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Screenwriting
Matthew Michael Carnahan Had a Little Lamb
For someone who is fairly new to the film industry, Matthew Michael Carnahan has certainly found his footing rather quickly. The second script he ever wrote turned into The Kingdom, starring Jennifer Garner and Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx. He now has three more movies in the pipeline, the next being the Robert Redford-directed Lions for Lambs. The film, starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise, features the intertwining stories of a college professor, a journalist and a presidential hopeful and their connections to two American soldiers facing deadly circumstances in Iraq.
November 11th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Andrew Gnerre
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Ben Affleck Rides High with Gone Baby Gone
Okay, so there's a lot of talk lately of Ben Affleck—and not the type that he amassed just five years ago when "Bennifer" was the hottest thing in the tabloids. This time around, it's for the momentum he's regaining after years of critically-panned fare such as Forces of Nature (1999), Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas (2004). Beginning with his Golden Globe-nominated role in 2006's Hollywoodland and leading to his directorial debut, this month's Gone Baby Gone, Affleck has seen the kinder side of critics. But it was a long time coming after such a promising start.
October 28th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Mallory Potosky
Terry George Gets His Revenge
Terry George has always been a screenwriter with a passion for serving victims of injustice. But when does the pursuit of justice become lust for revenge? George delves into the emotional complexities of this question with his latest project, Reservation Road.
Based on the John Burnham Schwartz novel of the same name, Reservation Road follows two men and their families in the shattering wake of a fatal accident. Divorced father Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) is wracked with self-loathing after killing Ethan Learner's son in a hit-and-run on a Connecticut backroad. Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) manifests his grief by hunting obsessively for Dwight, which takes a psychological toll on the grieving father and, by extension, his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and daughter Emma (Elle Fanning). Dwight, meanwhile, struggles between an urge to turn himself in and the need to care for his son. Writer-director George hopes his movie will make audiences look at retribution and responsibility in a new way. "In this post-9/11 world," he says, "'an eye for an eye' needs to be examined through drama. What happens when that thing you see on television—‘revenge’—comes home to you on a very personal level?"
October 21st, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Daniel Fritz
Tony Gilroy
The Oscar buzz had already begun when Tony Gilroy's directorial debut, Michael Clayton made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. Released nationwide this past Friday, October 12, 2007, this movie marks a watershed moment for Gilroy as he expands on his already action-packed screenwriting credentials. Michael Clayton stars George Clooney as a "fixer" for a prestigious law firm--a glorified janitor who covers up clients' dirty deeds so big players can stay on top. Faced with a crucial settlement against an agrochemical company, the firm's star litigator goes off the deep end, and Clayton must rein him in to preserve the lucrative case.
But Clayton must also look at himself and face the consequences of his work--much like the hero Gilroy constructed for the popular Bourne trilogy. The New York screenwriter scripted all of the movies in the trilogy, which have been widely lauded as top-quality, nail-biting spy films.
October 15th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Andre Ward
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>The Heartbreak Kids: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Watching the Farrelly brothers' career evolve is a lot like watching a kid grow up. They started primarily with gross-out humor (see the scene in Dumb & Dumber where a character drinks a bottle of urine, or the infamous "hair gel" scene in There�s Something About Mary), but as they grew, they began to focus more on human emotions and interactions.
October 8th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Brian Hickey
James Schamus
James Schamus made his start in Hollywood as a producer in 1990. After gaining modest success, he turned his attention to writing and has practiced both crafts ever since. Over the years he has been a part of such production companies as Christine Vachon, Todd Haynes and Barry Elsworth's Apparatus and his own Good Machine, which produced films for some of independent cinema's most famous names including Nicole Holofcener and Edward Burns.
October 1st, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Brian Hickey
See Michael Ian Black Run
He's got three names and more comedic energy than seems humanly possible. Michael Ian Black has become a ubiquitous commentator on popular culture with his stints on VH1's "I Love the..." series and "Best Week Ever," and an increasingly prolific writer with such shows as Comedy Central's "The State" and "Stella" to his credit. In early 2008, he'll see his script for Run, Fatboy, Run, starring Simon Pegg and directed by David Schwimmer, brought to the big screen.
September 23rd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Alexis Buryk
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Paul Haggis
In troubled times the masses look for something to help them understand--somewhere to find inspiration. Aside from the gods and political bodies, this position has often fallen to the artist. In fact, some of the most well respected movies in history have been the result of just such an attempt at confronting and challenging those conflicts that plague the world. Think Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Apocalypse Now, Schindler's List and Crash, the 2004 Oscar-winning feature written and directed by Paul Haggis. Whether it's challenging audiences to discuss the racial divide as he did in Crash or trying to explain the undercurrents of love as with Million Dollar Baby, Haggis has risen to the world's mandate: Help us understand ourselves.
