The Internet (thanks, Al Gore!) has opened new avenues to learn the craft and business of screenwriting. Before there was only college and books. And in that regard, things haven’t changed all the much. The three best schools are still NYU, UCLA, and USC in a never-ending brawl to decide who is gold, silver, and bronze.
And in the unlikely scenario that I was deserted on a remote island and screenwriting books were the only viable sustenance until a rescue, the seven I would bring/consume hasn’t changed in decades. They are: Screenplay by Syd Field, Screenwriting 434 by Lew Hunter, Essentials of Screenwriting by Richard Walter, Story by Robert McKee, Screenwriting Tricks of the Trade by William Froug, Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger and Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias.
But now we have new ways to study the craft, learn the business, and track the latest trends in the form of social media, podcasts, and instructional online platforms to help us become the best storyteller possible. Here are my top 5 new avenues for learning the craft of screenwriting in 2020:
Scriptnotes Podcast with John August & Craig Mazin
John August’s website used to be the place for all screenwriting advice, so it’s no surprise that this weekly audio adventure with fellow A-Lister Craig Mazin continues in that tradition. Jam-packed with useful information, amazing guests, and topic-related episodes that dive deep into one thing, such as “contracts” or “writing assistants”. The most recent twenty are always available for free and the entire catalog sits behind a very minimal paywall.
The Moment Podcast with Brian Koppelman
This interview podcast created by Brian Koppelman, the co-showrunner of Showtime’s Billions (as well as numerous films) where he sits down with figures from various professions, many from entertainment, to talk about critical moments in their careers is not to be missed. Sometimes you’ll get good stuff on the process of writing and filmmaking; other times it’s the business; every time, though, you’ll at least get different perspectives on creativity and inspiration.
An instructional website where artists share insights about their craft. The filmmaking ones include: David Lynch, Jodie Foster, Werner Herzog, Mira Nair, Spike Lee, Judd Apatow, Ron Howard, and Martin Scorsese. The Writing/Storytelling centric ones include: Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet, Shonda Rhimes, Neil Gaiman, Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, R.L. Stine, and James Patterson. Each class includes video lessons, exercises, workbooks, and interview sessions with the instructor, totaling between 10–20 lessons that can be a couple of hours each.
Yeah, it can be a toxic wasteland of hate, trolls, and disinformation. But for the often solo endeavor of being a writer, it can provide a sense of community and be an invaluable resource of bite-sized knowledge from those at the very top of the game to those just starting out in the trenches. Start to follow your favorite writers, directors, producers, showrunners, and actors. Be on the lookout for Q&A sessions and relevant hashtags on screenwriting and topical industry trends.
Go Into the Story Blog with Scott Myers
This is the official blog of The Black List which started as a yearly list of the best unproduced screenplays and has evolved into a website/podcast/platform and, overall, the most important screenwriting brand in Hollywood. Scott Myers teaches, interviews, and blogs. All of it very well, and all of it worth your time. If you are not familiar, get familiar. You have some catching up to do, but the alternative is worse, you could go through life without this information.
What are some of your screenwriting online resources that you find informative?
---
Note From Tongal: “Screenwriting State of the Union" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
