A film industry professional continues reading a screenplay because it has a great first act, but it’s the third act that’s likely to stick with them afterwards. When you finish watching a film, isn’t it the ending that’s freshest in your mind? It’s ...

Over the years, if it’s one thing I’ve heard screenwriters struggle with the most, it’s the second act of their script. Even if they think they have a great concept and strong first act, they suddenly get to the second act and they find their creativ...

There isn’t a perfect screenplay.

This is a question that’s commonly asked by many aspiring screenwriters: do you have to live in LA to be a screenwriter? Speaking from my own personal experience, I know you don’t need to live in LA to land your first screenwriting job or sell your f...

Many aspiring screenwriters might not be aware of the term “through line” and how it’s frequently used in the development process. When I first broke into the film industry I wasn’t aware of the term myself, and I definitely wasn’t thinking of themat...

In my article 5 Clichés to Avoid in the Opening of Your Script, I stressed the importance of grabbing industry professionals in the first couple pages of your spec script. Whether it’s a feature screenplay or a television pilot, most managers, agents...

In my article about National Lampoon's Vacation, I wrote that one of the reasons for the film’s success was it paired the right character with the right story. Sometimes there is a tendency for screenwriters to focus more on plot and less on the prot...

Sometimes in life — when talking and expressing ourselves to the people around us — clichés are unavoidable. There are only so many ways to convey the most common feelings and situations that we all go through. When writing a screenplay, however, it’...

Conventional wisdom might discourage a writer to pen a spec script about an original superhero. It’s all about established IPs and superheroes that audiences have a history with, right? But a spec script is about more than just selling a script; it’s...