And the Best Screenplay Goes to...Learning from the Winners - Sideways, Shakespeare in Love, Crash Paperback – February 1, 2008

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Did you know that in the early drafts of "Shakespeare in Love" it was about Will struggling with his homosexuality? Did you know that "Sideways" was written in book form originally based on ideas first implanted in the authors brain in 1990? Dr. Linda Seger has done it again. She's made another great and accessible book about the screenwriting industry by going to the script's roots after seeing what fruit the script brought forth (wealth, fame and an Academy Award). You see them at your book store. Screenplays in print. I bought the screenplay to "Gangs of New York" in book form for $1 at the Dollar Store. But, most likely, what you find when you buy a book about a screenplay containing a screenplay is no story behind how it became a screenplay. That is what this book is about. Or, as the subtitle says: "Learning From the Winners: Sideways, Shakespeare in Love, Crash." This is where the book excels. This is what this book offers that no other book does. And then some... Not only does it take you into the story of how the script got turned into a film, but Dr. Seger had access to early drafts, to see how the script was transformed into what was eventually put on the screen. Interviews with the writers, directors, the major players as to how writing partnerships worked, what the director put in, how scenes were re-written or removed entirely. And some of the struggles to achieve the eventual success. Why these three scripts? Well, first, they are all winners of the Academy Award. But Dr. Seger chose them for particular reasons. "Sideways" for how it approached a "Road Movie" type of film in a different way, a simple film in a complex way. "Shakespeare in Love" for the struggle to get a very unique film made, how the creative process worked. And "Crash" for how it tackled its overall theme through different paths, different story lines and multiple characters. Then, if that weren't enough, she takes it another step forward including dialogue, pages and pages of insightful commentary and then, finally with writing out the story beats for each script. She has taken script analysis to another level. If I had any issue about this book, it is that she chose scripts written by multiple people. Granted, no lone screenwriter ends up with working alone - it's his vision along with a myriad of others, but it would have been nice if she found an award winning script by a sole author and the struggles that one author had to endure to get the script written and made. This is an excellent book on screenwriting but now I'm waiting for the companion book: "And the Razzie for Worst Screenplay Goes To..." I would LOVE to hear how Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (authors of "Sideways") went on to write a universally reviled film: "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" My guess is that Adam Sandler had something to do with it...

Linda Seger, screenwriting guru and author of the seminal Making A Good Script Great, gives you a nice head start on the process in her latest book And The Best Screenplay Goes To..., which examines in detail the biology of three Oscar-winning scripts: Sideways, Shakespeare In Love, and Crash.Each film is subjected to a minute analysis, broken down into specific categories relevant to the particular story involved. The analysis is followed by 10 study questions to get you thinking. Then you'll find interviews with each of writers of the scripts, and finally, there's a story beats breakdown on each, with setups, turning points, and climaxes all clearly noted.The real strength of this book is how each movie is investigated in a different way. They're such different movies, and they present different challenges to the analyst. Seger takes all this into account, and doesn't try to cookie-cutter them with any sort of canned metrics. Each gets a custom treatment, keyed to the movie's specific personality.Screenwriters will get their fill of tips and gambits here, not only from Seger but from the writers themselves, from their discussions of their own processes. You'll get lots of ideas on your approach to story and how to go about realizing your vision.This book can also be read as work of critical analysis with background included...appealing to movie lovers everywhere!

I found this book disappointing. It was more of an instructual manual for unqualified creative executives than it was for practicing screenwriters. I found Lisa Seger's last book more informative. I know this book received rave reviews in Hollywood, but I found it very obvious with little new to offer than I've read from other books on the subject. The bulk of the book is just notes on the three scripts covered with Lisa's actual notes and analysis written down. I found her statements were directed to the novice writer and was let down overall. The best advice I got from the book was that the entirety of the first act should create the second act which is a little more definition of the term that every page has to advance the story. And one I am not sure if I completely agree with. I think your time would be better spent on reading a book about subtext or thumbing through a friends noted version of this book.

I didn't finish the book, I couldn't push past the graphically written scenes and foul language, however, what I read seemed well written. If you're considering writing a graphic or explicit screenplay or script then it may by your cup of tea. It's just.....couldn't script writers leave something to our readers/watchers imaginations? Anyway, not my style.

There are perhaps a handful of people in the vast motion picture industry who know more about what makes a script work, and not work, than Dr. Linda Seger. But I don't know who they are. In her new book, AND THE BEST SCREENPLAY GOES TO... Learning from the Winners - Sideways, Shakespeare in Love, Crash, Dr. Seger breaks down these top notch scripts intro myriad categories: the directing process, theme, nuance, story structuring, rewriting, etc., as they specifically pertain to the three scripts she uses. What an advantage: to see how the points can actually be applied. Theory and practice in abundance.Reading AND THE BEST SCREENPLAY GOES TO... made me realize how much, as writers, we truly are responsible for -- if we are provided with the awareness of the opportunities themselves. Dr. Seger does just that. Her book opened so many roads into making my script better I needed teams of horses to keep me away from my script until I finished this masterful book.An added bonus, and a big one, is her voice. Dr. Seger makes it seem as if we're sitting in a room together. Reading AND THE BEST SCREENPLAY GOES TO... has already led to many improvements in my own work, and I know the best are yet to come.