National Screenwriters Day

National Screenwriters Day History

National Screenwriters Day celebrates the writers who bring life to movies and TV shows. Screenwriters are the ones who usually produce the original idea and then go on to create the story. Screenwriters are responsible for establishing characters, building worlds, and writing credible dialogue. This day aims to acknowledge screenwriters and their efforts to offer the public good movies.

National Screenwriters Day was created in 2016 by ScreenwritingU President Hal Croasmun. Croasmun's inspiration for the day was to, raise the status of screenwriters in the entertainment industry and to have the public realize that writers often have the ‘original vision’ for hit movies. This day is observed annually on January 5th.

Facts & quotes about National Screenwriters Day

• Screenwriters are the ones who create the story. There are seven basic storylines according to raindance.org:
  1) Man vs Nature
  2) Man vs Man
  3) Man vs the Environment
  4) Man vs Machine/Technology
  5) Man vs the Supernatural
  6) Man vs Self
  7) Man vs God/Religion
• The most expensive screenplay ever sold was Déjà Vu . Written by Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii it was sold for $5 million. The film was made in 2006 and it features Denzel Washington as a Federal agent who is working to prevent a terrorist plot. With the use of technology, Washington must travel back in time to stop things before they happen.
• According to Chapman University, the fist screenplay created was named A Trip To the Moon by George Méliès in 1902.
• To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script - Alfred Hitchcock
• In many ways being a screenwriter is still an invisible profession, so we’d like to have the public know about the creative people behind their favorite show or movie - Hal Croasmun, ScreenwritingU President and creator of National Screenwriters day.

In the News and Trending for National Screenwriters Day

Top things to do for National Screenwriters Day

• Watch the top 5 movies of 2020. According to metacritic they were:
  Nomadland
  Collective
  Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  David Byrne's American Utopia
  Time
• Read the script of your favorite movie to see what kind of vision the screenwriter originally had.
• Watch a movie about screenwriters and the screenwriting process. Here are our suggestions:
  Adaptation (2002)
  Shakespeare in Love (1998)
  Can You Ever Forgive Me (2018)
• Try writing your own script either for a movie or a TV show. It can be tough but there are many resources online to help you. Remember, structure and good storytelling are what make a good screenplay.