Screenwriting

By Susan Kouguell

This month, script consultant and writer Susan Kouguell explains when you need an agent and how you go about finding one. Email screenwriter@newenglandfilm.com to have your question answered in next month's issue.

By Jared M. Gordon

Jared Gordon's latest Report from the Front: a screenwriter has to be ready for rewrites, edits, and revisions. But how far is too far?

By Susan Kouguell

In this first installment, professional script consultant Susan Kouguell answers a new writer's most common question: how to break into Hollywood. Email your questions to screenwriter@newenglandfilm.com.

By Maddy Kadish

Writer/director Andy Mitton discusses YELLOWBRICKROAD, a feature horror film en route to Slamdance.

By David Pierotti

Boston’s Tim Cawley explains some budgeting techniques that have fostered his independent film career; his second short film premieres this month at Boston Film Night.

By Mere LaTour

Last month, Mere LaTour explained the benefits of story analysis. This month, she details what happens when a script receives "coverage."

By Kate Fitzgerald

In the second of a two-part series on adaptation, Kate Fitzgerald provides information about negotiating rights from the point of view of a filmmaker and a writer. (Last month, she offered advice on how to shape a screenplay based on a book.)

By Mere LaTour

Mere LaTour describes the benefits of seeking outside help with telling an effective cinematic story, whether fictional or documentary.

By Kate Fitzgerald

In the first of a two-part series on adaptation, Kate Fitzgerald offers advice on how to shape a screenplay based on a book. Next month she'll describe how to secure the rights.

By Raúl daSilva

Industry veteran Raúl daSilva outlines the basics of script writing to help filmmakers assess the framework on which their film will be built.

By Ellen Mills

Screenwriters Diana Dell and Carol Dingle of Malden, MA talk
creativity, collaboration, and how they optioned yet another screenplay.

By Cheryl Eagan-Donovan Eliot Norton Award-winning playwright, screenwriting teacher, and Boston native Jami Brandli checks in from Los Angeles with her thoughts on writing for screen versus stage, wooing Disney execs, and striking.

By David Pierotti The Portsmouth, NH filmmaking team of Thomas and Heidi Tosi transition from shorts into feature filmmaking with Dribbles, screening at two festivals this month.

By Nikki Chase Daphne Valerius tackles beauty, media, and self-image in The Souls of Black Girls, screening at the Roxbury Film Festival this month.

By Randy SteinbergA New England-based screenwriter unloads a bag full of scripts in Los Angeles, again.

By Eric Aron Experimental filmmakers Devon Damonte and Nancy Andrews talk about the making of their films being showcased at the 2002 Maine International Film Festival this month.

By Nancy L. Babine Women in Film & Video/New England wraps its fifth annual screenwriting contest, with top prize to local writer Mary Conroy for The Other War, an exploration of the tragic battle waged on home soil, post-traumatic stress.

By Nicole Roberge Hit screenwriter of Are We There Yet? talks about her transition from Connecticut to Hollywood, making it as a screenwriter, and how to build a lasting career in an uncertain industry.

By Ellen Mills Simmons College graduate Amber Sharp brings her short, Triple Minority, to the Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and her TV pilot, Don’t Go, to the small screen. Both projects forward Sharp’s unique take on sexuality, identity, family, and much more.

By Nikki Chase Director Robert Todd explains how he stumbled upon filmmaking and developed his unique style of visual expression with Interplay, screening at the MFA with the Black Maria Traveling Film Festival this month.

By Nancy L. Babine What do you do with your garbage?  Boston College professor Ernesto Livon-Grosman explores how recycling in his native Buenos Aires has brought economic vitality to the lives of displaced workers in his documentary film, Cartoneros.

By Cheryl Eagan-Donovan Boston Phoenix film critic Gerald Peary talks about his first foray into film, For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, screening as a work-in-progress this month.

By Elizabeth Engel Actor, writer, and musician Michael McGlone brings his latest novel And All the Roses Dying to Somerville, MA this November.

By Ellen Mills Like most film students, Claudia Myers wrote a script. Unlike most film students, Myers’ script Kettle of Fish was made into a feature which she was hired to direct it. The film was released in New York last month and will be shown at the Northampton Film Festival on November 11th.

By Ellen Mills Caitlin McCarthy teaches English by day and writes scripts by night. Of the three feature-length scripts she has written, one is in development and one is a finalist in the screenwriting competition of the Boston International Film Festival this month. McCarthy tells us about her writing habits, the virtues of self promotion and the power of positive thinking.

By Amanda Axelson Local filmmaker Lulu Wang speaks to NewEnglandFilm.com about her latest film, Can-Can, that will be shooting in the Cape this summer.

By Ellen MillsAs screenwriter Chris Bentley prepares for the first staged reading of his script The Arcadian Ideal, he talks about writing, making a living and what happens when actors read his words.

By Randy SteinbergBoston University aims to equip writers with both academic experience and industry expertise during their new intensive summer Screenwriting Institute for aspiring writers.

By Ann JackmanWest 47th Street takes a straightforward look at the rocky road to recovery of those struggling with mental illness.

By Ann Jackman Cinematographer Scott Sniffen talks about the visual challenges of faking reality through the new film, "NOVEM," a fictional documentary about music, relationships, and the link between generations.