
Steven Hartman
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Lessons from Coppola’s Character-Driven 'Priscilla'
From Muhammed Ali to Napoleon to Elvis Presley, most movies about historical or culturally significant people have that particular person at the center of the story. In Sofia Coppola’s latest film, Priscilla, the focus of the story is not on one of t...

How to Make Your Characters Sound Different on the Page
If you were to take a scene for your latest screenplay, remove the names and read it out loud, would you know which characters were saying which lines? Or do they all kind of sound the same?

How to Start Writing that Christmas Rom-Com Now
Christmas movies shoot throughout the entire year. Even in the 90-degree summers, there will be two characters struggling to find romance walking through down a small town’s Main Street as fake snow fills the frame. As the holiday season approaches, ...

6 Storytelling Lessons from Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'
J. Robert Oppenheimer was a complex person with a complicated life who was tasked with designing the near-impossible. All of this makes him a perfect character study in the new film by Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer focuses on a few periods in the co...

What Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' Teaches You About Screenwriting
What’s it like to be a Barbie girl in a Barbie world? In Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated new movie, Barbie, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director weaves a complex tale of a “Stereotypical” Barbie who experiences an existential crisis and must...

How to Write Action According to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
In a cinematic world where superheroes fly effortlessly through multiple universes and the tentpole summer films have been a staple for decades, how does a movie stand out for its action sequences? For screenwriters, the thought of creating an action...

12 Villains That Every Screenwriter Should Study
Villains come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are hidden behind masks and wielding knives, other times they are conniving and cause destruction. And then, sometimes they’re just mean.

Writing a Family-Friendly Tale? The Little Mermaid Has Lessons for Screenwriters
The Little Mermaid is about a young woman who falls in love with someone who doesn’t know she exists, the dynamic of a father who wants to protect his daughter and how she overcomes impossible odds after being tricked by a sea witch.

Guardians of the Galaxy: How Family, Humor and Music Equal Smash Hit
Who are the Guardians of the Galaxy? Ten years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who knew anything about this group or was even interested in a movie about these unknown characters roaming the galaxy.