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What's New, BlueCat? 
                                        
The Official Newsletter of the

BlueCat Screenplay Competition   



December 23rd, 2014

 

 

The BlueCat Staff wishes you the  
best this holiday season!

To get you in the holiday spirit, here are a few of our favorite holiday movie quotes:




"It's Christmas Eve. It's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year we are the people that we always hoped we would be"

- Frank Cross from Scrooged (written by Michell Glazer & Michael O'Donoghue)



"Look Doris, someday you're going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile"

- Fred Gailey from Miracle on 34th Street (written by George Seaton)




"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an aweful hole, doesn't he?"

- Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life (written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hacket, and Frank Capra)

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
  • Adapting Into the Woods for the Screen: Interview with James Lapine
  • Mixing Horror and Christmas - Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
  • 3 HOLIDAY SCRIPTS: The Nightmare Before Christmas, A Christmas Story, and Scrooged
  • BlueCat Archive: How Do You Write a Compelling Love Story?
  • Caroline Thompson Reflects on Edward Scissorhands
  • Writing Frozen: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
  • The Interview Screenwriter, Dan Sterling, on Creating the Controversial Film
  • The BlueCat Community Corner
  • BlueCat Workshop information
Adapting Into the Woods for the Screen
from SSN Insider
Into the Woods began as a Broadway musical created by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim. For its film adaptation, Lapine was asked to return to the fairytale world he created in the 1980's. In this article, Lapine discusses his adaptation process, working within Disney's constraints, and his screenwriting journey.
Mixing Horror and Christmas - Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
From Quiet Earth

Jalmari Helander, writer/director of Rare Exports: A Christmas tale, was interviewed about his horror-fantasy that has captivated audiences around the world.
 
How to Write a Love Story 
From The BlueCat Archive 

 

Wondering how to write a compelling love story? Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat's founder and judge, shares his advice in this video from our BlueCat archives. 

 

The Interview Screenwriter on Creating the Controversial Film
From 89.3 KPCC's The Frame

 Dan Sterling's first produced screenplay, "The Interview", has caused quite a stir for Sony Pictures. North Korea has declared the comedy is an act of war. In this article, Sterling talks about the controversy surrounding his film and how it has affected him.  
 
HEY, WHADDYA SAY?

 
"I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries."

- Frank Capra
Writer/Director of It's a Wonderful Life   
SELECTED HOLIDAY SCRIPTS
Three Screenplay PDFs

The Nightmare Before Christmas
by Caroline Thompson

A Christmas Story
by Jean Shepherd, Bob Clark, Leigh Brown

Scrooged
by Michell Glazer & Michael O'Donoghue


Caroline Thompson Reflects on Edward Scissorhands
from CreativeCow.net

Screenwriter Carloine Thomas' credits include The Addams Family, Black Beauty, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. In this interview she discusses her first collaboration with Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands

Writing Frozen: Interview with Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
From HeyUGuys

  
Co-writers Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee share insights into their writing process and the inspirations behind the characters from the box office hit, Frozen.

HEY, WHATCHA UP TO? 

The BlueCat Community Corner:

 

What are you up to?  

Do you play in a band, paint, write books, draw, sculpt, make short films or web series, etc.? Do you participate in an arts organization our community should know about?

 

Share your accomplishments as well as upcoming fairs, shows, screenings, and gatherings by emailing: [email protected] 

Please use the subject line Community Corner Submission 
Advertise With BlueCat
Would you like to advertise in our newsletter? Interested in a dedicated e-blast? We have nearly 13,000 screenwriters who read our newsletter every week. 
To discuss, please contact Heather at: [email protected].
BlueCat Screenwriting Workshops
 
BlueCat Screenplay Workshops are an intensive opportunity to certifiably improve your script in a small group environment, led by award winning screenwriter and BlueCat founder Gordy Hoffman.

Your script will be read in advance both by Gordy as well as the other workshop participants; everyone receives in-depth feedback on their script from a number of different perspectives.

Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman has taught screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, as well as led workshops all over North America, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He has served as a panelist for the IFP Script to Screen Conference in NYC, Women in Film's Script DC Conference in Washington, DC, and the George Eastman House Film Festival, as well as a judge for the McKnight Screenwriting Fellowships in Minnesota. Gordy Hoffman founded the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 1998 and remains its judge.

  

THE FULL SCRIPT WORKSHOP

Participants read all screenplays in advance of the workshop. During the workshop, Gordy provides direct and in-depth feedback on each screenplay, with everyone encouraged to contribute his or her own thoughts and concerns.

  

Each writer will leave with a great sense of what they can do specifically to improve their screenplay, as well as a better awareness of where they might properly develop as a professional screenwriter as a whole. Writers benefit from the direct focus placed on their screenplays by the workshop, along with the analysis of the other scripts.

  

Screenplays can be first drafts or rewrites, incomplete or partial, with first time writers and veterans all welcome. Scripts are due 10-14 days prior to the date of the workshop.

  

Note: Screenplays submitted to the workshop are not eligible to be entered into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.

  

  

Regular Registration Option

Do you want to participate, but do not have a script to submit at this time? Regular registration for the workshop allows you to attend without submitting written material, read the scripts in advance and still participate in the discussion.

  

  


UPCOMING WORKSHOPS: 
 

Los Angeles - February 21st - REGISTER 

Full Registration Sold Out 

 

Billings, Montana - March 3rd - REGISTER

Intro to Screenwriting - Montana - March 4th - REGISTER

 

Salt Lake City - March 5th - REGISTER 

(Only 5 spots left)

 

Online - March 19th - REGISTER 

 

Online - May 7th - REGISTER

Please let us know if you'd like the BlueCat Workshop 

to come to your town!

 

See you soon.