From it's a Wonderful Life, to Star Wars, fantasy is not bound by a specific formula. It spans all genres, times and locals, and has contributed to the folklore and literature of every culture around the world. Writing the fantasy film guides you through the fantasy script process, without having to sprinkle the fairy dust.

The Fantasy Film provides a clear and compelling overview of this revitalized and explosively popular film genre. Includes analyses of a wide range of films, from early classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Harvey to Spiderman and Shrek, and blockbuster series such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Harry Potter films Provides in-depth historical and critical overviews of the genre Fully illustrated with screen shots from key films

Fantasy Film proposes an innovative approach to the study of this most popular cinematic genre. Engaging with the diversity of tones, forms and styles that fantasy can take in the cinema, the book examines the value and significance of fantasy across a wide range of key films. This volume extends critical understanding beyond the often narrowly defined boundaries of what is seen as "fantasy". Fantasy Film uses key concepts in film studies - such as authorship, representation, history,genre, coherence and point of view - to interrogate the fantasy genre and establish its parameters. A wide range of films are held up to close scrutiny to illustrate the discussion. Moving from Alfred Hitchcock's dark thrillers to Vincente Minnelli's vibrant musicals, from George Méliès' 1904 Voyage à travers l'impossible to the X-Men series, the creative dexterity and excitement of film fantasy is evoked and explored. The book will be invaluable to students and fans of the fantasy genre.

This book is a comprehensive and detailed guide to a genre of enduring popular appeal. Several hundred films are covered in entries that provide technical credits and cast lists, a plot synopsis, and a quotation from a contemporary reviewócomplimentary or otherwise. The films are illustrated by over 200 stills. More than 50 biographies of movie personalities, including performers, directors, producers, and writers, are supplied. In addition, the author has written a series of short essays on major themes in science fiction and fantasy films.

For 28 years, Novel & Short Story Writer's Market has been the only resource of its kind exclusively for fiction writers. Covering all genres from romance to mystery to horror and more, this resource helps you prepare your submissions and sell your work. This must-have guide includes listings for over 1,300 book publishers, magazines, literary agents, writing contests and conferences, each containing current contact information, editorial needs, schedules and guidelines that save you time and take the guesswork out of the submission process. With more than 100 pages of listings for literary journals alone and another 100 pages of book publishers, plus special sections dedicated to the genres of romance, mystery/thriller, speculative fiction, and comics/graphic novels, the 2009 edition of this essential resource is your key to successfully selling your fiction.

The 2015 edition of firstwriter.com’s bestselling directory for writers provides details of over 1,200 literary agents, book publishers, and magazines, including revised and updated listings from the 2014 edition, and over 380 brand new entries. Tips and advice are provided by top literary agent Andrew Lownie, of the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Ltd: named by Publishers Marketplace as the top selling agent worldwide. Subject indexes for each area provide easy access to the markets you need, with specific lists for everything from romance publishers, to poetry magazines, to literary agents interested in thrillers. International markets become more accessible than ever, with listings that cover both the main publishing centres of New York and London, as well as markets in other English speaking countries. With more and more agents, publishers, and magazines accepting submissions by email, this international outlook is now more important than ever. There are no adverts, no advertorials, and no obscure listings padding out hundreds of pages. By including only what’s important to writers – contact details for literary agents, publishers, and magazines – this directory is able to provide more listings than its competitors, at a substantially lower price. The book also allows you to create a subscription to the firstwriter.com website for free until 2016. This means you can get free access to the firstwriter.com website, where you can find even more listings, and also benefit from other features such as advanced searches, daily email updates, feedback from users about the markets featured, saved searches, competitions listings, searchable personal notes, and more. “I know firsthand how lonely and dispiriting trying to find an agent and publisher can be. So it's great to find a resource like firstwriter.com that provides contacts, advice and encouragement to aspiring writers. I've been recommending it for years now!” ~ Robin Wade; literary agent at the Wade & Doherty Literary Agency Ltd, and long-term firstwriter.com subscriber

Shortlisted as one of The Stage's top 10 training books of 2012 The No Rules Handbook for Writers is a timely, creative and refreshing antidote to prescriptive guides for writers. It will inspire playwrights, screenwriters and novelists; offer fresh insights toteachers, editors, dramaturgs, directors and producers. Lisa Goldman takes 40 established conventions of creative writing. She explores why these rules persist, how to master them, bend or break them and why the most important rules to overturn are your own. The book weaves together industry experiences, psychological observations and inspirational tips. With practical advice from 40 rule-breaking writers: Hassan Abdulrazzak, Oladipo Agboluaje, Ronan Bennett, Sita Bramachari, Trevor Byrne, Anthony Cartwright, Matthew Greenhalgh, Tanika Gupta, Neil Hunter, M.J. Hyland, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Dennis Kelly, Bryony Lavery, Chris Paling, Stacy Makishi, Neel Mukherjee, Hattie Naylor, Anthony Neilson, Kim Noble, Tom Palmer, Lucy Prebble, Philip Ridley, Paul Sirett, Edmund White, Roy Williams. The No Rules Handbook for Writers will be a valuable read for anyone curious about the craft, context and process of writing.

Raymond Chandler was among the most original and enduring crime novelists of the twentieth century. Yet much of his pre-writing life, including his unconventional marriage, has remained shrouded in mystery. In this compelling, wholly original book, Judith Freeman sets out to solve the puzzle of who Chandler was and how he became the writer who would create in Philip Marlowe an icon of American culture. Visiting Chandler's many homes and apartments, Freeman uncovers vestiges of the Los Angeles that was Chandler's terrain and inspiration for his imagination. She also uncovers the life of Cissy Pascal, the older, twice-divorced woman Chandler married in 1924. A revelation of a marriage that was a wellspring of need, illusion, and creativity, The Long Embrace provides us with a more complete picture of Raymond Chandler's life and art than any we have had before.

Hugo Münsterberg's The Photoplay (1916) is one of the first and most important early works of film theory. Münsterberg's work on the emerging art of cinema remains a key document for film scholars, but it has long been out of print. In this new edition, Allan Langdale provides a critical introduction to the seminal text and collects numerous hard-to-find writings on film by Münsterberg.

This book is a detailed guide to creating complex female characters for film and television. Written for screen storytellers of any level, this book will help screenwriters and filmmakers recognize complicated portrayals of women on screen and evaluate the complexity of their own characters. Author Anna Weinstein provides a thorough analysis of key female characters in film and television, illustrating how some of our greatest screenwriters have developed smart, nuanced, and intriguing characters that successfully portray the female experience. The book features in-depth discussions of women’s representation both on screen and behind the scenes, including interviews with acclaimed women screenwriters and directors from around the globe. These conversations detail their perspectives on the relevance of women’s screen stories, the writing and development processes of these stories, and the challenges in getting female characters to the screen. With practical suggestions, exercises, guidelines, and a review of tired clichés to avoid, this book leaves readers prepared to draw their own female characters with confidence. A vital resource for screenwriters, filmmakers, and directors, whether aspiring or already established, who seek to champion the development of rich, layered, and unforgettable female characters for film and television.