Save the Cat! Goes to the Indies

Book excerpt: In his best-selling book, Save the Cat!(R) Goes to the Movies, Blake Snyder provided 50 "beat sheets" to 50 films, mostly studio-made. Now his student, screenwriter and novelist Salva Rubio, applies Blake's principles to 50 independent, European and cult films (again with 5 beat sheets for each of Blake's 10 genres). From international sensations like The Blair Witch Project to promising debuts like Pi, from small films that acquired cult status like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to Euro-blockbusters like The Full Monty, from unexpected gems like Before Sunrise to auteur classics such as The 400 Blows, from Dogville to Drive and Boogie Nights to Cinema Paradiso, here are 50 movies that fit both the "indie" label and Blake Snyder's 15 beats. You'll find beat sheets for works from Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Danny Boyle, David Mamet, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sofia Coppola, Lars Von Trier, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, and the Coen Brothers, among other renowned writers and directors.