In the post James L. Brooks on Chayefsky, Brooks is quoted as having great admiration for Chayefsky’s monologues in Network and Hospital. This is what screenwriter and former USC professor Irwin R. Blacker had to say on the topic of speeches in book The Elements of Screenwriting (which was first published in 1986 shortly after his [...]
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Archive for July, 2011
Jul
30
2011
 
James L. Brooks on ChayefskyPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaI’ve never watched Network (1976) and Broadcast News (1987) back to back, but that would be an interesting experiment. James L. Brooks, writer/director of Broadcast News, has been open about his admiration of the Oscar-winning writer of Network. “I think Paddy Chayefsky should be in the argument for the greatest American writer. Just his versatility. [...] “What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. No. I’m semi-serious here. He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great [...] Last week I watch the Criterion Collection DVD of Broadcast News that was written and directed by James L. Brooks. Despite the 1987 film being Brooks was nominated seven Oscars and not winning any, I think it is one of the finest films of the 80s. And almost 25 years after it was released, it [...]
Jul
26
2011
Writing Quote #29 (Dorothea Brande)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Every book, ever editor, every teacher will tell you that the great key to success in authorship is originality….It is well to understand as early as possible in one’s writing life that there is just one contribution which every one of us can make: we can give into the common pool of experience some comprehension [...]
Jul
25
2011
Screenwriting from Iowa —The Book?Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaFor those of you who’ve been wondering about Screenwriting from Iowa…and Other Unlikely Places becoming a book —now’s your chance to help make that happen. This morning I launched my first Kickstarter campaign. (For those of you interested in starting your own Kickstarter campaign, I’ll explain the process this week over at E-Filmmaking.com.) After [...] On part 5 of a five days of posts on Jerry Seinfeld do you think I can find some connection to his success and the state of Iowa? Of course, I can. First Seinfeld point to his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as the event that changed his life. For decades Johnny [...] So let’s review the bidding on entertainer extraordinaire Jerry Seinfeld: 1) At 8-years old he makes a friend laugh hard enough to spit his milk out and thinks, “I would like to do this professionally.” 2) Graduates from college with honors in 1976 and does his first open mic night. 3) Works on his craft [...] “I did well because I didn’t care if I was successful. I just wanted to be a comedian. I didn’t care about the money, I didn’t care about my career. I just wanted to be up on stage telling jokes.“ Jerry Seinfeld Jerry Seinfeld graduated from college in 1976 and went to open-mic night at [...] “In high school I took geometry and we had to do these theorems where you had to prove a series of theorems and that is very much like comedy. Proving something that is absolutely trivial, but with rigorous logic—that’s what a joke is I think.” Jerry Seinfeld Before Jerry Seinfeld made his mark in stand-up [...] |
