An insider's guide to writing action movies, from concept to completion.

Michael Lucker began his career writing and directing television commercials while earning his undergraduate degree in broadcasting and film at Boston University's College of Communication. Soon after, he landed in Los Angeles, working in production for ABC, NBC, and CBS before taking a job as Steven Spielberg's assistant at Amblin Entertainment on the feature films Always,
Arachnophobia, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He served in creative affairs on feature films at Hollywood Pictures before embarking on a career as a screenwriter, helping pen screenplays for Paramount, Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, and Universal, including Vampire in Brooklyn, Home on the Range, Mulan II, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which was nominated for a "Best Animated Feature" Academy Award in 2003.
An opportunity to serve as creative consultant to Turner Entertainment took him to Atlanta, where he launched his own production company, Lucky Dog Filmworks, which now serves as his home for creating film, television, and commercial content. In television, Michael has worked with Animal Plan-et, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, History Channel, Discovery, NBC, TBS, TNT, TLC, OWN, DIY, MSNBC, and A&E. A renowned instructor in screenwriting, Michael presently serves as screenwriting mentor for the Atlanta Film Festival, founder of the Atlanta-based Screenwriter School, and professor of screenwriting at Emory University.

Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Killer Concepts
Chapter 2: Bad-Ass Heroes
Chapter 3: Twisty-Turvy Plots
Chapter 4: Lean, Mean Scenes
Chapter 5: Format Fun-kadelic
Chapter 6: Action!
Chapter 7: Snappy Dialogue
Chapter 8: Sneaky Transitions
Chapter 9: Process Protocol
Chapter 10: Deafening Feedback
Chapter 11: Plight of the Rewrite
Chapter 12: Down to Business
Gratitude
Appendix
About the Author