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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Freeform's 'Single Drunk Female' offers catharsis with a shot of comedy

February 28, 2022

Single Drunk Female is out to redefine the term "hot mess". After Samantha Fink has a very public breakdown and is fired from her job at Bzzz (an allusion to Buzzfeed not so cryptically hidden) she’s forced to move back home and finally face her addi...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘Kimi’ tells a psychological thriller in pandemic times

February 25, 2022

Lately, movies have fewer locations, smaller casts and have hinted on the pandemic world we’ve found ourselves in. The film industry is adjusting, not just with set protocols, but storylines as well. Movies like Locked Down and TV shows like This Is ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘Encanto’ offers storytelling lessons beyond animated features

February 18, 2022

In the mountains of Colombia, every Madrigal family member is blessed with a unique, magical power. Luisa has the power of strength. Antonio recently acquired the ability to communicate with animals. For a handful of generations, this family living i...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways for an Anti-Valentine's Day Week: 'The Beta Test'

February 16, 2022

It’s Valentine’s Day week and that means endless ads to buy flowers and declare your love for someone — or sit at home, eat ice cream, and watch a romantic comedy. But as much as I believe in the power of love on screen, sometimes you just need a cau...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘Moonfall’ and 25+ years of Roland Emmerich disaster films

February 12, 2022

The moon has suddenly shifted off its orbit and is poised to crash into the earth. In a movie world where meteors and aliens are constantly trying to destroy the earth, why not create a story where the moon becomes the enemy?

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Hulu's 'Pam & Tommy'

February 7, 2022

It's 1995. Bill Clinton is in office (it's three years before the Lewinsky scandal). Hard Copy pulls great ratings, and Americans tolerate dial-up and chat rooms for the internet on home desktop computers. Meanwhile, Pamela Anderson had already grace...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘Munich: The Edge of War’ explores the possibility of stopping World War II

February 4, 2022

What if you could stop World War II? That thought is what lies behind the story of Munich: The Edge of War, which follows two friends who, at the cusp of Germany’s takeover of the Sudetenland, find themselves with the ear of two of the world’s foremo...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'And Just Like That' delivers slow burn

February 1, 2022

Re-booting a classic is not easy, And Just Like That has caught a lot of flack for taking the beloved characters from Sex and the City and giving audiences a glimpse into a less than picture-perfect look at sex, love and aging. But, when a show can s...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘Scream’ makes a self-aware sequel/reboot

January 21, 2022

What’s a requel? It’s sort of like a sequel, but also something like a reboot. It’s what Halloween did when it brought back Jamie Lee Curtis or what the Saved by the Bell show did when rebooting the series. This is what Scream, the latest film in the...