Required reading for filmmakers and cinephiles, screenwriters and writers, movie buffs and film aficionados: Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: At the American Film Institute. This is priceless: HAROLD LLOYD RAOUL WALSH FRANK CAPRA MERVYN LEROY GEORGE FOLSEY WILLIAM WYLER GEORGE CUKOR BILLY WILDER JOHN HUSTON RAY BRADBURY ELIA KAZAN FRED ZINNEMANN DAVID LEAN STANLEY CORTEZ ROBERT WISE RICHARD BROOKS STANLEY KRAMER HAL WALLIS JEAN RENOIR FEDERICO FELLINI INGMAR BERGMAN SATYAJIT RAY Acknowledgments The first book to bring together these interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars—a series that has been in existence for almost forty years, since the founding of the Institute itself. Here are the legendary directors, producers, cinematographers and writers—the great pioneers, the great artists—whose work led the way in the early days of moviemaking and still survives from what was the twentieth century’s art form. The book is edited—with commentaries—by George Stevens, Jr., founder of the American Film Institute and the AFI Center for Advanced Film Studies’ Harold Lloyd Master Seminar series. Here talking about their work, their art—picture making in general—are directors from King Vidor, Howard Hawks and Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”) to William Wyler, George Stevens and David Lean. Here, too, is Hal Wallis, one of Hollywood’s great motion picture producers; legendary cinematographers Stanley Cortez, who shot, among other pictures, The Magnificent Ambersons, Since You Went Away and Shock Corridor and George Folsey, who was the cameraman on more than 150 pictures, from Animal Crackers and Marie Antoinette to Meet Me in St. Louis and Adam’s Rib; and the equally celebrated James Wong Howe. Here is the screenwriter Ray Bradbury, who wrote the script for John Huston’s Moby Dick, Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man, and the admired Ernest Lehman, who wrote the screenplays for Sabrina, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and North by Northwest (“One day Hitchcock said, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a chase across the face of Mount Rushmore.’”). And here, too, are Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini (“Making a movie is a mathematical operation. It’s absolutely impossible to improvise”). These conversations gathered together—and published for the first time—are full of wisdom, movie history and ideas about picture making, about working with actors, about how to tell a story in words and movement. A sample of what the moviemakers have to teach us: Elia Kazan, on translating a play to the screen: “With A Streetcar Named Desire we worked hard to open it up and then went back to the play because we’d lost all the compression. In the play, these people were trapped in a room with each other. As the story progressed I took out little flats, and the set got smaller and smaller.” Ingmar Bergman on writing: “For half a year I had a picture inside my head of three women walking around in a red room with white clothes. I couldn’t understand why these damned women were there. I tried to throw it away… find out what they said to each other because they whispered. It came out that they were watching another woman dying. Then the screenplay started—but it took about a year. The script always starts with a picture…” Jean Renoir on actors: “The truth is, if you discourage an actor you may never find him again. An actor is an animal, extremely fragile. You get a little expression, it is not exactly what you wanted, but it’s alive. It’s something human.” And Hitchcock—on Hitchcock: “Give [the audience] pleasure, the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm //
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Required reading for filmmakers and cinephiles, screenwriters and writers, movie buffs and film aficionados: Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: At the American Film Institute.

This is priceless:

The first book to bring together these interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars—a series that has been in existence for almost forty years, since the founding of the Institute itself. Here are the legendary directors, producers, cinematographers and writers—the great pioneers, the great artists—whose work led the way in the early days of moviemaking and still survives from what was the twentieth century’s art form. The book is edited—with commentaries—by George Stevens, Jr., founder of the American Film Institute and the AFI Center for Advanced Film Studies’ Harold Lloyd Master Seminar series.

Here talking about their work, their art—picture making in general—are directors from King Vidor, Howard Hawks and Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”) to William Wyler, George Stevens and David Lean. Here, too, is Hal Wallis, one of Hollywood’s great motion picture producers; legendary cinematographers Stanley Cortez, who shot, among other pictures, The Magnificent Ambersons, Since You Went Away and Shock Corridor and George Folsey, who was the cameraman on more than 150 pictures, from Animal Crackers and Marie Antoinette to Meet Me in St. Louis and Adam’s Rib; and the equally celebrated James Wong Howe.

Here is the screenwriter Ray Bradbury, who wrote the script for John Huston’s Moby Dick, Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man, and the admired Ernest Lehman, who wrote the screenplays for Sabrina, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and North by Northwest (“One day Hitchcock said, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a chase across the face of Mount Rushmore.’”). And here, too, are Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini (“Making a movie is a mathematical operation. It’s absolutely impossible to improvise”). These conversations gathered together—and published for the first time—are full of wisdom, movie history and ideas about picture making, about working with actors, about how to tell a story in words and movement.

A sample of what the moviemakers have to teach us: Elia Kazan, on translating a play to the screen: “With A Streetcar Named Desire we worked hard to open it up and then went back to the play because we’d lost all the compression. In the play, these people were trapped in a room with each other. As the story progressed I took out little flats, and the set got smaller and smaller.”

Ingmar Bergman on writing: “For half a year I had a picture inside my head of three women walking around in a red room with white clothes. I couldn’t understand why these damned women were there. I tried to throw it away… find out what they said to each other because they whispered. It came out that they were watching another woman dying. Then the screenplay started—but it took about a year. The script always starts with a picture…”

Jean Renoir on actors: “The truth is, if you discourage an actor you may never find him again. An actor is an animal, extremely fragile. You get a little expression, it is not exactly what you wanted, but it’s alive. It’s something human.”

And Hitchcock—on Hitchcock: “Give [the audience] pleasure, the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”

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Unseen photos from Cool Hand Luke: 1, 2, 3

Cool Hand Luke screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson. Based on the novel by Donn Pearce.

Here’s an excellent video session with the legendary writer-director Frank Pierson. His credits include Cat Ballou (1965), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), A Star Is Born (1976), King of the Gypsies (1978), In Country (1989), and Presumed Innocent (1990).

