10 tips for screenwriters

Tony Gilroy is the guy who wrote Dolores Claiborne, The Devil's Advocate, all the Jason Bourne films, Michael Clayton,  Duplicity, and State of Play, among others.

He was a speaker at the recent BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series in London, where he spoke with Alison Feeney-Hart and shared the following personal insights into the art of writing Hollywood movies.

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1. Go to the movies

I don't think there is anything you can learn from courses or books. You have been watching movies since you were born. You have filled your life with narrative... and food. It's already way down deep inside you.

Going to the movies, having something to say, having an imagination and the ambition to do it is really all that is required. You can learn how to do anything.

2. Make stuff up but keep it real

This is imaginative work - screenwriters make things up. Everything I have in my life is a result of making things up. There is one thing that you have to know that is a deal-breaker - human behaviour.

The quality of your writing will be directly related to your understanding of human behaviour. You need to become a journalist for the movie that is in your head. You need to report on it; every scene has to be real.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

3. Start small

Big ideas don't work. Start with a very small idea that you can build on.

With Bourne I never read any of the books; we started again. The very smallest thing with [Jason] Bourne was, "If I don't know who I am and I don't know where I'm from, perhaps I can identify who I am by what I know how to do." We built a whole new world around that small idea.

You just start small, you build out and you move one step after the next and that's how you write a Hollywood movie.

4. Learn to live by your wits

My father was a screenwriter but it's not some pixie dust creative family thing. I learned from watching how hard he worked and learned about the tempo of a writer's life - you have to live by your wits.

If you are living with someone who lives by their wits, it seems normal to you, it doesn't scare you as much and you understand the rhythms of it.

Michael Clayton (2007)

5. Write for TV

It's getting harder and harder to make good movies. TV is where the ambiguity and shades of reality live, it's where stories can be interesting.

A lot of writers are very excited about TV right now and it's a writer-controlled business. When writers are in control, good things happen. They are more rational, they are hardworking, they are more benevolent.

Every time writers have been put in charge of entertainment, things have worked out, so with TV maybe we will see a writer-driven utopia.

6. Learn to write anywhere, anytime

I have an office at home, I've written in a million hotel rooms, I can write anywhere now. My whole goal is to want to be at my desk.

If the writing is going well, I don't want to quit. I'm older and wise enough now that if something is going well, I don't stop. I call and say I'm not coming home for dinner and just keep going.

More than anything else, I want to want to go to my desk and to not be afraid of going to work.

Duplicity (2009)

7. Get a job

I spent six years tending bar while I figured out how to write screenplays.

If you want to write, if you are a young writer and nobody knows you, find a job that pays you the most amount of money for the least amount of hours, so that you have the most amount of time left over to write.

You want to live some place where you have some sort of cultural connection and can see as many films and be around as many people as possible. You want to be some place where you can just write and write and write.

8. Get a life

If you don't have anything to say and if you haven't done anything except see a bunch of movies, then what's the point? You can only write what you know about and that will either limit you or open the possibilities to everything.

Be interested in lots of things and stay interested. My knowledge is very wide and incredibly thin. It's much more interesting when journalists and cops and doctors and bankers become screenwriters than 20-year-old film students.

There are some exceptions, of course, but if you don't have anything to say, then why are you here?

State of Play (2009)

9. Don't live in Los Angeles

I don't think there is any reason to live there, I think LA is probably very bad for you. It's a bad place to feed your head.

In LA you are driving around all the time, surrounded by people who are making you depressed. I don't think Hollywood really helps a young writer feel any sense of romance about their life.

Even if it's a delusion, you want to feel special when you go to work in the morning.

10. Develop a thick skin and just keep going

I have assumed both positions of the Hollywood Kama Sutra - top and bottom.

It's very important to be able to handle rejection. I think one of the reasons writers are shy is because we are all very suspicious of our own process because it fails so often.

It's no different from being a novelist or a composer or a painter. When you get rejection from the outside world, you either move on or you don't.

But I think the hardest times are all the days when nothing happens and everybody who has ever written anything knows what I'm talking about. A great day of writing tops everything.

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First posted: 6 November 2013

10 Things Producers Should Know about Screenwriting

Elliot Grove founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993, the British Independent Film Awards in 1998, and Raindance.TV in 2007. He has produced over 150 short films, and five feature films. He has written eight scripts, one of which is currently in pre-production. His first feature film, Table 5 was shot on 35mm and completed for a total of £278.38. He teaches writers and producers in the UK, Europe, Japan and America.

The Raindance website is a wonderful source of information about filmmaking. The thing I like most about Elliot Grove's commentary is that he always has the big picture in view, whereas writers tend to bog down on the minutiae of their own little patch. This post is directed toward producers, but writers will benefit from thinking about the matters he raises.

