October 2011
1 post
6 tags
What Makes 'Twilight' So Good? (Thoughts From a...
There’s no denying it. Twilight (and consequently vampires) are hot right now. With the upcoming theatrical release of the much-anticipated Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, we take some time with a true fan to explore why the Twilight Saga is so popular with so many people. For storytellers, there are plenty of insights here regarding creating a compelling story for a target audience....
September 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Margit Keerdo - Resources for Screenwriters and...
Freelance screenwriter Margit Keerdo knows what it takes to succeed in the industry. With degrees in cinematography and directing, and a masters in screenwriting, her talents have channelled themselves into such works as the award-winning series Life: Class After. Today, she shares some of her trade tips and tricks with us. Who are you and what inspired you to become a screenwriter? I’m a...
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5 Best Sites for Free Downloadable Screenplays
The best way to learn is often by example. Whether you’re an aspiring screenwriter or a veteran looking for some inspiration, reading through scipts of established films and television shows is a great way to learn more about your craft.
Here are five great sites for free downloadable screenplays. I looked for sites with healthy content lists and functional site design. If you...
August 2011
4 posts
8 tags
The Hidden Obvious Guide to Making It in...
Handling Rejection.
I think this is going to be the shortest in this series, because all I want to do is provide an introduction to someone else’s post.
Rejection is something that everyone faces in their life. People in creative fields must face it more often. People in highly coveted creative fields, even more so.
The best advice in the world is that you must face rejection with grace...
7 tags
Finding Inspiration - Reasons to Become a Writer
I recently watched Robert Benigni’s The Tiger and the Snow (La tigre e la neve) and I was struck by a particularly great scene where Benigni’s character, the poet Attilio de Giovanni, tells his daughters why he chose to become a writer.
Daughter: How did you become a poet?
Attilio: How do you start? I was small, younger than you are now, eight or nine. I was with my mother, I...
10 tags
Screenwriting 101 - Creating Believable Character...
Films and shows, as outrageous as they can be, still operate under believable human motivations. If a character’s reasons for acting don’t translate understandably to the viewer, the story could be disregarded as unbelievable, even if it’s set in a galaxy far, far away.
But what can a screenwriter do to compel the audience that a character’s motivations are strong...
16 tags
5 Great Screenwriting Sites and Why We Like Them
Writing Movies For Fun and Profit from Thomas Lennon
We’ve listed five of our favorite screenwriting sites below. We focused on quality content and informative advice. Did we miss your favorite screenwriting sites or blogs? Please let us know in the comments below! Also, the video up top is pretty funny.
1.) Script Magazine
A preeminent resource in screenwriting tips and news, Script...
July 2011
6 posts
8 tags
How to Write Like Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods follows the exploits of Shadow, a man recently released from prison to find his world gone. A mysterious stranger offers him a job that ultimately leads him down a path straight between a war brewing in the heart of America between two very old and mythic groups.
Following the success of Game of Thrones, the story was recently picked up by HBO and is in the...
12 tags
Stephanie Watanabe - 5 Things Every Film Producer...
No one knows more about the art of storytelling than those writing and producing stories for a living. The first in a continuing series, we’ll be picking the minds of talented storymakers around the world to collect some of the best practices and tips associated with creation. If you’d like to be featured in a future post, please send a hello email to keane(at)deluxis.com. And be sure to follow us...
13 tags
Five Great Skits from Emmy History
With the nominees for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards announced last week, we take an opportunity to look at some of the fun events preceding this year’s ceremony.
NPH opens with a classy big band song (2009)
Conan gets Lost in a series of shows (2006)
Stewie and Brian from Family Guy make fun of Charlie Sheen before it was a meme (2007)
Jimmy Fallon and the cast of Glee (2010)
...
11 tags
Screenwriting with Jungian Archetypes and...
“All the most powerful ideas in history go back to archetypes. This is particularly true of religious ideas, but the central concepts of science, philosophy, and ethics are no exception to this rule. In their present form they are variants of archetypal ideas created by consciously applying and adapting these ideas to reality. For it is the function of consciousness not only to recognize and...
10 tags
Top Five Explosive 4th of July Films
Happy Independence Day! Clear your mind and stuff in your earplugs. It’s time for cinematic fireworks (for better or worse). Here are some flick pics for our favorite red, white and blue holiday.
5.) The story of Jimmy Stewart’s D.C. vacation
4.) The story of Harrison Ford and his plane
3.) The story of a boy earning his father’s respect
2. ) The story of how two...
7 tags
Craig Phillips - A Screenwriting Consultant's...
