Christopher Keane

Articles by Christopher Keane

PASSION: Without It, Forget It

For a new screenwriter, the only way to tear down the Hollywood barriers is to burn them down with your passion. Your passion for the story and for the characters who drive it. Without Passion, your script is no more than a tinker toy network of rules and regulations, plot points and pinwheels, bare architectural bones which no one wants to see, or make.

My agent one time told ... (read more)

Hollywood's Best Kept Secret: The Expanded Scene Breakdown

What is Hollywood's Best Kept Screenwriting Secret? Answer: The Expanded Scene Breakdown. What is the Expanded Scene Breakdown? It's the middle step between the story development stage and the script itself.

Another step in the screenwriting process, you ask?

The Expanded Scene Breakdown is a 20 to 40+ page point by point, step by step, scene ... (read more)

How Little Red Riding Hood Made Me a Writer

A story that made a big impression on me was "Little Red Riding Hood." I was ten and my mother said to me, "Who's the main character in the story?"

I thought for a moment, and said, "Red Riding Hood."

"How so?"

"The story is called that," I said. "Little Red Riding Hood."

"You think so, do you?" my mother said. "I think it's misleading. She's... (read more)