Screenwriting From Iowa

“Write. Write poorly. Continue writing poorly. Write poorly until it’s not bad anymore, and then you’ll have something you can use. People who have trouble coming up with good ideas—if they’re telling you the truth—will tell you they don’t have very many bad ideas. But people who have plenty of good ideas—if they’re telling you […]

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Screenwriter/director Chris Sparling had a couple false starts in L.A. before he eventually was awarded the Best Original Screenplay by the 2010 National Board of Review for his Buried screenplay. The Rhode Island native said he trying to do too much in his first attempts to make it in L.A. (taking acting classes, waiting table, going […]

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“I was really beginning to question if I’d ever catch my proverbial big break. I drifted away from film work and started applying for police jobs.” Chris Sparling, Buried screenwriter “(Chris Sparling) went directly from struggling indie director to successful Hollywood scribe when the screenplay for his horror thriller Buried was picked up, cast with a major up-and-coming star, […]

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“I wrote [My Dinner with Andre] with a friend of mine, Andre Gregory—which was also set in the rubble of a decaying city. I played a writer who struggled to find a way to survive.” Writer/Actor Wally Shawn Okay, this one is a cheat. While My Dinner with Andre (1982) is a film that takes place over […]

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“What appealed to me on a purely human level, was that this director respected everyone equally, regardless of their rank, status or role in the process.” Cinematographer Tilman Büttner (On director Russian Ark director Alexander Sokurov) The last two posts were about shooting a feature film in four days, making a feature film in two days, so why […]

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“Of all the films I ever directed, the one that has survived the longest as a genuine ‘cult classic’ is the one I did the fastest and the cheapest. It only took me two days on a leftover soundstage to shoot principle photography for The Little Shop of Horrors, but it has lived on for […]

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“I’m probably a pretty good example of like, if I’m standing here, any idiot could be up here.” Producer/Writer/Director Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies) 2016 SXSW Keynote talk How do you direct feature films in one year? One film at a time. That’s how Joe Swanberg did it. Well, technically it took him 14 months to […]

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