September 17th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Mallory Potosky
Steven Knight
Steven Knight's screenplays are windows into the places that normally cannot be afforded windows. His Oscar-nominated script for 2002's Dirty Pretty Things showed us the life of immigrants in London, as well as the tortured world of prostitution and underground organ transplants. 2006's Amazing Grace was a look at one man's fight against slavery in 19th century England. His next movie, Eastern Promises, is the story of a midwife who witnesses the death of an immigrant while giving birth. She attempts to track down the girl's family and instead finds herself deep into the seedy underbelly of organized crime.
Eastern Promises, like all of Knight's screenplays, attracted quality cast and crew. Naomi Watts stars as the midwife, and Viggo Mortensen as a man within the mob.
September 10th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Brian Hickey
Dave Kajganich
Dave Kajganich was named both one of Fade In magazine's "Top 100 People in Hollywood†in 2005, as well as one of 2006's "Ten Screenwriters to Watch,†by industry staple Variety. A former literature teacher, Kajganich caught Hollywood's attention by selling a spec script called Town Creek.
September 3rd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By Brian Hickey
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Susan Minot
She may have only written two screenplays, but Susan Minot is an experienced writer, with six popular books to her name. The first, Monkeys, received the Prix Femina Etranger in France in 1987 and established her writing abilities early on. From there came fans that included Bernardo Bertolucci, who personally invited her to develop a script based on his own story. The result: 1994â€(tm)s Stealing Beauty. Now in cooperation with fellow novelist/screenwriter Michael Cunningham (The Hours), Minot presents her audience with another aspect of family dynamics in Evening, out from Focus Features on June 29.
Making use of some of cinemaâ€(tm)s living lady legends, Evening depicts Ann Grant (played in two time periods by Claire Danes and Vanessa Redgrave), a dying older woman, reliving the memorable moments of her lifeâ€"particularly one Maine vacation when attending her friendâ€(tm)s wedding. “In the 1950s, Ann Grant has her moment,” explains director Lajos Koltai. “Itâ€(tm)s something that she keeps with her always, though her perspective on it has changed over the course of her life and changes for good during the course of the story, as it applies to her daughters.”
Like many of Minot’s stories, Evening takes note of the special relationships between women and the strong roles they play in each otherâ€(tm)s life. Thankfully for many, this translated on screen as well. “The casting process on Evening was the most exciting experience of my career,” gushes producer Jeff Sharp. “There were a number of wonderful roles, especially for actresses, but all the parts had been scripted with great detail and love.”
Drawing in talent like Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson, Evening is one more momentous notch on this New Englanderâ€(tm)s belt.
Read more about Minot and her Evening cast and crew at www.focusfeatures.com/evening.
SOUND OFF: Eveningâ€(tm)s list of accomplished actresses and actors is long. What is the best ensemble of actresses and/or actors seen on screen thus far in cinema history?
June 17th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By MovieMaker Staff
Screenwriter of the Week: Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow is just a loyal, humble kid from Long Island. Or so he would have you think. The truth is, he’s a loyal, humble, funny as hell kid from Long Island. And don’t you forget it.
Influenced by the likes of Bill Murray and Steve Martin, Apatow’s career has slowly blossomed into a comedian’s fantasy. Before garnering critical acclaim as a writer-director on the television series “Freaks and Geeks,†the comedian enjoyed stints on the writing teams of “The Ben Stiller Show†and “The Larry Sanders Show.†But it wasn’t until his 2005 directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, that audiences finally discovered this was the wizard behind some of the funniest big- and small-screen comedies of the past 15 years.
Now the wizard is back with his unlikely band of brothers in Knocked Up. The comedy, starring “Grey’s Anatomy†star Katherine Heigl and Apatow regular Seth Rogen, offers the Apatow staple: A journey toward being good. “Basically, I try and make these movies with the thought that they’re about trying hard not to be an asshole,†explains the moviemaker. In this case, that means Rogen’s character will try to transform himself from pot-smoking slacker to responsible father figure in the nine months it takes his one-night stand to deliver their baby. “Hopefully,†Apatow muses, it’s “ultimately an uplifting movie about love and people trying to make connections with odd bedfellows.†And really, that’s all we ask for from this entertaining boy next door.
Sound off: While the story and screenplay might be all his own, Judd Apatow practices what he calls “writing a movie on its feet,†where improvisation is encouraged and often yields hilarious results. Of all the writer’s work, which line or exchange still manages to stand out? Share your thoughts in our comments section!
June 3rd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By MovieMaker Staff
Screenwriter of the Week: Adrienne Shelly
Adrienne Shelly was the underground queen of indie cinema—an inspiration and champion for all her subjects—before her untimely murder in November of 2006. Earning modest success as an actress early on, Shelly stood out in films (including The Unbelievable Truth and Trust) by fellow Long Island native Hal Hartley. But while audiences might venture to understand the multifaceted moviemaker through her on-screen performances, it is Shelly’s off-screen work for which she strived to be better known. That is the work that can best tell the tale of her reign.
