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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You think your creative writing teacher was mean? Getting critiqued by most producers and executives is like standing there naked while they point out all your flaws (see Emily Mortimer's bare-all scene in Lovely & Amazing for an apt comparison). My advice is lay out in the sun a lot, so your skin gets nice and tough.
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The Art of Collaboration
Legally Blonde scribe Kirsten Smith discusses writing partnerships and the ups and downs of working with producers
Where Kirsten Smith goes, success seems to follow. She sold
her first screenplay, 10 Things I Hate About You, as
a spec script to Disney, and the resulting movie launched
the careers of Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. Reese Witherspoon
has Smith and her writing partner, Karen Lutz, to thank for
the $15 million paycheck she'll receive for this summer's
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, the sequel
to their 2001 hit Legally Blonde. Though Smith and
Lutz are not penning the sequel, Smith is keeping plenty busy
with several projects of her own, including Don't Ask,
a story that she describes as "sort of a 'Private Benjamin
with a gay man.'"
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Leave the ego at home.
The worst thing a director can do is be so in love with his or her own ideas that he or she won't listen to anyone else's. Some directors fall into the trap of needing to appear authoritative by being firm. The point of creative discussion should be to make the best movie possible, not to be able to take credit for everything. I was really good at recognizing when people had better ideas than I did.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
They always want to see something sooner rather than later, but I've shown something early to a producer and I've regretted it. They're not your co-writers, they're your producers. The last thing you want is them barraging you with bad ideas to fix something you already knew you should have fixed in the first place.
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Soldiering On
Screenwriter Eric Axel Weiss on adaptations and Evian bottles
Plenty of screenplays have instigated debates. A few have incited riots. But only Eric Axel Weiss can lay claim to writing a script that prompted a Sundance audience member to launch an Evian bottle across a crowded room-nearly clobbering Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
There are films that are made as pieces of expression-films that are made because people need to tell certain stories and need to get things out of them. Then there are films that are made because a group of executives around a conference table decide that they need to slot in Movie X during Release Pattern Y to fulfill Demographic Z.
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From Blockbusters to Billy Bob
Screenwriter Ed Solomon makes directorial debut with Levity
A subtle character drama is probably not what you'd expect
as the directorial debut from the scribe behind such Hollywood
blockbusters as Men in Black and Bill and Ted's
Excellent Adventure. But to hear Ed Solomon tell it, you
can't judge a moviemaker by his/her IMDB credits.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
(a.k.a. 10 Random Thoughts That Make Me Sound Wise)
An Interview with Kristina Boden
Having worked consistently with Michael Almereyda (on Happy
Here and Now and Hamlet) and Paul Schrader (including
Auto Focus and Light Sleeper), editor Kristina
Boden maintains an open mind when any new project comes
up-even after a very full decade of experience.
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Creating the Pixar Phenomenon
Screenwriter/genius Andrew Stanton on family films and fish
Writing the words that will come out of a flesh-and-blood
actor's mouth is one thing. But writing dialogue for a wooden
cowboy, a renegade ant, a child-scaring monster and a kidnapped
clownfish is a completely different story-and writing process.
Finding Nemo's Andrew Stanton talks about
what it takes to succeed in the family entertainment game.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Fight for your film. Fight for a bigger budget, your favorite actor, the best locations, the best distributor and the best theaters to show in.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
The biggest advice I give to people is this: we're all neurotic about what we're good at. Ridley Scott is neurotic about the images of his film; he'll never do a bad image. Other directors may be neurotic about the direction, and not the image. What we must do is surround ourselves with people who are not us, who don't have the gifts we have and become neurotic about what we're not good at. The easiest way to achieve that is to find someone who's really good at it.
