Table of Contents

Introduction How To Use This Book Let’s Talk About Rewriting The Pass Method – Layer By Layer Movies You Need To See Part One: Foundations and Fundamentals Chapter 1 Notes – Receiving and Organizing Notes Chapter 2 Interpreting Notes – Reading Tea Leaves Chapter 3 Annotated Draft – Your Reference Guide Chapter 4 Game Plan – Creating a Road Map for the Rewrite Chapter 5 Character – Writing from the Inside Out Chapter 6 Foundation Pass – Strengthening the Core Chapter 7 Character Pass – The Emotional Core Chapter 8 The Set-Up – Establish – Complicate – Resolve Chapter 9 Story & Theme Pass – The Emotional Underpinning Chapter 10 Structure – What Stays In, What Goes Out, and In What Order Chapter 11 Structure Pass – Architecture and Design Chapter 12 Plot – How Will This Turn Out? Chapter 13 Plot Pass – Cause and Effect Chapter 14 Feedback on Your Interim Draft – Checking-In Part Two: Details and Layering Chapter 15 Opposition Characters – Sources of Conflict and Tension Chapter 16 Obstacles, Complications, Reveals, and Reversals – Complicate, Complicate, Complicate Chapter 17 Obstacles, Complications, Reveals, and Reversals Pass – Making Life Much More Difficult Chapter 18 Relationships – The Ties that Bind Chapter 19 Relationship Pass – Interconnecting Chapter 20 Dialogue – Rhythm and Flow Chapter 21 Scene Pass – Link and Connect Chapter 22 Consistency Pass – Motivated Actions Chapter 23 Polish Pass – Dialogue, Text, and Tightening Chapter 24 Sending Out Your Screenplay – Letting Go Chapter 25 Working with Directors, Producers, and Executives – Patience, Patience, Patience Part Three: Screenwriters on Rewriting Interview with Robert Towne Chinatown, The Firm, Mission Impossible II Interview with Frank Pierson Cool Hand Luke, Dog Day Afternoon, King Of The Gypsies Interview with Susannah Grant Pocahontas, Erin Brockovich, The Soloist Part Four: Examples Studio Script Notes Turner & Hooch Notes Sister Act Studio Notes and Game Plan Student Annotated Pages Suicide Girl by Ivy Pruss Student Script Notes & Game Plans Take Your Grandma To Work Day by David Ngo F@#% The Knot by Romi Barta Essential Three Act Questions Acknowledgements Quote Sources Index

Promotional Information

A step-by-step guide that takes the mystery out of rewriting and leads the writer through a series of focused passes which address the core fundamentals of screenwriting resulting in a polished, professional screenplay.

About the Author

Jack Epps, Jr. is the co-author of the films Top Gun, The Secret of My Success, Dick Tracy, Legal Eagles, Dick Tracy, and Turner and Hooch. As a script doctor, Epps contributed to such films as Sister Act and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Epps is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Writing for Screen and Television Division in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, USA.

Reviews

The book is a great starting point that would teach aspiring screenwriters or students of creative writing how to go about starting, developing and rewriting their screenplays.
*Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media*

And just when we thought we didn't need another book about screenwriting along comes this one, which in short order makes itself a must-have. Jack Epps is a great writer, a master teacher, as smart about character as he is about structure. He's distilled this part of our craft to its essence, and by heeding his book's fine wisdom we will all of us become better rewriters—and better writers.
*Howard A. Rodman, Screenwriter and President of the Writer’s Guild of America, We*

Never in the history of Hollywood has a screenwriter heard the words: ‘It's perfect; don't change a thing.’ Even if someone were to say that, we know better and would change it anyway, and change it again, and again, and again. This book teaches the why and the how of rewriting and is written by a real, live, honest-to-God professional screenwriter who has successfully had many of his scripts made into movies.
*Stephen Sommers, Writer and Director of The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), and Van Helsing (2004)*

An exemplary text on screenplay writing. Drawing from both his professional and academic experiences, Jack Epps, Jr. provides an excellent distillation of ideal screenwriting practice, creating an indispensable resource for both students and self-taught screenwriters.
*David Dunn, Principal Teaching Fellow in Film Studies, University of Southampton, UK*