As an active advocate for female moviemakers, Shelly promoted her cause in the documentaries Searching for Debra Winger by Rosanna Arquette and In Their Own Words for IFC. As part of the New York film community she became a founding board member of the Gen Art Film Festival and passed along her moviemaking skills to students at the One on One Studios and New York University. Yet, to really know this late, great moviemaker, look no further than her own shorts and features, including the recent Sundance hit Waitress.
Out this week in limited release, Waitress is the very personal tale of pregnancy, love and baked goods that warm the soul. Written and directed by Shelly, the movie, although not autobiographical, brings to light some of the hesitant feelings of impending motherhood she herself developed with her own bun in the oven. More than that though, the movie is a culmination of Shelly’s vision and art brought to life. “I’ve never met anyone with such a strong vision--such an amazing sense of exactly what she wanted,†producer Michael Roiff told MM earlier this year. “If you look back at her script, her stage directions aren’t ‘suggestions’—they are specific to the very last detail—and that all shows up on screen.â€
Though her rule has tragically ended, the legacy of writer-director-actress Adrienne Shelly will be one for the history books.
Sound Off: Adrienne Shelly’s life was cut short just before Sundance audiences (and now people everywhere) began falling in love with Waitress. Cinema history is full of tales of unrealized recognition. Who is your favorite moviemaker to not get his/her due until after passing?
May 30th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By MovieMaker Staff
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' . $phpAds_raw['html'] . ''; } ?>Screenwriter of the Week: Quentin Tarantino
It’s nearly impossible to find a moviemaker or film enthusiast who has not heard of Quentin Tarantino. One of the industry’s living legends, his is a career and creative mind many aspire to emulate. While the tale of Tarantino’s road to fame is, by now, tired--weaned on movies as a video store clerk in California, discovered by its patrons, somehow made the right connections and landed himself at Sundance--his movies are anything but. The mind of this man is a complicated, pop-culture sieve, intuitively holding tight to meaty (and not-so-meaty) morsels and relieving itself of the rest. This is how he crafts one clever, absorbing screenplay after another--and the reason so many pay to enjoy them.
His half of the highly-anticipated Grindhouse, in theaters April 6, will undoubtedly do the same, proving that wit and form can prevail over the crowd-pleasing fare dominating the box office of late. It is, however, at times ironic that this type of crowd-pleasing fare is what inspires the screenwriter to new lengths, and has, in the past, helped to earn him nominations and awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, BAFTA, Cannes and the Independent Spirit Awards.
Tarantino’s unorthodox dialogue--interlocked with rigorous action sequences--has made Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2 critical and popular darlings. When not in the director’s chair himself, Tarantino’s slick imagery has been transformed by the likes of Tony Scott (True Romance) and Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers). All said, this screenwriter’s work has carved out its own niche in the continuum of film studies and already left its mark on the moviemaking community.
Sound off: Quentin Tarantino is well-known for his controversial subject matter and lightning-fast discourse. Together, they form some of moviemaking history’s best speeches. Which of this screenwriter’s memorable lines or conversations do you think deserves a top spot on the list? Everyone has got an opinion on this--share yours in our comments sections!
--Mallory Potosky
April 2nd, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By MovieMaker Staff
Sammy Scott
The creative process, in any form, can be cathartic. It certainly was in the case of up-and-coming screenwriter Sammy Scott. At just 16 years old, the Upstate New York resident finished high school in two years, holds down a full-time waitressing job and, at 13, completed a screenplay.
Perfect Payback is a story inspired by her school-year experiences dealing with the everyday trials of being a teenager and the anguish of being bullied. The screenplay follows five teenagers, aged 13 and 14, as they each confront bullying in different forms. At first silent victims of their tormentors, the five teenagers band together and decide to stand up for themselves and finally face their bullies.
Scott channeled her emotions and firsthand familiarity with bullies into an empowering work for all audiences, not just teenagers. Writing the script also allowed her to confront what she has faced in her own life in a way she wasn’t prepared for: “I feel no need to really talk about my memories of that time, so putting it into words on paper was like a weight off my chest,” Scott says. “I hadn’t realized it until I began writing. It was like being able to feel those emotions that I hadn’t let myself feel for so long. The words just poured out.”
The honesty Scott conveyed in Perfect Payback has garnered attention from Hollywood, and it won’t be long until her words are brought to life. But right now, she’s happy using the screenplay to give teenagers confidence to confront the issues they face daily, be they human bullies or emotional ones.
Sound Off: Sammy Scott is using her experiences with bullies to confront a significant problem many teenagers face. What film has been most effective at dealing and exploring the issues teenagers face?
February 28th, 2007 | Category: Screenwriter of the Week, Screenwriting | By MovieMaker Staff
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