BlueCat Logo

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

BlueCat Screenplay Competition   



December 30th, 2014

   

 

 

As 2014 draws to a close, it is time to recap all the
best features of the past year and to start preparing
for all the wonderful films 2015 will bring.


See What the Critics Consider to be the Best of 2014

Look Ahead to the Most Anticipated 2015 Releases

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
  • Interview with American Sniper Screenwriter Jason Hall
  • Bringing Hawking's Life Story to the Screen - Interview with Anthony McCarten
  • 3 SCRIPTS: The Poseidon Adventure, The Shining, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • BlueCat Archive: You are the Box Office Smash: The Personal Screenplay
  • Creative Spark: David Seidler
  • Nick Hornby: From Author to Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter
  • Charlie Kaufman's BAFTA Screenwriter Lecture
  • The BlueCat Community Corner
  • BlueCat Workshop information
Jason Hall on Writing American Sniper
from Awards Daily

In this interview by Jazz Tangcay from Awards Daily, Hall discusses the transition from actor to screenwriter, what fascinated him about America's deadliest sniper - Chris Kyle, and his writing process for this screenplay.

Bringing Hawking's Life Story to Film
From Nerd Repository

In this interview, screenwriter Anthony McCarten talks about the challenges in portraying Stephen Hawking's life, his research to make the film as authentic as possible, and balancing the three main themes - physics, ALS, and a love story.
 
You Are the Box Office Smash: The Personal Screenplay 
From The BlueCat Archive 

 

Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat's founder and judge, shares his advice about opening up and writing honest work in this article from our BlueCat archives. 

 

Nick Hornby: From Author to Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter
From Co.Create

Many of Nick Hornby's novels have become films, but lately the author is focused on bringing others' books to the screen. Hornby talks with Joe Berkowitz of Co.Create about why he prefers it this way, and his latest adaptation, Wild.   
 
HEY, WHADDYA SAY?

 
"For me, screenwriting is all about setting characters in motion and as a writer just chasing them. They should tell you what they'll do in any scene you put them in."

- Justin Zackham
Writer of The Bucket List and The Big Wedding    
SELECTED SCRIPTS
Three Screenplay PDFs

The Poseidon Adventure
by Stirling Silliphant & Wendell Mayes

The Shining
by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
by Charlie Kaufman


Creative Spark: David Seidler
from Academy Originals

Screenwriter David Seidler (The King's Speech, Tucker: The Man and His Dream) takes viewers inside his creative process in an exploration of where ideas come from.

  WATCH THE VIDEO   

Charlie Kaufman's BAFTA Lecture
From British Academy of Film and Television Arts

  
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) discusses his career, his writing process, and advice for aspiring screenwriters in tis BAFTA lecture.

HEY, WHATCHA UP TO? 

The BlueCat Community Corner:
Charles Pearce

 

BlueCat community member, Charels Pearce, is the co-creator of  Dirty Furry, a surreal/horror web series of six sketches. The characters, aka, The Furries, are three nightmarish beings with personality idiosyncrasies designed for surreal mystery, humorous situations, and unpredictable conflict. The Furries live in a demented reality of comedic timing, that in Charles' production process, he and his co-creator, Alex Chod, discussed in terms of "Narrative Jazz" and jokes that felt like a half-cocked sneeze. Thanks for sharing, Charles!

 

 

What are you up to?   

 

Share your accomplishments as well as upcoming fairs, shows, screenings, and gatherings by emailing: info@bluecatscreenplay.com 

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: info@bluecatscreenplay.com.
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.