Congrats…

…to all those on the "Black List" (the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood); in particular, congrats to Paul Grellong (Manuscript) and Geoff Litwack & Kat Dennings (Your dreams suck). I remember, way back when we were both at Brown, when Paul & I both tried to hand our scripts (he had a "Sopranos" spec, I had TWii, a half-hour comedy pilot) to a nameless Brown alum in the entertainment industry who had come back to speak at en event, who simply refused to even look at them. He/she was kinda mean about it, too. Revenge! Revenge!

No, but srsly, good job, guys.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/12/the_black_list_2008_the_full_l.html

I haven't posted for a few days because I've been in Bacon-Weaving land--the structuring advice provided by Blake Synder's "Save the Cat" has been very helpful. I'm not a big fan of the way "Save the Cat" is marketed--the cover of the book & quotes seem to suggest "writing a screenplay is easy! You can make millions!," while in truth, the helpfulness of the book is directly proportional to the extent that one is already a writer--someone who's comfortable sitting down every day and doing this.

Incidentally, Roger Ebert said, unprompted, "The Bacon-Weaving Axis is one great title" (scroll way down through the comments, or just search for "Bacon" on the page.)

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/siskel_ebert_the_jugular.html

The actual essay is pretty good, too.

Back to work…