Writing Romantic Comedies

Stumble It!

Good article on rom-coms by Michael Hauge.  I’ve got a copy of Michael’s book sitting on my book shelf, no more than two feet from me as I type this…and it’s a great read!

    

Because of their enduring popularity and moderate cost (compared to special effects extravaganzas), and because they consistently offer strong roles for both men and women, a well written romantic comedy script is one of the best ways possible to launch or advance your screenwriting career. Since the release of SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE in 1993, there hasn’t been a single year in which at least one romantic comedy didn’t surpass the $100 million dollar mark.More important to you as a screenwriter, director or producer, the best romantic comedies are not only funny, sexy and entertaining, they provide you with a wonderful opportunity for exploring deeper levels of inner conflict, character growth and theme.Certainly dramas, period pieces, biographies and dramatic love stories can also achieve thematic depth and complexity, but these rarely reach the huge mass audience that romantic comedies consistently attract. And while action films, thrillers and science fiction deal primarily with physical courage, romantic comedies force their heroes to develop the emotional courage necessary to expose their innermost fears and weaknesses.Using the top-grossing romantic comedies of all time as examples, I want to explore the unique ways the screenplays for these movies use principles of story, structure and character growth to elicit emotion and enlighten the audience. (To see the list, click on the link to the left.)THE ELEMENTS OF ROMANTIC COMEDYThe following are the distinguishing elements that separate romantic comedy from the other genres of film…(continued)

 

TO READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL CLICK HERE

 Cheers!
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
EMAIL ME HERE

 

 

Free Screenwriting Software (the World’s Best)

Stumble It!

 

There are numerous screenwriting programs out there, but for my mind there is only one worth using: Movie Magic Screenwriter.

I’ve been using this software since way back when it was known as ScriptThing, and was the poor orphan cousin of Final Draft (Hollywood’s 2nd biggest software package).

Well boy oh boy haven’t things changed now!

A great screenwriting program should do everything that you, as a writer, don’t want to do. And it should do it at the click of a mouse, without your having to think about it. That way a trained monkey can learn to use the program WITHIN 5 MINUTES…and actually get stuck into writing their next spec script, and NOT spend days / weeks trying to figure out what Control L does to an index card view screen. 

A great screenwriting program also has to be scalable though, so the pros can use it.  Because while the basic stuff might impress a newbie…it needs some *grunt* to impress the pros. And yup, you guessed it, Movie Magic impresses EVERYONE.

But any-hoo, I don’t work for Write Brothers Inc (the guys who make Movie Magic) so don’t take my word for it. Have a squiz at what some other folks have to say about it, and check it out for yourself.  They even allow you to download a FREE demo of Movie Magic to try before you buy.  Neat huh…

—–
I’ve tried most of the competing programs, and found Movie Magic Screenwriter to be far and away the best and most intuitive of the bunch. It’s straightforward enough that a new user can start writing perfectly formatted screenplays within moments of installing it. And it has powerful outlining and production features for those who need them. A perfect program, I will not write without it. “

— Evan Katz Exec Producer, “24” and “JAG”
——————————————————————————–
“I’ve used Movie Magic Screenwriter for many years. Nothing is as simple, powerful, intuitive and versatile. And the support is outstanding.”

“Writing for “24” is hard enough. Thank God we’ve got Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 that let’s us get our ideas down with maximum ease. ”

— Manny Coto, Executive Producer, “24”, “Enterprise” and “The Outer Limits”
——————————————————————————–
“I’ve used Movie Magic Screenwriter for many years. Nothing is as simple, powerful, intuitive and versatile. And the support is outstanding.”
 
Paul Haggis, Writer, Director,Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers, Crash (Best Picture & Best Original Screenplay 2005, Million Dollar Baby (Best Picture 2004)
——————————————————————————–
“Movie Magic Screenwriter is the gold standard throughout the Hollywood studio system…. Superior program for addressing the challenges of production rewrites. There is no better screenwriting software on the market.”
 
Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, Writers, Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, & 3, Shrek, Aladdin, Mask of Zorro
——————————————————————————–
“I was the typewriter machine kind of guy and for several years I refused to switch to a computer. I thought it was going to be difficult and messy. But lot of friends finally convinced me. I bought my computer and: it was impossible to write a decent screenplay. I was always fighting the keyboard, with bad results, until someone recommended Movie Magic Screenwriter to me. Bingo! Suddenly everything became easy and professional and clean and…perfect. Movie Magic Screenwriter allowed me to concentrate on my writing, not on the keyboard. Now, all of my friends have switched to Movie Magic Screenwriter and we are very, very happy with it.”

Guillermo Arriaga, Writer, Babel, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, 21 Grams, Amores Perros
——————————————————————————–
“Movie Magic Screenwriter is the most intuitive and flexible screenwriting software on the market today.”

Michael Goldenberg, Writer/ Director,Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Contact, Bed Of Roses
 ——————————————————————————– 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MOVIE MAGIC CLICK HERE

Cheers!
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com