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I've just spent a week at the Independent Film Festival Boston where I saw about 12 films. I noticed something that has come up from time to time here on Indietalk - Shaky versus Still camerawork. There were many films that deployed both techniques, but I saw the contrast most notably in two...

This is trouble. You don't need this. Always remember: For most of the world an audition/ interview is generally considered to be the place where you put your best foot forward, where you really want to make a good impression and show them who you are and what you have to offer. When first...

Here's a funny aside to the discussion on feedback. I can't remember who it was, but he said: "The very highest compliments a writer can get all begin the same way: 'Pay to the order of...'"

That's great. My imagination was placing it right around that time period!

I remember reading about how Jimmy Smits accidentally stabbed a stuntman a few times when a real knife somehow got switched for the prop on the set of Dexter. The stuntman was actually in restraints on a table and realized at the last second what was happening, but was helpless to stop it as he...

Also, I'll just add that the flavor of the dialogue in this particular scene helps indicate that this is a period piece. Now, if this is not a period piece, I'm going to say that you have a disconnect and you should consider trimming the flourishes a bit. With the way the characters are...

Another amusing and interesting tidbit involving authorship/sequel rights in franchises. First Blood was originally a novel written by James Morrell in which the hero dies. When a sequel was made, the author wrote a novelization of the second movie, but he had to share authorship of his novel...

Just an interesting thing I wanted to pop into this thread. Did you know that almost none of the Die Hard movies were original screenplays written for the Die Hard series? The original Die Hard was based on a novel the studios had optioned with the idea that Frank Sinatra would play the...

Not a dumb question at all. It is not unprofessional. It happens on many low budget indie films. Remember, for some locations it is impossible to actually get any different type of housing. For instance, there might not be a hotel anywhere in a reasonable vicinity if you are shooting in a...

It is sometimes beneficial to read screenplays that were sold on spec and make note of how they were changed for the eventual movie. If you read the opening pages of the spec script for Wedding Crashers, you will see that it opens on a law firm office with a lawyer negotiating a personal injury...

I think it is helpful to think of page one as the Opening Image or the Opening Shot of the film. If you watch great movies, this first moment encapsulates the mood, the time and in some cases the theme, etc. For instance, here are the first lines of Joel and Ethan Coen's screenplay for Fargo...

Oh. OK, you are talking about rate. I know that the SAG Ultra Low Budget Mininum wage is 100 per day. During my time as a non-union actor I worked on films for the following: Free Gas Money 50/day 100/day 600/day Do you have no budget, or do you have some budget?

Working with SAG on our Ultra Low Budget feature we asked the question about this, since we have several actors from out of state that would be working on our feature. We would be housing the actors in some nice houses near the shooting location that are being generously provided to us...

Mara brings up an excellent point actually. I know two book authors who have the same situation. They continue to write books with their characters, but movie or TV options for those characters are tied up with producers who purchased those rights from them a few years ago. This brings me to...

Secret Honor and All is Lost are really good, contrasting examples of how you can do a one character feature successfully. All is Lost is a better example than Castaway. Castaway's first and last acts included many people interacting with the protagonist. A feature length story is very...

I'll also add that making a film is a collaborative effort. You need a lot of people to help get a movie made - from the cast, to the crew, to the producers, etc. At some point you need to get people excited about the project in order to get the momentum going. You'll need cash or you'll need...

John August, a professional screenwriter, was discussing this infographic on his podcast with Craig Mazin. August worked, at the beginning of his career, as a reader. He said that he actually thought the number of considered in this infographic seemed a bit high! He also pointed out that in...

Yes. Plan your festival submission strategy and figure out how you will pay for it. Go early bird deadline for as many festivals as you can. You will save a TON of money. Don't do late deadlines unless you have a contact at the festival who can help you get it into the hands of a...

Film festivals aren't worried about the script being online. What those film festivals that stipulate that mean, most of the time, is that they want a premiere, and they are not interested in a film that is people can readily watch on youtube or vimeo. If your script is in a good place, you...

Well, we launched our crowdfunding on Kickstarter yesterday and I'll just share quickly my experience. Here is the link by the way. Check it out and let me know what you think. We are raising a substantial amount, so I did a lot of research and planning before launching. We emailed a lot...