Script Pipeline

We were huge fans of writer-director Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we also loved his recent follow-up, Us. Unlike Get Out, which was equal parts horror movie and caustic social satire, Us’s script focuses primarily on genre thrills. That’s not to say that the film is devoid of commentary, mind you. It’s just that the themes and metaphors are less transparent. While Get Out took its influences from The Stepford Wives and its message was a condemnation of a very specific type of racism, Us has more in common with horror classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and Night of the Living Dead: The social commentary exists, but it’s obliquely referenced and open to interpretation (though we definitely have our theories). But the primary driving force instead comes from character, plot, and the typical set pieces inherent in the…

So many elements go into a screenplay that it’s difficult to say which one is the most important (though that hasn’t stopped us in the past). Different genres require different things to succeed, but for a screenwriter just starting out, perhaps the definitive make-it-or-break-it element is voice. “Voice” is that vague amalgam of dialogue (how the characters speak), description (how the screenwriter describes the character’s actions), and theme (what the screenwriter has to say about the world at large) that makes the screenplay feel unique. It’s something that writers develop after putting in tons of time and effort, but it’s the thing that elevates a good or decent script to the next level. It’s how writers get repped, get staffed, and get hired. One of the best recent shows with a strong, unique voice is Search Party. Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter, the show is perhaps…

Because of Halloween, October is the unofficial horror movie month (though, really, it’s our opinion that you can—and should—enjoy them all year round). Released in 2002, The Ring kicked off the early-aughts trend of PG-13 adaptations of Asian horror movies, and it remains one of the scariest movies of this century. Directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Ehren Kruger (with revisions by Scott Frank), The Ring is an Americanized remake of Hideo Nakata’s Ringu. The story follows Rachel Keller (an always amazing Naomi Watts), a reporter who investigates the origins of a cursed video tape after her (and, later, her son) watch it and receive the creepiest phone call of all time: A raspy voice whispering, “Seven days.” What follows are a series of well-executed set pieces that rely more generating dread than surprising its audience with empty jump scares. As a screenplay, The Ring is perhaps the best…

To be completely reductive, every story is about desire. A character wants something so much that they will do whatever it takes to achieve it, and the alternative is inconceivable to them. When writing dark comedy, things become more difficult: The main character’s goals tend to be less than noble, but the audience still needs to care about their journey. If the audience doesn’t empathize or sympathize with the characters, then what’s the point of watching? Set in the early 1990s, On Becoming a God in Central Florida, created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky, walks that fine line. Krystal Stubbs wants stability. She grew up poor, and now that she and her husband have infant daughter, she wants to make sure there’s food on the table and a roof over their heads. As she tells her husband, “I won’t be poor again.” About her husband: Travis wants more. He…

Character, character, character. At its heart, every story is about character. Characters who have wants and needs and flaws. Fleabag has wants. They mostly revolve around sex. Fleabag has needs. Love, specifically. And Fleabag has flaws. Oh my, does she have flaws. Fleabag, created by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the title character, is an equally hilarious and tragic character study of a single, perpetually horny British woman. She doesn’t get a name in the show, but she’s known to the audience as Fleabag. In the pilot, she describes herself as “a greedy, perverted, selfish, apathetic, cynical, depraved, morally bankrupt woman who can’t even call herself a feminist,” and although she’s being overly critical, she’s not far off. Despite all this, Fleabag comes across as charming, in no small part because of Waller-Bridge’s perfect performance. She’s one of the few actresses who can tell you exactly what they’re thinking with…