“Connecticut’s Cinema Secret: How Dillon Bentlage’s “Watching Mr. Pearson” Found Its Perfect Location

Dementia was part of writer-director Dillon Bentlage’s family, his grandmother struggling with its early stages before passing away from cancer. Watching Mr. Pearson is a love letter to those living with symptoms and the people around them wanting to give them their best life. The feature stars Hugo Armstrong as Robert Pearson, a former Hollywood legend battling mental decline. When one of his caregivers, Caroline (Dominika Zawada), finds out that performing scenes from his film work gives him new life,

Inside “The Residence”: Creator Paul William Davies on Crafting a White House Whodunit

The Residence, produced by Shondaland for Netflix, is the much-anticipated whodunnit that is Shonda Rhimes’ second show set in the White House. The first, of course, was another beloved, Kerry Washington-led Scandal, which dealt in the shadowy world of Washington’s Olivia Pope, the queen of fixers. Now Rhimes and her collaborator Paul William Davies return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to follow Uzo Aduba’s Cordelia Cupp, a world-famous detective and obsessive birder,

No More Games: “September 5’s” Oscar-Nominated Writers on the Day Terror Took Center Stage

The thriller September 5, directed and co-written by Tim Fehlbaum, revisits the day the Palestinian militant group Black September took nine Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, the script, which Fehlbaum wrote with Moritz Binder, is a tightly-paced journalism procedural centered on the ABC Sports studio’s broadcast of the attack as it happened.

Peter Sarsgaard stars as Roone Arledge,

“Conclave” Oscar Nominee Peter Straughan on Scripting a Devilishly Good Vatican Thriller

Conclave is great, gripping entertainment from the first shot to the last. It’s a drama, both honest and escapist, deftly shot, performed, and staged by artists at the top of their respective games. In the hands of Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan, Edward Berger’s contemplative film moves briskly within the Vatican walls. A movie that takes us into one of the most secretive rituals on Earth – about the search for a new pope – is remarkably light on its holy feet.

“Nickel Boys” Writer/Director RaMell Ross on Camera as Consciousness in His Oscar-Nominated Film

An introspective, promising teenager hitchhiking to college gets a ride in a car that turns out to be stolen. The driver is Black, and so is the boy. Deemed an accomplice despite his innocence, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is remanded to Nickel Academy, a segregated Florida reform school. Nickel Boys, the Oscar-nominated film based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys, follows the harrowing path Elwood is placed on by the Jim Crow South.

“Presence” Screenwriter David Koepp on Writing a Ghost Story Told by the Ghost

One of the unwritten rules of screenwriting is you don’t put camera direction in the script. It’s about the worst possible move for a writer, a serious no-no in Hollywood, and the number one way to guarantee your work never gets produced. But in the case of Presence, a new, propulsively effective haunted-house movie with a twist, it was possible for the screenwriter David Koepp to put such objections aside and embrace the visual possibilities because the camera,

Best of 2024: Richard Linklater on the Killer Chemistry in his Romantic Comedy “Hit Man”

In Richard Linklater‘s latest film, an irresistibly sexy romantic comedy that’s also a bit of a noir, a giddy satire on the hitman genre, and a screwball quasi-whodunit, the one constant is a vibe that is decidedly and effusively all Linklater. Glen Powell, a rising star who has been Linklater’s longtime collaborator through a string of roles dating back to 2006’s Fast Food Nation, plays Gary Johnson, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who is as passionate about Nietzsche as he is dispassionate about the affairs of his own life.

Best of 2024: “Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.

Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.

During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,

Best of 2024: MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director JA Bayona’s Epic Journey

J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, a reimagining of the real-life 1972 Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes Mountains that caught the world’s attention, is a viscerally astonishing feat of empathetic filmmaking. It was nominated for two Oscars: Best International Feature for Spain and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, and Montse Ribé), a sweet coda for a filmmaker who returned to his home country of Spain for the majority of the film’s production.

Best of 2024: “My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself

In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip. 

