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Archive for the Category "Interviews"

Is Netflix the best resource for screenwriters? Author: Aug 08

The DialogueNetflix. What is it good for?

Absolutely… something!

Netflix has received some (probably warranted) bad press recently, due to their significant price hike. But if you can afford to shell out the cash for at least one more month, you’ll be able to take advantage of one of the best resources for screenwriters anywhere.

I’m not talking about their movie selection (though that’s good too). I’m talking about one specific set of DVDs known as The Dialogue.

The Dialogue: Learning from the Masters

Hosted by Mike De Luca (Producer of dozens of diverse movies including: Boogie Nights, American History X, Austin Powers, The Social Network), the series consists of in depth interviews with some of Hollywood’s elite screenwriters.

Here are just a few of the 27 screenwriters interviewed:

- Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes)
- Scott Rosenberg (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Con Air)
- David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins)
- Paul Haggis (Crash, Casino Royale)
- Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air, X-Men First Class)
- Peter and Bob Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary)
- Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Cowboys & Aliens)

The DVDs are only few years old, and will give you the best bang for your Netflix buck.

Not only are the interviews insightful as to the process of screenwriting, they will certainly open your eyes to the business of screenwriting as well.

I can’t recommend these DVDs enough. Each 80 minute interview is jam-packed with incredible tidbits of knowledge you can only learn straight from the pros. These are MUST SEE DVDs guys.

Note: The full set of DVDs are also for sale on Amazon.com.

Update: Apparently Amazon isn’t selling these interviews in DVD form, but they are streaming and making them available for download (for a small fee). Here’s a link to one of my favorite interviews, Nicholas Kazan (Matilda, Fallen).

Professional script critique, logline and page notes for $59.
(Yup, the rumors are true. It’s the best frikken deal on the web.)
Category: Industry Advice, Interviews, Screenwriters  | One Comment
Awards Watch Roundtable Video Author: Nov 10

THR Writers RoundtableWouldn’t it be nice to eavesdrop on a conversation with some of the best screenwriters working today? Well The Hollywood Reporter has given us that opportunity.

Writers Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network), Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), John Wells (The Company Men), Todd Phillips (Due Date) and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) sit down for an hour long Q & A.

If you just want a taste of the discussion, THR provides the following three quick snippets:

Awards Watch Roundtable: The Writers 1
How did the firing go down? For the first time, Todd Phillips reveals Mel Gibson’s reaction to being cut from “The Hangover II.”

Awards Watch Roundtable: The Writers 2
Aaron Sorkin, John Wells and Todd Phillips weigh in on wrangling with the legal department over their films. Plus, what title did “Old School” almost get slapped with?

Awards Watch Roundtable: The Writers 3
What is it about the WGA that makes “Due Date” writer Todd Phillips refer to it as “the whiner’s guild?” And why does Aaron Sorkin call the WGA “it’s own worst enemy?”

H/T to Benjamin R. for the link.

Category: Interviews  | 2 Comments
Interview With Aaron Sorkin Author: Nov 02

Joshua Stecker, West Coast Editor of Script Magazine, interviews screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, A Few Good Men, Charlie Wilson’s War, The American President, The West Wing).

Here are some of the topics Sorkin talks about in this 20 minute interview:

  • Aaron Sorkin InterviewThe connection between his great teachers and his success
  • How he learned to write screenplays
  • The important lesson William Goldman taught him
  • What activity he does for inspiration
  • What medium he prefers to write in
  • His screenwriting “weakness”
  • The basic rules of drama
  • Advice for aspiring screenwriters

My favorite quote from the interview (especially in light of the recent controversy over whether screenwriting can be taught):

“I can trace so much of what I do every day, when I’m writing, to what I was taught back then by my teachers at Syracuse.”

SCRIPT Magazine Close Up with Aaron Sorkin from Alejandro Seri on Vimeo.

Category: Aaron Sorkin, Interviews  | 5 Comments
The Writing Show Podcast with Michele Wallerstein Author: Oct 22

Michele WallersteinAs readers of Scriptwrecked should already know, Michele Wallerstein is a Screenplay and Career Consultant with years of experience as a Hollywood literary agent. She’s recently released, “MIND YOUR BUSINESS: A Hollywood Literary Agent’s Guide To Your Writing Career” — which I reviewed here.

Recently Michele was interviewed by Paula Berinstein of The Writing Show, and the half hour podcast of their chat offers some terrific, hard-to-come-by information for aspiring screenwriters about the business of Hollywood.

Some items covered in the podcast:

  • How the book came about
  • Following the rules of Hollywood
  • The need to keep proving and improving yourself
  • What happens in a meeting with a producer
  • Deciding what to write
  • Studio vs. Indie films
  • Why new writers shouldn’t team up on specs
  • How to avoid shooting yourself in the foot
  • The realities of executive notes
  • What a writer’s career is really all about
  • Step deals, pay or play
  • Reinventing your career
  • Breaking in as an older writer
  • When to approach Hollywood

It’s definitely time well spent.

Click here for the direct link to the podcast.

Click here for the original article.

Category: Industry Advice, Interviews, Michele Wallerstein, Podcasts  | Leave a Comment
Q & A with J. Michael Straczynski Part 2 Author: May 25

In my last post, I provided you with some insights from prolific screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski (Changeling, Babylon 5). Today I have some more from his Orange County Screenwriters Association Q & A on Saturday.

On making all of your characters well-rounded…

“We are all the heroes of our own narrative. The more time you can spend looking at the story from everyone’s point of view, the better your story will be.”

On the impact his age or TV experience had on how well his Changeling script was received…

Even though JMS had numerous prior television credits, his movie, Changeling (starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood), was the first feature film he had ever written.

So when he started taking meetings with Producers around town no one knew who he was. And it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter what his background in television was, and it didn’t matter how old he was. No one cared.

“It comes down to the quality of the words on the page.”

The key to breaking in to Hollywood is writing a great script.

On getting a drama produced…

He said the three words he keeps hearing over and over again in Hollywood are, “Drama is dead.”

His advice, if you have a script that’s a straight drama, is to try to “package it to within an inch of your life.” Get a big name director or actor attached to the project.

“Packaging is more important today than ever.”

On refining your script…

“Start with everything you can say. Then cut it down to everything you want to say. Then finish with everything you need to say.”

On making it…

He feels his success in Hollywood is as “unlikely as it is inevitable.”

You have to follow your passions. “If you have a modicum of talent, put yourself out there and work really hard, it is achievable. You can do it.”

As Rod Serling once told him, “Never let them stop you from telling the story you want to tell.”

***

Are you following your passions? Writing the story you want to tell?

Need some help with your screenplay? Please take a look at my script services.

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Category: Interviews, J. Michael Straczynski  | 2 Comments
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