No one knows more about the art of storytelling than those writing and producing stories for a living. The first in a continuing series, we’ll be picking the minds of talented storymakers around the world to collect some of the best practices and tips associated with creation. If you’d like to be featured in a future post, please send a hello email to keane(at)deluxis.com. And be sure to follow us...
June 2011
8 posts
12 tags
The Hidden Obvious Guide to Making It in...
Making a movie or a television show is a challenging endeavor under the very best circumstances.
Secret #2 – Passion
In many respects, passion is the wellspring of the tenacity. Passion gets you out of bed at 4:30 in the morning on the 20th day when you are faced with another 14 hours on the set. Passion gets you back on the horse when your project falls apart at the funding stage, or your...
14 tags
The 3 Attributes of Great Storytelling - Greg...
“Stories are powerful. Great stories can last forever. But stories are also elusive, capricious and need to be handled with care.”
Communications expert Greg Power delivers an inspiring TEDx Vancouver talk on the power of storytelling in not only politics and business, but also in our everyday human lives. He provides great examples of the stories that surround us and dives into...
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Storyteller Profile: Brett Snelgrove - Tips for...
No one knows more about the art of storytelling than those writing and producing stories for a living. The first in a continuing series, we’ll be picking the minds of talented storymakers around the world to collect some of the best practices and tips associated with creation. If you’d like to be featured in a future post, please send a hello email to keane(at)deluxis.com. And be sure...
10 tags
The Hidden Obvious Guide to Making It in...
Thousands of people move to Los Angeles each and every month to chase the dream of “making it” in Hollywood. Millions more around the world fill their idle daydreams with thoughts of walking the red carpet with cameras flashing at them from every conceivable direction, or throwing lavish parties in their mid-century masterpiece house with an infinity pool overlooking the concrete jungle of the...
Never Been Aired - Five Cool Shows That Didn't...
The world is full of stories. Sometimes, a show’s ability to make it onto a network’s season run is as much serendipity as it is execution. Today we take a look at five cool television shows that have never been aired.
At Deluxis Entertainment, we are devoted to the art of storytelling. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. When we launch,...
9 tags
TIME TRAVEL - The #1 Story of 1942
Today we take a look into the past, a story that topped the charts when the charts were first created. On April 9, 1942, the New York Times began compiling the Best Seller list we all now recognize as one of the most prominent lists for successful books. Similarly, Publishers Weekly had been creating top seller lists since 1900. Below, I’ve included the number one book from both charts in...
6 tags
How to Write Like J.K. Rowling - The Breakdown of...
As we continue our examination on effective storytelling, we cannot overlook the phenomenon that is Harry Potter. First published in 1997, the robust series of young adult books has transcended itself into the hands of old adults and onto the big screen, becoming the highest grossing film franchise of all time.
Author J.K. Rowling’s manner of writing aids the digestibility of her...
4 tags
INFOGRAPHIC: The Lifespan of a TV Show
I’m not sure what the authors of this infographic based their research on, but it’s entertaining nonetheless. My first thoughts were immediately to Lost, Seinfeld and The Simpsons (not sure why), attempting to fit these shows within the parameters of this comic. I failed, of course, as they’re varied in season lengths and growth rates.
Can you think of a show that successfully...
May 2011
8 posts
14 tags
Screenwriting 101 - The Best Tips and Common...
At Deluxis Entertainment, we work closely with screenwriters. The amount of storytelling in the world is astounding. New universes and plots are created every day. Today, we take a look at some great screenwriting tips and common script mistakes compiled from established writers online.
Danny Stack of Screenwriting in the UK compiles “Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips” in...
19 tags
Oprah's Legacy - How Television Can Affect the Way...
For millions of viewers, Oprah Winfrey has been like a friend who has come into their homes five days a week to share their lives. -CNN
And like that… *poof*… she’s gone. The media juggernaut known as Oprah Winfrey hosted her final show yesterday to a teary-eyed country of viewers. One wonders how this collective moment of sympathetic emotion might disrupt the universal...
7 tags
The History of Television & How to Revolutionize...
About a month ago, we asked what you thought the future of television would look like. Your responses were great, and they touched on the growing trends toward on-demand content and the move to portable devices. We’re already witnessing finer lines separating the distribution of content on television and on devices like smartphones and tablets.
Our goal, however, isn’t simply...
23 tags
The End of the World
The end is nigh. In preparation for impending doom tomorrow on the dreaded May 21, 2011 apocalypse, we take a look at end-of-the-world stories and why they’re just so compelling to our collective imaginations.
A Precautionary Tale
True to all good science-fiction, apocalyptic stories offer a warning of the possible outcomes of the various paths humanity might take. While the advent of...
