About Ken Miyamoto

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April 13, 2017
In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to do with screenwriting. Plot (plät)–the main events of […]
February 9, 2017
Follow the children’s book The Stranger to discover the different methods of flagging, marking and executing your screenplay.
January 12, 2017
The first and last visuals of your film are almost always the most memorable. Here’s how to handle them in your screenplay.
October 11, 2016
The Hollywood system of development is broken, caught in a loop of repetitive rhetoric designed to push aside every screenplay that comes through the inbox.
August 29, 2016
Just because a screenwriter writes only words—as opposed to editing film—doesn’t mean that they’re not offering a cinematic experience.
August 24, 2016
Knowing your screenplay’s budget range is vital to your eventual campaign to get it read by those that can purchase it and get it made.
August 16, 2016
The famous screenwriters that write Hollywood’s most popular movies weren’t gifted immediate success when they embarked on their screenwriting careers.
August 14, 2016
Our “First Draft” series uses Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill as a case study in how to write an intro to ensemble cast, character-driven dramatic films.
August 2, 2016
Kirby Ferguson defined the state of Hollywood best when he named his popular Vimeo series “Everything Is a Remix.” In film, that statement is 100% accurate.
July 26, 2016
The most underrated talent in screenwriting is knowing when the script is done. Most screenwriters don’t know when to quit rewriting.
July 13, 2016
Avoid annoying—and thus scaring away—potential Hollywood contacts that could make or break your dream of becoming a professional screenwriter.
June 24, 2016
There is a layer to effective professional writing that screenwriters often forget to consider in their scripts: the MPAA ratings.
May 12, 2016
Crafting horror screenplays goes beyond telling a story. The genre must tap into the audience’s collective fears in order to offer them a rush.
April 27, 2016
Cut the fat. That means cutting your script as much as you can to make it the leanest of “meats” for studios, producers and talent to feast on.
April 25, 2016
“Spec scripts” or “spec screenplays,” of course, refer to scripts written under the speculation that they will be sold.
February 22, 2016
Whether you love them or hate them, sequels are the bread and butter of Hollywood.
January 25, 2016
Whether submitting to competitions, production companies, agents, managers, studios or talent, screenwriters need to go through a checklist to prepare their scripts for submission.
December 7, 2015
Action sequences can be a screenwriter’s best friend or worst enemy. If you can write them well, you’ll be more of a coveted commodity in the eyes of the powers that be. Such a gift will make your spec scripts shine brighter than the rest, being entertaining and engaging reads, and will increase your chances of being considered for key writing assignments.
November 23, 2015
Some of the greatest films of all time have been adapted from short stories. As we look back to some of the best adaptations audiences have ever seen on the big screen, there are certain elements that stand out, separating short story adaptations from novel adaptations.
November 9, 2015
Ways to avoid over analysis for screenwriters
October 26, 2015
The rewrite is a fact of the screenwriter’s life. The first draft is always considered to be the worst, but all too often terrible rewrites—especially in Hollywood— can turn a train wreck into a disaster of even more epic proportions.