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10 Things Filmmakers Should Know About Screenwriting, by Elliot Grove

Most people know what a filmmaker does—they make movies, right? And a film producer has the most thankless job of all: he or she builds the movies from the ground up. The film producer’s job goes like this:

• Get a screenplay.
• Get a director and cast.
• Get the money.
• Make the movie.
• Market and sell it.
• Move on to the next project.

If the process is clear, and the workflow so obvious, why is it that 90% of filmmakers and film producers go so terribly wrong at the very first step: Getting a screenplay?

I could introduce you to dozens of film producers who would each proclaim what a wonderful eye for material they have. When cornered and asked what they base this on, usually they get lame and respond with something like: “I just ‘know’ when it’s good”‘ or “kids in America are eating this stuff up right now.”

The whole secret to a great screenplay is to have a successful story. Most filmmakers and film producers have practically no training in what makes a good story, and fewer yet understand the importance and fragile quality of the relationship between writer and producer. Even more basic is the plain and simple fact that most filmmakers and producers have not a single clue as to how to work with a screenwriter to develop the story or screenplay they have just purchased.

I could fill this article with story after story of my own experiences in ‘development hell’ listening to the critiques and story advice from under-qualified story analysts and development executives who pass off superficial advice as if it were gospel, and then demand a co-writing credit. I once looked across a desk of a senior British script development executive and saw a 42 page critique on a project I was producing that started off with the words: “Reading this screenplay was most instructive.” Imagine the pearls that followed that line!

Here’s a dirty little secret: Writers love feedback—if it is useful. Writers need constructive feedback. If you tell a writer that their “second act story curtain is a little weak,” they will have no idea what you mean, nor have a clue how to fix their story. Try to be specific with your criticisms.

Another common and lame response from a producer will be along the lines of this flaky cop-out: “I don’t want to tell you what to write since you are the writer, but...”

Successful producers know and understand story and the principles of genre. Most other producers don’t. Successful filmmakers make the study and understanding of story and screenplay their primary focus. Most wannabe filmmakers won’t at their peril.

10 Things Producers Must Know About Story

1. Verbal Pitches

The art of pitching is essentially a producer skill that should be honed and sharpened. Verbal pitches are a great way to browse ideas. Learn to identify potential story problems at pitch stage and see whether or not they can be solved. Often story problems can be resolved simply by re-pitching the story using the ‘what if?” approach.

2. Predictable and generic story ideas

According to western thought, there are only seven basic story lines:

[wo]man vs. nature
[wo]man vs. [wo]man
[wo]man vs. the environment
[wo]man vs. machines/technology
[wo]man vs. the supernatural
[wo]man vs. self
[wo]man vs. god/religion

All stories have elements of predictable and generic ideas. Your job as a producer is to identify these elements, and then be able to demonstrate or inspire your screenwriter to surmount these ideas and take these generic ideas to a place that hasn’t been seen before.

3. High concept vs low concept

Low concept films deal primarily with relationships. High concept films do as well, except most film producers get so swept off their feet by the logline of the high concept that they forget that the high concept can deliver just a handful of scenes. It is the producer’s job to work with the writer and extend the story beyond the promise delivered by the high concept, and turn it from a set-piece into a story. A good tool to use for this is to focus on the main opponent and the moral tale within the story.

4. Understanding the rewriting process

It is completely understandable that the second draft of a script is worse than the first for the simple reason that the writer’s awareness of the story are ahead of the actual words he or she is able to put onto paper. A skilful producer will learn to nurture a writer through this painful step and also be able to offer sound advice.

5. Being seduced by dialogue

No one can fix a script by rewriting dialogue. Dialogue is the glitter on the surface of a story. Delve deep into the story and assess the storyline weaknesses and focus on reforming these essential elements before moving on to a dialogue rewrite.

6. Understanding character

The common flaw of unsuccessful scripts is that the main character does not have a clearly defined goal – a goal that can be measured. There must be a point in time when we, the audience, can see if the main character has achieved or failed to achieve their goal. Well drawn characters also need to have morals – and these need not be the morals accepted by western civilisation.

7. Understanding genre

Most, if not all, films sold in America and Britain are combinations of two or more of the basic genres. Romantic/comedy and action/adventure are two of the most popular genre blends. Edgar Wright, my first intern, made Shaun of the Dead work by combining horror and comedy, with a sprinkling of Love.

Writers have it easy – they need to specialise in two or three genres. But producers need to specialise in all eleven of the basic genre forms because their next project could come in any of the genre combinations.

8. Understanding universal appeal

A comedy with local humour will never travel. But a comedy based on institutions or cultural systems can become huge international hits.

