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Screenwriting
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Crossing Boundaries
The Reinvention of Auteur Ismail Merchant
One half of Merchant Ivory Films, a company associated with
some of the most literate, laced-up, quality cinema of the
last 20 years, Ismail Merchant has built a reputation as one
of the most successful producers in film today. His recent
forays behind the camera now include The Mystic Masseur
(opening nationwide next month) adapted from the novel by
V.S. Nipul. The main character shares Merchant's own seemingly
boundless energy—and his talent for reinventing and redefining
himself.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Be simple with what you tell them. Don't spend too much time explaining. It's a lot like sports. In sports, if you ask somebody to do something that they know how to do that's good for them, they will often do it and do it brilliantly. And if you asked them to do something they don't know how to do then they suffer, and it will be awkward. One of the most important things in working with actors is to learn what they are and what they do naturally and work with that; go with that; use that.
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In the Hot Seat
Writer-Director Henry Bean discusses the controversy surrounding The Believer
Henry Bean has put himself in the hot seat. A successful
scribe for many years, he has moved into the director's chair
on his new picture, The Believer. Shot on Super 16mm
for $1.5 million and seen earlier this year on Showtime, The
Believer (now in theatrical release) has generated more
than its share of praise and controversy.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Try to have a little fun along the way in the process because life is very short. And it's very difficult to be in the film business-or any artistic business, whether it's music or painting or anything like that-and I'm just trying to have a little fun.
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Wake-up Call to Hollywood
An Interview with Writer Milo Addica
2001 proved an unbelievable year for Milo Addica: six
years after co-writing the script for Monster's Ball,
the writer/actor witnessed the enormous success of a film
that almost never was. With several new projects on his plate,
including one for Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight and another
for Imagine Entertainment, Addica opens up about the writing
process and the power of perseverance.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Never stand in doorways.
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Torn Pages From a Life
A Conversation with Full Frontal Scribe Coleman Hough
If you don't recognize writer Coleman Hough's
name from her equal billing with Steven Soderbergh's on the
poster for the powerhouse director's new film Full Frontal,
it's because this is her first produced screenplay. Here Coleman
talks with MM about working with Steven Soderbergh
and how her writing is always "torn from the pages of
her life."
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Don't be delicate and don't be precious with the original story. Infuse yourself into the work; take it, own it and make it yours. Never worry what the writer of the original story will think or you will be blocked.
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Sexual Healing
An Interview with Secretary Scribe Erin Cressida Wilson
She's no stranger to the literary world. A writing professor
at Duke University and a renowned playwright, Erin Cressida
Wilson's work has been performed at theaters around the
globe. Her first foray into the realm of screenwriting has
proven successful as well. Based on the short story by Mary
Gaitskill, Secretary-directed by Steven Shainberg and
starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader-has gained wide
acclaim since its 2002 Sundance premiere.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
When you're creating a piece of theater-either as a writer or director-you must make it entirely and thoroughly theatrical.
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Tim Blake Nelson Enters The Grey Zone
The actor/writer/director takes on a new role with his latest film
Tim Blake Nelson makes his own rules when
it comes to working in the film industry. Best known as an
actor with key roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Minority
Report and The Good Girl, for the past five years
Nelson has been quietly building a reputation as a talented
writer and director. But none of his films have plumbed the
depths of human emotion as deeply as his latest, The Grey
Zone, which explores the world of Sonderkommandos, Jewish
prisoners who were offered a better quality of life in exchange
for aiding their Nazi captors in the crematoria.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Know your arse from your elbow. And keep your pecker up.
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Greetings from the Scottish New Wave
Lynne Ramsay brings a European sensibility to a recent American classic
There's no denying the passion that fast-talking, chainsmoking
writer director Lynne Ramsay has for her
work. Ramsay made her auspicious film debut with the critically
praised Ratcatcher. Now tackling the script for The
Lovely Bones, based on Alice Sebold's best-selling novel,
Ramsay will also direct the film. It's a coup for the moviemaker,
and the pressure will definitely be on, but from the looks
of her new film, Morvern Callar, starring Samantha
Morton, the unconventional and confident Ramsay is up to the
task.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Stay true to the spirit of a film.
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Taking a Chance Takes Scribe “Beyond the Realm…”
Catch Me if You Can writer Jeff Nathanson is at the top of his game
What Jeff Nathanson thought would turn out to be just a great writing sample has quickly turned into a Steven Spielberg-Leonardo Di Caprio-Tom Hanks vehicle-and a box office hit.
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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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It’s Official—Pre-production Begins
“I never ask people for permission to make a film. Instead, I present them with the fact that I’m making a film. If they’re wise, they’ll get in on it early.”
—Francis Ford Coppola
Last week our unit production manager for Rufus Rex officially started work and I paid UPS an astounding amount of money to deliver a letter to the Republic of Georgia officially inviting our lead actress to the United States. We’re also officially in pre-production on the grassroots (my preferred term, since I dislike “microbudget”—no art should be defined by its budget) movie Rufus Rex, which my 15-year-old son, Nick, and I wrote together last winter.
Posted 07.8.08 | Grassroots Moviemaker | No comments yet...
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