(Richard Walter, UCLA Screenwriting professor, Interview Part 5) SS: The title and subtitle of this blog is “Screenwriting from Iowa….and other unlikely places,” and it was in part inspired by learning that Diablo Cody went to college in Iowa, just about an hour where I live, and wrote the distinctly Midwestern screenplay Juno in a [...]
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(Richard Walter, Chairman of UCLA Screenwriting Program, Interview Part 4) SS: How have you seen the film industry change since you were coming up in the ’60s and ’70s? Richard Walter: Well, essentiality it hasn’t really changed. It’s still all about story; it’s always been about writing. There’s a popular notion that it’s really about directing, [...]
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(Part 3—Interview with Richard Walter, author of Essentials of Screenwriting,) SS: A while back I discovered that the Stanley Kowalski character from A Streetcar Named Desire was based on a person that Tennessee Williams worked with in a factory. Over and over again I seem to discover more proof, that as you say, “the day job [...]
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“To reach audiences, writers have to take chances. They must confront the awesome challenge inherent in peddling their fantasies. All writers, in particular new writers, face the overwhelming likihood that what they write will come to no fruitful conclusion.” Richard Walter Essentials of Screenwriting (Richard Walter Interview Part 2) The Screenwriting MFA at UCLA has [...]
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“As a teacher what I do is I combine passion with the subjects I teach.” Jaime Escalante (1930-2010) Inspiration behind the movie Stand and Deliver “I can’t think of a better way to spend a life than pursuing the imagination.” Richard Walter Writer & screenwriting professor (Richard Walter Interview Part 1) Today begins a several [...]
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“As a teacher what I do is I combine passion with the subjects I teach.” Jaime Escalante (1930-2010) Inspiration behind the movie Stand and Deliver “Finding an agent is easy; what is hard is writing a screenplay worthy of an agent’s representation.” Richard Walter Essentials of Screenwriting Today begins a several part series taken [...]
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Robert McKee vs. Richard Walter is not the latest MMA match-up. Just my way of showing how two well-respected screenwriting teachers can disagree on a fundamental point. In light of several posts on emotional autobiography I think it’s a good time to address two different schools of thoughts. What Tennessee Williams called ‘emotional autobiography’, I [...]
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“In a letter to Brando in which (director Elia Kazan) explores the differences between the Terry Malloy and Stanley Kowalski characters he argues as follows: ‘Marlon, this part is much …
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“E.T. was a very personal little picture. My motivation for making it was pure and non-profit based – I didn’t think it would be a hit because it was about kids and no films about kids under 18 were doing any business then.” Steven Spielberg Total Film interview “This movie made my heart glad. It [...]
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“I have a right to be heard. I have a voice.” King George VI The King’s Speech “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” Lena Horne In Richard Walter’s book The Whole Picture he has a section called “Identity: The Only Choice” where he makes this profound statement: [...]
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