Julian Friedmann is co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and was the publisher of ScriptWriter magazine. At the agency, he has represented both book and scriptwriters for over 40 years and also acts as Executive Producer for and with clients. Julian is a TEDx speaker and is the author of the Make Money Screenwriting series, co-author of The Insider’s Guide to Writing for Television, and editor of two volumes on Writing Long-Running Television series.
He has taught at universities and film schools all over the world. He designed the MA in Television Scriptwriting at De Montfort University, and PILOTS (for developing long-running television series) for the EU MEDIA Programme.
Aimed at filmmakers, this guide is also invaluable to screenwriters, who can use it as a reference book covering all the contracts that are involved in making a film or TV drama. It will certainly help writers appear more professional if they know their way around this essential area of the business.
There is an infinite number of legal matters on which producers seek advice. Nevertheless, certain questions frequently arise: is permission required to use material from a book? Does a contract have to be in writing? May classical music be used in the background of a scene? The Filmmakers' Legal Guide addresses the practical legal requirements of those making movies, documentaries, shorts, television programmes and other audio-visual content. Key issues are analysed and explained in a clear and logical manner concentrating on the practical needs of producers.
'Tony Morris’ guide is unique. It's clear, practical, and comprehensive. If only it had…
Julian Friedmann is co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and was the publisher of ScriptWriter magazine. At the agency, he has represented both book and scriptwriters for over 40 years and also acts as Executive Producer for and with clients. Julian is a TEDx speaker and is the author of the Make Money Screenwriting series, co-author of The Insider’s Guide to Writing for Television, and editor of two volumes on Writing Long-Running Television series.
He has taught at universities and film schools all over the world. He designed the MA in Television Scriptwriting at De Montfort University, and PILOTS (for developing long-running television series) for the EU MEDIA Programme.
A wonderful book that looks at the psychological bases for the development of sophisticated characters in screenplays. Don’t be afraid of writing complex characters: they are more effective in engaging the audience and this book will help you achieve that.
The Science of Writing Characters is a comprehensive handbook to help writers create compelling and psychologically-credible characters that come to life on the page. Drawing on the latest psychological theory and research, ranging from personality theory to evolutionary science, the book equips screenwriters and novelists with all the techniques they need to build complex, dimensional characters from the bottom up. Writers learn how to create rounded characters using the 'Big Five' dimensions of personality and then are shown how these personality traits shape action, relationships and dialogue.
Throughout The Science of Writing Characters, psychological theories and research are translated into…
I’ve
been a student of story structure for decades. As a novelist, this initially
started as a means to learn as much as I could from those with more experience
than myself, but quickly grew into a passion. I read everything on the subject
I could get my hands on and eventually began analyzing the plots of novels and
movies for myself, amalgamating what I had learned with my own theories and
insights which coalesced into a wholly new structural paradigm. Since then,
I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented screenwriters and
novelists to help them shape their stories using Six Act Structure.
Most
of the books on this list aren’t strictly about story
structure but instead combine unique storytelling insights with innovative
structural concepts. Topping the list in that regard is Film Crit Hulk’s Screenwriting
101. Equal parts writing guide and manifesto against overused storytelling
techniques like 3-Act Structure and the Hero's Journey, his emotional approach
to structuring stories is perhaps the most thought-provoking I’ve encountered.
Unfortunately, the book is currently out-of-print, though I have heard that
Hulk (a pseudonym, obviously) intends to release a second edition in the
future. Fingers crossed.
This is currently out of print, but a new edition is expected soon.
I’m a lawyer. One thing effective trial attorneys learn to do is become “pretend experts” in any area necessary for a case. It might be orthopedic medicine, commercial building design, auto accident reconstruction, or a thousand other subjects. In 1996, when I started writing my first novel, The List, I decided to become a “pretend expert” in the field of story-telling. Twenty books later, I’ve worked hard to make the transition to actual expert, someone who’s studied the craft of writing so I can create a story with professionalism and skill. These books aren’t the only ones I’ve read on this topic, but they’re some of the best.
This book will keep a writer from chasing his or her own tail. The last thing a novelist wants a reader to do is start skimming. Instead of getting bogged down in muddy story development, learn how to create a clear, engaging arc for both plot and characters. Filled with practical examples gleaned from film and bookshelf, this book can save your story and make it pop.
Here’s what started the phenomenon: the best seller, for over 15 years, that’s been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny and candid look inside the movie business. “Save the Cat” is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, including: The four elements of every winning logline The seven immutable laws of screenplay physics The 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by ― and why they’re important to your script Why your Hero must serve your Idea Mastering the…
Julian Friedmann is co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and was the publisher of ScriptWriter magazine. At the agency, he has represented both book and scriptwriters for over 40 years and also acts as Executive Producer for and with clients. Julian is a TEDx speaker and is the author of the Make Money Screenwriting series, co-author of The Insider’s Guide to Writing for Television, and editor of two volumes on Writing Long-Running Television series.
He has taught at universities and film schools all over the world. He designed the MA in Television Scriptwriting at De Montfort University, and PILOTS (for developing long-running television series) for the EU MEDIA Programme.
No-nonsense book about what makes a good script. Writers find it particularly difficult avoiding flashbacks and voice-overs, and can’t always find ways of showing rather than telling. Michael demonstrates how to build the obstacles so your sympathetic character has increasing problems battling against the odds before they finally achieve their goal.