Watch Full Program. With thanks to Scott Myers

What’s your creative process?  
Sit down at 10 o’clock in the morning and write anything that comes into my head until 12. One of the few things I’ve discovered about writing that seems to work, at least for me, is to form a habit that becomes an addiction so that if you don’t put something down on paper every day, you get really mean and awful with withdrawal symptoms, and your wife and your dog and your kids are going to kick your ass until you get back to it because they can’t bear you in that state of mind. What’s happening is that your unconscious is writing all the time. It doesn’t stop. In the middle of a dinner party or just playing with the dogs or what have you, you suddenly have in idea. Sometimes it’s important to go write that down, but it won’t go away. If it’s a good idea, it’ll linger in your mind. If it’s a bad idea, you’ll forget it. —The Masters: Frank Pierson on the origin of his most famous line and why his scripts never “fail to communicate.”

Director Stuart Rosenberg and legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall:

Conrad Hall photographed The Wild Seed, Morituri, Harper, The Professionals, Divorce American Style, Cool Hand Luke, In Cold Blood, Hell in the Pacific, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, and The Happy Ending. He received an Oscar for Butch Cassidy.

I want to help change the world, and I want to do it by telling stories that help to do that. And other people say, “I’d rather do it by picking up a brick and throwing it through a window, or sitting down somewhere and attracting attention.” I think that films haven’t changed it, although they’ve influenced it somewhat, but not necessarily for the better. Because there hasn’t been in it the responsibility that there should be. The artists are not in control yet. Those in charge are not a group of artists, they’re a bunch of people making money.

But now the artists are coming along, and maybe there’s a chance… I don’t think we can change the world through films any more. I used to think we could change the world by showing the human condition. But picking up a brick and throwing it, or sitting down someplace in a road, does a much quicker job. I don’t have any answers for anything, but I know that I’m not going to make any more pictures that I don’t really care about. My motives in the past were different. —Conrad Hall: An Interview, Spring 1971

Source: theeditroomfloor.blogspot.de

The handwritten drafts in the Writers Guild Foundation collections reveal the creative magic behind the unforgettable screen moments. From the hilarious “There’s no crying in baseball!” in A League of Their Own to the snappy Bogart and Bacall banter of Han and Leia in The Empire Strikes Back, the pages offer a rare glimpse at how writers develop stories and characters.

Enter the Exhibit Here

With thanks to Tim Pelan

Source: wgfoundation.org

Taking a look at the creative process of filmmaking through the eyes of some of the entertainment industry’s most prolific writers, directors and producers: Northeast Front: Randall Wallace, Writer-Director, SECRETARIAT; Lawrence Kasdan, Screenwriter, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK; Shane Black, Writer-Director, LETHAL WEAPON, LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, and KISS KISS BANG BANG Tadpoles: David Hayter, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, and Robert Rodriguez Comedy in film: Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow, Buck Henry, and Jon Lucas The creative minds behind APOLLO 13, SCHINDLER’S LIST, and A BEAUTIFUL MIND discuss the inspiration behind these classic, Academy Award winning films. Featuring Ron Howard and Steven Zaillian The creative minds behind UNFORGIVEN, A PERFECT WORLD, and 3:10 TO YUMA discuss creating westerns with resonance. Featuring John Lee Hancock, David Peoples, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas The creative minds behind the shows Mad Men, The Wire, and Treme discuss historical and modern day relevance in television dramas. Featuring Matthew Weiner and David Simon Creating a film from script to screen is discussed by the writer/directors behind SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, UP IN THE AIR, and THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN. Featuring Danny Boyle, Jason Reitman, and Ed Burns War in film is discussed by the creative minds behind RED DAWN, BORN ON THE 4th OF JULY, and APOCALYPSE NOW. Featuring Oliver Stone and John Milius Working within the studio system is discussed by the local filmmakers behind OFFICE SPACE, LONESOME DOVE, and EL MARIACHI. Featuring Mike Judge, Bill Wittliff and Robert Rodriguez Suspenseful storytelling is discussed by the creative minds behind THE USUAL SUSPECTS, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE BIG EASY and LETHAL WEAPON. Featuring Shane Black, Ted Tally, Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Christopher McQuarrie Reflecting the real world in film is discussed by the creative minds behind JARHEAD, THE COMPANY MEN, CAST AWAY and FALLING DOWN. Featuring John Wells, William Broyles, Jr., and Herschel Weingrod Developing and understanding heroes and villains is discussed by the creative minds behind RAMBO, LETHAL WEAPON, BRAVEHEART, and Dexter. Featuring Álvaro Rodríguez, Shane Black, Randall Wallace, John Turman, and Melissa Rosenberg Creating Classic Characters: Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack (OUT OF AFRICA, TOOTSIE, THE WAY WE WERE) and NYPD Blue and Deadwood creator David Milch discuss the inspiration behind creating classic film and television characters Comedy That Resonates: Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld writer/producer Alec Berg and BRIDESMAIDS director and Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig pull back the curtain to show how they create comedy that resonates with us all Action! The creators behind the explosions CON AIR, GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, HULK, ZOMBIELAND and MACHETE debate what makes a great action movie Based On a True Story: The challenges of making true stories compelling on the screen are discussed by Oscar-nominated Scott Silver (THE FIGHTER), Oscar-nominated Nicholas Kazan (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), Pamela Gray (CONVICTION), Oscar-winner Ron Howard (APOLLO 13) The Heart of Film: The inspiration behind such classic films as EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, TOY STORY, and UP is discussed by Academy Award winning Pixar director John Lasseter and screenwriter Caroline Thompson From THE GRADUATE and CATCH-22 to Saturday Night Live and Get Smart, iconic comedic and distinctly American writer, director, and actor Buck Henry recalls his long and storied career in Hollywood Creating Complex Characters: Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia discusses the influence of his father, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez, and the complexities and flaws that form nuanced characters in THE GODFATHER, CAPOTE, and his own MOTHER AND CHILD and IN TREATMENT Oscar-winning writer Ted Tally gives a provocative look at the adaptation and production of the highly acclaimed film THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Tally covers it all: working with director Jonathan Demme, anticipating Jodie Foster’s Oscar win, the changed ending for the world’s most famous cannibal, and more Raising Stakes, Reversals, And Payoffs: Thriller master writer/director Shane Black (KISS KISS BANG BANG, LETHAL WEAPON) discusses the critical elements of a taut, suspense-filled movie – raising stakes, unexpected reversals, and satisfying payoffs – using examples from such classics as ROCKY, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, and LA FEMME NIKITA A Conversation with Chris Carter: Legendary television writer Chris Carter reveals the secret behind the creation and success of The X-Files Explosive Action! Building Action Through Character: The writers behind WANTED, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, CON AIR, and SNITCH discuss how they use action scenes to further the plot, convey tension, and build toward a satisfying climax
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Taking a look at the creative process of filmmaking through the eyes of some of the entertainment industry’s most prolific writers, directors and producers:

