“I was never conscious of my screenplays having any acts. It’s all bullshit”

Founded by Erik Bauer in 1994, Creative Screenwriting Magazine—cited as “the best magazine on screenwriting” by the L.A. Times—is dedicated to bringing its audience exclusive interviews, industry insight and the latest breakthroughs in the craft and business of screenwriting. Unfortunately, the publication of the print version of the magazine is still suspended. Today, Creative Screenwriting operates exclusively as a web magazine. We’ve compiled a list of all the best articles currently on the site.

• In an exceptionally frank interview, John Milius talks about Hollywood, his experiences as a writer, and his dislike of books which teach screenwriting
• Except that William Goldman knows a great deal. Here, he discusses his craft, including the challenges of adapting novels for cinema
• Brian De Palma discusses his critically-acclaimed cult film Femme Fatale, contemporary noir, and the art of building suspense
• Billy Bob Thornton discusses his critically-acclaimed film Sling Blade
• Christopher McQuarrie discusses two of his early films, The Usual Suspects and The Way of the Gun, and the frustrations of trying to get a project off the ground
• Writing in a very dark room—Oliver Stone revisits Scarface. An in-depth interview with controversial writer and director
• Mike Leigh discusses his approach to filmmaking, and his latest masterpiece
• Callie Khouri looks back on working with Ridley Scott, and the strong reactions to her Academy Award-winning debut film

• He said, “My name is Marty Scorsese, I’m a movie director.” I said, “I’ve been waiting for this phone call all my life.” An in-depth interview with writer Nicholas Pileggi
• An in-depth interview with action genre pioneer Shane Black
• Three screenwriters simultaneously writing a single-shot film, working with “madman” Alejandro González Iñárritu
• “What I did was ignore the hardware.” Scott Frank on Minority Report
• Screenwriter Scott Frank talks about his involvement in bringing Elmore Leonard’s novel Out of Sight from page to screen
• John Carpenter analyses the script of his most celebrated movie, and why it was lambasted at the time
• Quentin Tarantino on Jackie Brown, his writing/acting method, and not being afraid of words that wound

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