fit together, and no one is better qualified to explain the "magic" of story construction and the relationship between structure and character than Robert McKee.
Writing a TV Movie: An Insider's Guide to Launching a Screenwriting Career
The small screen is getting bigger all the time, making it the perfect avenue to find an audience for your scripts.
Award-winning screenwriter Roslyn Muir offers clear and simple advice for beginners and experts alike on how to master the popular TV movie thriller and rom-com genres. Writing a TV Movie is an exceptional resource for screenwriters, teachers, and industry professionals alike.
Learn the unique nine-act structures of TV movie genres. Understand how to get your scripts to producers.
Includes interviews with screenwriters Melissa Cassera, Carley Smale, Kraig Wenman, Keith Shaw, Kelly Peters, and Amy Taylor.
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Hallmark: The Unofficial Guide to Writing a Made-For-TV Christmas Movie
Want to write a Hallmark Christmas movie? Heather Hughes and Kate Wharton break down the process of writing and marketing your own made-for-TV Christmas Romance. With an easy-to-follow ten step process, their unofficial guide will help you on your way to writing your own Christmas magic.
TV Development Guide
The "TV Development Guide: How an Idea Becomes a TV Show" is perfect for anyone thinking about getting into the TV business, just starting out or already in it and looking for some insight and guidance for their projects. It's a clear, concise, entertaining book about how the TV biz works, a step-by step guide how TV development works which includes script development, having a career in TV, how to develop your idea, pitching, strategies on selling your show and more. It pulls back the curtain on an industry that is so hard to get a grasp on and was the FIRST book on the market to explain the process of how an idea becomes a TV show.
The Portable Film School
by D.B. Gilles
For anyone who can't get into film school. An on-paper process that shows how to write screenplays and make both long and short films. Will save you years of head scratching and will completely demystify the process of making a movie.
D.B. Gilles is the author of "The Screenwriter Within" and "The Portable Film School." He is a produced and published screenwriter, TV writer and playwright. He did the screen adaptation of the play "Spinning Into Butter" starring Sarah Jessica Parker due this Fall. He teaches Screenwriting and Comedy Writing in the Undergraduate Film & Television Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He is also a Script Consultant and Writing Coach.
50 Screenwriting Tips For $5
by DB Gilles
50 Screenwriting Tips For $5 is a like a cool screenwriting class to go. In less than 100 fast-paced pages, Script Consultant, Writing Coach and New York University Film School Professor D.B. Gilles offers up his take on writing a screenplay with 50 easy-to-read screenwriting tips. They will help beginning screenwriters complete their scripts and get them closer to the goal line.
Writers Rehab: A 12-Step Program for Writers Who Can't Get Their Acts Together
by DB Gilles
There's an eerie correspondence among the 12 stages of the Hero's Journey, the 12 steps of AA recovery and the sometimes challenging experience of becoming a professional writer. Filled with tough love and unvarnished truths about the business of writing, Writers Rehab takes both experienced and aspiring writers past self-delusion and towards productivity.
Advanced Screenwriting Raising Your Script to the Academy Award Level
by Linda Seger
This book is about details and the intricate, complex elements that make it possible for films like The Hours to become great films. It's about creating a script that moves well, with a focused, original story that leaps off the page and gives a great actor something to work with. It's also about creating stories that touch and intrigue an audience and perhaps transform their lives in the process.
"Once again, Linda Seger has peeled back the veils and revealed the essential truths of great screenwriting, making the complex comprehensible. This book is loaded with tons of useful analysis and screenwriting craft that is essential for any screenwriter; beginner or advanced."
~ Jack Epps, screenwriter, Top Gun, Dick Tracy
The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script (Seventh Edition)
by David Trottier
Includes industry-approved script formatting guide, a workbook, clear writing advice with hundreds of examples, a practical marketing section, a spec style guide, and plenty of useful resources. Popular and authoritative. Strongly recommended by agents and industry insiders.
The Third Act
by Drew Yanno
A film's ending is crucial. It is the last thing an audience sees and often the last thing it remembers upon leaving the theater. Indeed, it's no stretch to suggest that, more than any other part of the film, the ending determines whether the audience likes a film or not. The Third Act is the first screenwriting instructional book to focus entirely on that most important part of a script - the ending. The book features detailed examinations of the endings of many memorable films, including Rocky, Rain Man, Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Casablanca, Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Lost in Translation, and Gladiator. Through this analysis, Drew Yanno highlights the structural elements you'll need to make your screenplay's ending as compelling and satisfying as possible. If you want to understand the fine art of writing a great ending to your screenplay, The Third Act is a truly useful resource and inspiration.
The Guide For Every Screenwriter
Screenwriting made simple. The Guide for Every Screenwriter is one of the most efficient instruction manuals on the craft. This book cuts past verbose exposition and gets straight to work, delivering sample-driven outlines and templates that anyone can follow. It is quick to apply to your work and serves as a side-by-side checklist for the writing process. This is the book for anyone looking to write a screenplay and for any professional needing a refresher.
The Hollywood Screenwriter
by Robert L. McCullough
You'll quickly learn the writing skills you need before you start a script...how to choose the right story to work on...the difference between concept and story...whether or not to outline first...understanding your script’s structure...dealing with screenplay format...finding the true character in your characters...dealing with conflict...tips and tricks of dialogue...what to do with your finished script.Each chapter covers individual topics you can build on. By applying the techniques and strategies in this book, you’ll be on your way to crafting a marketable script...and to taking the next big steps toward your professional film and television writing career.
Money for Your Movie: Guaranteed
by Mark Stouffer and Robert L. McCullough
Mark Stouffer has raised millions of dollars from private individuals for his movies, and he's done it repeatedly. Now, for the first time, he shows you exactly how you can raise the money you need to make your films. All you have to do is pay attention and carefully follow the 7 Steps to Raising Money for Your Movie in this book. Nobody said that making a movie—or raising the money to finance your filmmaking venture—was easy. But it can be done...and you can do it exactly the way the author has done it. More than once, Stouffer started from absolute Ground Zero with nothing more than a telephone and blank paper on his desk. He's gone from “idea” to . . . to script . . . to business plan . . . to pitch . . . to production financing . . . to final cut . . . to distribution deal . . . to the red carpet. Asking others for money so that you can make your movie may sound like an impossible challenge. But if you use the tactics, strategies, and principles in this book, you will be an undeniable force. You will raise the money you need, and you will make your movie!
