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And Then…And Then…Oh, Wait
From Betty: If you hear the words, “And then,” or “Oh, wait,”: or “I forgot,” coming out of your mouth while describing your movie…you’re L.O.S.T. A pitch should never, ever include any of those words. NEVER. Clearly, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. If you have properly gone through the Prewrite process,…
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72 Hours vs 48 Hrs.
From Betty: I haven’t met a single person yet who doesn’t adore Marcello Hernández. Some might even argue he’s the next Eddie Murphy…Hollywood agrees. Attempting to recreate 48 HRS. (which coupled the established Nick Nolte with the newcomer Eddie Murphy, solidifying Murphy’s film foundation) Hollywood decided to slap together a buddy movie starring the established…
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Thank You and Goodbye David Trottier
From Wally: On March 24, 2026, a remarkable friend—to me and to the entire screenwriting community—passed away. David Trottier… known to many of you as Dr. Format and the author/creator of The Screenwriter’s Bible. I met Dave at a screenwriter’s conference, one of many I attended, in and around Southern California. He was one of…
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Bait and Switch
From Betty: Starting your screenplay with a dream sequence? Might want to rethink this. Dream sequences are fun…especially in the middle of a movie. But beware when beginning your screenplay with a dream. I had a student turn in a screenplay to be read and I happened to see the first page. I loved it!…
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Writing Stories and Writing Screenplays
From Wally: One thing I see with new screenwriters is their propensity to tell the story, rather than show me the story. Remember, you are not writing a novel… you’re scripting a story. If you’ve done your prewrite, you’ve written a treatment, a scriptment, or filled out a beat sheet… in other words you have…
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What’s Wrong With This Picture?
From Wally: In our classes, our job is to help novice screenwriters learn the difference between writing a novel and writing a screenplay. When writing a novel, we have all the choices and all of the words at our disposal. Our screenplay, though, has a format. Here is an example of first drafts that we…
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More Than “Just Math”
From Betty: I saw DISCLOSURE DAY this week and had mixed feelings. It was good. Great premise, very exciting ending, Emily Blunt was hilarious…but why was I nodding off in the middle? After the movie, my son turned to me and said, “I totally didn’t care about the middle of the movie, but the beginning…
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A-Story/B-Story
From Wally: We have all heard the term A-story and B-story… But what do they mean? What’s their function? The A-story is what the film is about (or in a series, what the episode is about), AKA the primary story. The B-story (or subplot) is a secondary story that unfolds as the A-story progresses. The…
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Power Ballad
From Betty: I just saw the movie POWER BALLAD and I wanted to say a few words about writing a movie about a song or where the song is the theme. Just stop. Don’t do it. Unless you are John Carney who wrote and directed the movie ONCE and owned the rights to the Oscar…
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A Word About REDUNDANCY
From Betty: Don’t write anything in your screenplay twice. Don’t put in the description: Debbie takes off her hat, exposing her long blonde hair.Then have her best friend say:Wow. Your hair is so long. I wish I had blonde hair! Instead, you can say something like: Description: Debbie takes off her hat and shakes out…