“No one is better than Michael Hauge at finding what is most authentic in every moment of a story.” —Will Smith
“Michael Hauge is a story master, and this book is an absolute must have for anyone serious about telling great stories for the screen.” —DeVon Franklin, Vice-President of Production, Columbia Pictures
Concise, authoritative, and comprehensive, Writing Screenplays that Sell is the most complete guide available on the art, craft, and business of screenwriting for movies and television. Renowned Hollywood story consultant Michael Hauge—considered “one of the most sought after lecturers and script consultants in the U.S.” by Scriptwriter magazine—covers…
I love mystery novels and crime films and Perplexing Plots explores the tricks and techniques that writers use to conjure up fantastic plot twists.
The author is an academic but I found this book easy to read as well as informative, entertaining, and astonishingly insightful. I’ve read a lot of books and articles about the crime genre, but I enjoyed this more than any other. Best of all, it left me with a great list of future reading.
Narrative innovation is typically seen as the domain of the avant-garde. However, techniques such as nonlinear timelines, multiple points of view, and unreliable narration have long been part of American popular culture. How did forms and styles once regarded as "difficult" become familiar to audiences?
In Perplexing Plots, David Bordwell reveals how crime fiction, plays, and films made unconventional narrative mainstream. He shows that since the nineteenth century, detective stories and suspense thrillers have allowed ambitious storytellers to experiment with narrative. Tales of crime and mystery became a training ground where audiences learned to appreciate artifice. These genres demand a…
As a writer, you come up with a lot of ideas, and some of them don’t fit the mold.
The message is usually not to mix genres. But in his new book, Calico, Lee Goldberg melds a police procedural with an old-fashioned western, and created an explosive time-travel thriller everyone’s going to want to read.
Any Goldberg novel entertains, but this one will blow your mind.
I’m a professional screenwriter with a passion for story structure. I’ve worked on film & TV projects for more than 25 years – not only as a writer for independent producers and studios such as Warner and Universal – but also as a development exec and creative consultant. Over time, I was shocked to see how many talented storytellers felt stuck between prescriptive paradigms and a “seat-of-the-pants” approach. So I set out to fill that void and defined a more flexible yet powerful method in my first book, Screenwriting Unchained, which I’ve now enthusiastically applied to TV series. I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have!
Another insightful overview of the TV development process, this time from a writer’s point of view.
This is primarily from a U.S. perspective, but one chapter gives a view of fifteen other countries, which is rare. Pamela Douglas offers the TV equivalent of Syd Field’s Screenplay. She lays out with great clarity the way TV episode structure is taught today – although I believe that talented and successful creators often use other tools to design their series.
From a practical point of view, this book is more useful if you’re developing a network procedural than if you’re developing a serial on ad-free streaming or premium channels, but it’s one of the best books out there if you’d like to explore what I call story format (rather than structure) in TV.
This revised and updated edition is a complete resource for anyone who wants to write and produce for television drama series or create an original series, as well as for teachers in screenwriting classes and workshops. It leads the reader step-by-step through every stage of the development and writing process, offering practical industry information and artistic inspiration. The Fourth Edition leads readers into the future and engages provocative issues about the interface between traditional TV and emerging technologies. It’s also the single most comprehensive source on what is happening in original television drama around the world, with surveys of 15…
I was lucky enough not only to get published in my thirties, I also got a film deal for those first two books. I was flown to Hollywood and it was all very grand. However, what they did to my stories in translating them into film scripts horrified me. And ruined them. And the films never got made. I started to look deeper into what ‘experts’ did, and it was awful. I became obsessed with how stories work, developed my own ‘knowledge gap’ theory, proved it through my Ph.D. research, and became a story consultant in the industry. Story theory has completely taken over my life and I love it!
This was the first story theory book I read and it was hugely influential on me, because it is probably the definitive work in terms of a formulaic, structural approach to story.
This book gave me a depth of knowledge of the traditional approach to story theory, but also a clear understanding of how people in the film industry are going about their work today. It is all wrong, in my opinion, but it is also the truth of what is going on.
It is wrong because a story does not begin with structure. A story begins in the mind, and a structure arrives later once the story is present. This book set me on my journey to find an alternative to structure.
Structure is Character. Characters are what they do. Story events impact the characters and the characters impact events. Actions and reactions create revelation and insight, opening the door to a meaningful emotional experience for the audience. Story is what elevates a film, a novel, a play, or teleplay, transforming a good work into a great one. Movie-making in particular is a collaborative endeavour - requiring great skill and talent by the entire cast, crew and creative team - but the screenwriter is the only original artist on a film. Everyone else - the actors, directors, cameramen, production designers, editors, special…
I’ve
been a student of story structure for decades. As a novelist, this initially
started as a means to learn as much as I could from those with more experience
than myself, but quickly grew into a passion. I read everything on the subject
I could get my hands on and eventually began analyzing the plots of novels and
movies for myself, amalgamating what I had learned with my own theories and
insights which coalesced into a wholly new structural paradigm. Since then,
I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented screenwriters and
novelists to help them shape their stories using Six Act Structure.
I
read Alexandra’s book years ago and she’s since released several revised
editions. This book provides an insightful history of the 3-act and eight
sequence structures she uses, and offers invaluable insight into overcoming the
pitfalls of the dreaded “second-act sag”. But perhaps the most important lesson
her book instilled in me is the importance of taking the time to analyze the
structure of your own favorite movies and novels to understand why they
resonate with you. She calls this your Master List and it’s a tool that every
writer should have in their toolbox to improve their craft.
Are you finally committed to writing that novel or screenplay, but have no idea how to get started? Or are you a published author, but know you need some plotting help to move your books and career up to that next level? You CAN write better books and scripts—by learning from the movies. Screenwriting is based on a simple (and powerful) structure that you already know from watching so many movies and television shows in your lifetime. And it's a structure that your reader or audience unconsciously expects, and is crucial for you to deliver. In this textbook of the…