  • Northeast Front: Randall Wallace, Writer-Director, SECRETARIAT; Lawrence Kasdan, Screenwriter, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK; Shane Black, Writer-Director, LETHAL WEAPON, LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, and KISS KISS BANG BANG
  • Tadpoles: David Hayter, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, and Robert Rodriguez
  • Comedy in film: Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow, Buck Henry, and Jon Lucas
  • The creative minds behind APOLLO 13, SCHINDLER’S LIST, and A BEAUTIFUL MIND discuss the inspiration behind these classic, Academy Award winning films. Featuring Ron Howard and Steven Zaillian
  • The creative minds behind UNFORGIVEN, A PERFECT WORLD, and 3:10 TO YUMA discuss creating westerns with resonance. Featuring John Lee Hancock, David Peoples, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
  • The creative minds behind the shows Mad Men, The Wire, and Treme discuss historical and modern day relevance in television dramas. Featuring Matthew Weiner and David Simon
  • Creating a film from script to screen is discussed by the writer/directors behind SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, UP IN THE AIR, and THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN. Featuring Danny Boyle, Jason Reitman, and Ed Burns

  • Action! The creators behind the explosions CON AIR, GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, HULK, ZOMBIELAND and MACHETE debate what makes a great action movie
  • Based On a True Story: The challenges of making true stories compelling on the screen are discussed by Oscar-nominated Scott Silver (THE FIGHTER), Oscar-nominated Nicholas Kazan (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), Pamela Gray (CONVICTION), Oscar-winner Ron Howard (APOLLO 13)
  • The Heart of Film: The inspiration behind such classic films as EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, TOY STORY, and UP is discussed by Academy Award winning Pixar director John Lasseter and screenwriter Caroline Thompson
  • From THE GRADUATE and CATCH-22 to Saturday Night Live and Get Smart, iconic comedic and distinctly American writer, director, and actor Buck Henry recalls his long and storied career in Hollywood
  • Creating Complex Characters: Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia discusses the influence of his father, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez, and the complexities and flaws that form nuanced characters in THE GODFATHER, CAPOTE, and his own MOTHER AND CHILD and IN TREATMENT

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Source: onstory.tv

Written By April/May 2013 issue [pdf]. The penultimate lecture of the BAFTA Guru 2012 series was recorded on Friday 26 October. Brian Helgeland is one of Hollywood’s master screenwriters of intelligent crime film, and has won an Oscar for L.A. Confidential and a BAFTA nomination for Mystic River. He has also collaborated with Tony Scott (Taking of Pelham 123, Man On Fire) and Paul Greengrass. In this lecture, Helgeland urged screenwriters to ‘fight’ to assert themselves in front of commissioners and executives, argued that films should be ‘commercial’ (that is, profitable on some level) and paid tribute to Cool Hand Luke screenwriter Frank Pierson. Enjoy, read, and learn: L.A. Confidential screenplay by Brian Helgeland [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only) What kind of notes does Eastwood give a writer? Well, not a lot. This is the second movie I’ve done for him. He had me read the book, and we had this sort of initial discussion of what it was we both liked about the book. He had different ways of expressing it than I do, but it was pretty much we liked the same things. The next thing about him is he assumes you know how to do your job, and then it’s up to you to either prove him right or prove him wrong. He’s been around long enough that he doesn’t want to put constraints on you. A lot of directors are still so keen on trying to make it what it is they want it to be that they handcuff you from the start as to what you can do or not do. I think he knows that some things he’s not interested in might come out of it but a lot of good things come out of giving someone their freedom to do it the way they think it should be done. And basically, that’s what he did, he let me go and do the best job I could do. —Interview by Fred Topel Mystic River screenplay by Brian Helgeland [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only) A Conversation with Brian Helgeland Minds Behind ‘Mystic River’: Novelist Dennis Lehane and screenwriter Brian Helgeland describe making a best seller into a feature film
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Written By April/May 2013 issue [pdf].

The penultimate lecture of the BAFTA Guru 2012 series was recorded on Friday 26 October. Brian Helgeland is one of Hollywood’s master screenwriters of intelligent crime film, and has won an Oscar for L.A. Confidential and a BAFTA nomination for Mystic River. He has also collaborated with Tony Scott (Taking of Pelham 123, Man On Fire) and Paul Greengrass. In this lecture, Helgeland urged screenwriters to ‘fight’ to assert themselves in front of commissioners and executives, argued that films should be ‘commercial’ (that is, profitable on some level) and paid tribute to Cool Hand Luke screenwriter Frank Pierson.

Enjoy, read, and learn: L.A. Confidential screenplay by Brian Helgeland [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only)

What kind of notes does Eastwood give a writer?
Well, not a lot. This is the second movie I’ve done for him. He had me read the book, and we had this sort of initial discussion of what it was we both liked about the book. He had different ways of expressing it than I do, but it was pretty much we liked the same things. The next thing about him is he assumes you know how to do your job, and then it’s up to you to either prove him right or prove him wrong. He’s been around long enough that he doesn’t want to put constraints on you. A lot of directors are still so keen on trying to make it what it is they want it to be that they handcuff you from the start as to what you can do or not do. I think he knows that some things he’s not interested in might come out of it but a lot of good things come out of giving someone their freedom to do it the way they think it should be done. And basically, that’s what he did, he let me go and do the best job I could do. —Interview by Fred Topel

Mystic River screenplay by Brian Helgeland [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only)

You never forget the day when Gary W. Goldstein, producer of Pretty Women, appears on your blog. I’m honored and humbled by his kind words, and even endless thanks cannot express my gratitude. Mr. Goldstein unveiled a passion project yesterday, trying to help people either establish their career or further enhance it:

I would greatly appreciate if you could take a look and support this amazing project. Let’s make it happen!