9. Surmounting genre and genre blends

Learning the different genres and genre blends doesn’t make you a good film producer (or a good screenwriter). It simply means that you have joined a cast of hundreds of thousands of sophisticated storytellers with cliched patterns. The writer’s and producer’s job is to take these generic story forms and twist and bend them into a shape that no one has seen before.

10. Understanding story structure

Story structure is the most unhelpful phrase created in the lingo of screenwriters and film producers. It implies some sort of measure or slide-rule that will make your story work.

I prefer to talk about the patterns of your story. Producers and filmmakers should study the story patterns readily seen in commercially successful films and learn how these patterns can be replicated. A producer and writer working together on this can be an awesome and inspiring team to see. Remember that a producer doesn’t write. Writing is the writer’s job. But seeing the bigger picture, and understanding rules can be broken is the producer’s job.

Fade out

There is no denying that mastering these ten steps is a demanding process that requires intense concentration and hard work. There are no short cuts either: you either master these points or you don’t. The upside is that, if you do master these 10 points you will be an unstoppable force in the film industry at a time when everyone is crying how difficult it is.

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First posted: 28 October 2013

Interview with Nora Ephron

Because of her movies and despite no other, more personal, contact, I have long felt affection for Nora Ephron. The news of her death came as a major shock. A heap of interviews with Nora appeared on YouTube after she died. Here's one from Author Magazine.



First posted: 27 October 2013

10 Lessons for Filmmakers

Scott Macaulay is an editor with Filmmaker Magazine, and an independent film producer with many years experience. Ten years ago he created the Independent Film Narrative Lab, still the only film lab focusing entirely on what happens after rough cut—from locking picture to devising a distribution strategy.

A successful career in film is partly based around making mistakes—and then not making those same mistakes again. But first-time filmmakers don’t have prior experience to draw upon, and in today’s hyper-competitive, content-swamped environment, failure is a luxury many of them can’t afford—especially when that failure is made in public, at a festival premiere.

Think of the IFP Narrative Lab as a crash course in best practices—the best process by which to lock picture, to work with sound designers and composers, to make your DCP. And to submit to festivals, work with marketing teams, and develop a social media strategy. And, finally, I hope, to birth a long-term vision of yourself as a creative artist, so that you are able to grow and sustain yourself—creatively and financially—while making work you care about.

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Below are ten lessons for filmmakers from this year’s IFP Narrative Lab.

Know the calendar.

Filmmakers don’t need to know all the ins and outs of the business, but they should know enough to know the calendar. That was the message of sales agent/producers representative Josh Braun of Submarine. In his presentation he walked filmmakers through the calendar of film events and festivals that distributors and buyers regularly attend. The ability to close deals depends on knowing when business types are back at their desks. And the ability to get business types to look at your film is knowing when they have the time to do that. In other words, don’t send your film to a sales rep in the lead-up to Cannes or Sundance—unless your film happens to be premiering in one of those festivals.

Each film has its own path.
In addition to presentations and Q&A’s with guest speakers, the Lab has breakout sessions, where the filmmakers split into small groups and discuss their projects specifically with the group leaders. The four films I focused on were all incredibly different, ranging from a doc-fiction hybrid using real people as actors to an anarchic, B-movie styled Latino martial arts comedy. And what I said after the audience-building sessions was that each of these films would have its own path. Some should finesse their cuts as best as they can and then go straight to the festivals. Others should start seeding their press right now, placing preview features in websites and publications read by their target audience so as to solidify their cred early on. Others should explore screening and audience possibilities within the regions of their makings. In other words, one size does not fit all.

Say, “That’s what happened.”

That’s from filmmaker Ira Sachs, who is one of the most hands-on directors around when it comes to the production and distribution of his films. For Keep the Lights On, he created a website chock full of content appealing to all the various niche audiences who might be attracted to his film. But, he told the IFP Lab filmmakers, there comes a time on every project, after the film has made its way through the festival circuit, gotten its reviews and opened in theaters, that he says to himself, “That’s what happened.” In other words, what’s done is done and move on.

“It’s not networking, it’s community building.”
That's another one from Sachs. He told the filmmakers that from the very beginning of his career he’s made a point to develop friendships with fellow filmmakers, producers, agents, managers, actors and financiers. And the community he immersed himself in is the community that has sustained him over the years. The cynical way to look at this type of work is “networking,” he says. But it’s really community-building—a long-term endeavor that brings both tangible and intangible benefits.

Don’t cut for comedy.

