People & News

The Buzz
Startup web service Your Insider seeks to connect screenplays and buyers.

Plus, a report on the Cannes coming-out party for Charlie Kaufman's Synedoche, New York.

Anatomy of a Spec Sale
Arena's Darren Howell gambled on a pitch fest and won a writing partner and a sale.

Breaking In
Prison time paid off for funnyman Darryl Francis and Tow Truck.

POV
Former Friday Night Lights writer Aaron Thomas talks about the intersection of race and writing.

Why I Write
For Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor, Day After Tomorrow), a writing assignment became an opportunity to direct.

Eyes on the Prize
Screenwriting contests from July through the end of the year.

Lost Scenes: American Beauty
Alan Ball's 1999 American Beauty always had a whodunit element, but in the original draft, that mystery took away from the character-driven aspect. We examine some of the final cuts Ball had to make on his Oscar-bound journey.

Book Review
"And the Best Screenplay Goes To..."
by Linda Seger

Last Words
Recount recounts the moment history turned.

Now Playing

The Wackness
Writer-director Jonathan Levine time-warps back to the early days of hip-hop with this 1990s coming-of-age love story filled with hope, disappointment and ultimately one character's ability to be comfortable in his own skin.
BY JEFF GOLDSMITH

Trumbo
Christopher Trumbo brings his acclaimed stage play to the big screen as a documentary about his father, Dalton, and how the Hollywood blacklist affected the families of those forbidden from doing what they loved most.
BY DAVID MICHAEL WHARTON

Pineapple Express

Screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, inspired by a story from producer Judd Apatow, light up the screen with a weed-fueled action comedy that will score with audiences.

BY JEFF GOLDSMITH

Frozen River
Sundance winner Courtney Hunt came by her knack for authentic dialogue in an unusual way—by poring over the transcripts of murder trials.
BY AMY DAWES

Hancock
In a summer filled with comic-book role models, co-writer Vince Gilligan of TV's The X-Files made the most obnoxious and offensive superhero possible.
BY PETER CLINES

Towelhead
Six Feet Under's Alan Ball adapts a novel about an Arab-American teen girl whose sexuality gets a lot of attention.
BY DANNY MUNSO

Hamlet 2
For Andrew Fleming and co-writer Pam Brady, writing a comedy about revisiting the Bard's classic drama wasn't business. This time, it was personal...
BY PETER CLINES

Step Brothers
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell team up yet again for a comedy about middle-aged louts who go to war with each other when their parents' new marriage makes them Step Brothers.
BY DAVID MICHAEL WHARTON

Tropic Thunder
Ben Stiller teams up with pals Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen to bring his passion project to the big screen almost 20 years after its conception.
BY DANNY MUNSO

Choke
Chuck Palahniuk's novel about a sexually deranged guy trying to make sense of his relationship with his mentally tweaked mom hits the big screen in an adaptation by writer-director Clark Gregg.
BY PETER DEBRUGE

Columns

Agent's Hot Sheet
It's a Zoo Out There
The spec market is back with a vengeance. But can the momentum be sustained? And what does it mean for emerging writers?
BY JIM CIRILE

Our Craft
Nuggets of Wisdom
The best advice I've ever heard.
BY KARL IGLESIAS

The XX Factor
Girls Gone Wild
Can Mamma Mia ignite the global box office?
BY AMY DAWES

Guest Column
Scripting Historical Drama
How much fact, how much fiction?
BY TINA ANDREWS