KICKSTARTER LINK

Your film, The Mothman Prophecies, was rejected by every major Hollywood studio; what was your deal-clincher, after hearing your last “No”?
Understanding that ‘no’ is just a conversation starter, and that while persistence is the only thing that wins the day, sometimes a ‘no’ is a clue or signal to take a deeper cut, tell a richer, more persuasive or moving story that comes more purely from your heart, guts, viscera (your truth zone) and less from your intellect (your ‘above the neck’ zone). Focus less on the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ or other less personal facets and shine your brighter light (the ‘who’ and ‘why’) – why this story so deeply moves you, why you had to write it and are the only one who could’ve written this story, why it’s so emotionally powerful and will be so alluring to actors, audiences, and filmmakers. Tell the story behind the story. —Drive Your Writing Career with the Pros: An Interview with Gary W. Goldstein

You can connect with Gary W. Goldstein at garywgoldstein.com and learn more about his new book, Writer’s Guide to Hollywood, at Kickstarter
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) screenplay by William Goldman [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only) Because as colorful as the material was, it had inherent problems. It covered a number of years, it moved from continent to continent. Terribly sprawling. Now, if you’re writing an epic, you can sprawl to your heart’s content, but this was no epic; rather, I thought it was a personal story of these two unusual outlaws. Eventually, I’d done all the research could bear, I hoped I had a story that would prove coherent, so I sat down and wrote the First draft in 1966. It took four weeks. When someone asks how long it takes to write a screenplay, I’m never sure what to answer. Because I don’t think four weeks is what it took to do Butch. For me, eight years is closer to the truth. In any case, before you begin, you must have everything clear in your head and you must be comfortable with the story you’re trying to tell. Once you start writing, go like hell — but don’t fire till you’re ready. —William Goldman, an excerpt from Goldman’s book “Adventures in the Screen Trade” John Cleese interviews William Goldman, screenwriter of The Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, Misery and All The President’s Men. From the BBC Radio show ‘Chain Reaction’, first broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1991. “I don’t like my writing,” says legendary writer William Goldman, responsible for a vast body of work encompassing novels, screenplays, short stories, and much else. It is a free-form interview, intimate and engaging, in which Goldman, guided by Cleese, explores various aspects of his large body of work. William Goldman talks about screenwriting and his own past, another brilliant interview with one of my heroes. When I first heard of film school, I thought it was the stupidest fuckin idea I’d ever heard. We fell in love with movies by WATCHING them. The line that will be on my tombstone is “Nobody knows anything.” That caught on out there [in Los Angeles]. And it’s true. It’s not just that people don’t know what’s going to work commercially. The fact is, you don’t know what’s going to work in a movie. You don’t know. We don’t know. So we’re sitting here with Hearts of Atlantis and you have no idea what the reaction’s gonna be. You have no idea if people will enjoy it, and you have no idea if people will go to it. And that’s one of the great crapshoots of the movie busines. —William Goldman Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond: William Goldman, Creative Screenwriting, VOLUME 8, #5 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Writer Commentary with William Goldman Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm //
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) screenplay by William Goldman [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only)

Because as colorful as the material was, it had inherent problems. It covered a number of years, it moved from continent to continent. Terribly sprawling. Now, if you’re writing an epic, you can sprawl to your heart’s content, but this was no epic; rather, I thought it was a personal story of these two unusual outlaws. Eventually, I’d done all the research could bear, I hoped I had a story that would prove coherent, so I sat down and wrote the First draft in 1966. It took four weeks. When someone asks how long it takes to write a screenplay, I’m never sure what to answer. Because I don’t think four weeks is what it took to do Butch. For me, eight years is closer to the truth. In any case, before you begin, you must have everything clear in your head and you must be comfortable with the story you’re trying to tell. Once you start writing, go like hell — but don’t fire till you’re ready. —William Goldman, an excerpt from Goldman’s book “Adventures in the Screen Trade”

John Cleese interviews William Goldman, screenwriter of The Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, Misery and All The President’s Men. From the BBC Radio show ‘Chain Reaction’, first broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1991. “I don’t like my writing,” says legendary writer William Goldman, responsible for a vast body of work encompassing novels, screenplays, short stories, and much else. It is a free-form interview, intimate and engaging, in which Goldman, guided by Cleese, explores various aspects of his large body of work.

William Goldman talks about screenwriting and his own past, another brilliant interview with one of my heroes.

When I first heard of film school, I thought it was the stupidest fuckin idea I’d ever heard. We fell in love with movies by WATCHING them. The line that will be on my tombstone is “Nobody knows anything.” That caught on out there [in Los Angeles]. And it’s true. It’s not just that people don’t know what’s going to work commercially. The fact is, you don’t know what’s going to work in a movie. You don’t know. We don’t know. So we’re sitting here with Hearts of Atlantis and you have no idea what the reaction’s gonna be. You have no idea if people will enjoy it, and you have no idea if people will go to it. And that’s one of the great crapshoots of the movie busines. —William Goldman

Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

JAWS Scene in a Bottle

Tied to the movie’s 35th anniversary, Jaws: The Inside Story provides an exhaustive look at the summer blockbuster that turned Steven Spielberg into a brand name and rewrote the rules for summer movies. Drawn in part from an earlier doc, The Shark Is Still Working, as well as fresh interviews, it’s a fascinating account that could easily have had a few bites taken out of its two hours in the editing suite without losing much. Even so, fans will find much to feast upon, hearing from cast and crew in addition to inhaling rare clips from the difficult, five-month production.

Spielberg reveals the definitive word on the JAWS USS Indianapolis speech:

I owe three people a lot for this speech. You’ve heard all this, but you’ve probably never heard it from me. There’s a lot of apocryphal reporting about who did what on Jaws and I’ve heard it for the last three decades, but the fact is the speech was conceived by Howard Sackler, who was an uncredited writer, didn’t want a credit and didn’t arbitrate for one, but he’s the guy that broke the back of the script before we ever got to Martha’s Vineyard to shoot the movie. I hired later Carl Gottlieb to come onto the island, who was a friend of mine, to punch up the script, but Howard conceived of the Indianapolis speech. I had never heard of the Indianapolis before Howard, who wrote the script at the Bel Air Hotel and I was with him a couple times a week reading pages and discussing them. Howard one day said, “Quint needs some motivation to show all of us what made him the way he is and I think it’s this Indianapolis incident.”