This comes from filmmaker Afia Nathaniel, at the Lab with her film Dukhtar:

One of the most fun sessions at the labs were the editing feedback sessions. Every film is different yet in the re-edit it comes down to two important things you initially began with at the writing stage: story and characters. Craig McKay shared some great insights. While commenting about the approach to cutting a comedy he said, “Don’t treat a comedy like a comedy. The moment you do, you’re dead.” It was a short sound bite but one loaded with years of experience – the genre should serve your edit and not let the story or characters become subservient to it. So don’t forget that in your re-edit.

Figure out who makes the deal.
Here’s another one from Braun: 

Before you head to your film festival premiere, decide among your team who will make financial decisions and how they will be made. Often this is decided at the financing stage, but sometimes it’s not. And even when it is nailed down contractually, conflicts can emerge between directors, producers and financiers when, for example, the director realizes that his or her financiers are set to take a deal from a distributor offering a more minimal release but a higher advance. That these conflicts exist and arise is something many teams don’t even begin to understand until late in the game. After all, don’t you just take the highest offer? Well, sometimes, no. 

Braun recommended that filmmakers and their team discuss these issues early on and game out various scenarios in advance. And to be clear with their reps about who among their team has the authority to agree to a deal.

Know your sub-genre.
Ask most filmmakers and they’ll tell you their film is a drama, comedy, horror film, thriller, dramedy, etc., but there are sub-genres. Being able to identify the specific type of story your film is can help in both its final edit and its marketing. After viewing one lab film, editor McKay succinctly said, “It’s a ‘first step movie.’” Meaning, the story dramatizes a character’s “first step” from a situation that is ensnaring her into a new mode of living. Once a film is identified like that, useful reference points more easily appear.

Identify your transmedia form.

A highlight for me at the Labs was listening to Murmur Company's Mike Knowlton’s short presentation on getting started in transmedia. With more and more films having interactive and transmedia components—whether those are primarily marketing-focused or, hopefully, creative extensions of their film’s story worlds—many filmmakers are beginning to plan for more than just their feature films. But just as films have forms, so too do transmedia works. A transmedia extension of a feature film requires a reimagining of the expression of its content, and that reimagining can employ different models. At the Lab, Knowlton identified five predominant models for interactive, online and transmedia production today.

1. Crowdsourced. Examples: Life in a Day, Psych Slumber Party.
2. Real-time Conversations. YouTube Stars.
3. “Design With.” Johnny Cash Project, Star Wars Uncut.
4. Non-linear. Choose Your Own Adventure, Alma.
5. Personalized. Take this Lollipop, Wilderness Downtown.

(If you’re interested in this subject but aren’t making the connections above, Google the pieces cited, check them out, and then figure out how they fit into their respective category models.)

Live during production.
That’s another from Knowlton, who described a model for transmedia production that borrows a page from the iterative design of software. “It’s a radically different model,” he said. “It’s about releasing stuff that’s kind of imperfect, but you want it to be imperfect so you can iterate and make it better. It’s about being live when you’re in beta.”

“Consider how you can create scarcity around your work.”

Finally, here’s one from Jon Reiss, who discussed how, in an age of content abundance and instant access, filmmakers can differentiate and add value to their work by limited its availability. Yes, I know, that’s the opposite problem of most independents who just want someone, anyone to watch their work. But, echoing a topic Lance Weiler has written about here, by making scarcity part of your release plan, you can paradoxically get more people to watch your work. “For instance,” said Reiss, “make events one of a kind experiences that have to be experienced live.” 

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First posted: 26 October 2013

John Sturges on his filmmaking philosophy

John Sturges was an editor on Gunga Din (1939). After eight years as a film editor, he graduated to being a director. He made Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), and some forty others.

Here he is, talking about his film Bad Day at Black Rock, and what he learned from Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy and Alfred Hitchcock, and how he got to be a film director.

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Gunga Din (1939)

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Gunfight at The O.K. Corral (1957)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

The Great Escape (1963)

First posted: 24 October 2013

Five tips for cleaning up your script

Julie Gray lives and works in Tel Aviv. She is a screenwriter, story consultant, writer's coach, director of a Screenwriting Competition and publisher of the Just Effing Entertain Me blog.

Julie has taught at the Oxford Student Union at Oxford University, The West England University in Bristol, Wilmington University in Delaware and San Francisco University in Quito, Ecuador. She also teaches writing classes at Warner Bros., The Great American Pitchfest, The Creative Screenwriting Expo and the Willamette Writer's Conference in Portland, Oregon.

She is a volunteer at the Afghan Women's Writing Project, she blogs for the Times of Israel, and is working on a memoir.

I'm hoping to set up an interview with Julie down the track. Meantime, here's a simple but valuable piece of advice she posted on her blog recently.

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Five Tips for Clean Pages

You know that feeling you get when you receive an email from someone – someone you love and care about, and yet the email is one long, dense block of type? And your shoulders slump a little? Why can’t they just use paragraph breaks? This is going to be a slog.

