SAVE THE CAT

by Blake Snyder

"Save the Cat" seems to be the everyman's screenplay book, but at the same time it's a book for beginners and seasoned pros alike.  It teaches you to define WHO your screenplay is about and walks you through the process of writing a log line that will capture everyone from a stranger in line to a studio executive.  It also helps define the genre of your screenplay, therefore establishing parameters for you to write in.  

The meat of the book is the Beat Sheet, a 15 beat outline that Blake Snyder claims every movie functions within.  He references a handful of movies that fit into this formula and upon closer look your realize that he has a point.  A high number of successful films and well written screenplays fall into a "formula" and while this "formula" can seem, well... "formulaic", he puts a heavy emphasis on the importance of your characters and dialogue, summing it up by saying…

HOW I MADE A HUNDRED MOVIES IN HOLLYWOOD AND NEVER LOST A DIME

by Roger Corman (with Jim Jerome)

I know this title sounds a bit sensational, but the funny thing is, when it comes to Roger Corman, it's true!!  For those of you who don't know who Roger Corman is, he was and arguably is the most successful independent film producer in Hollywood.  He started his career in the mid 1950's and either directed, produced and/or distributed hundreds of films, all turning a profit, all allowing him to stay continually in production, doing what he loved...making films, one after another, some even being shot in only a few days (Little Shop of Horrors - 1960 - 21/2 days).  He also acted as mentor to an astounding number of future filmmakers, writers & actors, who lovingly referred to their right of passage as the "Roger Corman Film…