I said, “Howard, what’s that?” And he explained the whole incident of the Indianapolis and the Atomic Bomb being delivered and on its way back it was sunk by a submarine and sharks surrounded the helpless sailors who had been cast adrift and it was just a horrendous piece of World War II history. Howard didn’t write a long speech, he probably wrote about three-quarters of a page. But then, when I showed the script to my friend John Milius, John said “Can I take a crack at this speech?” and John wrote a 10 page monologue, that was absolutely brilliant, but out-sized for the Jaws I was making! (laughs) But it was brilliant and then Robert Shaw took the speech and Robert did the cut down. Robert himself was a fine writer, who had written the play The Man in the Glass Booth. Robert took a crack at the speech and he brought it down to five pages. So, that was sort of the evolution just of that speech. —Steven Spielberg

Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb.

I just hope these people stay persistent because sometimes it’s six or eight scripts before they have that great script. All the people they admire went through these things and had adversity. Oliver Stone wrote 10 scripts before he wrote Platoon which got him all of his first jobs which got him Midnight Express and then he waited 10 years to get Platoon made… I attended all these (film industry) functions, the classes and the bookstores reading all the time. I have a 10,000-book library in my house from collecting books over the years. Young writers and beginning writers need to stay persistent and understand what the odds are against them succeeding.

Interview with screenwriter-director Shane Salerno

Salerno made the transition to features at 23 when Steven Spielberg hired him to adapt the World War II submarine thriller ‘Thunder Below’ based on the book by Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Eugene B. Fluckey. Salerno’s first feature film script was also one of the earliest projects put into development by the newly formed DreamWorks Pictures. In an April 29, 1999 article in Variety, Salerno stated that he went to “writing school” under Spielberg.

He got a jump start in the business when he made an award winning documentary in high school that landed him on Larry King Live. That opened the door for him at age 19 as an apprentice on the TV program NYPD Blue. Salerno likes to stress that he was raised by a single mother, didn’t come from money, and never went to college. —Scott W. Smith

At the age of twenty-four he co-wrote the worldwide blockbuster Armageddon, which became the highest-grossing film of 1998. He most recently co-wrote and executive produced Savages directed by Oliver Stone. He has also written and produced television including the Golden Globe nominated Hawaii Five-0 for CBS, (2010–present), co-created and executive produced UC: Undercover for NBC (2000-2002) and began as a writer for Fox’s New York Undercover (1995-1998). He is the producer and director of the forthcoming documentary Salinger about reclusive author J. D. Salinger which will be released theatrically by The Weinstein Company on September 6, 2013 and then premiere as the 200th episode of American Masters in January, 2014. His first book (with David Shields), The Private War of J. D. Salinger will be released by Simon & Schuster in September, 2013.

He writes select film and television projects with the hugely admired crime novelist Don Winslow including the forthcoming 2013 spy thriller Satori set to star Leonardo DiCaprio for Warner Brothers.

Winslow and Salerno have known each other for a long time — thirteen years to be exact. They have worked together, including creating the NBC TV series UC: Undercover, trust each other implicitly and often exchange early drafts of their work and talk on the phone every day, usually about film adaptations of Winslow’s work which Salerno produces. At our request, Salerno rang up his buddy Winslow who was in the middle of a cross-country book tour and interviewed the acclaimed crime writer about his life and work. —Don Winslow, Interviewed by Shane Salerno

image

You dedicated The Kings of Cool to Shane Salerno, your co-screenwriter on “Savages.” Why was that relationship so significant?
DW: I met Shane maybe thirteen years ago when we were working on a TV show called “UC: Undercover.” I was an admirer of his work and we became good buddies. I would tell him what was going on with my books vis a vis film and he would offer some pretty sage counsel. He has a company called Story Factory that is all about the nexus between film and book. So when I started to write Savages I sent the first fourteen pages to Shane in an e-mail saying, ‘Either I’m completely crazy or this is pretty good.’ And he wrote back in half an hour and said, ‘Drop everything else you’re doing and finish this while you’re in this headspace.’ We was enthralled with this from literally day one and we decided to work on the screenplay together. Shane had the idea of going outside the studio system to get the thing made with Oliver. So he’s been really essential and when I sat down to write The Kings of Cool, I thought I should dedicate it to him. —On ‘Savages,’ Oliver Stone, and Screenwriting: An Interview with Author Don Winslow

Detour Magazine voted him one of “Hollywood’s true shapers of popular culture” and Fade In Magazine, selected Salerno as one of the “100 people you need to know in Hollywood”. Future projects include a feature adaptation of The Power Of The Dog, the epic Don Winslow bestseller framed around the drug war and a 30-year struggle between a hard DEA agent and a family of cartel kingpins in Mexico, Doomsday Protocol, which Shane sold as a spec in Sept. 2008, Goodnight Dorothy Kilgallen, Untitled Shane Salerno/Kurtzman-Orci Project, Untitled James Cameron Project, and The Last Run. Suffice to say Shane is a busy young man — and he also has a most interesting backstory which you can read about here.

Salerno financed the film out of his pocket, interviewed 150 sources, and accumulated so much information that he collaborated on a 700-page companion book with bestselling author David Shields. The 150 sources interviewed in the film either worked with Salinger at The New Yorker or had contact with him otherwise, or were greatly influenced by him. The famous names include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, A. Scott Berg, Elizabeth Frank, Gore Vidal, and many other fans, journalists, filmmakers, playwrights, and artists inspired by Salinger’s work. Salerno went into the documentary expecting it to be a 6-month project. But it grew into a five-year obsession. During that time, the screenwriter made several 7-figure deals for such projects as the Fox sci-fi fantasy Doomsday Protocol, and the Paramount/Skydance action-comedy License to Steal. So Salerno plowed several million dollars of that money into the documentary, working nights and weekends, and hiring the likes of Buddy Squires, the cinematographer for every Ken Burns documentary.

