All posts by James Napoli
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First Draft: Sure, Story Structure Guides Are Useful. But When Should We Be Using Them, and How?
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. “It’s not where you take things from—it’s... -
First Draft: Understanding the Promise of the Premise Through Nocturnal Animals, Groundhog Day and Black Mirror
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Save the Cat practitioners will be familiar... -
First Draft: Living In the Past With Flashbacks and Monologues
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Flashbacks Nothing provokes a more knee-jerk “don’t... -
First Draft: Knowing the Difference Between Fact and Truth When Adapting a True Story
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Taking the 1994 film Quiz Show as a... -
First Draft: Know Your Place, Write Better Single Locations
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Every screenplay should be set somewhere. Forget... -
First Draft: Hone Your Skills in Storytelling Efficiency With Groundhog Day
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. There are many screenplays available online, but... -
First Draft: When Is It OK For Your Script to Use On-the-Nose Dialogue?
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, we’re publishing “First Draft,” a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Near the end of Richard Wenk’s... -
First Draft: Lessons in Screenplay Plants and Payoffs from Chinatown and The Orphanage
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. “Bad for glass,” says private eye Jake Gittes... -
First Draft: Is it Surprise, or is it Suspense?
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. I had an interesting experience while binge-watching...
Winter 2019
Guide 2019
Summer 2018
Spring 2018
25th Anniversary
Year in MovieMaker
Inside the Issue: Acting
Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker: Mads Mikkelsen
From Star Wars to Marvel, from prestige TV (Hannibal) to high-profile Oscar contenders (At Eternity’s Gate), Mads Mikkelsen can be seen stretching his dramatic skills across the board these...Inside the Issue: Directing
The 2019 MovieMaker Sundance Survey: Eleven Sundance-Selected Films, and Their Mountain-Bound Makers
The 35th Sundance Film Festival received a record-breaking 14,000-plus submissions, with 4,000-plus feature-length films among them. Of the 112 features selected, 45 of their makers were first-timers. The fest’s...1Inside the Issue: How To
Breaking and Entering, Part One: How To Shoot Down Self-Doubt and Pay the Rent While Making It In the Film Industry
Becoming a moviemaker seemed like an impossibly ambitious goal when I was growing up. I was living in Brazil, watching bootleg copies of David Cronenberg films and, with...