Couching a story on paper is difficult enough as it is. Writing a story that is original, and works as a movie, and will not get shot down by movie executives is nigh impossible. Yet it is the mission that screenwriters give themselves on a daily basis all over the world. A number of screenwriting manuals aim to help you square that circle: some of them manage to do it. Very few screenwriting books are as helpful as David Diamond’s and David Weissman’s Bulletproof.
Diamond and Weissman have been screenwriters for decades, and collaborated to bring their work on the silver screen with Ivan Reitman (Evolution, 2001), Nicolas Cage and Brett Ratner (The Family Man, 2000) and Disney (Minutemen, 2008). Drawing on their extensive experience of the film and television industry, the duo manages to coalesce their wisdom in a concise and effective book.
Those who are weary of any “how-to” screenwriting books forcing you to strictly follow given steps will relish Bulletproof. The established screenwriters take the budding storyteller by the hand and explain in a clear, no-nonsense fashion what are the building blocks of the script that are essential to a good story, and those that will get film executives to not shoot down your script and say yes.
Screenwriting step by step
By the time you have finished this book, you will have a thorough understanding of how to take an idea from its very fragile embryo stage to a draft you can submit to agents, executives and creatives. You will learn about the importance of genre, how to put together the dreaded one-pager, how developing a character and fleshing out an outline will make you the screenwriter you know you can be, all the way until the ultimate rewrite.
Given the writers’ experience, it is not surprising that their manual is very practical: you will quickly figure out what works and what doesn’t, with illustrations from a classic such as Star Wars or Diamond and Weissman’s own Minutemen.
For the screenwriters who want to get their script done and their movie seen, Bulletproof is a must-have.
Did You Know?
- Raindance Film Festival is considered one of the top fifteen film festivals in the world?
- Raindance Film School London offers HND, BA and MA in Filmmaking and Screenwriting?
- Raindance members support indie film, and enjoy a range of benefits
- Let Raindance guide you on your filmmaking pathway. call +44 (0) 207 930 3412 or email filmschool@raindance.ac.uk
Baptiste is a writer hailing from the part of France where it is always sunny. After a stint in politics and earning his Master’s Degree in Management, he was a marketing intern for the 23rd Raindance Film Festival in 2015, then joined the team permanently in 2016 as the Registrar of the MA in Filmmaking. He is passionate about diversity in film, which he researches and writes about extensively. He is the producer of the hit webseries “Netflix & Kill” and the multi-award-winning short film “Alder”, as well as a writer for stage and screen. His short film “U Up?” is currently in pre-production.