“He somehow understood in 1951 the corrosive effect that fame and money could have on his writing. He was singular, and in this Internet age where people pursue their 15 minutes of fame, nobody did what Salinger did: living in the woods in New Hampshire, writing to please only himself. The biggest challenge was, how far do you pull back the curtain on a mythic figure while preserving his legacy? We answered some questions, but other Salinger mysteries will remain unsolved.” The obvious question is: did Salerno get Salinger on camera? He would not tell me. But I’ve learned there’s a 5-minute section of the film that was held out of early screenings for security reasons. —Secret J.D. Salinger Documentary & Book, Now Revealed

The Weinstein Company (TWC) has set a September 6 theatrical release for the film. This was one of the most unusual deals in awhile, and came after Harvey Weinstein, David Glasser and the acquisition team were shown the film on the morning of the Academy Awards. TWC was the only distributor that saw the finished film, and closed the deal right after. Salerno and his lawyer Robert Offer made three big deals for the movie, showing it only to parties that made deals, which allowed the filmmaker to avoid any leakage of revelations in the film that might have resulted with a screening for multiple buyers.

It was first shown to American Masters, which quickly closed a 7-figure licensing deal to make it the 200th installment of that prestigious series early next year. It was then shown to Jon Karp and his editors from Simon & Schuster, and right after they saw it, they closed a 7-figure publishing deal for a biography that Salerno wrote with David Shields. So the movie has played three times, and resulted in deals north of $5 million, making it one of the richest pacts ever for a feature documentary. It took Salerno eight years and $2 million of his own money to make the movie and the book happen.

Commenting on the deal, Salerno said: “I have the greatest respect for The Weinstein Company and the remarkable quality and consistency of the films they produce. I am honored to be working with them on what is for me an eight year labor of love.” “Shane Salerno has created a haunting piece of documentary filmmaking in SALINGER,” said TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein. “We are in awe of the painstaking detail used in depicting a man who created truly timeless works of literature, but otherwise remained an enigma for so many years.” —Mike Fleming Jr

A truly amazing story on so many levels. As Rod Tidwell said in Jerry Maguire, ‘Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community… and the dollars too. The whole package. The kwan.’ Shane Salerno and Don Winslow are huge fans of Cinephilia and Beyond. I’m honored and humbled by their support, and even endless thanks cannot express my gratitude. I would greatly appreciate if you would all immediately follow them on Twitter: @SecretSalinger @donwinslow

“Not to be preachy about it, but discipline is everything for a working writer, at least for this one. I can’t just wander around fields of flowers or sit brooding in coffee houses waiting for the muse to land on my shoulder and whisper in my ear. That would nice, but it ain’t gonna happen. I treat writing like a factory job — the whistle blows and I’m at work. This thing always comes down to someone sitting down with some kind of writing instrument and getting it done.” —Don Winslow

Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

1957 letter from J.D. Salinger explains why CATCHER IN THE RYE wouldn’t work as a movie

(via cinephilearchive)

cinephilearchive:

The haunting trumpet wailing plaintively over the closing credits. The bandage covering star Jack Nicholson’s nose. The best last line of a movie, ever: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown”; all elements of a film now regarded by scholars, critics and cinefiles alike as one of the greatest pieces of American celluloid ever made. Chinatown was a collaboration between a who’s-who of ‘70s film icons. Directed by Roman Polanski, produced by Robert Evans, written by Robert Towne, starring Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, shot by John A. Alonzo, and scored by Jerry Goldsmith, Chinatown was nominated for 11 Academy Awards in 1974, but brought home only one: for its writer. Robert Towne was barely 40, and Chinatown his first produced original screenplay, his previous efforts having been literary adaptations, such as 1973’s The Last Detail.

Now regarded as the “perfect” script in terms of its structure, characters, and dialogue, Robert Towne became the screenwriter of his generation with Chinatown, going on to write classics such as Shampoo, “script doctoring” some of Hollywood’s most high-profile films, and moving into the writing/directing arena with Personal Best, in 1982. —Alex Simon

The Screenplays of Robert Towne 1960—2000.

SCRIPT magazine’s Marvin Acuna gets close up with the legendary Robert Towne, recipient of the 2010 Final Draft, Inc. HALL OF FAME Award.

Robert Towne talks about the changing role of the screenwriter.

Let’s start at the beginning. How was Chinatown born?
Robert Towne: There are so many moments that contributed to the ultimate birth, if you want to call it that, of Chinatown, but it had its origins in the fact that the script of The Last Detail was having trouble getting made because of the (profanity) in it. There was kind of a counter-reformation going on in Hollywood at that time. Richard Hefner was head of the ratings board, and I guess they had the feeling movies had gone too far, too fast with this newfound freedom we suddenly had. There was a hilarious moment with (Columbia Pictures Chairman) David Begelman where he asked “Bob, would 20 ‘motherfuckers’ be more dramatic than 40 ‘motherfuckers’?” To which I responded “Yes David, but the swearing is not used for dramatic emphasis. It’s used to underline the impotence of these men who will do nothing but swear even though they know they’re doing something unjust by taking this poor, neurotic little kid to jail for eight years for stealing 40 bucks.” So I felt sort of hamstrung. Then I saw a copy of Old West Magazine that was part of the L.A. Times, this was about 1969. In it, was an article called “Raymond Chandler’s L.A.” I don’t remember the copy that well, but the part that got me were about half a dozen photographs taken in 1969 meant to represent L.A. in the ‘30s. There was a shot of a Plymouth convertible under one of those old streetlamps outside of Bullock’s Wilshire.

