I am always impressed by filmmakers who take action and make their movie without asking permission. Jason Faller is one such filmmaker. He produces, markets and sells his own movies. And I believe he embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the Modern Moviemaker. He stopped by Filmmaking Stuff to provide some tips…
As a filmmaker, getting a movie made, seen and sold can be a challenge. Filmmaking Stuff was established to provide useful filmmaking tips and strategies. And over the last few years, we have received hundreds of questions from filmmakers seeking advice on all aspects of the process. Most filmmakers ask questions related to screenwriting, film [...]
Because I’ve written a few books about screenwriting I sometimes get questions from people just starting out on their careers. One query that has started coming up more often recently is whether it’s better to chase the Hollywood dream or get involved with indie films, including ones made for the web…
I have a fairly large collection of “pitching sessions from hell” stories, but there was one that stands out because I blew it—afterward. This was early in my career, and actually the pitching session itself went great. The executive loved the idea and commissioned a script for a TV movie. How to apply “show, don’t tell” in screenplays…
I remember reading screenplays from working, established writers that just seemed underdeveloped. Add the enormous amount of material that came from friends of friends and other producers and I was able to see first-hand how much garbage is floating around out there.
To avoid having any one element of foreshadowing be too obvious, often the writer will throw in some red herrings–some things that could be foreshadowing but in fact don’t pay off or pay off in a different way than we expect. The person who has the gun in the drawer may become an immediate suspect in our minds, but later maybe we see him use it to light his cigarette and we realize it’s not a real gun (of course he may have a real one somewhere else….). That kind of misdirection keeps the audience guessing.
