From New City Chicago

Humorist Eric Spitznagel publishes Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter. Publishers Weekly calls it "entertaining throughout" -- which is more than can be said for the average porn film. If you don't want to shell out to buy it, you can still read the magazine article on which it's based at Salon.

 

From Absolute Write

When a Hollywood agent wanted her to water down the screenplay for Side Effects, Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau's take on big pharma, she told him to take a hike and shot the movie herself in Wisconsin.

 

From Ain't It Cool News

M. Night Shyamalan talks with Harry Knowles about his move from Disney to Warner's and how his latest script, Lady in the Water, is an experiment in not-structuring a screenplay. (At least I think that's what they talk about; the whole thing reads like it was transcribed by a 1999 voice recognition program. Harry, we love ya, but hire a copy editor already.)

 

From Complications Ensue

TV writer-producer Tom (Oz) Fontana adapts William Goldman's famous Hollywood mantra, "Nobody knows anything," for television and the year 2006: "Anybody who thinks they can tell you now how this is going to work is an idiot. No one knows. No one at the studios, no one at the networks, there is no writer/producer who has a clear sense. We're in virgin territory." (To read the entire interview, visit Complications Ensue and start scrolling.)

 

From BBC News

British TV writer Andrew Davies says sex is central to a good story.

 

From This is London

Screenwriter-directors (and husband-wife team) Paul Mayeda Berges and Gurinder Chadha follow up Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice with another tale of the diaspora. The Mistress of Spices is, they say, "an immigrant's tale about keeping the magic alive."

 

From The Statesman-Journal (Salem, Oregon)

Marking the premiere of Going Through Splat, a documentary about his life, screenwriter Stewart Stern chats online about Hollywood and his work, including such classics as Rebel Without a Cause, The Ugly American, and Sybil.