Archive for March, 2015
Mar
30
2015
 
Cancer: The Emperor of All MaladiesPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Our film project, The Emperor of All Maladies, is about as close to the bone as filmmaking gets for me.” Filmmaker Ken Burns “More will die from cancer over the next two years than died in combat in all the wars the United States has ever fought, combined.” Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies PBS […] “The idea of the movie came out of the very first meeting, was if I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know where I come from, I can only identify myself by the things I do, know how to do. What if I find out that all the things that I know how […] “I’ve ignored most of the things I’m going to tell you tonight, which is why this lecture is for me as much as you, to remind me of what an asshole I am for ignoring my own rules. And I’m serious about that.” Tony Gilroy My last post covered screenwriter, novelist, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank D. […] “What have you done for me recently? That’s part of the American ethic, and one just accepts it. Nothing’s old in America…It’s very tough, and if you start thinking that people owe you something, you can go around feeling very sorry for yourself.” Writer/director Frank D. Gilroy You can file this under, “The fruit doesn’t […]
Mar
17
2015
Writing Quote #52 (Eugene O’Neill)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaMy St. Patrick’s Day Special on the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Eugene O’Neill (1888-1952) : “I spent a year in Professor Baker’s famous class at Harvard. There, too, I learned some things that were useful to me—particularly what not to do. Not to take ten lines, for instance, to say something that can be said […]
Mar
14
2015
Postcard #83 (Kennedy Space Center)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaYesterday I visited the Kennedy Space Center for the third time in my life and I realized my visits mirrored three important eras of space travel. The first being an elementary school trip in the 70s during the Apollo era, a visit in the 90s during the shuttle era, and yesterday’s trip which is in […]
Mar
09
2015
Filmmaking Quote #43 (Albert Maysles)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“I think I’ve developed a special talent for getting access to people. My wife is a family therapist, and she has said that when you first meet a subject, if your gaze is an empathetic one, you’re all set. And that process of empathy should continue all the way through the therapy. That’s precisely the […] For those of you who read my last post—“You Aren’t Special”—and found screenwriter Malcolm Spellman’s words offensive, bitter, and/or negative I hope this almost G-rated post balances things out. You are my friend You are special You are my friend You’re special to me. You are the only one like you. Like you, my friend, […] “Here’s the real cautionary tale; We all think we’re special. Every screenwriter I know thinks they’re better than all the [other] screenwriters. And it doesn’t mean shit. And your heat doesn’t mean shit. And you aren’t special. “I consider myself a ‘real writer,’ meaning I do something interesting and unique on the page and people […] In my last post I wrote about Missouri’s influence on Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, and how he wrote his first play during lunchtime while working at an ad agency in Chicago. But those weren’t the only things that shaped him as a writer. When Wilson was 26-years-old he moved to New York City in […] |
