Premiere: The 3 O'Clock

Don't forget to join us after work!

THE PREMIERE OF THE 3 O'CLOCK AT REEL ARTS 6 IS TONIGHT, APRIL 6 AT 6PM.

Tucson's own Coyote Moon Films has taken the next step toward feature film production in southern Arizona with our hilarious new comedy.

Come see the first screening of The 3 O'Clock, written by Phoenix writer and nationally known playwright Michael Grady and starring Tucson talents: Mike Yarema, Betsy Kruse Craig and Bill Hubbard.

Reel Arts 6 is located at the Crossroads Cinema on 4811 E. Grant Rd. Tucson.

Visit www.CoyoteMoonFilms.com for more information on The 3 O'Clock and other Coyote Moon productions.

Writing Advice: John Steinbeck

Brain Pickings has a list of six tips on writing by Nobel laureate John Steinbeck. Among his advice: don't revise or edit until you've finished the rough draft, don't take your "generalized audience" into account (individuals read books), say your dialogue aloud to make sure it sounds like dialogue. Read the entire piece here.

Loglines

Loglines are an important step in marketing your screenplay. You have about three lines to convey something about your main character, the plot, and whatever other key information about your script that might set it apart from (and above) the competition.

Threelinesorless has a logline competition that could provide you with opportunities to improve your logline writing skills. Even if you don't enter their competition, a look at some of their past finalists could help give you an idea of what constitutes a good logline.

Breaking Down a Screenplay

FilmSlate blogger Deborah Osment wrote an article recently about how (and why) to break down a screenplay. It's short, but helpful.

"For me, breaking down a script is another step in catching the mistakes I made while writing that script," she writes.

Screenplay Adaptation

Beau Willimon wrote the play Farragut North, which forms the basis of the George Clooney film The Ides of March. Willimon is interviewed in The Atlantic about his history in politics and the journey of his play to the screen.

When are you a writer?

John Scalzi has a post on his blog in which he answers three questions:

When can you call yourself a writer?
When can you call yourself a professional writer?
When can you call yourself a good writer?

It's a good read, and recommended for anyone concerned about the answers.

Robert Hestand

Last year, Robert Hestand sent ScriptDoctor a note with a glowing recommendation of our services:

I just wanted to say that I was extremely thankful for the quality of your service, as well as the quick turnaround, and I won’t hesitant to recommend you (and your company) to friends and colleagues.

I appreciated the fact that you encourage writers to “own” their rewrite, rather than telling the writer what is “right or wrong” with the story. Personally, it allowed me to approach my next pass with a sense of discovery rather than a sense of correction.

He had significant plans for the script he sent to ScriptDoctor Howard Allen:

With THE N WORD, I utilized your review and synthesized it with additional coverage, in turn combining that with critiques from friends (and we all know how “honest” those are…), and executed a much stronger draft. My primary goal with this spec is to showcase my talent by (hopefully) placing in several contests and securing representation.

We've received word from Robert that his screenplay, The N Word, has placed in several competitions:

- 2nd Place, 2011 MoviePoet annual contest
- Finalist, 2011 WriteMovies contest
- Semi-Finalist, 2011 StoryPros contest
- 2nd Place, 2011 ScriptVamp "Attention Grabber" contest
- Scriptshark Scouting Qualifier

Congratulations, Robert!