There is a lot of luck to [breaking in], but I also do have to say I wrote a lot. By that time I sold [the screenplay] August Rush I had written 11 feature films—maybe 12. I think you know my philosophy, it’s not write about what you know—it’s write about what you know hurts. […]
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Archive for the “Screenwriting From Iowa” Category
Jul
24
2017
 
Love and Torture in ScreenwritingPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaYou’ve got to have a story and characters the audience will love. [Oscar-winning screenwriter] Callie Khori invited me to speak to the screenwriter’s guild and she said ‘you make a movie by making the audience love the characters and then you torture them.” Dr. Art DeVany (Former UCLA economics professor who created mathematical and statistical models to […] I did a binge watch of The People v. O.J. Simpson over the weekend and finished all ten episodes in three days. It was a remarkably well crafted production of a sad chapter in recent American history. It captivated the country in a pre-internet saturated world, and in terms of celebrity, money, power, injustice, domestic viloence, sexism and […]
Jul
22
2017
Six Months to the Finish LinePosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa When I started this blog I didn’t have any long terms plans. I certainly didn’t think that 9 1/2 years later I’d still be writing blog posts. I mentioned in January my plans to end this blog on the 10th anniversary of this blog which is six months from today. That’s still my […] “The most important thing is the story. We need to be telling a better story.” Attorney Johnny Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) in The People v. O.J. Simpson This morning I woke up at 4:30 AM unintentionally and did what any other sane person would do—I watched the first episode of The People v. OJ Simpson: American […]
Jul
20
2017
Making Important Connections in Your ScreenplayPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaThere is often strong connection between the inciting incident, the characterization of the protagonist, and the objective (and even the obstacles and the climax). The respective protagonists of Ikiru, Haut les caeur! and Breaking Bad have the same inciting incidents: they learn they have cancer. But because they don’t have the same characterization, that inciting […]
Jul
19
2017
Thinking of the Inciting Incident as an ElectroshockPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaWhatever its nature, the inciting incident is an event that focuses the future protagonist to take action. Think of the inciting incident as an electroshock. A death, an accident, an inheritance, and love at first sight are all classic inciting incidents. This plot point needs to be powerful enough to disrupt the future protagonist’s life […]
Jul
19
2017
Transforming ‘Tootsie’ with Trash TalkingPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaIf the writers of Tootsie wanted to show the transformation of a macho actor who is forced to disguise himself as a woman to find work and to finally get a taste of his own sexist medicine (which is a great premise), Michael should have been characterized like the director [played by Dabney Coleman]. The […]
Jul
19
2017
Making Character Arcs More Meaningful and PowerfulPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaI am of the opinion that a character arc is more powerful and meaningful when the character changes morally or psychologically rather than socially or physically. ” Yves Lavandier Constructing a Story Page 43 My Spin: Would we still be talking about Rocky 30 years after it was made if Rocky Balboa simply went from […] Every once in a while people send me books and a few months ago I receieved one by Yves Lavandier sent from Paris. I don’t know about you, but personally getting mail from Paris is cool because it’s not something that happens on a regular basis. So I’m going to pull a few quotes from […] |
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