Want to learn screenplay format without spending hours and hours poring over books that read more like an insurance manual than a format guide? Want a screenplay template guide that will show how you to do cool things like a CROSS DISSOLVE or an INTERCUT or an ANGLE ON without looking like a total newbie? Want some clear screenplay examples that don’t sound like they came from the 80s? Screenplay format ain’t rocket science, but it can be confusing. (Especially if you’re relatively new to the craft of screenwriting.) That’s why I put together this book. I was tired of screenplay format tomes that sounded like employee handbooks, and didn’t have any cool tricks in them. I was tired of looking at books that were using terms and techniques that were passé and dated when Mel Gibson was still a bankable movie star. Because for all the terms, and there are a lot of them, screenplay format is really still all about telling the reader:

1. Where we are
2. What’s going on
3. What people are saying
4. What we should look at And, yes, it's true. Software such as Final Draft or Movie Magic will keep your margins intact and your spacing accurate. But software WON'T tell you how to set up a shot heading on a spaceship. Or how to control pacing in your action-movie car chase. Or the right way to use parentheticals.(Answer: Sparingly, if at all.) A lot of screenwriters think just turning in a script in the FDR (Final Draft) format is enough to show they belong in the industry. But one errant use of “WE PULL BACK TO SEE” or the “CAMERA PULLS BACK TO REVEAL” can brand you as an amateur quicker than a Walker, Texas Ranger DVD collection. Good screenplay format isn’t just about following rules. It’s about making things easier on the reader. (And don’t you think the reader suffers enough, having to slog through endless “vampire romance” specs.) So as you learn the proper uses of ANGLE ON or DISSOLVES or MOVING WITH, remember it’s not about the dials on the amplifier. It’s about the music it makes. There’s a lot of technical stuff (ie: crap) as it relates to screenplay format. From secondary shot headings to reverse angles to intercut conversation, a well-meaning writer could spend months, if not years, trying to master it. Don’t. Just learn the basics, or at least enough to make you not look like a total imbecile, and then keep writing. And that’s what this book can hopefully do. It’ll show how to put camera moves in your screenplay without sounding like a total tool, and which effects you should steer clear of. (Yes, I’m talking to you montage!) I’ll also answer some of the biggest questions screenwriters have in regards to screenplay format such as: • How do I write a flashback? • How do I introduce a character who has no name? • How do I write a montage? • How do I write an action scene? • How to I write telephone calls? • Is a car an interior or an exterior? To me, all of these questions have one underlying context. Which is… How do I write a script which I plan to send to managers and agents without looking like a total moron? So whether you’re brand new to screenwriting, or just want to make sure you’re executing screenplay format properly, pick up a copy of Screenplay Format Made (Stupidly) Easy. Who knows? What you learn in this book may help you sell your script, make millions of dollars, and date Megan Fox. (Or maybe not.) Good luck with your writing!