Do you have an idea that you think would make a great movie, TV show or webisode, but have no idea how to write a screenplay? It is not uncommon for people to have a screenplay idea, but have no clue where to start.
Like many other skills in life, learning to write a solid screenplay takes a good amount of research, practice and repetition. The following are some things that you can do to help yourself learn:
· Read screenplays
· Understand the format of a screenplay
· Watch television shows and movies
· Study some of the most successful screenplay writers
· Come up with an idea for a screenplay
· Develop screenplay ideas through outlines and storyboards
Paul Schrader, who has written some of the most recognizable films of the last 40 years, did not see his first movie until the age of 17. Raised in a strict Calvinist household, Schrader has said about his higher education, “Other college kids had to vandalize government buildings. All we had to do to rebel was go to movies.”
Paul Schrader was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 22, 1946. When he was seventeen, he was able to sneak away from home and has said in an interview that The Absent-Minded Professor was the first film he saw; while it did not impress him, Wild in the Country, which he saw some time later, did make an impact. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College, with a minor in Theology. He went on to attend UCLA Film School, receiving a recommendation from Pauline Kael, a renowned film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine among other publications. Schrader earned his Master of Arts in Film Studies and became a film critic, writing for the Los Angeles Free Press, and later Cinema magazine. Schrader quickly established a name for himself as a critic with an intellectual approach to film, rather than an emotional approach; a trait that he ascribes to having no adolescent movie experiences.
In 1974, Schrader and his brother Leonard co-wrote The Yakuza, a film set in the world of the eponymous Japanese crime syndicate. The script was the subject of an unprecedented bidding war, eventually selling for the unheard-of sum of $325,000; more than any other screenplay up to that time. Although the film failed commercially, it brought Schrader to the forefront, and to the attention to several Hollywood directors. He wrote the screenplay of Obsession for Brian De Palma in 1975, and shortly afterwards the screenplay for the Martin Scorsese classic Taxi Driver. Schrader has said about the screenplay, “At the time I wrote it, I was in a rather low and bad place. I had broken with Pauline [film critic Pauline Kael], I had broken with my wife, I had broken with the woman I left my wife for, I had broken with the American Film Institute and I was in debt.” Scorsese would turn to Schrader for more screenplays, notably Raging Bull in 1980, The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, and Bringing Out the Dead in 1999. Schrader also wrote such well-known films as American Gigolo, which he also directed. He has directed a total of 17 feature films, in addition to writing; the majority of his films have been immensely successful and many of his films are viewed as classics.
A recurring theme in Schrader’s films is the protagonist on a self-destructive path, or taking actions which are counter-productive—either deliberately or unconsciously. The finale frequently bears a redemptive element, generally preceded by a painful sacrifice. Schrader has said of his characters, “What fascinates me are people who want to be one thing but who behave in a way contradictory to that. Who might say, ‘I want to be happy, but I keep doing things that make me unhappy.’” Although many of the films Schrader has written and directed are based on real-life biographies, he has confessed to having problems with the genre of biographical films, due to the way in which actual events are altered. He has tried to prevent this by imposing structures and stylization instead, in his own films.
While Schrader has not won an Academy Award of his own, many of the actors in films he has written and directed have been nominated for the Oscar. He has been nominated multiple times for the Golden Globe Awards. Schrader has won the Franklin J. Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute, and he headed the International Jury of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, and in 2011 became a jury member for the Filmaka short film contest.
New Show Studios is a company designed specifically for everyday people with ideas for screens big and small (TV shows, movies, webisodes). The company has all the resources under one roof to develop your screenplay idea into a concept package and present it to an entertainment company through its exclusive licensing agent, SFM Entertainment. SFM Entertainment has over 40 years of experience in the entertainment industry.
Don’t be the person kicking yourself because you sat on your idea only to see it in theaters or on television one day, because someone else had a similar idea. New Show Studios can help you take action and pursue your screenplay idea.