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Shrinking History
Script Doc Turned Scribe Bart Gavigan Returns with Luther
Moviemaker Bart Gavigan is
a rare bird. A writer-of-repute for countless years, he is only now beginning
to see his own name in the credits. Luther, an epic tale about Martin
Luther, the 16th century German monk, is Gavigan's first feature screen
credit. It's also only the latest in a chain of pictures that have benefited
from Gavigan's august input, either as a much sought-after ghostwriter
or consultant.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Write what you love. Write the kind of movies that you want to see. People can generally tell if you're writing to sell something. If you're writing something that you really care about, that translates into something that will make a good movie.
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Winning the Waiting Game
David Berenbaum is living every scribe's dream
You can't blame David Berenbaum for being happy. At only 32
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Some writers only work when they "have time." It's very important to make time in one's schedule-even if it's only for 15 minutes a day.
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InkTip plays equalizer for screenwriters, detective for producers
A Match(maker) Made in Heaven
Jerrol LeBaron founded InkTip (formerly The Writer's Script Network) in 1999 after he wrote what he now refers to as "a crappy screenplay." He soon discovered that getting anybody to see his script took an astounding amount of work. With a background in sales, he was quick to recognize an entrepreneurial opportunity and InkTip was born. In the last year alone, the company has seen nine of its screenplays produced and at least one of its writers ink a six-figure studio deal.
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A Contest Among Contests
Scriptapalooza founder Mark Andrushko
The transition from producer to entrepreneur is a logical one-particularly when you've heard one too many complaints that there "are no good scripts." For producer-turned-screenwriting-guru Mark Andrushko, that's exactly what prompted him to co-found the Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition with Genevieve Cibor in 1998. "[I] realized how thirsty my production company and literary contacts were for great writers and material," he states.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Have the guts and the confidence to reach deeper.
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The Power of Emotional Resonance
Gerald Di Pego wants viewers to lend their hearts to his films
by Cindy J. Rinaldi
With over 30 credits in film and television, screenwriter Gerald Di Pego's filmography includes The Forgotten, Phenomenon, Instinct and Message in a Bottle. This down-to-earth master of storytelling spoke with MM about his sources of inspiration, themes in his work and his key to success as a writer.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you can't tell your story to a stranger and entertain them, something's wrong.
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The Eight-Year Itch
50 First Dates scribe George Wing on finding success
In 1994, in only our fourth issue, MM spoke with a young man in
Seattle who spent his days as a legal assistant and his nights as a screenwriter.
A decade later, George Wing is living the life that he then
only dreamed of—with a hit film in theaters and a host of opportunities
ahead of him. Along the way, he’s learned a number of valuable lessons about
what it takes to navigate the Hollywood waters—all of which he’s happy
to share with MM readers.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Save your money. Especially if you want to make films that are personal, or in any way 'difficult' or uncommercial, you will go through years where your income is little or nothing. It's a big temptation for young filmmakers when they get their first check to go buy that Porsche. Don't. $100,000 may seem like a lot of money. But what if you have to live on it for three or four years?
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Hollywood screenwriting isn't just about writing. It's about being able to listen to the desires of the director, the actors, the producers, the studio and myself--and being able to meet all of our needs simultaneously. In most situations, if you don't give up, a story can meet everyone's needs.
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Adapting to Directing
Actor-turned-director Keith Gordon on writing
As an actor, Keith Gordon made a splash when he portrayed a young man homicidally in love with his car in John Carpenter’s Christine. Gordon’s finest moments, though, have been behind the camera. He’s made a niche for himself by adapting challenging novels and proving their stories could become compelling cinema.
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The Satisfaction of Ludicrous Whims Fulfilled
Screenwriter James Gunn on his guerilla beginnings
For an aspiring screenwriter, finding your first big break is not just about being in the right place at the right time--it's about being willing to accept $150 for all your hard work. That's the total sum that moviemaker James Gunn received for penning the script to Tromeo & Juliet. But times have changed for Gunn. With two films in release, Scooby-Doo 2 and Dawn of the Dead, Gunn chats with us about escaping categorization and the need to bitch-slap Matthew Lillard.
