Robert McKee's Blog

As the title suggests, the biographical documentary Keep On Keepin��� On sings a bebop hymn to perseverance. This well-told film portrays the life of legendary jazz artist and mentor of musicians, Clark Terry. Born in St. Louis in 1920, Clark played lead trumpet for Duke Ellington���s orchestra. His brilliant stylings inspired many hopefuls, including a […]

The most successful leaders of business and government gain that power by being able to persuade their constituencies with a compelling story. In this Big Think interview, Robert McKee explains why Story works, and what you need to know about coercion and seduction. http://bigthink.com/videos/screenwrit...   Bonus Video: How Piaggio Aero Started Marketing From Scratch Forbes interviews […]

Something has to knock the protagonist’s life out of balance. Should that something be from outside or from inside the protagonist? Robert McKee clarifies the role of the inciting incident and answers whether it is possible for it to come from inside the protagonist.    

James Joyce to Henrik Ibsen, 1901 (Translated from the original Norwegian) Honoured Sir, I write to you to give you greeting on your seventy-third birthday and to join my voice to those of your well-wishers in all lands. You may remember that shortly after the publication of your latest play ‘When We Dead Awaken’, an […]

In the lead up to his STORY Seminar in London (Nov. 20 – 23), Robert McKee discusses Story, film, television, and life in general with Simon Ross at Radio Share.  

Robert McKee, who wrote television crime stories early in his career, outlines one of his points from Crime Story Day in the GENRE Festival: making your crime unsolvable, then solving it.  

Robert McKee teaches that the hero-at-the-mercy-of-the-villain scene is an important convention in the thriller because it demonstrates the power, resourcefulness, or ingenuity of the hero. What happens if we give that moment to the villain instead? Featured Video: Keynote: Story and the Future of Entertainment Jeffrey Katzenberg (CEO of Dreamworks Animation USA) shares his unique […]

One of the many beauties of the cinema is its storytelling flexibility.  The screen not only takes its stories from the imaginations of screenwriters, but it also recycles stories that were first created by playwrights for the theatre, researched by historians, reported by journalists, or most frequently, written by the authors of literature. Stories created […]

If you wish to understand the Primacy of Story – why story is essential to human motivation and decision-making – Robert McKee will get you started in this in-depth presentation for Thinking Digital. .   Quotes of the Week: “The Business story is designed to trigger the listener to take an effective action. If it doesn’t, […]

1. LOOK FOR TROUBLE The starting point of all stories is a moment of disruption. A negative event throws the protagonist’s life out of balance, hooking the audience’s curiosity: How will this turn out? The protagonist’s quest to restore life’s balance by struggling against negative forces is at the heart of all compelling narratives. Therefore, […]