Screenwriting News! Links! Shout-Outs!

An exclusive scene from Sarah Polley's upcoming Away from Her, which is the adaptation of Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came Over The Mountain." It's the story of a couple coming to grips with the onset of memory loss. Here's the official site.

As you may know, Sarah Polley recently won a Canadian Screenwriting Award for best feature film. There was also a recent article about Sarah Polley and her new film in the New York Times.

Away from Her arrives in theatres on May 4.

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MM’s review of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, NY:

Part 1 and Part 2.

I also added EuroScreenwriters and Jump Cut to my sidebar.

-MM

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Around Scribosphere:

Billy Mernit’s 5 STAGES OF FINAL DRAFT WRITING

John August’s Finding out if a book has been optioned

Eddie Copeland’s Centennial Tributes: Fred Zinnemann

Unk’s The Transformational Character Arc… Part 10

David Bordwell on Gag Shots

Dix’s In Defense Of Dead Things (or Dix's Drabble)

Danny Stack’s Beat Sheets Revisited

The Shamus on the imagery of 'Far From The Madding Crowd'

Thanks to Laura Deerfield who pointed out a sensational article called Architectural Representations of the City in Science Fiction Cinema

Bright Lights 56 posted

DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION: Dennis Bench-presses Professor Irwin Corey's Spring Break Quiz

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Around the World:

Jeff Nathanson comments on writing Indy IV
With all the buzz on Frank Darabont's rejected Indiana Jones 4 script, one would almost forget that Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal screenplay writer Jeff Nathanson also spent a year working on a script for the fourth Indy adventure film. Jeff Nathanson recently talked with 'The Los Angeles Times' about his work on Indy 4: "That's one of those movies [Raiders of the Lost Ark] that got me into the movie business," Nathanson tells the 'Los Angeles Times'. "So I had, like the greatest year of my life. I had so much fun." "When you're working on a blockbuster-sized film, it's always a struggle," he explains. "It really is like moving mountains. And if it were easy to move mountains, the Swiss Alps would be in Westwood and all the agents would ski at lunch." iF Magazine adds that while Spielberg blessed the script, as he had with Darabont's draft, it was Lucas who was still holding out for a screenwriting hero to come in a reinvigorate the franchise and passed on Nathanson's draft.

Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz talks about his work on the James Bond films
In DAF, they try to sneak diamonds up the asshole of a corpse and Bond and Felix are looking at it, and Lieter says, "I give up, the diamonds are here somewhere."
Bond says, "Alimentary, my dear Leiter."

And Cubby says, "What the fuck is this?"
It's the alimentary canal, Cubby. It means it's stuck up his ass. He said, "Take it out -- no one will know that." Guy Hamilton said, "Oh no, I like that." So it stayed in the picture.

Cubby and I were at Mann's Chinese standing in the back. It was a full house and Sean says, "Alimentary, my dear Leiter. Out of 1500 people two guys laughed. Cubby looked over to me and said, "Big deal - two doctors."

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing for an International Audience
You'd better have a firm grip on the contemporary American slang if you are a screenwriter drafting the sequel to "Easy Rider."

The 'South Park' guys going for a G? Monstrous!
Matt Stone and Trey Parker team with the screenwriter of 'Pretty Woman' for 'Giant Monsters Attack Japan!' Rubber suits are guaranteed.

SCRIPTLAND: Kyle Ward reaching new Hollywood 'Heights'
As recently as three weeks ago, Kyle Ward was just another assistant at DreamWorks. Until he sold his first screenplay, "Fiasco Heights," to Universal Pictures for Michael Bay to produce. Four days after that, Creative Artists Agency signed him as a client.

Screenmancer’s Interview with Del Reisman
“It took the Screen Writers Guild until 1942, the first big war year, to get their first contract, which was I think was five and a half pages long. (Today, in 2007, it's close to 500 pages, covering every aspect of writers' activity, except the new so-called reality shows.) The one thing they got was the right of the new guild to the exclusive determination of the onscreen writers credit. That was a huge gain. And we still have that. (The companies can recommend what they think the credits should be, but the determination is made by the Guild.) So the founding years were very difficult; there were a lot of writers signed up, and there were only [the] major studios to deal with. There were virtually no independent production companies. And that was the world as it was before TV.”

Tribeca Interview: Gardener of Eden Screenwriter Adam 'Tex' Davis
Cinematical: Watching Gardener of Eden, I couldn't help but sense a Taxi Driver vibe. A little bit of Death Wish too. Did these movies serve as inspiration for you while writing the script?

Adam 'Tex' Davis: Absolutely Taxi Driver, which is probably my favorite movie -- well, not the movie that inspired to make movies; that was Jaws. But once I was becoming more mature and started to really get into movies, Taxi Driver, to me, became the be-all end-all. Especially Scorsese movies; I loved the style of it, the slow burn leading to a big finale. I loved that you had a character that was at times likable, but then at other times not likable. So in crafting the character and story beats, Taxi Driver was definitely the model. The Death Wish thing? Not so much. I mean, I loved the movie as a kid, even though with the sequels -- each one got a little bit more ridiculous. Look, yeah, there's the whole vigilante thing, but I was more inspired by the Bernard Getz vigilante shooting than Death Wish. But Taxi Driver ... absolutely.

Is Your Child Ready for Camp?
Her latest book, "Screenwriting for Teens", was just released in November 2006.She is also a professional ghostwriter with The Penn Group in Manhattan.

