Screenwriting is Rewriting: The Art and Craft of Professional Revision

Description

If there is one skill that separates the professional screenwriter from the amateur, it is the ability to rewrite successfully. From Jack Epps, Jr., the screenwriter of Top Gun, Dick Tracy, and The Secret of My Success, comes a comprehensive guide that explores the many layers of rewriting. In Screenwriting is Rewriting, Epps provides a practical and tested approach to organizing notes, creating a game plan, and executing a series of focused passes that address the story, character, theme, structure, and plot issues. Included are sample notes, game plans, and beat sheets from Epps' work on films such as Sister Act and Turner and Hooch. Also featured are exclusive interviews with Academy Award (R) winning screenwriters Robert Towne (Chinatown) and Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), along with Academy Award (R) nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich).

Jack Epps, Jr. is the co-author of the films Top Gun, The Secret of My Success, Dick Tracy, Legal Eagles, Dick Tracy, and Turner and Hooch. As a script doctor, Epps contributed to such films as Sister Act and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Epps is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Writing for Screen and Television Division in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, USA.

The book is a great starting point that would teach aspiring screenwriters or students of creative writing how to go about starting, developing and rewriting their screenplays. * Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media * And just when we thought we didn't need another book about screenwriting along comes this one, which in short order makes itself a must-have. Jack Epps is a great writer, a master teacher, as smart about character as he is about structure. He's distilled this part of our craft to its essence, and by heeding his book's fine wisdom we will all of us become better rewriters-and better writers. * Howard A. Rodman, Screenwriter and President of the Writer's Guild of America, We * Never in the history of Hollywood has a screenwriter heard the words: 'It's perfect; don't change a thing.' Even if someone were to say that, we know better and would change it anyway, and change it again, and again, and again. This book teaches the why and the how of rewriting and is written by a real, live, honest-to-God professional screenwriter who has successfully had many of his scripts made into movies. * Stephen Sommers, Writer and Director of The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), and Van Helsing (2004) * An exemplary text on screenplay writing. Drawing from both his professional and academic experiences, Jack Epps, Jr. provides an excellent distillation of ideal screenwriting practice, creating an indispensable resource for both students and self-taught screenwriters. * David Dunn, Principal Teaching Fellow in Film Studies, University of Southampton, UK *