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Death or Story

@deathorstory.bsky.social
72 followers 116 following 140 posts

Write your story or die trying. 🤘 Getting professional help with your screenplays & stories is not a sign of weakness. It's a short cut to success. We are Paula Tiberius & Dominique Buda - & work with clients at any stage 🙌🏼 www.deathorstory.com

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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
In Jonathan Tropper’s crime thriller "Lucky," Lucky wants to get out of 'the life' but the con is all she knows, and her father attachment is pathological. How do you create fascinating, complex characters like this? Start with three simple questions. #Luckytvshow #deathorstory #televisionscripts
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Katie Dippold created Widow’s Bay, a series nearly 20 years in the making, inspired by childhood memories of being scared and delighted in equal measure - her personal stew of taste and sensibility is what makes it work. #widowsbay #screenwritingtips #screenwriting #writingclass #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In honor of Tim Curry‘s extraordinary genius, here is a dissection of the three-act writers log line for the Rocky Horror Picture Show! #timcurry #rockyhorrorpictureshow #screenwriting
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown” competed at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Of the 21 films in Competition, Woman Unknown was the only one solely directed by a woman. P.S. It took home the Golden Lion. #mayeltoukhyofficial #venice.fi #filmmaking #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
In honor of Dolly Parton, we’re highlighting the brilliantly structured midpoint of her 1980 hit movie 9 to 5, written by Patricia Resnick & Colin Higgins. It upends the action & changes the context of the journey to amp up the action in this feminist classic! #9to5 #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
When writers work with events from their lives, they can feel compelled to remain faithful to what happened. But when we set out to tell a story, being faithful to the historical record is not the same as being faithful to what the experience has to say. #chloearidjis #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Here’s the writer’s logline for “The Invite.” What begins as a story about inviting neighbors to dinner becomes a story about exploration, and finally a story about a relationship reaching its breaking point with a possibility of renewal. #screenwritingtips #screenwriting #WritingClass #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Screenwriting often becomes the process through which the intention of the filmmaker’s vision is tested, complicated, and sometimes abandoned. The screenplay starts to have a say in what it wants to be. #AlexanderPayne #screenwriting #filmmaking #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Structurally speaking, the crisis of #stevenspielberg ‘s 1975 summer hit #Jaws happens at the 4th of July event when the shark threatens the beach - & Brody's own children. Then the climax is the actual showdown that ensues between man and shark. #deathorstory #summerblockbuster #screenwriting
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
It’s the jagged edges that make a character feel real. We don't connect with characters because they're perfect—or even because they're good. We connect because their weaknesses, contradictions and flaws are what we recognise as humans. #PhoebeWallerBridge #Fleabag #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Wim Wenders' Perfect Days follows Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner whose life is about simple pleasures & profound appreciation of the everyday. Yet we see glimpses of sadness & tragedy. This character sketch shows how his strength is also his flaw... #perfectdays.movie #WimWenders #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Spend long enough with a script and you settle into its logic, its assumptions, its cadence. Before long, the current version starts to feel inevitable. You stop seeing what else it could be. Then someone reads your story…. #RashidaJones #TheInvitemov #screenwriting #writingclass #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
A "writer's logline" is the first step to defining what your story is about. It's not just a synopsis of the action - it's a blueprint for the entire story, act by act. Check out the writer’s logline for Your Friends & Neighbors! #deathorstory #yourfriendsandneighbors #jonhamm #screenwriting
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Story is ravenous. It wants images to carry meaning, to deliver a message. But images have their own language and life. They hold mystery and contradiction. They beckon us to feel something before we understand it. #wimwendersfoundation #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Today’s directive: Your characters do not, in fact, need to explain themselves. We repeat: They do not need to explain themselves. Sometimes the most revealing line of dialogue is the one that never makes it onto the page. #screenwriting #DepartmentofDialogue #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s work is unmistakably shaped by his own interests, curiosities, fears & sense of humor. The subjects that compel you & the characters you gravitate to reveal how you see the world. #CharlieKaufman #screenplays #adaptation #eternalsunshineofthespotlessmind #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Act two of a feature film is so long that you have to keep it interesting, otherwise the dreaded second act sag will put your audience to sleep. Structural beams make your story work! Look how Simon Beaufoy does it in The Full Monty. #thefullmonty #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Stories begin with a question, not an answer. We start from what we know, but we write in order to better understand what we don't. #hamnet #maggieofarrell #writingtips #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
