How to Write a KILLER First Page!

Screenwriting: From the Trenches

This week, Rob & Kay are talking about dat first page. How to keep em reading, how to knock 'em dead, and how to set expectations. They explore why the "Opening Image" (of all the beats in Save the Cat beats) is so important, what tropes/clichés must be avoided or subverted, how to prepare your audience for the script they're about to read, and, of course, what that page should LOOK like.

Our Weekly Resource: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Black Magic Camera App! This week, Blackmagic decided to try and casually murder Filmic Pro. But the app is free! (which we love) and basically turns the iPhone into the mobile version of the pocket cinema camera (making it an *actual* pocket cinema camera?), due to the usage of the Blackmagic OS from their cameras. This makes shooting on your iPhone so breezy and makes Filmic Pro’s subscription based app look silly. Fuck the patriarchy, use Blackmagic. Also, this the last week for our giveaway! We have been gifted several ⁠⁠Vomit Draft Notebooks⁠⁠ from ⁠⁠Impossible Kingdom⁠⁠ and are giving them away to our listeners! This covers three of our favorite things: we love the promotion of writing scripts by hand, we love Vomit Draft Notebooks and we love to give away free shit! And, AND, to satisfy you Team Kay Tuxford outliners out there, we are also giving away ⁠⁠PlotFold Screenwriting Maps⁠⁠! So remember, you enter yourself to win if you rate, review, and subscribe, then email us screenshots – the receipts of doing so – for which you will receive a VD Notebook AND a Screenwriting Map. If you RT us on Twitter when we post this episode, you’ll be entered into a randomized generator drawing for a Screenwriting Map. And if you Quote Tweet any promotional tweet this episode, you’ll be entered into a randomized drawing for a Vomit Draft notebook. We’re so excited to do this, and have been holding it under our hats for awhile trying to make this partnership between us and Impossible Kingdom happen. We love their products and we’re so happy they decided to sponsor this giveaway and trust us with their products.

Notes From the Episode:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zack's Original Instagram video⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)

Maureen Ryan's book, "⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"

“⁠Adventures in the Screen Trade⁠” by William Goldman

Our Episode with the Producer/Co-Writer of "Searching⁠⁠⁠"

Shaun of the Dead Script

⁠⁠Buy your own Vomit Draft Notebook⁠⁠

⁠⁠Buy your own Plot Fold Screenwriting Map⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Make a Movie for $1000⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠The Giveaway over on Rob's Channel⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kay's Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rob's Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zack's Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email us(!)⁠⁠⁠⁠