Script pages that are cluttered and have “too much black” give readers the same feeling. And they frequently get put at the bottom of the pile if not rejected entirely. Which is a crying shame because your story might be GREAT. But your pages are off-putting. Listen, if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, real human beings read your scripts. They might have read three other scripts that DAY alone. So you want to make your pages very clean and easy to read.

Here are five ways to clean up those pages.

1. Avoid Camera Directions

Do not use camera directions of any kind. No “tracking shot”, no “angle on”, no “smash cut”. These instructions do not belong in your spec script and definitely muck up your pages. Don’t do it.

2. Limit The Number of Consecutive Action Lines

Try not to write more than five lines of action in one block. If you have more action because you are writing an action scene, simply use a paragraph break. Break up those big blocks of action lines.

3. Avoid Lengthy Dialogue

Avoid dialogue that is more of a monologue and is longer than ten lines. Monologues that take up half a page or even a whole page instantly put a reader off their feed.

4. Keep Sluglines Simple

Simplify your slug lines. Do you need:

INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAYTONA - SPRING BREAK – DAY ?

No. Many writers include in sluglines what should actually be in the action lines below it. Long detailed sluglines are very off putting.

5. Learn About and Use Mini-Sluglines

Use mini-slug lines. If you are in the same location (one house, many rooms, as one example) instead of slugging every mini-location within your location, you can use a mini-slug which looks like this KITCHEN, or OUTSIDE ON THE DECK. 

Taken from Michael Clayton (2007), by Tony Gilroy

Go through your pages today and look for EVERY opportunity for there to be more white on your page and less black. It’s okay if you have a long sequence or two – but it’s all in how you present it. Simplicity and brevity are your very best pals in screenwriting.

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First posted: 15 September 2013

Jim Jarmusch’s 5 Golden Rules of Moviemaking

I first noticed Jim Jarmusch as the writer/director responsible for Broken Flowers (2005), with Bill Murray. In that film, a middle-aged man first contemplates, then confronts, his past. Then I noticed how that had become a theme for older actors around that time. Steve Martin made Shopgirl (2005); Jack Nicholson had earlier made About Schmidt (2002); and Dustin Hoffman made Last Chance Harvey (2008). Jim Jarmusch was in his early fifties at the time. So was I. Maybe that's why I noticed.

When I looked him up, I remembered having also watched Stranger Than Paradise (1984) on TV. That's a low-grade B&W film in which a guy breaks out of his boring routine in New York and travels to Florida with his cousin, only to end up back where he started. It's not quite Sullivan's Travels (1941), but still an interesting exercise.

Anyway, I was fascinated to see in MovieMaker magazine five rules for filmmakers, promulgated by Jim Jarmusch. Naturally, the first rule says there are no rules, but read it for yourself.

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Rule #1: There are no rules. There are as many ways to make a film as there are potential filmmakers. It’s an open form. Anyway, I would personally never presume to tell anyone else what to do or how to do anything. To me that’s like telling someone else what their religious beliefs should be. Fuck that. That’s against my personal philosophy—more of a code than a set of “rules.” Therefore, disregard the “rules” you are presently reading, and instead consider them to be merely notes to myself. One should make one’s own “notes” because there is no one way to do anything. If anyone tells you there is only one way, their way, get as far away from them as possible, both physically and philosophically.

Rule #2: Don’t let the fuckers get ya. They can either help

you, or not help you, but they can’t stop you. People who finance films, distribute films, promote films and exhibit films are not filmmakers. They are not interested in letting filmmakers define and dictate the way they do their business, so filmmakers should have no interest in allowing them to dictate the way a film is made. Carry a gun if necessary.
    Also, avoid sycophants at all costs. There are always people around who only want to be involved in filmmaking to get rich, get famous, or get laid. Generally, they know as much about filmmaking as George W. Bush knows about hand-to-hand combat.

Rule #3: The production is there to serve the film. The film is not there to serve the production. Unfortunately, in the world of filmmaking this is almost universally backwards. The film is not being made to serve the budget, the schedule, or the resumes of those involved. Filmmakers who don’t understand this should be hung from their ankles and asked why the sky appears to be upside down.

Rule #4: Filmmaking is a collaborative process. You get the chance to work with others whose minds and ideas may be stronger than your own. Make sure they remain focused on their own function and not someone else’s job, or you’ll have

a production assistant who is holding back traffic so the crew can get a shot is no less important than the actors in the scene, the director of photography, the production designer or the director. Hierarchy is for those whose egos are inflated or out of control, or for people in the military. Those with whom you choose to collaborate, if you make good choices, can elevate the quality and content of your film to a much higher plane than any one mind could imagine on its own. If you don’t want to work with other people, go paint a painting or write a book. (And if you want to be a fucking dictator, I guess these days you just have to go into politics...).

