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"Dennis Haysbert agreed to star in my feature film. Sundance welcomed me into its Producer's Workshop. All because they loved my spec TV pilot Oyster Times, which was dramatically improved by Joe Gilford's thoughtful and incisive analysis. Joe provided detailed notes on restructuring, advancing the conflict, redefining characters, making the story more relevant to current events—all without hurting my feelings! No matter how great you think your script is, Joe Gilford will make it better in ways beyond your imagination." |
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Skye K. Dent screen & television writer |
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CONTACT: |
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—Woody Allen |
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Craft |
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WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?
YOU ALREADY KNOW You’ve been watching movies and TV all your life. So you already know many of the basic principles of dramatic writing. You also know what you enjoy and admire in films. Story Rescue helps apply your intuitive knowledge to the ages-old principles of dramatic writing.
THE STORY IS ALWAYS BEING TOLD One of the most common mistakes aspiring screenwriters make is not telling the story. This means that as the action unfolds, many writers allow their story to falter, slow down and become dull. Solving this problem is simply a matter of sticking to one basic rule: “ALWAYS BE TELLING THE STORY.” Every good movie does this. But it’s another matter to learn how it’s done.
NOT “FORMULA”—–CRAFT! Unfortunately, dramatic writing is not like cabinetry. There is no absolute formula. However, as in cabinetry, there are fundamental principles of craft that we can follow in order to create a dramatic story; a story that does what it needs to do—excite and engage the audience. This audience also includes actors, directors and producers.
ART v. COMMERCE Believe it or not, your script can be artistic AND commercial. Somehow, a myth has developed that these two qualities are in opposition. Some of the most commercially successful scripts are also the most artistic. This runs the full spectrum from “Dumb & Dumber” to “Chinatown” to “Breaking the Waves” to “The Sopranos” and long running sitcoms like “Friends.”
Good stories are simply GOOD and appeal to a wide audience.
Sounds easy, but this is where the hard work begins.
After years of writing and teaching I have come upon an approach that I feel works for many writers, including me. It has also served me well as a screenwriting teacher since 1999 with hundreds of students.
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