Pixar Story Rules

The blog for the book The Pixar Touch posted a great compilation of tweets from Emma Coates distilling gems from her senior colleagues on creating great stories.  The blog gives you 22 examples of her tweets.  They are fantastic.  For example:

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

After reading hundreds of scripts from so many different writers over the years, I would like to paste this one on the wall above every screenwriter's computer. 


The one I committed to memory for myself was this succinct nugget:

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.


Check them out and share your favorites.  Follow her on Twitter.

Julia Camara in WIFI Panel May 13

One of our Broads, Julia Camara, will be part of a WIFI panel on Sunday, May 13 in Hollywood about filming not in Hollywood, but abroad. It looks like it's going to be a great event.

         Women In Film International (WIFI) Committee In Association with
                             New Filmmakers Los Angeles presents
                            "That's Right, You're Not in Hollywood!"

Join us for an evening with International Directors Julia Camara, Deepika Daggubati,
and Christine Yoo as they share their often hilarious experiences shooting indie films
in Brazil, India, and South Korea 

Sunday, May 13th
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Sunset Gower Studios
6040 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Light Refreshments will be served

LIGHTS! CAMERA! And wait ... 24-hour work days, wild snakes you could step on, and using the actual weight of human beings to balance your camera crane - Welcome to the world of global independent film making in Brazil, India, and South Korea- where craft service is a cup of instant noodles, the temperature in the jungle is like a cranked up oven, and where any serious director needs 4 assistants just to push through an instant flash mob of 1,000 onlookers simply to call "ACTION!"

Topics include: Working with International Actors, Crews, and Production Systems 

Street parking available (Enter at Main Gate, Sunset Gower Studios at 6040 Sunset Blvd.)

WIF/New Filmmakers Members: $10 / Non-Members: $15 (Cash or Check Only)
RSVP TODAY to: WIFInternational@yahoo.com
(Include number of guests and and WIF member number; Limited Seating)

Julia Camara is an award winning Brazilian writer and filmmaker. She wrote the screenplay for "Area Q" with director Gerson Sanginitto. The sci-fi drama stars Isaiah Washington and Brazilian star Murilo Rosa. "Area Q" screened at the Hollywood Film Festival and opened in theaters nationwide in Brazil on April 13th 2012.  www.juliacamara.com

Deepika Daggubati is an Indian-born filmmaker, raised in Texas and based in Los Angeles.  Her industry experience includes screenwriting (Disney; Colucci Productions), development (Valhalla Motion Pictures), and editing (Saban Research Institute).  Deepika's feature writing/directing debut, the award-winning WAKING DREAMS, is a West Texas meets Bollywood coming-of-age comedy that FILM RADAR called "a witty, romantic delight for all ages!"
www.wakingdreamsmovie.com

Christine Yoo's feature film debut is the award winning "Wedding Palace," the 1st US-Korea independent co-production. Shot in Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea, the film will be released theatrically in the US, Fall 2012, and has screened to sold out festival audiences and college campuses nationwide. Prior to co-writing, directing and producing "Wedding Palace," Yoo worked as a film & TV writer and editor in features, television and commercials.
www.weddingpalacemovie.com

Event Produced by WIFI Co-Chair Ruby Lopez and WIFI Advisor Chair Tobie Loomis

2012 Submissions - Off to a Great Start!

The first batch of films have come in! The Early Bird Submissions have given the judges some great laughs. We've gotten films from overseas, festival alums, film students... If these films are any indication, it promises to be a great festival come September 27th!

Caption This Billboard

I drive around and see billboards all the time with images of women that strike me as carrying a wtf semiotic subtext. Particularly tv and movie billboards. I'm going to start posting them and invite folks to caption the REAL message they carry. Here's the latest.



Look at those women photoshopped within an inch of science fiction and then look at the guy that goes with it and the message it conveys. It boggles my mind.

Female Centered Movies Mean Profit

Great article by producer Susan Cartsonis on the box office value of "women's" movies. 

Women Make Good Box Office--Really Good $$$$
http://vitaminw.co/culture/women-make-good-box-office-really-good

Woman-created films and woman-centered stories make financial good sense, and still she has to fight the conventional wisdom that is just plain wrong. (This is also true in theater, btw, where a recent LAFPI study showed that woman-authored plays in NY gross about 25% more than those written by men.  Yet out-dated, skewed perception means that women account for only about 12% of the playwrights produced at any given moment.  If it were really only about the money...)

Hat tip to Julie Janata for posting on the Alliance of Women Directors newsletter.

Graphic Novelize

Sometimes a girl can't get no respect as a filmmaker.  So I was thinking...well perhaps not thinking but something close enough...about graphic novels.  There's a lot of buzz these days for films based on graphic novels, and bidding for the rights to make movies of them can run pretty darn high.  Six figures is a lot of respect if you ask me.  Now, I don't have the "wrist" to draw what's in my head, but I certainly have the skills to film it.  I decided to take a look at one of my shorts, Little Miss Malice, and see if I could pull out pages and turn it into a graphic novel.  Here's what I've come up with so far...

Broads Co-op for WGA credit

I had an idea this morning.  I have been trying to figure out a way for web writing to give our broads credit toward WGA membership.  It is fairly simple credit to get, but requires that we incorporate ourselves instead of just being under a non-profit umbrella for fiscal sponsorship.  That costs a bit more than we have in the bank for miscellaneous fees.  But then, if the various broads who write pitched in a few bucks each, then it would be doable.  We're talking about $1500 for a LLC that includes the hefty California fees.  Broad Humor could make the deal with the guild, and you all could shoot your web videos as co-productions and have it count as points toward WGA membership.  A win for all.  Email me if you have any interest in this, or post a comment with your thoughts.