by Trevor Mayes | Jan 5, 2012 | Concept, Humor, Industry Terms, Reader Questions
Reader Questions: Tentpole vs. High Concept I received some good questions from Lauren the other day: What is the difference between a ten-pole [sic] movie and a high concept movie? Or do they always work together? Is there a minimum budget or max budget? A...
by Trevor Mayes | Oct 8, 2011 | Concept, Critique, Miscellaneous, Plagiarism
When we think of people like James Cameron, Darren Aronofsky, the Wachowski brothers, Tarantino… many words come to mind: visionaries, geniuses, mavericks, thieves — wait, what? Thieves? The experts at CRACKED.com have come up with another excellent...
by Trevor Mayes | Mar 27, 2011 | Concept, Diversions, Humor, Writing
A friend sent me this excerpt from a recent interview with David E. Kelley (Harry’s Law, Boston Legal, Boston Public, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope, L.A. Law). It highlights an important mindset to have when crafting scenes: L.A. Law is where we first...
by Trevor Mayes | Mar 20, 2011 | Concept, Writing
Where’s the Juice? This post deals with an all too common question that I find myself asking…? Where’s the juice of your script! Where’s that clever story element that provides the potent entertainment value and killer box office potential? In...
by Trevor Mayes | May 30, 2010 | Characters, Concept, Plot, Structure, Theme, Writing
Sweat The Big Stuff I’m sure you’ve all heard this inspiring set of rules before: Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s all small stuff. The truth of the matter, however, is that when it comes to screenwriting, that message couldn’t be...
