It’s unlikely that you’ll see Brian Koppelman plugging a screenwriting how-to book anytime soon. The writer/director behind Ocean’s Thirteen and Solitary Man publicly denounced the hoodwinkery birthed by the cat-saving industry and felt strongly enough about the seminar culture to make it the message of his first six-second screenwriting tip.
Those tips come in the form of Vines (what else?) that he produces daily. Each comes with a kind of scorched earth sincerity that you don’t often get from working filmmakers, and by next week, he’ll have amassed one hundred of them. That’s a full ten minutes of helpful jabs where his face and nearly two decades of insight fill the frame.
Typically with this space we focus on 6 filmmaking tips and offer further challenges and exploration, but for Koppelman’s unique delivery, we’re making a special exception – particularly because there’s so much here (and because digging deeper would be like analyzing a punch with the person who’s on the mat). These bursts of advice easily stand alone.
So here are my favorite six minutes of free film school (for fans and filmmakers alike) from a true grinder.
Your Personal Guide
“Write What You Know” Has Limits
Just Do It
Just Do It Without Trying to Game the Studios
Consistency is the Only Real Rule
The Books Worth Reading
Ask the Passionate Question
Seeking Permission to Write
A Specific Script for Starting Out
More Required Reading (from Murakami)
What’s Within Your Grasp
Unsellable Today, Sellable Tomorrow
Advice From Your Heroes
Beating Writing’s Block With Morning Pages
Three Act Structure is a Snap
Formatting is a Snap, Too
Two Shots of Inspiration
The Flipside of Faith
The Robots Can’t Do It (Yet)
Your Favorite Movie Was Once a Dead End
A Reason to Move Swiftly
You Can Take a Break By Writing
Aim Higher
Be Bold Against the Realistic Odds
Likability Loses Out to Intrigue
Tap Into Your Own Storytelling Knowledge
The Crystal Ball is Bullshit
All Writers Start With These
Respect the Ritual
A Way to Maim Your Dream
More Required Reading About Dedication
And More Required Viewing About Speed and Dynamism
What You Earn When You Get It Done
When You Don’t Feel Creative
The Blank Slate Can Be Your Friend
And So Can Your Favorite Band
Struggling Through Like the Pros
Stamina is Key
In Every Single Scene
The Flipside of Success
Quality as Job Delineation
The Secret to Scoring an Agent?
The Question Beyond the Organizational Technique
The Right Idea
Take Pleasure in Good Cinema
The Productivity Killer
If You Keep Quitting
Indulge Your Excitement
The Small Part of the Day
Wunderkinds Are Rare
Making It Easy On Yourself
Them!
The Upside Of Your Full Time Job
More Required Reading (From Walter Murch)
The Side Benefit of Compartmentalizing Your Writing
Do I Have to Move to LA?
Plan Ahead for Localized Peer Pressure
Your Second First Draft
What You Owe Readers
But It’s So, So Hard
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Related Topics: Filmmaking, Screenwriting