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There was a shot of a beautiful Packard outside of a home in Pasadena. There was another shot of the old railway station downtown. I looked at them, and realized ‘My God, with a selective eye, you could recreate the L.A. of the ‘30s.’ Then owing to a number of other experiences—walking on the Palisades and things like that which brought back a lot via sense memory, I began to realize and reflect upon how much I felt had been lost about the city in the intervening 30-35 years. ’37 was just beyond my recall, but the ‘40s weren’t, and pre-1945 they were basically the same thing. So I thought about that, and then, since we were stuck in limbo on The Last Detail, I went to Jack (Nicholson) and said ‘What if I wrote a detective story set in L.A. of the ‘30s?’ He said “Great.” The one feeling I had was a desire to try and recreate the city. But that was just the beginning. Then owing to a building project near where I lived, I got a chance to see the corruption of city hall first-hand, which is where that element of the plot got into Chinatown. I then had to go to Oregon where Jack was filming Drive, He Said. I hadn’t really read Raymond Chandler at that point, so I started reading Chandler. While I was there at University of Oregon, I checked out a book from the library called “Southern California Country: Island on the Land.” In it was a chapter called “Water, water, water,” which was a revelation to me. And I thought ‘Why not do a picture about a crime that’s right out in front of everybody. Instead of a jewel-encrusted falcon, make it something as prevalent as water faucets, and make a conspiracy out of that. And after reading about what they were doing, dumping water and starving the farmers out of their land, I realized the visual and dramatic possibilities were enormous. So that was really the beginning of it.

FORGET IT BOB, IT’S CHINATOWN
Robert Towne looks back on Chinatown’s 35th anniversary
By Alex Simon

Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

I just hope these people stay persistent because sometimes it’s six or eight scripts before they have that great script. All the people they admire went through these things and had adversity. Oliver Stone wrote 10 scripts before he wrote Platoon which got him all of his first jobs which got him Midnight Express and then he waited 10 years to get Platoon made… I attended all these (film industry) functions, the classes and the bookstores reading all the time. I have a 10,000-book library in my house from collecting books over the years. Young writers and beginning writers need to stay persistent and understand what the odds are against them succeeding.

Interview with screenwriter-director Shane Salerno

Salerno made the transition to features at 23 when Steven Spielberg hired him to adapt the World War II submarine thriller ‘Thunder Below’ based on the book by Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Eugene B. Fluckey. Salerno’s first feature film script was also one of the earliest projects put into development by the newly formed DreamWorks Pictures. In an April 29, 1999 article in Variety, Salerno stated that he went to “writing school” under Spielberg.

He got a jump start in the business when he made an award winning documentary in high school that landed him on Larry King Live. That opened the door for him at age 19 as an apprentice on the TV program NYPD Blue. Salerno likes to stress that he was raised by a single mother, didn’t come from money, and never went to college. —Scott W. Smith

At the age of twenty-four he co-wrote the worldwide blockbuster Armageddon, which became the highest-grossing film of 1998. He most recently co-wrote and executive produced Savages directed by Oliver Stone. He has also written and produced television including the Golden Globe nominated Hawaii Five-0 for CBS, (2010–present), co-created and executive produced UC: Undercover for NBC (2000-2002) and began as a writer for Fox’s New York Undercover (1995-1998).

He writes select film and television projects with the hugely admired crime novelist Don Winslow including the forthcoming 2013 spy thriller Satori set to star Leonardo DiCaprio for Warner Brothers.

Winslow and Salerno have known each other for a long time — thirteen years to be exact. They have worked together, including creating the NBC TV series UC: Undercover, trust each other implicitly and often exchange early drafts of their work and talk on the phone every day, usually about film adaptations of Winslow’s work which Salerno produces. At our request, Salerno rang up his buddy Winslow who was in the middle of a cross-country book tour and interviewed the acclaimed crime writer about his life and work. —Don Winslow, Interviewed by Shane Salerno

You dedicated The Kings of Cool to Shane Salerno, your co-screenwriter on “Savages.” Why was that relationship so significant?
DW: I met Shane maybe thirteen years ago when we were working on a TV show called “UC: Undercover.” I was an admirer of his work and we became good buddies. I would tell him what was going on with my books vis a vis film and he would offer some pretty sage counsel. He has a company called Story Factory that is all about the nexus between film and book. So when I started to write Savages I sent the first fourteen pages to Shane in an e-mail saying, ‘Either I’m completely crazy or this is pretty good.’ And he wrote back in half an hour and said, ‘Drop everything else you’re doing and finish this while you’re in this headspace.’ We was enthralled with this from literally day one and we decided to work on the screenplay together. Shane had the idea of going outside the studio system to get the thing made with Oliver. So he’s been really essential and when I sat down to write The Kings of Cool, I thought I should dedicate it to him. —On ‘Savages,’ Oliver Stone, and Screenwriting: An Interview with Author Don Winslow

Detour Magazine voted him one of “Hollywood’s true shapers of popular culture” and Fade In Magazine, selected Salerno as one of the “100 people you need to know in Hollywood”. Future projects include a feature adaptation of The Power Of The Dog, the epic Don Winslow bestseller framed around the drug war and a 30-year struggle between a hard DEA agent and a family of cartel kingpins in Mexico, Doomsday Protocol, which Shane sold as a spec in Sept. 2008, Goodnight Dorothy Kilgallen, Untitled Shane Salerno/Kurtzman-Orci Project, Untitled James Cameron Project, and The Last Run. Suffice to say Shane is a busy young man — and he also has a most interesting backstory which you can read about here.

He is the producer and director of the forthcoming documentary Salinger about reclusive author J. D. Salinger which will be released theatrically by The Weinstein Company on September 6, 2013 and then premiere as the 200th episode of American Masters in January, 2014. His first book (with David Shields), The Private War of J. D. Salinger will be released by Simon & Schuster in September, 2013.

Salerno financed the film out of his pocket, interviewed 150 sources, and accumulated so much information that he collaborated on a 700-page companion book with bestselling author David Shields. The 150 sources interviewed in the film either worked with Salinger at The New Yorker or had contact with him otherwise, or were greatly influenced by him. The famous names include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, A. Scott Berg, Elizabeth Frank, Gore Vidal, and many other fans, journalists, filmmakers, playwrights, and artists inspired by Salinger’s work. Salerno went into the documentary expecting it to be a 6-month project. But it grew into a five-year obsession. During that time, the screenwriter made several 7-figure deals for such projects as the Fox sci-fi fantasy Doomsday Protocol, and the Paramount/Skydance action-comedy License to Steal. So Salerno plowed several million dollars of that money into the documentary, working nights and weekends, and hiring the likes of Buddy Squires, the cinematographer for every Ken Burns documentary.

