PEOPLE & NEWS
The Buzz
McKee, Maltin on the story crisis

Anatomy of a Spec Sale
Travis Beacham makes a Killing on Carnival Row.

Production Co. Spotlight
Breaking In
Colleen De Maio

People
Karl Williams, Daniel Snyder

Lost Scenes: Risky Business
Paul Brickman took a few drafts before Joel could triumph at the end.

Why I Write
Stephen Gaghan credits Tolstoy and Chayefsky with teaching him how to shape Syriana's script.

The Final Scene
Memoirs of a Geisha
By Robin Swicord

Coming Soon...
Annapolis
Dave Collard scores a TKO in this Navy boxing drama. By Sean Kennelly

Eight Below
Ex-Disney Writing Fellow Dave DiGilio returns to the Mouse House to pen this Frank Marshall-directed Antarctic thriller. By Sean Kennelly

The Ice Harvest
The only thing more surprising than Richard Russo and Robert Benton adapting this comic noir on spec is Benton's dyslexia. By Jeff Goldsmith

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The survivor of a brutal childhood, Guillermo Arriaga examines the consequences of violence in his new film about a man avenging his friend's death. By Yon Motskin

Firewall
Spun out of a personal experience, Joe Forte's first produced script landed Harrison Ford in a thriller about a security expert coerced into robbing his own bank. By David Konow

The World's Fastest Indian
Twenty-six years later, Roger Donaldson finishes his script about a man who simply won't let obstacles stop him from achieving his goal. By Nancy Hendrickson

Tristan & Isolde
Seven years after Dean Georgaris adapted the Arthurian legend as his first solo project, it's finally (and faithfully) hitting the screen. By Yon Motskin

Bubble
Playwright Coleman Hough's history with patron Steven Soderbergh culminates in a film without a script -- which was almost more work than writing a script itself. By Jeff Goldsmith

Manderlay
It took Lars von Trier just five days to write the script for this surreal take on freed slaves creating their own version of slavery. His secret? Outlining and Jim Beam. By Jeff Goldsmith

Columns
The Busine$$ of Screenwriting
A Sale is More Than a Deal
The relationship between writer and buyer is more important than the wording of any contract. By Ron Suppa

Writer Beware!
License to Steal?
Should you sign a release form? The myths and realities of this common screenwriter anxiety. By Steve Ryfle

Agent's Hot Sheet
Write Small
The Iron Curtain between scripting for TV and features has fallen, benefiting all writers. By Jim Cirile

Our Craft
Character Connection: Part 1
The first of a three-part series on making the reader care abotu your characters. By Karl Iglesias

The Contest Beat
Starting From Scratch
Our new contest columnist takes on two upcoming contests that will do you well. By Peter Clines

You've Got to Produce
This One's for the Girls
How Maria Shriver's Governor's Conference can inspire entrepreneurial women in film. By Catherine Clinch

Features
The Screenwriter Behind the Kimono: Robin Swicord Dresses the Long-Awaited Memoirs of a Geisha for Its Cinematic Debut
Robin Swicord talks about adapting Arthur Golden's celebrated novel for the big screen, director Rob Marshall's unique approach to writing, and being integrally involved in the production of the film. By Yon Motskin

Screenwriting Expo 4 Wrap-Up
""You Have to Write"": Expo Guests of Honor from William Goldman to Joss Whedon Dissect Writing for the Movies. By Reg Seeton
Cressandra Conquers the $5,000 CS Open. By Cressandra Thibodeaux
Chubby Bluebird Sparks $16,000 Contest Win. By Katrin Benedikt

The State of the Markets
Panels of experts meet at the Expo to discuss the ins and outs of six writers markets: the Christian market, family films, the gay and lesbian market, the teen market, and branded entertainment. By Catherine Clinch

Writers Wanted Now: A Report from the Austin Game Writers Conference
Movies are becoming games and games are becoming movies. Creative Screenwriting goes to the front lines at the Game Writers Conference in Austin, Texas where game writers discuss their work with Hollywood A-listers as together they shape this new entertainment medium. By Michael Lent

The Silence of the Lambs: 15 Years After the Lambs Stopped Screaming
Ted Tally talks about how he broke some fundamental rules of screenwriting when bringing Thomas Harris's novel to the screen, the joy of working with director Jonathan Demme, and how he survived living in the darkness that is Hannibal Lecter. By Tom Matthews