23 tags
What People are Watching on Television - Cable and...
We take a look at the most significant ratings earners of the May 2 week according to Nielsen analytics to discover what people are watching on television. The week was dominated heavily by the NBA Playoffs (for the most part shown on TNT) and Fox’s American Idol. Notable entries include History Channel’s Pawn Stars, a reality show following a 24-hour pawn shop in Las Vegas, and WWE...
9 tags
Is Ashton Kutcher an appropriate replacement for...
In recent news, Ashton Kutcher was tapped as the replacement for Charlie Sheen in the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men:
Two sources close to the deal-making tell The Hollywood Reporter that the actor is putting the final touches on a deal to replace Charlie Sheen as the star of TV’s No. 1 comedy. CBS, studio Warner Bros. and Kutcher’s reps at CAA declined to comment on the situation but a deal is...
6 tags
Five Great Infographics About Television
The state of television has changed much in the past few decades. Today, we explore these changes in clever visualization format, because, as devout television fans, we’d much prefer to have it cleverly summed up in easily digestible segments. And, in case you’re wondering about the title count, I consider the first three as one big infographic on the state of television.
...
30 tags
Who are the Greatest Television Writers Today?
Deluxis Entertainment is a company of storytellers and storytelling. Not only do we aim to produce the finest shows, but we appreciate everyday the great stories created by others. A well-crafted script turns a good plot into a piece of art. Whether it’s in scripting clever dialogue or editing beats to a fine production, a good writer delivers thoughtfully paced entertainment.
Who are the...
April 2011
5 posts
26 tags
What is the Best Way to Score?
QUESTION: What makes one film score more effective than others?
The above live performance of Hans Zimmer’s “Mombasa” off the Inception soundtrack is an excellent example of a piece taken from an effective soundtrack. Utilizing clever techniques, such as slowing down an Édith Piaf’s tune, elements of the overall score seem to transcend time as much as the characters in...
14 tags
Top 5 Superhero Remakes (Side by Side)
It seems Andrew Garfield did well for himself after getting nudged out of Facebook in The Social Network. His new gig? Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot of the Sam Raimi trilogy from the past decade, slated for release in 2012. Similarly, Zack Snyder (Watchmen) and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) have teamed up to reboot Superman with Man of Steel. In quiet, gleeful anticipation...
3 tags
What do Rebecca Black and Rocky Balboa have in...
I’m talking about Rocky III (the one with Mr. T). Branded a chump and a product of the industry, Rocky takes a beating and realizes he may need to get more than his hustle back. He teams up with his former rival and whips himself back into better shape than he ever was in.
Indeed, it seemed that after the release of “Friday,” singer Rebecca Black wasn’t likely to stage...
10 tags
Transcendent Man - Ray Kurzweil's Secret for...
Nanobots. Lots of them. Floating through our blood streams, snapping at our synapses and repairing our bodies from within. Infused with advanced AI and launched off our planet, they will eventually explore and proliferate what’s evolved of humanity into the vastness of space.
Does this excite or frighten you?
Author, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil’s ideas surely should do both....
13 tags
What will the future of television look like?
Forgive me for citing an old-for-the-Internet article, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Germain Lussier’s Slashflim piece, “Roger Ebert Predicted The Future Of Film In 1987.” In it, he recalls Ebert’s 1987 predictions of HD widescreen televisions and on-demand entertainment. While accurate, it wasn’t really a stretch of the mind to predict that...
March 2011
1 post
5 tags
Deluxis featured in GigaOM
Ryan Lawler from GigaOM sat down with us recently to discuss more about our plans. He wrote a thoughtful piece entitled, “Deluxis Wants to Be the Next Hot TV Network — Online.”
That headline captures the ambitious nature of Deluxis. It’s worth noting that we encourage everyone to keep a healthy dose of humility, lest our mouths start writing checks that other parts of our bodies...
February 2011
3 posts
3 tags
4 tags
Deluxis Announces an Online Television Network
We officially announced our plans to create a new online television network featuring exclusive original shows.
Our goal is very simple: Deliver well-crafted, engaging storytelling experiences to our audiences using the most convenient modern technologies available.
Keep an eye out as we release more details. We are looking forward to sharing the exciting projects that keep us busy every day.
...
8 tags
Origin Story
My name is Christopher Kaminski, founder of Deluxis. Considering one of our core values is storytelling, it only feels right to start off with one of my own. This is the story of how Deluxis came to be. About three years ago I canceled my cable television subscription. I didn’t feel like I was getting my money’s worth. I asked myself, “Why am I paying so much every month for all these shows that...