New film on Darfur shocks, but who's watching?
"As film-makers and documentarians and authors, you first of all have to mobilize outrage," Terry George, screenwriter of "Hotel Rwanda," said at the panel ...

History of Philosophy Novel Sophie's World to be Filmed
Screenwriter Malle Jensen has been tasked writing the script for the English language version.

TRANSFORMERS, AQUAMAN, RONIN, SPIDER-MAN 3: MAY 2ND COMIC REEL WRAP
Screenwriter Zak Penn talked to Cinematical about what a spin-off film would look like.

Emma Roberts is a Wild Child
The story was informed by the experiences of the screenwriter, who's the daughter of author Roald Dahl and a boarding school alumna.

Kidman to reprise Monroe's role in 'How to Marry a Millionaire' remake
Steven Spielberg's The Terminal screenwriter, Sacha Gervasi has reportedly been signed on to write the screenplay

Is Tom Hanks the $50 Million Man?
What range.) Between the leads, the director and the expensive screenwriter, "Angels and Demons" is shaping up to be one pricey production.

Ebert’s festival is a groovy triumph
She concluded her remarks with words written by a famous screenwriter: “You know, this is his happening, and it freaks him out.”

Life Lessons in the Strangest Places
Screenwriter Angela Pell has an autistic son, so she decided to write a script that would teach us about autism — and about how autism teaches us about life ...

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GreenCine Daily:

Jump Cut. 49.
As if the new issue of Jump Cut weren't offering enough reading on "China and China disapora film," Chuck Kleinhans introducing that special section, adds an annotated list of recently published books for further reading.

Anyone prepping for Cannes, whether or not you'll actually be going, will want to get in the mood for Wong Kar-wai (whose My Blueberry Nights opens the festival) with Allan Cameron's piece on the films "which deal most specifically with cultural translation and travel: Chungking Express (1994), Happy Together (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000) and 2046 (2004)."

Stephen Chow, whose latest, A Hope, has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, has been invited to consult on a Japanese sequel of sorts to Shaolin Soccer, Shaolin Girl. Here, Kin-Yan Szeto examines how Kung Fu Hustle "depicts an imaginary China in ways that commingle various historical and political meanings."

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Cyberscreenwriter:

Create the Next Great Heinz Ketchup TV Commercial

Screenmancer's Brave New Mix of Hollywood Insider Features Debuts
Screenmancer CEO Quendrith Johnson today unveiled a full slate of movie-related news and interviews, "creating a cultural destination on the web that exists to add depth to the current white sugar of information, as known as 'celebrity gossip' out there."
(I got an e-mail from him.

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Slash-Film:

Michael Mann to Direct Leonardo DiCaprio in Hollywood Noir Drama
Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) has revealed his next project to studio executives, a Hollywood-based noir drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio. (…)

Darren Aronofsky to take on Noah’s Ark
Last we heard, Darren Aronofsky was planning a biblical follow-up to the 2006 financially-unsuccessful cult film The Fountain. (…)

Crank 2 will be a SEQUEL
Crank writer/directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine revealed to John over at TMB, that there will be another Crank movie. The big catch: it will be a SEQUEL! (…)

David Goyer to direct Magneto Movie
Blade series helmer David Goyer has signed on to direct the X-Men spinoff film Magneto, for 20th Century Fox. Goyer will develop the 2004 screenplay written by Sheldon Turner. (…)

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Hollywood Reporter:

Academy spreads $500 thousand to nonprofits
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Academy Foundation has awarded a total of $500,250 to 56 film-related nonprofit organizations through its Institutional Grants Program, it announced Tuesday.

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Moviebytes:

MoviePoet.com Announces March, 2007 Contest Winner

IndieProducer.com Announces Contest Winner

Adventures in Screenwriting: A Rose by Any Other Name

WILDsound Announces Finalists

HSI Announces Monthly Contest Winner

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Variety:

'Sahara' case targets book sales
Litigation reveals inflated numbers

Cussler lawyer harps on Anschutz
'Sahara' trial nears end

Paramount plans French productions
Studio will distribute three to five films annually

WB nabs rights to 'Ronin'
White to direct live-action feature

Atkinson, Howitt set for 'Copperfield'
'Johnny' duo onboard classic Dickens novel

Zaillian signs deal with Columbia
Film Rites will produce projects

China spins piracy issue
Says U.S. should increase legal distribution

Renew lauds 20 with fellowships
Recipients include Caouette, Epstein, Jacobs

International films hunt for funding
Atelier helps connect filmmakers, investors

Buddhist Film Festival set to kick off
First Asian edition gets underway May 17

Hollywood goes green
Thompson on Hollywood

New money descends on Hollywood
The Back Lot: Riches in excess

'Bones' up for bidding
Jackson searches for studio deal

Ford to star in third 'Mummy'
Shooting will begin in Montreal July 27

Perabo to cross Disney's 'Border'
Film follows lost Chihuahua in Mexico

Langella continues as Nixon
Actor to star in Howard-directed adaptation

'Electric' jolts Tavernier
Jones to star in book adaptation

'Disturbia' wins weak weekend
Summer sequels around the corner

'Departed', 'Wire' in at Poe awards
King honored as year's Grand Master

Lucas paved way for digital source
SFIFF fetes director with Irving Levin kudos

New Line to remake 'All of Me'
Latifah to star in comedy film

Telefe expands shorts contest
Broadcaster launches 4th edition of 'Cortos'

Halberstam remembered