The Art and Craft of Screenwriting

This guide for screenwriters and those interested in the screenwriting process has important information on every facet of the screenwriter’s trade.
Introductory chapters discuss skills essential for all screenwriters. The second part covers various options available to screenwriters (such as different genres, indie films, adaptation) with important methods for each. Part Three is a collection of revealing interviews by the author with several established and seasoned professionals.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Shelly Frome is a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor and a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. He lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Shelly Frome
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 263
Bibliographic Info: appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3426-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8267-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      3
Notes on Content      9

PART I—THE ESSENTIALS
1. An Eye for the Camera      11
2. A Knack for Juggling      18
3. A Touch of the Actor      28
4. A Storyteller’s Vision      39

PART II—OPTIONS AND METHODS: RUNNING THE GAMUT
5. Genre as a Niche      50
6. Alternative Routes and Strategies      64
7. The Indie Option      76
8. Intrepid Merchandising      88
9. The Adaptation Chronicles      92
10. Taking on the Novel      105
11. Piecework at the Factory      115
12. The Screenwriter at Work: Guidelines and Gauges      123
13. Scripting, Polishing and Other Nuts and Bolts      143

PART III—INTERVIEWS: THE VOICES OF EXPERIENCE
The Top Flight Agent      158
Coverage and the Script Reader      164
The Hollywood Producer      169
The Independent Producer      175
The Film Festival Director      181
The Actor for All Seasons      187
The Versatile Writer-Director      193
The Hollywood Writing Partners      199
The Emmy-Winning Chronicler      207
The Master Storyteller      214
The Screenwriter and the High Road      220
Afterword      231

Appendix A: Glossary      233
Appendix B: Conventional Three-Act Format      236
Appendix C: Hollywood Mythic Formula      242
Appendix D: Resources      244
Selected Bibliography      247
Index      251

“valuable screenwriting tool…as thorough as it is honest and passionate”—The Review; “as highly entertaining as it is informative”—Republican-American; “offers a refuge for those juggling with originality versus what will sell”—The Hollywood Scriptwriter; “An informative and lively book about the art and craft of screenwriting.”—Peter Lefcourt, co-executive producer, Desperate Housewives and author of The Manhattan Beach Project and The Deal; “Aspiring screenwriters will find these interviews a treasure trove, but everyone can appreciate them. If you wonder where film may be heading—especially independent film—then you’ll savor the insights in [this] book.”—Steve Lawson, executive director of the Williamstown Film Festival and author of the Emmy Award-winning documentary Broadway’s Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theater, and his adaptations of Tennessee Williams’ letters (A Distant Country Called Youth and Blanche and Beyond) have been performed across America.