Chris Huntley is an Academy Award-winning software developer and Vice President of Write Brothers® Inc. Chris is also the co-creator of Dramatica®, an acclaimed theory of story and the basis of the popular Writer's DreamKit™, Dramatica® Pro, and Dramatica® Story Expert software. Chris regularly teaches workshops and classes on story structure and development.
While an undergraduate in Cinema Production at the University of Southern California, Chris created several short films, including the award-winning animated short, “Daddy’s Gone a’ Hunting,” which was chosen as the short film screened before the world premiere of the George Romero film, “Dawn of the Dead.” After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinema Production, Chris worked for several years in the film industry.
In 1982, Chris went into business with fellow USCinema alum, Stephen Greenfield, and formed Screenplay Systems Inc., now doing business as Write Brothers® Inc. Together they created Scriptor™, the world’s first professional screenplay formatting software, for which they won a 1994 Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They went on to produce other award winning, industry standard software, such as Movie Magic® Budgeting and Movie Magic® Scheduling, Dramatica® Pro, Writer’s DreamKit, Movie Magic® Screenwriter, StoryView™, Word Menu® and more.
As co-creator of the Dramatica® story theory, the co-author of “Dramatica: A New Theory of Story” (1994), and co-developer of the Dramatica® Pro and Writer’s DreamKit™ software, Chris has spent thirty years working with narrative theory and its practical application.
Today, Chris splits his time working as Vice President of Write Brothers® Inc. between design work for new products and overseeing day-to-day business affairs. Chris also spends a fair amount of time giving workshops in story development in the U.S. and abroad.
Quotes
Here are a couple of industry articles in which Chris Huntley is quoted:
Screenwriters concerned about security Use of Web-based software, cloud storage stirs fears By ROBYN WEISMAN, Variety.com Screenwriters who use Web-based software and cloud storage face a new fear in their trade: security. Write Brothers veep Chris Huntley, for one, is skeptical that studios will adopt widespread online exchanges of information until military-grade protections are put in place. "The WikiLeaks material was not something its originators wished to share with the world, so just imagine a studio freaking out about having its budgets, scripts and deal memos floating around," Huntley said. While Huntley understands the utility of the virtual collaborative aspects that most of the Web-based apps offer, he thinks putting scripts and story ideas online is problematic. "The younger writers aren't concerned about the privacy issue until it bites them in the behind," he said. "Once they have their stuff stolen, they'll understand why people are private about their work." |
Competition arrives for screenwriting software Showbiz eyes Scripts Pro, ScriptWrite, Scripped.com By ROBYN WEISMAN. Variety.com Once upon a time, screenwriting was a labor-intensive vocation. And that labor was hardly confined to the age-old challenges of storytelling... Screenwriting programs like Final Draft and Write Brothers' Movie Magic helped change all that. Write Brothers veep Chris Huntley, who co-developed and sold the first scripting software nearly 30 years ago, said laughingly of the woes of script formatting, "We're in business because of page breaks." ...Over the past few decades, Write Brothers' Movie Magic Screenwriter has been the Pepsi to Final Draft's Coke in the screenwriting software aisle. With the exception of the niche occupied by Celtx, an open-source, all-in-one screenwriting and production package, the two companies have all but dominated the field... Should Final Draft and Movie Magic be getting ready for battle? Huntley didn't sound too concerned, saying he's seen similar scenarios two or three times before. "You've got a couple of products that are dominant, there's a lull, and then a whole spate of new products show up that are pretty much in the same space, last five, six years and then die out because they're not in it for the long run," he said. |