flying wrestler

thoughts on screenwriting from writer-producer erik bork

Whose Story Is It?

Whose Story Is It?

It's one of the first questions industry professionals will have on any piece of material: "Whose story is it?" What they mean by that is who we're...

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First Page of a Script

First Page of a Script

The first page of a script is obviously important. Professional readers might not get much past it if it doesn't really work for them. So much of...

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Creative v. Business

Creative v. Business

See that tiny sliver of overlap in the graphic above? It's not meant to depress you. But it does represent a reality of the film/TV industry: the...

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SAVE THE CAT is not always right

SAVE THE CAT is not always right

I'm a fan of the Save the Cat books by the late Blake Snyder. I especially love the ten "genres" he came up with. I think these genres are a crucial...

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Frontload your pilot

Frontload your pilot

If you're writing a series pilot you probably view it as an introduction to your series. A prologue. A first chapter. Where you set up all the...

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Baby Reindeer’s problem

Baby Reindeer’s problem

In the weekly live session in our online community recently, I gave my thoughts and took questions about Netflix's hit Baby Reindeer.  It's been a...

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3 Stories per Episode

3 Stories per Episode

I recently watched an interview with Friends co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman (I think it was here). In it, Crane commented on how they...

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The War of Art

The War of Art

The happiest and most free I ever felt as a writer was with some of my earliest scripts. They were the work of a beginner and didn’t go anywhere but I enjoyed them.

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Intention and Obstacle

Intention and Obstacle

Aaron Sorkin says he "worships at the altar of Intention and Obstacle." What does that mean? In his Masterclass he defines it as: "Somebody wants...

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Double Mumbo Jumbo

Double Mumbo Jumbo

Double Mumbo Jumbo is a term in the original Save the Cat book. Blake Snyder used it to caution against including two different types of unrelated...

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What is an insert shot?

What is an insert shot?

When we write action and description in a script, we’re telling the reader what the viewer would see, hear and clearly understand from that.
Nothing else.

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What Good Stories Need

What Good Stories Need

Five years ago this week my book was released.  I'm proud to say it's been translated into Complex and Simplified Chinese and Russian. (See the...

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