Revision 471385072 of "Xander Bennett" on enwiki

{{Infobox person
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1984|02|16|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Perth, Western Australia]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| othername     = Alexander Bennett
| yearsactive   = 2004&ndash;current
| spouse        = 
| website       = http://screenwritingtips.blcklst.com/
| occupation    = Screenwriter, author
}}

'''Xander Bennett''' (born February 16, 1984)<ref name="AS1">[http://adelaidescreenwriter.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-xander-bennett.html Interview - Adelaide Screenwriter]</ref> is an [[Australia|Australian]] [[screenwriter]] and [[author]]. He is a former [[Hollywood]] [[script reader]], who divides his time between [[Los Angeles]] and [[Sydney]]. Bennett is best known for his laconic advice about the practice of screenwriting, shared daily in a blog called '''Screenwriting Tips... You Hack''',<ref name="blklst" /> and for a book of the same name.<ref name="book1">[http://www.focalpress.com/books/film_and_video/screenwriting_tips_you_hack.aspx ''Screenwriting tips, you hack''] Focal Press</ref> 

==Early life==
Bennett was born and grew up in [[Perth, Western Australia]].<Ref name="AS1" /> He is the son of Martin and Rebecca Bennett, and the eldest of three boys.<Ref name="AS1" /> 

He earned a Bachelor of Film and Television<ref>[http://www.bond.edu.au/degrees-and-courses/undergraduate-degrees/list/bachelor-of-film-and-television/index.htm?&fos=Film%20-and-%20Television&cl=Your%20Degree Bachelor of Film & Television] Bond University</ref> at [[Bond University]] in [[Queensland, Australia]] in 2004, then attended the [[University of California, Los Angeles]], where he completed a Professional Program in Producing<ref>[http://www.filmprograms.ucla.edu/index_pr.cfm?action=pr_ppp&side=pr Professional Program in Producing] UCLA</ref> in 2009.

==Career==
Bennett has written for television, videogames, role-playing games, and comics, and is the author of a graphic novel. He has written a series of blogs, culminating in the one which made him famous, ''Screenwriting Tips... You Hack'', on which he has published a screenwriting tip a day since June 2009.

He wrote educational comics for [[Pan Macmillan]] and worked on ''Ghostees'', a small browser game for BakedOn Entertainment,<ref>[http://www.bakedon.com/ BakedOn Entertainment]</ref> which hasn't been released yet. He has written tabletop [[Role-playing game|RPG]] books for The Le Games (''Unorthodox Pirates''), [[List of game manufacturers|Highmoon Media]] (''The Song of Roland''), and Dogsoul Publishing.<Ref name="AS1" /> 

He lived in [[Vancouver]] during 2008, where he did some freelance journalism and copywriting, and worked as a quality assurance tester for [[Electronic Arts]] Vancouver.<ref>[http://www.ea.com/ca Electronic Arts, Canada]</ref>

In 2009 he moved to [[Los Angeles]] for a year to attend the [[UCLA]] Professional Program in Producing. While there he worked as a reader for a minor production company. 

Bennett administers an online script reading service, Hack Notes.<ref>[http://hacknotes.net/ Hack Notes]</ref> 

He is managed by Madhouse Entertainment,<ref>[http://madhouseent.net/about.html Madhouse Entertainment]</ref> Los Angeles.

==Writing==
===Blogs===
Bennett first published a blog called ''Chained to the Keyboard'' while he was living in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]]. It ran from October 2005 to June 2006. That was followed by a blog called ''Childish Things'', which ran from 2007 to early 2009. Neither blog is now available online. 

In Los Angeles, while working as a reader for a minor production company, and frustrated by the quality of the screenplays he was reading, Bennett started [[tweeting]]<ref>[https://twitter.com/#!/xanderbennett Twitter] Xander Bennett</ref> his complaints. Someone told him he should put them in a blog, so he moved to publishing ''Screenwriting Tips... You Hack'' <ref>[http://screenwritingtips.tumblr.com/ Screenwriting Tips... You Hack] Tumblr</ref> as "a snarky diatribe,"<ref>[http://masteringfilm.com/author/xander-bennett/ Mastering Film.Com] Xander Bennett</ref> posting tips once a day on how to make spec scripts better.<ref>[http://www.indiewire.com/article/meet_the_hack_behind_screenwriting_tips..._you_hack IndieWire] Meet the Hack Behind "Screenwriting Tips... You Hack"</ref> His first tip read: 
::Don't be boring. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T BE BORING. Tape it to your laptop. Tape it to your eyeballs. '''Don't. Be. Boring.'''

