Caradog James Builds The Machine
Writer-director Caradog James on the process of taking his new film The Machine from script to screen.
By Scott Essman. Writer-director Caradog James conceived the new independent sci-fi film in his native Wales as a result of interest in the idea of artificial intelligence. “It started out of a passion for the subject matter,” he said. “It seemed to me that there hadn’t been an independent movie about the subject. I love […]
Dracula Revivified
Cole Haddon: A Screenwriter Reinvents Dracula.
By Scott Essman and Osahon Irabor. For the entire history of both film and television, there have been numerous visual adaptations of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. From 1922’s Nosferatu, the F.W. Murnau silent, to 1931’s Dracula, the Universal classic, the early history of film was ridden with Dracula interpretations. Over the succeeding decades, Hammer […]
Diablo Cody Encounters Paradise
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno directs her first feature film Paradise
by Scott Essman By her own admission, Diablo Cody’s screenwriting experience has been wholly unique. After the renowned success of her spec script Juno, for which she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, her succeeding specs sold and were made into films: Jennifer’s Body and Young Adult, plus a TV show that she created, […]
Turning the Page: Storytelling in the Digital Age
Exploring the screenwriter’s role in the new digital landscape
Article by Scott Essman Research by Rebecca Chacon In spring of 2013, in an effort to illuminate how new digital technologies are impacting filmmakers, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held a series of seminars open to Academy members and special invitees. To explore the screenwriter’s role in this new digital landscape, the […]
Travis Beacham on Breaking Into Hollywood
by Scott Essman When prompted how he launched his career as a screenwriter, Travis Beacham humbly stated, “I don’t really know.” Surely, with Pacific Rim in theaters in 2013, and Clash of the Titans a major international hit in 2010, Beacham is already near the top of a very short list of reliable genre writers, […]
