Advice — d.b. gilles

I know a lot of comedy writers.Some are funnier than others both in daily life and on the page. More often than you’d imagine, the funniest scripts are written by men and women who aren’t that much fun to be around. They can “write” funny, but not “be” very funny during normal life. Some are downright boring while others are depressed and a drag to be around. Likewise, some of the funniest writers I know are hilarious when they’re hanging out with friends or one on one, but they aren’t funny on paper. Because they were so funny, early in...

I know over five hundred screenwriters - maybe more - ranging in age from 18 to 76, at all levels, from those just starting out to a bunch that've gotten deals, sold scripts and had movies made. They include friends, former students, colleagues, pen pals, clients and acquaintances. Some have good writing habits, some don't. Actually, most don't. Hell, I don't. But in fairness, there are reasons and they can be lumped together under one big umbrella. The majority of us are Short Attention Span Screenwriters. For one reason or another (or several) we're writing, but without enough focus. I've...

-- About The Screenwriter Who Decided To Write A Comedy? There was a moment in your life when you acknowledged to yourself that you were funny. Maybe you were trying to be funny. Maybe you weren't. Maybe it just slipped out. But somebody laughed. It might have happened when you were in second grade, a freshman in high school, senior year in college or when you were out of school and into a career. Somebody laughed. You liked saying funny things. Maybe you even loved it. Getting laughs did something to you. Maybe it built up your confidence. Made you...

2004: On the TV show The Apprentice 16 young entrepreneurial types compete to be the apprentice to Donald Trump. It's a truly coveted position because it means learning from a master. For those who don't succeed, their fate is summed up in two words at the end of the show. "You're fired!" 1940: Fantasia opens. Mickey Mouse stars in The Sorcerers Apprentice. Logline: A Sorcerer's young apprentice attempts to practice magic in his master's absence, with disastrous results. Theme: Never underestimate the value of age and experience 1545: The Middle Ages - a brief history. The majority of the people...

You wake up one morning with a great idea for a movie about a guy in his late sixties-to-early-seventies. The concept pours out of you like a dream. You go to your computer. Before lunch you've done a rough outline of the first act. By dinner you've mapped out Act Two. By the time you go to bed you've got a decent third act, even though you're not exactly sure how it's going to end. All day long you're thinking that it would be a great vehicle for Clint Eastwood. Or Dustin Hoffman. Or Robert Redford. Maybe your idea is...