Sider-ways

Wine-o
flickr|WTL photos
Writer/Screenwriter Rex Pickett, whose unpublished novel became the basis for the screenplay Sideways (and then the novel got published) is out with the sequel novel, Vertical. Pickett is thrilled with Alexander Payne, but not thrilled with the book’s original publisher. To get hopelessly depressed about both the movie industry and the publishing industry, read about his travails in the Yamhill Valley News Register. (Yamhill Valley is Oregon wine country and apparently part of the new novel.)

Alligator’s Guide To Screenplay

Screenplay
flickr|Joe in DC
Screenwriter Pen Densham writes about writing, the business, and how to get through in his new book “Riding the Alligator, Strategies for a Career in Screenwriting (and Not Getting Eaten)”. Like Kung Fu Panda, the answer is, “there is no secret ingredient.” Densham includes essays by various screenwriters. TW puts this in the “probably worth the read” pile. [Via Larchmont Chronicle.]

Who Wrote The King’s Speech?

King George VI
flikr|steve greer
The Jewish Journal has a fascinating article about screenwriter David Seidler, who escaped from Nazi’s, was almost torpedoed on his way to America, and grew up escaping into writing as a refuge from his own speech impediment, then later drew from these experiences to write the screenplay for The King’s Speech. It is worth a read.