In Iñárritu’s 2000 film Amores Perros, a car crash ripples outward through multiple timelines and interconnected lives. Differing perspectives revisit the car crash, forcing the audience to act as if it is processing memory - piecing together the timeline. #AmoresPerros #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Emma proves a compelling protagonist in The Drama because her flaw is inseparable from her deepest longing. She wants love, intimacy, and a future with Charlie - but she also fears that being fully known will fundamentally alter how others see her. #thedrama #kristogger #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
#CelineSong points out that no amount of technical skill can solve a story problem if it’s not working at the human level. Story isn’t something you can engineer or pummel into place. If it’s not landing in an emotionally authentic way, no amount of structural rigor will save it. #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
The 1983 switcheroo comedy Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Ackroyd has a beautifully executed, hardworking midpoint that turns the plot on its head creating a whole new context. It also foreshadows the crisis. Check it out! #tradingplaces #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Listen to #JimJarmusch & take the pressure off having to be “original” in some pure, untouched, and ultimately unattainable way. Instead, pay attention to what moves you and connect to it - that’s your voice. #JimJarmusch #screenwriting #filmmaking #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
People often confuse the crisis and the climax of a film. But they do very different jobs. Take a look and see how the crisis and climax play out in Sentimental Value (written and directed by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt) #sentimentalvaluefilm #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Bride! sits at the intersection of horror, romantic thriller, and sci-fi, creating intentional tension. Playing with genre expectations gives filmmakers a shared language with the audience - then lets them surprise without confusion. #MaggieGyllenhaal #filmmaking #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
John Waters' 1988 kitsch classic "Hairspray" isn't just about big hair. Tracy Turnblad leads a revolution! But what if you had to distill it down to one long sentence? Check out the 'writer's logline' for Hairspray! #Johnwaters #deathorstory #screenwriting #hairspray #writerslogline
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
In The Voice of Hind Rajab, by Kaouther Ben Hania, a young Palestinian girl’s voice recordings become the audience’s window into a life-or-death moment. Ben Hania embraces limited perspective and shapes it into the film’s emotional core. #kaoutherbenhania #thevoiceofhindrajabfilm #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Stop everything! Incoming transmission from the Department of Dialogue: avoid generic, indistinguishable dialogue at all costs. No two people speak alike - the more you know your characters, the harder it becomes for them to sound the same! #screenwriting #DepartmentofDialogue #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Chloé Zhao is an inspiring reminder that some of the most powerful moments in a story happen without words. A look, a pause, the way two people sit beside each other - such gestures can carry more meaning than a whole page of words. #ChloeZhao #Hamnet #screenwriting #filmmaking #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Let's get to the heart of Harrison Ford's character in Shrinking - Dr. Paul Rhoades - with three simple questions. What does he want? What does he need? And what is his main flaw? #Shrinking #charactersketch #deathorstory #TVwriting #harrisonford
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Boseman’s tragedy of racial injustice and state violence unfolds through rap, beatbox, dance, poetry - while time becomes restless and fluid. Details stay deliberately opaque. The result is an ambiguity that questions, unsettles, and resists binaries. #ChadwickBoseman #DeepAzure #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
In Nia DaCosta’s reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the protagonist Hedda is brilliant, restless, and terrified of being ordinary. Track her wants, needs, and flaws to unpack the alchemy driving the story engine that propels Hedda to haunting consequences. #Hedda #screenplays #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Mudbound tells a story with unsettling immediacy, despite its specific place in time. Characters don’t exist in a bubble. Neither do stories. They’re formed by memory, history, and inheritance, the past constantly shaping and informing the present. #DeeRees #Mudbound #screenwriting #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Spike Lee’s classic film “Do the Right Thing” is hard to summarize in one sentence because it is so rich in sub plots and theme. BUT by focusing on the A plot only, you can create an at a glance view of the first second and third acts. #spikelee #dotherightthing #blackhistorymonth #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
