Publisher Description

If there is one skill that separates the professional screenwriter from the amateur, it is the ability to rewrite successfully. From Jack Epps, Jr., the screenwriter of Top Gun, Dick Tracy, and The Secret of My Success, comes a comprehensive guide that explores the many layers of rewriting.In Screenwriting is Rewriting, Epps provides a practical and tested approach to organizing notes, creating a game plan, and executing a series of focused passes that address the story, character, theme, structure, and plot issues. Included are sample notes, game plans, and beat sheets from Epps' work on films such as Sister Act and Turner and Hooch. Also featured are exclusive interviews with Academy Award® winning screenwriters Robert Towne (Chinatown) and Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), along with Academy Award® nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich).

Author Biography

Jack Epps, Jr. is the co-author of the films Top Gun, The Secret of My Success, Dick Tracy, Legal Eagles, Dick Tracy, and Turner and Hooch. As a script doctor, Epps contributed to such films as Sister Act and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Epps is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Writing for Screen and Television Division in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, USA.

Table of Contents

IntroductionHow To Use This BookLet's Talk About RewritingThe Pass Method – Layer By LayerMovies You Need To SeePart One: Foundations and FundamentalsChapter 1 Notes – Receiving and Organizing NotesChapter 2 Interpreting Notes – Reading Tea LeavesChapter 3 Annotated Draft – Your Reference GuideChapter 4 Game Plan – Creating a Road Map for the RewriteChapter 5 Character – Writing from the Inside OutChapter 6 Foundation Pass – Strengthening the CoreChapter 7 Character Pass – The Emotional CoreChapter 8 The Set-Up – Establish – Complicate – Resolve Chapter 9 Story & Theme Pass – The Emotional UnderpinningChapter 10 Structure – What Stays In, What Goes Out, and In What OrderChapter 11 Structure Pass – Architecture and DesignChapter 12 Plot – How Will This Turn Out?Chapter 13 Plot Pass – Cause and EffectChapter 14 Feedback on Your Interim Draft – Checking-InPart Two: Details and Layering Chapter 15 Opposition Characters – Sources of Conflict and TensionChapter 16 Obstacles, Complications, Reveals, and Reversals – Complicate, Complicate, ComplicateChapter 17 Obstacles, Complications, Reveals, and Reversals Pass – Making Life Much More DifficultChapter 18 Relationships – The Ties that BindChapter 19 Relationship Pass – InterconnectingChapter 20 Dialogue – Rhythm and FlowChapter 21 Scene Pass – Link and ConnectChapter 22 Consistency Pass – Motivated ActionsChapter 23 Polish Pass – Dialogue, Text, and TighteningChapter 24 Sending Out Your Screenplay – Letting GoChapter 25 Working with Directors, Producers, and Executives – Patience, Patience, PatiencePart Three: Screenwriters on RewritingInterview with Robert Towne Chinatown, The Firm, Mission Impossible IIInterview with Frank Pierson Cool Hand Luke, Dog Day Afternoon, King Of The GypsiesInterview with Susannah Grant Pocahontas, Erin Brockovich, The SoloistPart Four: ExamplesStudio Script Notes Turner & Hooch Notes Sister Act Studio Notes and Game PlanStudent Annotated Pages Suicide Girl by Ivy PrussStudent Script Notes & Game Plans Take Your Grandma To Work Day by David Ngo F@#% The Knot by Romi BartaEssential Three Act QuestionsAcknowledgementsQuote SourcesIndex

Review

The book is a great starting point that would teach aspiring screenwriters or students of creative writing how to go about starting, developing and rewriting their screenplays. * Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media *
And just when we thought we didn't need another book about screenwriting along comes this one, which in short order makes itself a must-have. Jack Epps is a great writer, a master teacher, as smart about character as he is about structure. He's distilled this part of our craft to its essence, and by heeding his book's fine wisdom we will all of us become better rewriters—and better writers. * Howard A. Rodman, Screenwriter and President of the Writer's Guild of America, We *
Never in the history of Hollywood has a screenwriter heard the words: 'It's perfect; don't change a thing.' Even if someone were to say that, we know better and would change it anyway, and change it again, and again, and again. This book teaches the why and the how of rewriting and is written by a real, live, honest-to-God professional screenwriter who has successfully had many of his scripts made into movies. * Stephen Sommers, Writer and Director of The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), and Van Helsing (2004) *
An exemplary text on screenplay writing. Drawing from both his professional and academic experiences, Jack Epps, Jr. provides an excellent distillation of ideal screenwriting practice, creating an indispensable resource for both students and self-taught screenwriters. * David Dunn, Principal Teaching Fellow in Film Studies, University of Southampton, UK *

Promotional

A step-by-step guide that takes the mystery out of rewriting and leads the writer through a series of focused passes which address the core fundamentals of screenwriting resulting in a polished, professional screenplay.

Review Quote

"The book is a great starting point that would teach aspiring screenwriters or students of creative writing how to go about starting, developing and rewriting their screenplays." - Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media

Promotional "Headline"

A step-by-step guide that takes the mystery out of rewriting and leads the writer through a series of focused passes which address the core fundamentals of screenwriting resulting in a polished, professional screenplay.

Feature

Jack Epps, Jr. has written some of the most popular movies of the 1980s, such as Top Gun, The Secret of My Success, Turner and Hooch , and Dick Tracy

Details