Writing Movies for Fun and Profit by Robert Ben Garant

There have likely been hundreds of books published on the topic of screenwriting. What many of these books have in common is that they are not by well known and/or commercially successful screenwriters but are often written by college professors or writers best known for their books on screenwriting. Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon’s Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars and You Can, Too! immediately separates itself from many of these screenwriting titles due to the fact that Lennon and Garant have written screenplays which were produced. As the title suggests, they have not focused their writing on trying to get academy award nominations. Their writing credits include Night at the Museum and The Pacifier. They also worked on the Lindsay Lohan classic Herbie: Fully Loaded, before they were fired, and they even devote a chapter to what went wrong with that particular movie.

So you might be thinking, I’m an aspiring screenwriter but I want to write something good, not family comedies starring Vin Diesel. This book will still be worth your time as it contains valuable information about the ins and outs of the movie industry. Garant and Lennon are brutally honest about what it takes to become a working screenwriter in Los Angeles. They explain oddities of the industry such as the fact that professional screenwriters are constantly getting fired and rehired, the need to always follow certain screenplay structures, and how much of your writing you need to sell in order to qualify for membership in the Writers Guild of America, West. Despite its raunchy cover, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit contains a wealth of information for anyone interested in screenwriting.

John