Amy Suto 10/4/14 Amy Suto 10/4/14

Writing The Vision

I've been writing short films, short stories, and summaries inside and outside of the classroom of this idea since December of 2013, and I'm excited to finally use the power of deadlines and inordinate amounts of coffee to bring it to fruition. So partially in order to procrastinate from the writing I'm doing today and to hold myself accountable, here's an update on The Vision.

Amy Suto 9/11/14 Amy Suto 9/11/14

On the Importance of Adventures for Writers

In the past seven days, I've shot a balloon with an arrow at the Pasadena archery range, practiced cha-cha one night and learned break on two salsa another, put on boxing gloves and sparred with my self-defense partner as we learned headlocks and groundwork, learned the basics of Python and how to hack a computer to redirect to Bing everytime you type in "Google" (nefarious, I know), and am going to a concert on Friday in Hollywood and the Getty on Saturday for live music.

Amy Suto 7/14/14 Amy Suto 7/14/14

Web Series as Practice for the Real World

Today after the 10am staff meeting for Orientation I hibernated in my apartment and attempted to catch up on sleep, but then quickly realized that wasn't going to happen and I was better off catching up on work.For the past few months I've been in pre-production for season two of my web series, Antidote 15, which has (happily) been my life since December 2013.

Amy Suto 6/1/14 Amy Suto 6/1/14

How to Create a Web Series [Part Five: Marketing]

Here are some major points you need to think about when marketing your web series that I learned from marketing my thriller web series, Antidote 15.

Amy Suto 5/10/14 Amy Suto 5/10/14

How to Create a Web Series [Part Four: Post-Production]

Editing is the final rewrite, and you can change so much about your web series in this part of the process. If you don't know how to edit, find someone who does, because a polished final product requires time and skill. Here are some tips on how to edit your web series!

Amy Suto 5/8/14 Amy Suto 5/8/14

How to Create a Web Series: [Part Three: Production]

I am not saying I know everything there is about film production. As a screenwriter, my focus is on story and character, but I do have a handle on some of the basics like three point lighting, green screening, and wrangling erstwhile sound equipment.

Amy Suto 3/14/14 Amy Suto 3/14/14

How to Create A Web Series [Part Two: Casting]

Finding quality actors is so important, especially for a web series with recurring roles. With Antidote 15, we were incredibly lucky to find the cast we did. This article will teach you everything you need to know about casting for your web series!

Amy Suto 2/24/14 Amy Suto 2/24/14

Adventures in 24 Hour Filmmaking

Every year, USC hosts a 24 hour film contest called the Ed Wood Film Festival. It sets out to prove that students can make a better film in 24 hours than Ed Wood could in his career. Quality aside, 24 hour filmmaking competitions are a great chance to test run ideas, experiment with special effects, and learn how much coffee it takes to pull a productive all-nighter. (Answer: four cups MINIMUM.)

Amy Suto 2/8/14 Amy Suto 2/8/14

How to Create A Web Series [Part One: Pre-Production]

This year is my year of doing big, scary things I've never done before. In December, I remember walking home from class and thinking, "what challenges scare me?" I came up with two: skydiving and helming a web series.Since skydiving is a perfectly rational fear I don't want to tackle anytime soon, I decided to create my own web series. It's a good challenge since I want to be a showrunner one day, and this experience will help me hone important skills, like serving some of the best crafty you've ever had in your life. (People who have had my chocolate chip cookies know what's up.) My web series is called Antidote 15, and you can read more about it here.

Amy Suto 1/9/14 Amy Suto 1/9/14

6 Tips for Setting Writing Resolutions

Which brings me to the importance of setting writing resolutions. It's far too easy to lose your shining writerly aspirations in the whirlwind inferno of daily life if you don't have "WRITE A HOMELAND SPEC IN 2014!" sticky-noted all over your desk/room/forehead.

Amy Suto 12/7/13 Amy Suto 12/7/13

6 Steps to Rewriting Your Work

In order to get your draft into shipshape, you need to do a lot of writing and rewriting. Here are my top six steps to rewriting your work!

Amy Suto 10/15/13 Amy Suto 10/15/13

Good Books: The Fault in Our Stars

I've been trying to find new authors to add to my list of favorite authors on my Facebook page (a prestigious list of high importance and influence, I assure you) when I made the mistake of reading John Green. I say mistake because once I read The Fault in Our Stars, I knew I was going to get nothing done in the next week while I made my way through all his other books.So today's blog post is dedicated to John Green, who stole my productivity but instead gave me something much more valuable: great books that will stay with me forever.

Amy Suto 7/13/13 Amy Suto 7/13/13

Webseries School: Creator Up! [Review]

Webseries are the great Wild West of the film industry, and for new content creators, it can be a daunting plain to navigate. Creator Up is the online Webseries School created by USC alumni who want to bring the joy of collaboration and creation from film school into this new realm of content creation.

Amy Suto 7/7/13 Amy Suto 7/7/13

A Writer’s Recipe For Great Characters

I'm a sassy writer who gets no sleep and cooks more often than your grandmother. So here's a recipe for creating great characters in six steps!

Amy Suto 6/6/13 Amy Suto 6/6/13

Tips and Tricks for Novel Writing

Here are the tips and tricks I've learned about novel writing during my stay in Maui!

Amy Suto 5/22/13 Amy Suto 5/22/13

Good Books: Strong Female Protagonists

Looking for good books with strong female protagonists? Look no further! I review two excellent books with compelling female main characters.

Amy Suto 4/2/13 Amy Suto 4/2/13

4 Ways to Find the Emotional Core of Your Story

When it comes to selling your scripts, the most powerful weapon you have is being able to make your audience feel something. Emotion will get you where structuring and formatting and perfect grammar alone cannot. That's why today's post is all about finding ways to connect with the emotional core of your story!