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A Moviemaker’s Journey Back to School
Home Room's Writer-Director-Producer-Editor Paul F. Ryan
Paul F. Ryan may not yet be a household
name. But this
September, he'll
be living
the dream of every independent moviemaker when his debut feature, Home Room,
begins its nationwide theatrical run through DEJ Productions, the distribution
arm of Blockbuster. Here, Ryan speaks with MM about the challenges
of working
with an extremely sensitive subject line and what it's like to wear the simultaneous
hats of writer, director,
producer and editor.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I work on a laptop, so when I'm in writing mode, I can be anywhere at all and still put in a good day's work.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If a character is in a hurry, what kind of hurry is she in? God, of course, is in the details, but the devil's there too. I think a lot of directors get very impatient with actors and you see movies where you know the choices were generic.
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A Family Affair on the Maine Coast
Roy Finch gets a hand from Martin Landau on Wake
What’s a first-timer supposed to do when all he’s got to show for himself is a great idea and a burning desire to make movies? If you’re Roy Finch, writer-director of Wake, you assemble a stellar cast of actors, grab a digital camera, fly off to the coast of Maine and make your dream happen!
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Renaissance Man
Longtime writer Craig Lucas turns first-time director with The Dying Gaul
Most people would settle for any one of Craig Lucas’ illustrious careers, but the multi-talented Lucas is always looking for a new challenge. After incarnations as a Broadway performer, playwright and screenwriter, Lucas is making his directorial debut with The Dying Gaul. Here, Lucas talks with MM about making the transition from writer to director.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Never hire your brother to be your teamster. Because no matter how much he loves you, you'll still be taking a taxi home every night. I'm joking, of course. One of the greatest joys of getting a little success is being able to work with my brothers.
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Crash-Course in Collaboration
Writer-producer Bobby Moresco's 11-year partnership with Paul Haggis turns into an Oscar nomination
Writer-producer Bobby Moresco is no stranger to multiple points of view. For more than a decade, he has collaborated with Paul Haggis on a handful of projects, including this year’s Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay, Crash. Moresco spoke with MM about his early days in the business, he and Haggis’ collaborative process and whether or not he’s got that Oscar speech ready.
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Taking on John Irving
Writer-director Tod Williams makes The Door in the Floor
Adapting the first quarter of John Irving’s A Widow for One Year into this summer’s A Door in the Floor—starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger—is certainly a project that has paid off for second-time director Williams (The Adventures of Sebastian Cole). Not only has he received accolades far and wide for his tale of a dysfunctional couple living in the wake of a family tragedy—he’s also now adapting and directing Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, starring Benico del Toro, for Focus Features. Williams recently spoke with us about his straightforward, old-fashioned approach, and how John Irving has gone from mentor to friend.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I worked at becoming the best writer I could be-the best writer in terms of character, dialogue and dramatic intent-and I keep working at it. I never stop, and by doing that it makes me valuable in the long term, not in the short term. I've written lots of spec scripts that don't sell, but it makes me valuable over the long term because ultimately what Hollywood craves is the Nobel Prize winner who they can make write romantic comedies.
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Inside, Upside, Downside Hollywood
Screenwriter Daniel Pyne on what it takes to succeed
How does a writer with a penchant for indie cinema and obscure foreign literature become Hollywood’s go-to guy for big-budget suspense, action and intrigue? Practice? Connections? “Luck,” says veteran screenwriter Daniel Pyne.
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James Schamus Honored with Trailblazer Award at Woodstock
James Schamus, the man behind Focus Features (think The Constant Gardener, Atonement), was chosen to receive the 2008 Trailblazer Award from the Woodstock Film Festival. Prior to working at Focus he was co-president of independent production company Good Machine for 11 years and won numerous awards for his own work, including the award for Best Screenplay at the 1997 Cannes International Film Festival for The Ice Storm.
Posted 09.5.08 | No comments yet...
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