The Hollywood Standard – Third Edition: Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style

Intended to be kept at a screenwriter’s fingertips, The Hollywood Standard provides what even the best script software can’t: clear, concise instructions and hundreds of examples to take the guesswork out of a multitude of formatting questions that perplex even seasoned screenwriters.

Contents include:

• When a new scene heading is appropriate and when it isn’t
• How to format shot headings, dialogue, direction and transitions
• How to control pace with formatting • How to make a script page visually inviting to the reader
• What to capitalize and why
• How to get into and out of a POV shot
• How to handle text messages and Zoom meetings
• How Hollywood’s most innovative screenwriters are pushing the boundaries of format
• How format for animation differs from live-action formats Simply put, Riley knows more about script format than anyone in Hollywood and shares it all in this indispensable guide.

About the Author: 

Christopher Riley is a professional screenwriter who cowrote with his wife Kathy Riley the award-winning German-language film After the Truth. The Rileys have written scripts for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Mandalay Television Pictures, Sean Connery’s Fountainbridge Films, and Robert Cort Productions. Christopher produced the action-thriller Red Line and executive produced the web series Bump+. He began his career as a proofreader in the standard-setting script processing department at Warner Bros., a department he eventually rose to manage. He is the former director of the Act One Hollywood Writing Program, the author of the classic screenplay format guide The Hollywood Standard, an instructor of screenwriting at the undergraduate and graduate levels, a founding partner of Story Masters Film Academy, and a longtime member of the Writers Guild of America West.