Screenwriting for the 21st Century
Jump down to
- Published
- 14 January 2004
- ISBN
- 0713488336
- Author
- Pat Silver-Lasky
- Imprint
- Ritchie Books
- Details
- 230x160mm
144 pages - Binding
- Paperback
- About the book
- SAVE £3.00 with our Limited offer (normal RRP £12.99)
This is NOT another guru book written by an unpublished hopeful but by a seasoned scriptwriter and author with a wealth of credits to her name.
Visit www.patsilver-lasky.com and see for yourself the experience behind this book!
In this book, successful scriptwriter and lecturer Pat Silver-Lasky takes the reader through the basics and beyond. As she freely admits, she can’t teach talent, but she can teach techniques and concepts that will make it easier for you to use your own vision and creativity successfully in today’s market.
The book includes:
• Writing techniques: elements of the screenplay; constructing a scene; character vs. characterisation
• Genres
• How comedies translate in the international market
• Translating a novel into a script – changing a cerebral work into a visual one
• Procedures for getting your script accepted in the UK and in the US
• Marketing and the marketplace in the 21st century, how to protect your material
‘…quietly informative and exhaustively thorough. My only fear is that it will encourage even more people to write scripts, many of which will be sent to me…’ John Boorman - About the author
- Pat Silver-Lasky has been a scriptwriter for over 20 years and wrote as a team with her late husband, Jesse Lasky, Jr.. She has lectured extensively on scriptwriting at several American Universities and was the script consultant and lecturer at the London International Film School for eight years until 1999. She served on the Executive Council of the Writers Guild of Great Britain, a member of BAFTA and a member of the Writers Guild of America. Born in Seattle, Washington, she is a former actress. She now lives in London.
For a complete biography plus writing tips and other useful information visit Pat's website at
www.patsilver-lasky.com
Sample PDFs
Contents, Quotes & Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Author Review
'INVALUABLE'
Written by Barry Norman on 18 August 2003.
'A most invaluable guide for any aspiring screenwriter - clear, concise and entertainingly written. Here, based on the author's lifetime experience in the movie business, is all you need to know about what to do - and just as importantly what not to do - when composing that Oscar-winning screenplay.'
Media Reviews
Words from John Boorman
From Publisher on 15 March 2004.
‘…quietly informative and exhaustively thorough.'
‘…quietly informative and exhaustively thorough. My only fear is that it will encourage even more people to write scripts, many of which will be sent to me…’ John Boorman
Bafta Review
From Adrian Hodges - Bafta Book Review on 15 April 2004.
'What she seeks to do, in precise and jargon-free prose, is give the new writer a comprehensive foundation from which to build, and in this, she thoroughly succeeds.'
In any given week in the UK, there are now so many screenwriting courses available it must be tempting for any aspiring screenwriter to avoid completely the ugly business of actually doing any writing in favour of remaining in full-time training.
This explosion of screenwriting evangelism, which began with Robert McKee, no doubt contains its share of Elmer Gantrys along with its bona fide gurus and it is possible to argue that all this new training has yet to have much positive effect on British films.
While in some ways more professional of late, they have too often been governed by stale formulas that pay little respect to the writer's creative imagination.
Of course, this is not an argument against training as such, only bad training, and the question then becomes how to sort the bad from the good. Pat Silver-Lasky's thorough and exhaustive book belongs firmly in the latter category.
Aimed squarely at the novice, it offers a wide-ranging overview of every aspect of screenwriting as well as a sharp analysis of the workings of the industry itself, including essays on marketing, distribution, exhibition and ancillary markets. All of which, she reminds her readers, are of vital importance to any writer's understanding of the industry in which they are setting out to work.
Silver-Lasky is herself a writer with a successful track record and her tone is robust and unsentimental. Writing, she makes clear to her audience (would be writers to a man or woman - this is not a book for the general reader) is governed by self-discipline and relentless self-criticism. Rewriting is everything. She covers every angle with admirable concision and an endearing enthusiasm for her craft. She is not afraid to show her likes and dislikes and her sometimes lively judgements on contemporary film and television add spice to what is in any case a very readable book.
I'm not sure I agree with all her conclusions or approaches but I don't think Silver-Lasky would necessarily expect me to. What she seeks to do, in precise and jargon-free prose, is give the new writer a comprehensive foundation from which to build, and in this, she thoroughly succeeds.
latest offers and publications join our newsletter for free!