People often confuse the crisis and climax of a movie, so we like to use examples to show writers how they differ. See how it works in Jay Kelly! But, SPOILER ALERT ‼️#jaykelly #screenwriting #deathorstory #noahbaumbach #emilymortimer
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and King’s words feel newly relevant. Anger is best put to use as fuel. The task isn’t to write calmly, but furiously & with urgency. Take your anger & shape it into language, structure & purpose. Make your voice heard. #writing #inspiration #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Zoë Boehm, played by Emma Thompson in Apple TV's Down Cemetery Road is a deliciously dark and complicated character. How on earth do you 'sum up' a lovable yet incorrigible character like this? Try our "Sketch a Character in 3 Questions" method! #cemeteryroad #deathorstory #screenwriting
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Resist the temptation to explain everything so the audience never feels lost. A little confusion invites investment & engagement. But notice he puts a 5 minute cap on it. Push it too far & you lose the audience entirely. #PaulThomasAnderson #onebattleafteranother #screenwriting #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Hark! Another memo from that pesky Department of Dialogue - in this installment find out why in the case of dialogue, the goal is Imperfection…. #Dialogue #screenwritingtips #screenwritersupport #writingclass #writing #firstdraft #rewrites #DepartmentofDialogue #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
In honor of the new year, let’s toast 🥂 to the exhilaration of taking creative risks! No one wants to read re-cycled scripts - so jump out of that cake and surprise us all with your fresh take 🙌 #MikeNichols #screenplays #storytelling #filmmaking #inspiration #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
What's the midpoint of ELF? After struggling in NYC, Buddy’s father Walter brings him home to his wife and son! This is a big win for Buddy and changes the context of the journey, hinting at the crisis when Walter shouts, "Get out of my life!" #Elf #Christmasmovies #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Rob Reiner 1947-2025 We are so deeply disturbed and saddened by the violent death of Michele Reiner & Rob Reiner, whom we grew up with on our TV screens & admired and imitated as writers - We will keep him in our memory as a true inspiration to humanity.
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
A Writer’s Logline is a one-sentence summary that clearly indicates the three acts of your story. Think of it as a three-clause sentence, one for each act - then give away the ending…Check out the writer’s logline for “American Fiction” to see it in action. #Logline #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
DaCosta speaks to how we limit ourselves and internalize the forces that shape us - a universal thread that lets us meet Hedda across any era, any version of the world. The details shift. The centuries turn. But still we connect & good story prevails. #NiaDaCosta #Hedda #screenwriting #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
We get this question a lot: What's the difference between the crisis & the climax? They both start will 'C' and can be found in the second half of your screenplay. But that's where the similarities end...Take a look at the crisis and climax of the Abbott Elementary pilot as an example! #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
In Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, someone says, “It would have been nice to have had unicorns,” wishing for a sense of wonder in the face of reality. For Stoppard, miracles are in the writing itself, the surprises that appear when you let the pen roam. #TomStoppard #screenwriting #deathorstory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Sterlin Harjo doesn't shy away from deep emotional pain. He infuses difficult scenes with love for a profound universality. You don’t just wonder how the characters will get through their trauma - you're asking yourself, "How will I?" #SterlinHarjo #screenwriting #seminoleartist #DeathorStory
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
A screenplay is not a novel - but it IS a reading experience. We can't get inside someone's head, but we can describe how they look based on their emotional state. Look at this bad versus good example to see what we're talking about! #screenwriting #writingvisually #deathorstory #screenplays
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
On occasion of the recent release of Patti Smith’s new book “Bread of Angels,” we are reminded of her words - have the courage to write before you’re ready & be free to write the wrong words until the true ones fight their way out. #PattiSmith #screenwriting #DeathorStory #poetry #songwriting
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Death or Story @deathorstory.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Hide all your exposition in conflict, subtext, and relationship dynamics. Let your characters argue, dodge, or posture their way through the facts. In short, avoid information dumps at all costs! #dialogue #deathorstory #screenwriting #subtext #departmentofdialogue
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