Deluxis Entertainment: The Blog

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 freelance screenwriter living in Leeds, UK. I also do script consulting on the side, and lately, I’ve started tinkering with other forms of fiction such as short stories and stage plays.

I discovered screenwriting through filmmaking. At first I wanted to study art and become a painter but I changed my mind. I already knew I wanted to study film when I got my first job on a film crew (it was a Production Assistant on a feature film) and I then went on to have a degree in Cinematography and Directing. During that four-year course I had to write my own projects to have something to film which is where I discovered writing – I realized I enjoy working with stories – trying to figure out how to get into a character’s head and how to make a story work. I’ve had lots of different jobs on films – from video assistant to 1st AD; I’ve shot, directed and edited which all has been a great experience. I think my training as a cinematographer also helps with screenwriting and seeing the visual side of the story. Some years ago I completed an MA in Screenwriting and since then I’ve been working as a full-time screenwriter.

Read More

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.

Read More

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 on Facebook and Twitter for more exciting Deluxis news.

Who is Craig Phillips?

I’m a Bay Area based writer of and about film, among other hats. More recently I’ve been both teaching screenwriting and consulting individually with people in various stages of the script process. I first became interested in screenwriting after high school, and when I went to San Francisco State to study film I ended up emphasizing screenwriting. I wrote several terrible scripts that can only come from someone creative who also has no idea what he’s doing and very little life experience or perspective on anything. But I got those out of the way and then was a finalist in a national teleplay writing contest. I later moved down to LA for a spell where I did every kind of film job imaginable, mostly low end and horrible. But I did get a chance to be a script reader for several studios and from that I learned a ton about what works and what doesn’t. I started a historical script that would take me the better part of four years to write and which I optioned to a producer and then a prominent director came aboard, it got out to actors, came close… and then, as with so many projects, especially independent ones, it fell apart. I’ve since written a couple of other scripts but have recently returned to that one with the belief it could still happen.

From your work as a screenwriting consultant, what are some of the most common mistakes people make?

Read More