[[Franklin Leonard]]<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1436294/ IMDb] Franklin Leonard</ref> invited Bennett to join [[Blacklist#Screenwriting|The Black List]] in September 2011, and the entire ''Screenwriting Tips... You Hack'' blog migrated to that website.<ref name="blklst" />

On 3 November 2011, Bennett published Tip #800: 
::There are no original ideas, and nothing new under the sun… except you. Your voice, style and execution are unique, and uniquely valuable.

===Television===
Bennett's first job as a writer was on the Australian animated children's show [[FARMkids]]<Ref name="AS1" /><ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024886/ IMDB] FARMkids</ref> in 2005.

During 2010-2011, he worked under contract for Australia's [[Shine Limited|Shine Television Studios]].<ref name="blklst">[http://blog.blcklst.com/2011/09/please-welcome-xander-bennett-and-screenwriting-tips-you-hack/ Xander Bennett joins The Black List]</ref> His work included post-production on [[Dating in the Dark (Australian TV series)|Dating in the Dark]], [[The Biggest Loser (Australian TV series)|The Biggest Loser]] and [[Australia's Next Top Model]].

===Graphic novel===
In 2009, Xander Bennett and Melanie Cook published a graphic novel called ''Cages''.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/topic/Insomnia_Publications ''Cages''] Insomnia Publications</ref> The publisher, Insomnia Publications, ceased trading in 2010 and the status of the novel is now uncertain.

===Screenplays===
Bennett began writing screenplays in 2004, but has had none produced as yet. 

In 2010 he developed ''The Colour of Fear'',<ref>[http://www.risingswell.com.au/Film/Film/cof.html ''The Colour of Fear''] Rising Swell Productions</ref> a feature film, for Rising Swell Productions,<ref>[http://www.risingswell.com.au/ Rising Swell Productions] Website</ref> a [[Melbourne]] based [[production company]].

===Screenwriting book===
In 2011, on the advice of [[William H. Akers]],<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0015220/ IMDb] William M. Akers</ref> Xander Bennett published a book that took the wisdom of his ''Screenwriting Tips... You Hack'' blog and expanded it into ''Screenwriting Tips, You Hack: 150 Practical Pointers for Becoming a Better Screenwriter''. It contains "bite-sized chapters full of funny, insightful, usable advice". According to the publisher, it demonstrates "the differences between film and television structure, how to force yourself to write when youreallydon't want to, and why you probably shouldn't base your first spec script around an alien invasion."<ref name="book1" />

==Awards and honors==
Xander Bennett won [[The West Australian]] ''Young Writer of the Year'' award in 1999.<Ref name="AS1" />

He was awarded the ''Queensland New Filmmakers Award - Most Original Script'' in 2010.<Ref name="AS1" /><ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/pub/xander-bennett/15/410/2A1 Linkedin]</ref>

==Publications==
* Bennett, Xander and Cook, Melanie. ''Cages''. Edinburgh: Insomnia Publications, 2009. ISBN 1905808100
* Bennett, Xander. ''Screenwriting tips, you hack: 150 practical pointers for becoming a better screenwriter''. Oxford: Elsevier Inc, 2011. ISBN
978-0-240-81824-5

==See also==
* Interview with Xander Bennett at [http://adelaidescreenwriter.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-xander-bennett.html Adelaide Screenwriter], January 15, 2012
* Interview with Xander Bennett at [http://www.indiewire.com/article/meet_the_hack_behind_screenwriting_tips..._you_hack IndieWire], October 24, 2011.
* Interview with Xander Bennett at [http://www.whatevercomics.com/#/xander-bennett/4528876465 Whatever Comics], undated.
* Interview with Xander Bennett at [http://stealmyscript.com/interview-with-xander-bennet-author-of-screen Steal My Script], 13 October 2011.
* Xander Bennett at [http://masteringfilm.com/author/xander-bennett/Mastering Film.Com]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* Xander Bennett on [http://comicspace.com/members/xander ComicSpace]
* Xander Bennett on [https://plus.google.com/106687889061686780887/about Google +]
* [http://screenwritingtips.blcklst.com/ Screenwriting Tips... You Hack] The Blacklist
* [http://hacknotes.net/ Hack Notes]


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              =Bennett, Xander
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     =December 16, 1961
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| DATE OF DEATH     =
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Xander}}
[[Category:1984 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:Bond University alumni]] 
[[Category:People from Perth, Western Australia]]
[[Category:Writers from Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian screenwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century writers]]
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