Turn Anything Into a Screenplay--Wired's Wiki shows you how

I stumbled on this rather hilarious, but insightful, piece on how to write screenplays.
1) It seems pithy and funny, but not without wisdom
2) It shows the power of Wiki -- this from Wired mag's how-to wiki
3) It shows how we are in the age of "knowledge manufacturing" -- from reverse engineering of high-value patent drugs to movie screenplays, there are people out there who will crack your formula.

There is a nakedness you feel when tricks of the trade are up there on the Web.
Creatitivity must reinvent itself now!

Here is the piece:


"'If you follow''' the advice of screenwriting guru Robert McKee, almost anything can be made into a great story — even, say, Slashdot, the site run by Rob Malda (aka CmdrTaco).

'''1. Create a protagonist.''' CmdrTaco lives on Netopia, where his people, an enslaved race called the Bots, are forced to feed information into the Great OS.

'''2. Establish what the protagonist wants.''' CmdrTaco wants to be free.

'''3. Be sure to have an antagonist.''' CmdrTaco fears the evil Regional Information Acquiring Agency (RIAA), which polices Netopia for rebels.

'''4. Decide what the antagonist wants.''' The RIAA knows that the only way to keep the Bots enslaved is to stifle all attempts to share data.

'''5. You need a conflict to drive the plot.''' CmdrTaco has to free the enslaved Bots or die.

'''6. Don't forget a beginning, a middle, and an end.''' CmdrTaco escapes the capital, Vistopolis (in a car chase you really have to see to believe). He then tells the Bots of Netopia to log on to the Great OS and simultaneously upload the most useless piece of data in the galaxy: "/." Overwhelmed, the Great OS explodes, taking the RIAA with it.