Rule #5: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration 

or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

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You can read the whole article here.

First posted: 8 September 2013

Danny Boyle’s 15 Golden Rules of Moviemaking

Danny Boyle is an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and theatre director, known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later..., 127 Hours and Trainspotting. 

The following is a list of "Golden Rules" he provided to MovieMaker magazine back in May 2013.

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1. A director must be a people person

Ninety-five percent of your job is handling personnel. People who’ve never done it imagine that it’s some act, like painting a Picasso from a blank canvas, but it’s not like that. Directing is mostly about handling people’s egos, vulnerabilities and moods. It’s all about trying to bring everybody to a boil at the right moment. You’ve got to make sure everyone is in the same film. It sounds stupidly simple, like ‘Of course they’re in the same film!’ But you see films all the time where people are clearly not in the same film together.

2. Hire talented people

Your main job as a director is to hire talented people and get the space right for them to work in. I have a lot of respect for actors when they’re performing, and I expect people to behave. I don’t want to see people reading newspapers behind the camera or whispering or anything like that.

3. Learn to trust your instincts

Ideally, you make a film up as you go along. I don’t mean that you’re irresponsible and you’ve literally got no idea, but the ideal is that you’ve covered everything—every angle—so that you’re free to do it any of those ways. Even on low-budget films, you have financial responsibilities. Should you fuck it up, you can still fall back on one of those ways of doing it. You’ve got Plan A to go back to, even though you should always make it with Plan B if you can. That way keeps it fresh for the actors, and for you.

4. Film happens in the moment

What’s extraordinary about film is that you make it on the day, and then it’s like that forever more. On that day, the actor may have broken up with his wife the night before, so he’s inevitably going to read a scene differently. He’s going to be a different person.

I come from theater, which is live and changes every night. I thought film was going to be the opposite of that, but it’s not. It changes every time you watch it: Different audiences, different places, different moods that you’re in. The thing is logically fixed, but it still changes all the time. You have to get your head around that.

5. If your last film was a smash hit, don't panic

I had an obsession with the story of 127 Hours, which pre-dated Slumdog Millionaire. But I know—because I’m not an idiot—that the only reason [the studio] allowed us to make it was because Slumdog made buckets of money for them and they felt an obligation of sorts. Not an obligation to let me do whatever I want, but you kind of get a free go on the merry-go-round.

6. Don't be afraid to tell stories about other cultures

You can’t just hijack a culture for your story, but you can benefit from it. If you go into it with the right attitude, you can learn a lot about yourself, as well as about the potential of film in other cultures, which is something we tried to do with Slumdog Millionaire… Most films are still made in America, about Americans, and that’s fine. But things are changing and I think Slumdog was evidence of that. There will be more evidence as we go on.

7. Use your power for good

You have so much power as director that if you’re any good at all, you should be able to use that to the benefit of everyone. You have so much power to shape the movie the way you want it that, if you’re on form and you’ve done your prep right and you’re ready, you should be able to make a decent job of it with the other people.

8. Don't have an ego

Your working process—the way you treat people, your belief in people—will ultimately be reflected in the product itself. The means of production are just as important as what you produce. Not everyone believes that, but I do. I won’t stand for anyone being treated badly by anyone. I don’t like anyone shouting or abusing people or anything like that. You see people sometimes who are waiting for you to be like that, because they’ve had an experience like that in the past, but I’m not a believer in that. The texture of a film is affected very much by the honor with which you make it.

9. Make the test screening process work for you

Test screenings are tough. It makes you nervous, exposing the film, but they’re very important and I’ve learned a great deal from using them. Not so much from the whole process of cards and the discussions afterwards, but the live experience of sitting in an auditorium with an audience that doesn’t know much about the story you’re going to tell them—I find that so valuable. I’ve learned not so much to like it, but to value how important it is. I think you have to, really.

10. Come to the set with a look book

I always have a bible of photographs, images by which I illustrate a film. I don’t mean strict storyboards, I just mean for inspiration for scenes, for images, for ideas, for characters, for costumes, even for props. These images can come from anywhere. They can come from obvious places like great photographers, or they can come from magazine advertisements—anywhere, really. I compile them into a book and I always have it with me and I show it to the actors, the crew, everybody!

11. Even perfect formulas don't always work

As a director your job is to find the pulse of the film through the actors, which is partly linked to their talent and partly to their charisma. Charisma is a bit indefinable, thank God, or else it would be prescribed in the way that you chemically make a new painkiller. In the movies—and this leads to a lot of tragedy and heartache—you can sometimes have the most perfect formula and it still doesn’t work. That’s a reality that we are all victims of sometimes and benefit from at other times. But if you follow your own instincts and make a leap of faith, then you can at least be proud of the way you did it.

