The Hollywood Standard : The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style

Publishers Weekly

Script proofreader Riley has learned and applied standard format rules to "untold thousands of scripts." He proudly proclaims, "I ended up knowing more about script format than anyone else in Hollywood," and on the basis of his new book, this may be a legitimate claim. Designed as a manual for every screenwriter-neophyte or old pro-it presents a format for writing scripts for theatrical feature films, hour-long television drama and long-form television, including made-for-TV movies and series. Riley's presentation will enable screenwriters to absorb material about, say, the necessity for page breaks, paragraphing and capitalization, without feeling intimidated. The book's strength lies in its ability to combine important specifics (e.g., the proper use of punctuation) with broader aspects of scriptwriting (e.g., how to describe what's being seen and heard within a shot or sequence). Toward the book's end, Riley incorporates all his lessons and suggestions into a section on the evolution of a script from first draft to production draft; appendixes offer sample script pages. Riley, who's also written screenplays for Touchstone Pictures, Paramount and Mandalay, supplies what may be the first accurate, complete and practical guide to standard script formats, a reference that writers of film would do well to keep handy as they work. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.