John Henderson
Screenwriter
Books, Links, etc.
There is a lot of information on the web and in mega-bookstores on how
to be a screenwriter. Most of it (IMO) is useless. Tip: Stay clear of
any screenwriting book written by anyone who has never sold a script.
The
following books and websites have practical,
need-to-know-before-you-even-submit-a-script information:
Books
"The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script" by David Trottier
"Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!" by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant
Websites
Writers Guild of America, West
Screenplays on the Web
Drew's
Script-O-Rama
myPDFscripts
Some of my favorite screenplays (in no particular order):
Midnight Run
George Gallo
Used Cars
Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis
Get Shorty
Scott Frank - based on the novel by Elmore Leonard
Annie Hall
Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Shane Black - based (in part) on the novel "Bodies Are Where You Find Them" by Brett Halliday
Chinatown
Robert Towne
Hot Fuzz
Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg
Casablanca
Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch - based on the play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" by Murray Bennett & Joan Alison
His Girl Friday
Charles Lederer - based on the play "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur
After Hours
Joseph Minion
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino - stories by Roger Avary & Quentin Tarantino