Table of Contents

Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I: Why? Ethics? For Screenwriters? Message and Meaning. The Certainty of Why. Social Responsibility. What's Art Got to Do With It? Part II: The Certainty of What: Anything Goes? A Glimpse of Stocking. Something Shocking. Where Have All the Elders Gone? Conscience. Part III: What Really Matters. What It's Worth. The Good, the Bad, the Blurry. Nothing Left to Chance. Part IV: White Hats, Black Hats. White Hats, Black Hats. Good. Bad. The Villanero. Practical Writing Techniques. Angelic Acts, Dastardly Deeds. Crime and Punishment. Special Circumstances. Part V: Killing the Messenger. No Sermons. Words of Wisdom. Part VI: Having Written and Writing More. What's the Idea? All's Fair in Love, War, and Showbiz? Courage. Conclusion.

About the Author

Marilyn Beker

Reviews

"Wise and urgent advice to young screenwriters from a committed and passionate teacher. Beker speaks with years of experience and a great generosity of spirit."
—Atom Egoyan
Writer/Director, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat"This text would be appropriate for courses in fundamentals of screenwriting but also, perhaps especially, for critical studies and film theory and history courses. Given the vast public attention to this subject, I should think this could be a crossover book that appeals to audiences beyond the academy."
—Richard Walter
University of California at Los Angeles