Remember that even with the best presentation materials new entertainment development is high risk and there is very little likelihood that your idea will be successfully licensed or result in profit to you.
Like many other skills in life, learning to write a solid screenplay takes a good amount of research, practice and repetition. The following are some things that you can do to help yourself learn:
· Read screenplays
· Understand the format of a screenplay
· Watch television shows and movies
· Study some of the most successful screenplay writers
· Come up with an idea for a screenplay
· Develop screenplay ideas through outlines and storyboards
Paul Schrader, who has written some of the most recognizable films of the last 40 years, did not see his first movie until the age of 17. Raised in a strict Calvinist household, Schrader has said about his higher education, “Other college kids had to vandalize government buildings. All we had to do to rebel was go to movies.”
Paul Schrader was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 22, 1946. When he was seventeen, he was able to sneak away from home and has said in an interview that The Absent-Minded Professor was the first film he saw; while it did not impress him, Wild in the Country, which he saw some time later, did make an impact. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College, with a minor in Theology. He went on to attend UCLA Film School, receiving a recommendation from Pauline Kael, a renowned film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine among other publications. Schrader earned his Master of Arts in Film Studies and became a film critic, writing for the Los Angeles Free Press, and later Cinema magazine. Schrader quickly established a name for himself as a critic with an intellectual approach to film, rather than an emotional approach; a trait that he ascribes to having no adolescent movie experiences.
In 1974, Schrader and his brother Leonard co-wrote The Yakuza, a film set in the world of the eponymous Japanese crime syndicate. The script was the subject of an unprecedented bidding war, eventually selling for the unheard-of sum of $325,000; more than any other screenplay up to that time. Although the film failed commercially, it brought Schrader to the forefront, and to the attention to several Hollywood directors. He wrote the screenplay of Obsession for Brian De Palma in 1975, and shortly afterwards the screenplay for the Martin Scorsese classic Taxi Driver. Schrader has said about the screenplay, “At the time I wrote it, I was in a rather low and bad place. I had broken with Pauline [film critic Pauline Kael], I had broken with my wife, I had broken with the woman I left my wife for, I had broken with the American Film Institute and I was in debt.” Scorsese would turn to Schrader for more screenplays, notably Raging Bull in 1980, The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, and Bringing Out the Dead in 1999. Schrader also wrote such well-known films as American Gigolo, which he also directed. He has directed a total of 17 feature films, in addition to writing; the majority of his films have been immensely successful and many of his films are viewed as classics.
A recurring theme in Schrader’s films is the protagonist on a self-destructive path, or taking actions which are counter-productive—either deliberately or unconsciously. The finale frequently bears a redemptive element, generally preceded by a painful sacrifice. Schrader has said of his characters, “What fascinates me are people who want to be one thing but who behave in a way contradictory to that. Who might say, ‘I want to be happy, but I keep doing things that make me unhappy.’” Although many of the films Schrader has written and directed are based on real-life biographies, he has confessed to having problems with the genre of biographical films, due to the way in which actual events are altered. He has tried to prevent this by imposing structures and stylization instead, in his own films.
While Schrader has not won an Academy Award of his own, many of the actors in films he has written and directed have been nominated for the Oscar. He has been nominated multiple times for the Golden Globe Awards. Schrader has won the Franklin J. Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute, and he headed the International Jury of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, and in 2011 became a jury member for the Filmaka short film contest.
New Show Studios is a company designed specifically for everyday people with ideas for screens big and small (TV shows, movies, webisodes). The company has all the resources under one roof to develop your screenplay idea into a concept package and present it to an entertainment company through its exclusive licensing agent, SFM Entertainment. SFM Entertainment has over 40 years of experience in the entertainment industry.
Don’t be the person kicking yourself because you sat on your idea only to see it in theaters or on television one day, because someone else had a similar idea. New Show Studios can help you take action and pursue your screenplay idea.
Remember that even with the best presentation materials new entertainment development is high risk and there is very little likelihood that your idea will be successfully licensed or result in profit to you.
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