When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,

Best of 2024: “Inside Out 2” Writer Meg LeFauve on the Power of Adolescent Anxiety

*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Inside Out 2 co-writer Meg LeFavue, along with scribe Dave Holstein, managed to deliver an immensely satisfying, often surprising sequel to one of the most unique animated films in Pixar’s long, rich history.

Inside Out earned its co-writer Meg LeFauve a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination en route to becoming 2015’s seventh-highest-grossing movie.

“Gladiator II” Screenwriter David Scarpa on the Herculean Task of Writing a Worthy Sequel

It’s been a long time coming, but the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, opens in theaters nationwide on November 22. Starring Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), the iconic Denzel Washington, and original cast member Connie Nielsen, Gladiator II finally came to fruition thanks to the script from David Scarpa, who’d previously penned Scott movies All the Money in the World and Napoleon.

“The Wild Robot” Writer/Director Chris Sanders on Kindness as a Survival Skill

With three Oscar nominations under his belt, animation auteur Chris Sanders knew a good story when he saw it the minute his daughter brought home Peter Brown’s children’s book “The Wild Robot” back in 2016. Sanders, who’d worked on The Lion King and later helmed How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, and The Croods, appreciated the tragi-comic tale centered on robot Roz (voiced in the film by Lupita Nyong’o) after she washes up on the shore of a remote island populated with wild animals.

Prime Directive: “Transformers One”‘ Writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari on Crafting an Epic Origin Story

When it comes to toy-inspired movie franchises, Hasbro’s Optimus Prime beat Mattel’s Barbie to the punch by several decades. The franchise includes a 1986 cartoon feature, five Michael Bay movies, and two spinoffs. The seemingly never-ending battle between Autobots and Decepticons finally gets its backstory in the animated prequel Transformers One. Featuring the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key, the movie follows a young Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry) before they become arch-enemies.

“My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself

In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip. 

When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,

“The Perfect Couple” Showrunner Jenna Lamia on Her Nicole Kidman-led Whodunit on Nantucket

When showrunner Jenna Lamia set out to bring Elin Hilderbrand’s beloved novel The Perfect Couple to life, we were just getting reacquainted with our obsession with mystery and drama. The limited series format, which has seen success in shows like Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, and The White Lotus, ushered in an era of mystery, scandal,

Eye on the Emmys: “True Detective: Night Country” Writer/Director Issa López Delivers a Chilling New Season

*Ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Issa Lopez notched three nominations this year—for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing (for episode 6.) 

Issa López loves to challenge herself. The writer/director, best known for the mystical 2017 feature Tigers Are Not Afraid, believes your comfort zone is the last place to find stories worth telling.

How “Afraid” Writer/Director Chris Weitz Cracked the Artificial Intelligence Code in His First Horror Film

What happens when a charming AI device makes itself indispensable to an unsuspecting family of five? In Chris Weitz‘s new horror film Afraid, the smooth-talking “AIA” aims for nothing short of total domination. The film stars John Cho, who caught his first acting break when Weitz and his brother Paul cast him in their directorial debut, American Pie. Katherine Waterston co-stars as Cho’s wife, with Lukita Maxwell, Wyatt Lindner, and Isaac Bae portraying their kids.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick on Resurrecting Logan

Moviegoers apparently love an underdog, at least when it takes the form of Ryan Reynolds’ Avengers wannabe Wade “Deadpool” Wilson. Deadpool & Wolverine, the biggest R-rated movie of all time, with more than a billion at the global box office, co-stars Hugh Jackman and comes fully loaded with a slew of superheroes newly arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that Disney owns the studio that once controlled the rights to X-Men and other comic book characters.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Co-Writer Zeb Wells on Scripting Marvel’s Raunchiest, Wildest Film Ever

Even if Deadpool & Wolverine hadn’t become the year’s top-grossing movie, self-described comics nerd-turned-screenwriter Zeb Wells would have been thrilled just for the opportunity to furnish Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool character with snarky wise-cracks. Joining Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Wells, who previously penned “Venom: Dark Origin” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic books, says, “I was a huge fan of the first two Deadpool movies,