12. Take inspiration where you find it

When we were promoting Slumdog Millionaire, we were kind of side-by-side with Darren Aronofsky, who was also with Fox Searchlight and was promoting The Wrestler. I watched it and it was really interesting; Darren just decided that he was going to follow this actor around, and it was wonderful. I thought, ‘I want to make a film like that. I want to see if I can make a film like that.’ It’s a film about one actor. It’s about the monolithic nature of film sometimes, you know? It’s about a dominant performance.

13. Push the pram

I think you should always try to push things as far as you can, really. I call it “pushing the pram.” You know, like a stroller that you push a baby around in? I think you should always push the pram to the edge of the cliff—that’s what people go to the cinema for. This could apply to a romantic comedy; you push anything as far as it will stretch. I think that’s one of your duties as a director… You’ll only ever regret not doing that, not having pushed it. If you do your job well, you’ll be amazed at how far the audience will go with you. They’ll go a long, long way—they’ve already come a long way just to see your movie!

14. Always give 100 percent

You should be working at your absolute maximum, all the time. Whether you’re credited with stuff in the end doesn’t really matter. Focus on pushing yourself as much as you can. I tend not to write, but I love bouncing off of writing; I love having the writers write and then me bouncing off of it. I bounce off writers the same way I bounce off actors.

15. Find your own "esque"

A lesson I learned from A Life Less Ordinary was about changing a tone—I’m not sure you can do that. We changed the tone to a kind of Capra-esque tone, and whenever you do anything more “esque,” you’re in trouble. That would be one of my rules: No “esques.” Don’t try to Coen-esque anything or Capra-esque anything or Tarkovsky-esque anything, because you’ll just get yourself in a lot of trouble. You have to find your own “esque” and then stick to it.

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You can read the whole article here.

First posted: 30 August 2013

The Origins of Screenplay Formatting

Part of the journey to becoming a full-time screenwriter is the process of learning how to format a screenplay. These rules aren't the arbitrary nuisances some people think. They exist for a reason.

In this short video, John Hess of Filmmaker IQ tells us how the present situation arose.

Trace the roots of how the screenplay evolved from the earliest moving pictures, through the golden age of Hollywood and into the post-studio era.

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First posted: 28 August 2013

6 Lies of Film Distribution

Jerome Courshon is an award-winning writer/producer, whose first movie was the critically acclaimed indie God, Sex & Apple Pie, released by Warner Bros. His challenging journey to get to the proverbial finish line was profiled in the Los Angeles Times and documented on several major film sites. After acquiring enormous experience and knowledge from playing "the game" of getting distribution for his own movie, he began assisting colleagues on their movies—with some of them achieving distribution in as little as four months by applying his information.

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One of the major Achilles’ heels for film producers and directors is the distribution game. Once you’ve made your movie, what do you do? How do you play the game? What strategies do you employ? Is there even a strategy?

Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is there are indeed strategies to use and employ. The bad news is that most filmmakers don’t know what they are, and flounder around trying to figure them out. What’s even worse is too many filmmakers throwing in the towel and just dumping their film online, hoping it “hits” somehow.

In this article, I’m going to debunk some prevalent lies (or “myths”) about achieving distribution. This will give you some insight into the game, should you be looking for distribution now or preparing for your production.

Myth #1: I’m a director, a filmmaker, a creative person. Telling stories is my thing and if I make a good movie, I don’t have to worry about the business stuff or the marketing because someone else will do that.

Truth #1: There are of course some people who get lucky and either have a producing partner who does all the business & marketing (and is good at it), or they have the money to hire the right people to do everything.

However for most this isn’t the case, especially if one’s film career is in the early stages. You need to become a businessperson once your movie or documentary is done. At least until it’s sold (or until you’re done selling if you’re DIY’ing it). 

Why?

Because distribution is business, and distributors don’t care if you’ve made the greatest indie film/art film/documentary of the past 20 years. What they care about is if it will make them money. (And your audience, if you’re DIY’ing your film, needs to believe they’ll be sufficiently entertained and/or enlightened before they’ll buy a DVD or pay to watch it online.) The more you can become a “salesperson” and marketing maven, the more success you will have on your quest for distribution or sales.

Yes, I know this part isn’t nearly as sexy and fun as making movies and can be downright boring at times. But what Orson Welles famously said about the film business is still true today: “It's about 2% moviemaking and 98% hustling.”

Myth #2: Distributors are calling me and they’re excited to see my movie! I’ll send it to them and if they like it, they’ll acquire it!

