Screenwriting From Iowa

“The original writer [of The Flamingo Kid] Neal Marshall, no relationship to me, had written a solid script based on his youth spent in the Catskills. Neal and I rewrote the script with notes from the producers, then the screenwriter Bo Goldman took a pass at a rewrite but would not ask for screenwriting credit [...]

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Yesterday I did a shoot in downtown Chicago and thought I’d take brief detour from giving some of Garry Marshall’s directing tips and talk about his own detour to Chicago on his journey from the Bronx to Hollywood. “Academically, Northwestern opened many new doors for me. It was the first place I learned that words mattered and [...]

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“My first movie for Garry [Marshall] was Garry’s first movie. It didn’t take me long to realize that he’s a master of comedy and a natural mentor to budding talent. I’ve watched him time and time again inspire young people who showed an aptitude and zeal for the work, whether it was writing, acting, or [...]

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The directing tips today culled from Garry Marshall’s book Wake Me When It’s Funny have to do with working with studios and crew members: “One of the best characteristics a director can have is the ability to compromise wisely. If you don’t want to compromise you can go off and make your own movie, but [...]

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The spike in views keep coming so I’m going to stay on this Garry Marshall gravy train a little while longer. The funny thing about Marshall’s book Wake Me When It’s Funny is it’s not really that funny of a book. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It has its humorous moments, but [...]

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“The truth is that there are a few stars who are just one taco short of a combo platter. The director’s job is to deal with it all.” Garry Marshall “On the first day of a shoot, I always let my lead actors know that they’re the only ones on the set who are allowed [...]

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 Here’s more thoughts about directing from Garry Marshall taken from his book, Wake Me When It’s Funny: “Michael Eisner once said, ‘Garry Marshall doesn’t direct a movie. Hosts a movie.’ That’s pretty accurate. Just as on my television shows, I run a loose ship. I want everyone to get along while they’re working because I [...]

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The following quotes are pulled from Garry Marshall’s book, Wake Me When It’s Funny: “I don’t storyboard. I don’t lay out each days shot’s, and I don’t always follow the dozen of other so-called rules of directing. I improvise as I go along while always remembering to protect the structure of the story and script [...]

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Those directing tips I promised yesterday from Garry Marshall will have to wait until Monday. I just came across an interview with Garry Marshall and loved the simplicity of the following quote so much I snuck it into the post Writing & Rewriting Pretty Woman (Part 2). But I also thought it needed its own [...]

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“Several years ago when I lectured at the American FIlm Institute in Los Angeles, I was startled to see how much the students knew about directing. They were up to date on the latest technology, knew which lenses to use to achieve different shots, and were comfortable behind state-of-the art sound and editing systems. Many [...]

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