“How can I be of service?” This is the question I asked myself years ago — and it was the turning point in in my screenwriting career. I stopped trying to please myself in my writing, and started thinking about pleasing others. The question: “What…

I am starting to see a lot more spec sales in the trades!! This makes me very happy. Maybe… FINALLY… Hollywood is looking outside the studio gates for their movie ideas. ’bout time! One recent sale I cited in my seminar last weekend was one…

This summer promises to be a turning point according to Variety editor Peter Bart. In a recent column, Bart points out that the studios will be forcing their will — and their advertising budgets — on the American viewing public with yet another season of…

Here’s Johnny… I have been on tour for the last week “bringin’ the Cat!” to the Chicago area. It’s nice to be back in the blogosphere — please excuse the delay. Had a great book signing at Borders in Deerfield on Friday night. Wow! What…

Here is a great article from the LA Times, spotted by Jim Nakahama. It presents an alternate “Auteur Theory” — that being one that says maybe it’s the screenwriter who should be given the credit as a film’s “creator.” The pros and cons on this…

“Did you know they’re using your book at _______?” This information was whispered to me the other day to let me know that Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need is now officially in use at the studio level. I was…

Every once in a while we aspiring screenwriters question our methods. If Hollywood is making a lot of “high concept” movies that fail, is the high concept movie dead? And in a world that is changing, where movies might soon be seen on iPods instead…

Those new to this site and the Save the Cat! oeuvre, will no doubt wonder what The Board is. We have a couple of pictures posted of smiling seminar students in front of their Boards, and what a happy bunch they are! The Board is…