Truth #2: All major distributors track the movies that have been listed in the trades under their production columns. If you were in those columns, you’re going to be phoned. Do not send them a rough cut. Do not send them a final cut. Do not send them the movie. If you do, you will not get a theatrical distribution deal, if this is what you are aiming for.

You must “unveil” your movie in the right place at the right time, such as a top film festival, to get the theatrical buyers to really want your feature. Movies do not get picked up for theatrical releases that have been sent on a DVD to a distributor. So when they call asking to see a screener, you’ll say “It’s not ready, but I appreciate your call. Check back with me in a month or two.” (And you’ll do this every time they call, until you’re ready for the grand unveiling.)

Myth #3: My movie was selected for the Sundance Film Festival! Woohooo! All I have to do is show up and I will get a deal!

Truth #3: Okay, you won the lottery and got a slot at one of the top three film festivals (Sundance, Toronto, Cannes) for your movie premiere. Guess what? Your work hasn’t even begun yet. You now must assemble a team of people: a PR firm, an agent from one of the top agencies in Los Angeles, an attorney, and possibly a producer’s rep. (But beware…most producer’s reps are useless.)

You will have to work, strategize and position your movie, before it premieres, as a very desirable movie that distributors must have. You have one shot at the top festivals for a theatrical deal, so don’t piss it away. Unfortunately, most filmmakers don’t know or understand this. They get a slot at Sundance or Toronto, don’t assemble a team or promote their film properly, and then come away without a deal and are entirely lost as to their next step.

Myth #4: I was rejected by the top festivals, so now I’m submitting and getting accepted by the next tier of festivals. This is cool. All I have to do is show up to my screenings and I’m treated like a rock star. Distribution, here I come!

Truth #4: Yeah, okay, if this is you, at least you’re having fun. But you’re not going to get distribution this way. There is a real purpose to the festival circuit beyond the top festivals that most people, even Hollywood veterans, simply do not understand. The obvious purpose is, of course, exposure. But there is actually a MORE important purpose: Building a Pedigree.

What is a Pedigree?

It is an accumulation of press coverage, interviews, quotes from critics, and awards if you can get them, which says you have a winning movie on your hands. Once you methodically build this pedigree, which takes some work on the festival circuit, you are then ready to parlay this into a distribution deal (or healthy sales). It’s a simple concept that most do not grasp; yet it is extremely powerful and effective for independent films that don’t get into the top festivals. There is real psychology involved in the “art” of selling a movie or documentary. Ignore at your own risk. However, if you learn this “art,” you will have success.

Myth #5: I’ve submitted my movie to the 15 home video companies out there. I’ve even talked to producer friends and looked at industry reference books for whom to submit to. If these 15 companies say ‘No,’ I’m out of luck for a home video deal.

Truth #5: This truth right here may be worth serious dollars to you. There are literally over 100 home video companies in the marketplace, all operating under their own labels. On top of that are additional companies that pick up movies and programming that have output deals with these distributors. So if you think you’ve exhausted your search for a home video deal and have only contacted a handful of companies, you’ve simply just begun.

And don’t buy the occasional diatribe out there that DVD is dead. It’s not. It is still the largest revenue generating segment of the entire film industry. Last year alone, it generated $16-17 billion in revenues. That’s billion with a ‘B.’

Myth #6: I’m going to bypass traditional distribution altogether, sell my movie on the internet myself and make a ton of money from DVD sales and digital streaming (VOD).

Truth #6: Not likely. For every 5000 movies being made every year, there are less than 20 who make serious money this way. WHY? It’s hard work. It takes time (a lot of it), it takes specific strategies, and you become the de facto distributor for a good year, if not longer. Which isn’t an exciting proposition for most filmmakers, who’ve already been on a lengthy and arduous journey of making their film.

However, some who go this route do it very successfully. They’re either great at marketing already, or great learners. And they’re very committed to achieving success, so they really do what it takes to win. Also, the budget of your movie can dictate if this route is viable for you. If you’ve made a $10,000 movie, it’s not that difficult to recoup this amount, with some decent work. But if your budget was $1 million, good luck making your money back using only the internet. You’ll either need traditional distribution, or a hybrid approach of both traditional and non-traditional.

So these are a few of the popular and misleading myths out there, and the truth about them. With 5000 (or more) movies being made every single year, that’s a lot of producers and directors working with often erroneous information. Not to mention an overwhelming number of movies vying for a limited number of distribution slots. These two factors combined can make for a daunting journey filled with frustration and failure.

The silver lining however, is that with the right knowledge, coupled with dedicated and diligent work, anyone with a decent film can achieve success. Anyone. But it does take the right knowledge. You do not have to have star names in your movie to get a deal or have success, and your movie does not have to be phenomenal. If it’s at least decent, you do have a real shot.

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First posted: 25 August 2013