From The Plain Dealer (Cleveland): As the Munich controversy heats up, screenwriter Tony Kusher responds to the film's critics: "We are living in a world where a great deal of damage is done in the name of certainty." Meanwhile, he works on a gentle children's musical that doubles as an allegory about Hitler.

 

From BBC News: Northern Irish playwright Gary Mitchell is driven from his home and into hiding by a "small minority of idiots."

Thursday, December 22, 2005

 

From By Ken Levine: In his blog, the Emmy-winning writer offers advice on the best shows to spec this season.

 

From Nthposition: On the occasion of Harold Pinter's Nobel, buddy Timeri N. Murari recalls him as a great playwright but a terrible cricket player.

 

From The Simon: Next time you consider joining a screenwriters' group, pick carefully. Pick very, very carefully.

 

From The Guardian: After seeing a production of The Night of the Iguana in London, David Mamet protests "the beatification of Tennessee Williams." We had thought to suggest that Mamet's own plays might not look so hot in forty years time, but, on second thought, we applaud him -- the playwriting world needs less internecine backpatting and more candid criticism. Besides, at Boston's WBUR.org, critic Bill Marx has already given Mamet his comeuppance.

 

From The Evening Standard (London): Screenwriter/director Stephen Gahan stepped off a plane in Beirut and into the dark world of Middle Eastern, oil-driven politics. He survived, and his film Syriana has lived to tell the tale.

 

From the New York Sun: A new biography of playwright Lillian Hellman seeks to rehabilitate her reputation. Not so fast, says another of her biographers.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

 

From Backstage.com: In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, playwright and screenwriter Harold Pinter says the U.S. has "employed language to keep thought at bay" and asks: "What has happened to our moral sensibility? Did we ever have any? What do these words mean? Do they refer to a term very rarely employed these days -– conscience? A conscience to do not only with our own acts but to do with our shared responsibility in the acts of others? Is all this dead? " See also the full text of his speech, or watch the video (Real Player required): High bandwidth or low bandwidth.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

 

From the W.G.A.: Oh, all right. We suppose we have to have a story about the writing of Harry Potter and the Whatever It Is This Time. Here. Everybody happy now?

 

From the Star-Tribune (Minneapolis): Playwright Craig (Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless) Lucas had adapted his plays to film before. But knowing that he'd also be directing The Dying Gaul made all the difference. You can also listen to this American Theatre Wing interview with Lucas about the leap from keyboard to camera. (Audio player required.)

 

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Stephen Chobsky explains how he got the job writing the screenplay for Rent: "I was young, hungry, and cheap."

Saturday, November 12, 2005

 

From Latino Review: Has anybody done a better job of constantly reinventing himself than Steve Martin? Here, he talks about adapting his own novella, Shopgirl, to the screen -- and how comics go about getting praised for their dramatic acting. (Hint: It has something to do with dinner.)

 

From KRON4 (San Francisco): He's back. Former Czech president plans to write new play.

 

From CBS.com: We know why some writers have the time to blog: it's how they avoid real writing. (We excuse ourselves. This isn't a blog, see, it's a gofer. Yeah, that's it.) But how the heck does Cory Miller, Executive Story Editor of "CSI: Miami", find the time to do it? They must make him. In which case, we're glad they do, because his weekly posts are adding up into the most insightful look at the writing of a top TV show we've yet come across.

 

From Script Magazine: As a writer (that is why you're here, isn't it?), you might pick up some useful tips from this essay on how some movies make evil characters likeable. And if you are an evil character, it just might make you feel a whole lot better about yourself.

 

From Stuff (New Zealand): At 71, playwright Alan (The History Boys) Bennett explains why he continues: he's not sure he's any good. Insecurity, he muses, might be "a subconscious strategy you have for making yourself go on. If ever one felt totally accepted and that you had totally hit the mark in your writing, you might not do anything more."

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

 

From The L.A. Times: Soderbergh vs. Shyamalan: two top film storytellers square-off over the future of distribution. Soderbergh is planning six new movies for simultaneous release in theatres and on DVD. Shymalan calls DVDs "souvenirs" of the real thing, and warns that if big-screens disappear, the collective experience of movie-going will too. (Registration may be required. If you like, you can use ours: E-mail: escript@singlelane.com. Password: escript)

 

From The Mercury News: Seven years after Corpus Christi brought him controversy and death threats, playwright Terrence McNally returns to religious matters in Crucifixion. He hasn't mellowed on the subject. (Registration . If you like, use ours: E-mail: escript@singlelane.com. Password: escript)

Sunday, October 02, 2005

 

R.I.P. August Wilson, 1945-2005. From National Public Radio, March, 2004: August Wilson on his discovery of Bessie Smith's "Jelly Roll," and how it launched him as a playwright. (Requires audio player.)