"As Story Editor at the world's largest talent agency in a career that has spanned 35 years, I have read and analyzed over 60,000 screenplays. It's hard to imagine anyone could bring something new to the table, but Michael Tierno's Semiotics for Screenwriters revolutionizes screenplay analysis, creating a way for screenwriters to have a deeper understanding of their own writing process. Semiotics might sound scary, but Tierno's conversational style offers comprehensive examples of the system in action using popular films such as It's a Wonderful Life and Get Out . It's a college course for the price of a book." -- Christopher Lockhart, Story Editor, William Morris Endeavor, USA " Semiotics for Screenwriters is a left-of-center, intellectual, and flexible approach to constructing your screenplay. Unlike formulaic script advice books, it asks you to deeply consider how and why each moment works with others to build a great story. Most importantly, Tierno's method liberates you to 'play' with story elements as you move from inspiration, to outline, to script!" -- Michael Berg, Co-writer of the Ice Age Movie Franchise.