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Marla Sokoloff, widely recognized for her acting roles in 1990s television classics like Full House and Party of Five, has also carved a significant path as a writer and filmmaker. Recently, she wrote and starred in The Merry Gentlemen, a Netflix holiday film that premiered in November 2024. The story blends comedy and heartfelt moments, offering a fresh take on traditional Christmas movies. Marla's inspiration for the script was her love for family-centered holiday traditions, paired with a desire to infuse these themes with modern, humorous twists. Beyond acting and writing for The Merry Gentlemen, Marla has developed other projects, including Rosé All Day and Betrayed by Love. Her transition into writing and directing has been a natural evolution of her creative career, reflecting her ability to bring both a nostalgic and contemporary perspective to her work. Full Bio »
We’re back in the Writers’ Room for the Breakdown with Marla Sokoloff. We breakdown produced screenplays focusing on a different aspect of writing every webcast. Join us as Marla breaks down their script of THE MERRY GENTLEMEN.
The Breakdown
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We're kicking off the first Writers' Room of 2020 with a deep dive into antiheroes - one of the most difficult character types to write. During this supersized 90 minute webcast, Director of Script Services, Jason Mirch explores the complexities of characters from some of our favorite films and television series including Joker, Kill Bill, The Social Network, The Irishman, "Fleabag", "The Sopranos", "Sherlock" and more to find out what makes them tick...and why we love them. We discuss the how screenwriters craft compelling antiheroes and I will give you specific types of antiheroes to consider when writing as well as tips on how to write them!
Writers can't rely on jump-scares and creepy music, so how do screenwriters create tension on the page? We'll take a look at needling suspense of THE BABADOOK, the tension just below the surface in GET OUT, the apocalyptic horror of “The Walking Dead”, and the creeps and chills of IT.
In this Break Down we are seeing what it takes to build a world during the Breakdown Webcast: World Building! This comes as a request from several of our members who want to discuss how to build worlds in your writing...and pre-writing. World Building is one of most important tasks in writing - it lays the foundation for everything that occurs in your story. So how can you do it within your screenplay without feeling expository or over the top? We're going to talk about how to avoid common mistakes in World Building, key ways to get better at World Building, and even look at some examples of World Building from both script and screen to see how your favorite screenwriters and filmmakers tackled this difficult task. During this webcast, we watch clips and analyze the scripts for features including TITANIC, BLADE RUNNER, JOKER and more!
Remember that every line of dialogue matters, every image has a purpose, and there are no wasted bullets in the gun! We're kicking off another month of a packed Writers' Room schedule with the Breakdown Webcast: Exposition as Ammunition! Many writers struggle with how to get out critical information and backstory to the audience in an organic way. So during this webcast, we discuss how to get the audience the information they need without a lecture they don't want. During this webcast we'll discuss different ways of getting out information in a way that feels organic to the narrative and the characters. We examine some of the best - and worst - examples from film and television!
Rich "RB" Botto is a producer, writer, and actor himself, and he and Jason have been on both sides of the table of hundreds of General Meetings. During this webcast, RB and Jason discuss how screenwriters should approach a general meeting, how to prepare for a general meeting, what to expect once you are in the room, and how to follow up so the first meeting turns into another meeting. This is essential information that every writer should be aware of!
We're back in the Writers' Room for the Breakdown Webcast: Writing Ensembles! An ensemble film is different from most lone protagonist-driven movies because it has a lot of main protagonists (some who are depicted as supporting characters though) that have roughly the same amount of "screen time" and importance in the screenplay. During this webcast, we discuss the challenge of giving every character in your ensemble a human turn while placing them in the context of the narrative. We examine some of our favorite projects including PRINCESS BRIDE, PARENTHOOD, "BRIDGERTON", THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, and more to see how the characters - and their goals - come together. We also discuss tips on how you can balance all of the characters in your ensemble piece while crafting compelling obstacles for them to overcome (either together or separately).