THE STORY SPOT

As we love to do, congratulations go out to this year’s nominees in outstanding screenwriting for the 82nd annual Academy Awards — the Oscars to you and me. Never mind that the writers were last on the Academy’s list…

Original Screenplay

• “The Hurt Locker“. Written by Mark Boal.
• “Inglourious Basterds“. Written by Quentin Tarantino.
• “The Messenger“. Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman.
• “A Serious Man“. Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen.
• “Up“. Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy.

Adapted Screenplay

• “District 9“. Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.
• “An Education“. Screenplay by Nick Hornby.
• “In the Loop“. Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche.
• “Precious“. Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher.
• “Up in the Air“. Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner.

The full, printable list of Oscar nominees (useful for ballot making!)

The amazing international film resource that is FilmFresh.com has recently partnered with some of the big studio players and relaunched. This is exciting news to those of us who are already addicted to their catalogue of hard-to-find international films. Now we can ditch those who shan’t be named for a smaller service run by true a cinefile, Rick Bolton.

There are so many exceptional films made throughout the world, and few opportunities to see them. That’s why we started Film Fresh. We collect great contemporary films from around the world and make them available to film lovers throughout North America at FilmFresh.com. On our Web site, viewers can discover new films, converse with interested viewers, and purchase films for home delivery, on DVD and via digital download.

What more could we movie-lovers want?

Visit the *new* FilmFresh.com.
Follow FilmFresh on Twitter to get the freshest releases first.

Ok. Maybe this post isn’t exactly about the differences between independent feature scripts and studio scripts, per se, but it is about the plain divide that I’ve personally observed on a regular basis when reading screenplays of all kinds.

I recently made the comment that it is consistently remarkable that a script that’s in the development or production stream at a studio reads differently from page one than does the average script on the same track at an independent/smaller production company. There’s no real reason for this yet it seems to be so. I gave the matter a wee bit o’ thought and am tossing it out here for you all to chew on and toss back. I’d love to hear what you think out there in writer/editor land.
Read on »

Franco Sacchi tells the story of how, against all odds, Nigeria created the world’s 3rd largest film industry. Producing 40 to 50 independent films per week, Nollywood exists largely without foreign investment nor government aid. Many films are made within a matter of days for less than $10,000 and are the filmmakers’ primary means of supporting themselves and their families.

Filmmakers produce “stories about our people from our people” carrying on a tradition that is as old as communication itself. As Sacchi says, “The key to a healthy society is a thriving community of storytellers. The Nigerian community has proven this.”

Franco Sacchi: Welcome to Nollywood on TED.com