“He somehow understood in 1951 the corrosive effect that fame and money could have on his writing. He was singular, and in this Internet age where people pursue their 15 minutes of fame, nobody did what Salinger did: living in the woods in New Hampshire, writing to please only himself. The biggest challenge was, how far do you pull back the curtain on a mythic figure while preserving his legacy? We answered some questions, but other Salinger mysteries will remain unsolved.” The obvious question is: did Salerno get Salinger on camera? He would not tell me. But I’ve learned there’s a 5-minute section of the film that was held out of early screenings for security reasons. —Secret J.D. Salinger Documentary & Book, Now Revealed

The Weinstein Company (TWC) has set a September 6 theatrical release for the film. This was one of the most unusual deals in awhile, and came after Harvey Weinstein, David Glasser and the acquisition team were shown the film on the morning of the Academy Awards. TWC was the only distributor that saw the finished film, and closed the deal right after. Salerno and his lawyer Robert Offer made three big deals for the movie, showing it only to parties that made deals, which allowed the filmmaker to avoid any leakage of revelations in the film that might have resulted with a screening for multiple buyers.

It was first shown to American Masters, which quickly closed a 7-figure licensing deal to make it the 200th installment of that prestigious series early next year. It was then shown to Jon Karp and his editors from Simon & Schuster, and right after they saw it, they closed a 7-figure publishing deal for a biography that Salerno wrote with David Shields. So the movie has played three times, and resulted in deals north of $5 million, making it one of the richest pacts ever for a feature documentary. It took Salerno eight years and $2 million of his own money to make the movie and the book happen.

Commenting on the deal, Salerno said: “I have the greatest respect for The Weinstein Company and the remarkable quality and consistency of the films they produce. I am honored to be working with them on what is for me an eight year labor of love.” “Shane Salerno has created a haunting piece of documentary filmmaking in SALINGER,” said TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein. “We are in awe of the painstaking detail used in depicting a man who created truly timeless works of literature, but otherwise remained an enigma for so many years.” —Mike Fleming Jr

A truly amazing story on so many levels. As Rod Tidwell said in Jerry Maguire, ‘Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community… and the dollars too. The whole package. The kwan.’ Shane Salerno and Don Winslow are huge fans of Cinephilia and Beyond. I’m honored and humbled by their support, and even endless thanks cannot express my gratitude. I would greatly appreciate if you would all immediately follow them on Twitter: @SecretSalinger @donwinslow

“Not to be preachy about it, but discipline is everything for a working writer, at least for this one. I can’t just wander around fields of flowers or sit brooding in coffee houses waiting for the muse to land on my shoulder and whisper in my ear. That would nice, but it ain’t gonna happen. I treat writing like a factory job — the whistle blows and I’m at work. This thing always comes down to someone sitting down with some kind of writing instrument and getting it done.” —Don Winslow

Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

1957 letter from J.D. Salinger explains why CATCHER IN THE RYE wouldn’t work as a movie.

Source: gointothestory.blcklst.com

I would have said to Billy Wilder – and I thank God I knew him and I loved him – about The Apartment: ‘I’ll tell you what, there’s no way a guy in an ad agency who rents his apartment out to his boss to take hookers and other people is ever going to be a sympathetic character,’ but you love Jack Lemmon because Billy knew how to write it. But as a then-studio head, I would say to him, ‘There’s no way this is going to work. And the elevator operator winds up in his bed and tries to commit suicide and you think people are going to enjoy this movie? Make me laugh.’ But what a wonderful film – because it came out of him. And it’s not Billy Wilder the director, it’s Billy Wilder the writer that said, ‘No, no, no, this is going to work. People are going to want to see this, they’re going to get involved in this, they’re going to get involved in the characters.’

Writer/director Tom Mankiewicz (Ladyhawke)
Script magazine interview with Ray Morton

Here’s the trailer for The Apartment (which by the way, won the Best Picture Oscar in 1961):

For me, this is just one of the most touching and beautifully structured scripts ever written. It’s about the loneliness of the big city, the misogyny, putting career before love and a clock puncher finally becoming a ‘mensch’. It’s also a masterclass in dramatic irony and has the second best final line in film history (the number one being ‘Some Like it Hot’). While I pray it never gets re-made, it could be as its themes are as fresh now as they were then. ‘Genius’ is an overused term but on this film Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond had it in spades. —Angela Guess

Source: screenwritingfromiowa.wordpress.com

This is brilliant. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s (edited by Pat McGilligan) features interviews with the screenwriters behind such films as: The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Singin’ in the Rain, Adam’s Rib, Rope, West Side Story, The Asphalt Jungle, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Wolf Man, Rebel Without a Cause, From Here to Eternity, Johnny Guitar, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Leigh Brackett, Richard Brooks, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Garson Kanin, Dorothy Kingsley, Arthur Laurents, Ben Maddow, Daniel Mainwaring, Walter Reisch, Curt Siodmak, Stewart Stern, Daniel Taradash, and Philip Yordan). Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1960s (also edited by Pat McGilligan) features interviews with the screenwriters behind such films as: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, In the Heat of the Night, Norma Rae, Anatomy of a Murder, Twilight Zone: The Movie, MASH, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Wild Bunch (Jay Presson Allen, George Axelrod, Walter Bernstein, Horton Foote, Walon Green, Charles B. Griffith, John Michael Hayes, Ring Lardner Jr., Richard Matheson, Wendell Mayes, Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., Arnold Schulman, Stirling Silliphant, and Terry Southern).
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This is brilliant.

Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s (edited by Pat McGilligan) features interviews with the screenwriters behind such films as: The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Singin’ in the Rain, Adam’s Rib, Rope, West Side Story, The Asphalt Jungle, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Wolf Man, Rebel Without a Cause, From Here to Eternity, Johnny Guitar, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Leigh Brackett, Richard Brooks, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Garson Kanin, Dorothy Kingsley, Arthur Laurents, Ben Maddow, Daniel Mainwaring, Walter Reisch, Curt Siodmak, Stewart Stern, Daniel Taradash, and Philip Yordan).

Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1960s (also edited by Pat McGilligan) features interviews with the screenwriters behind such films as: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, In the Heat of the Night, Norma Rae, Anatomy of a Murder, Twilight Zone: The Movie, MASH, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Wild Bunch (Jay Presson Allen, George Axelrod, Walter Bernstein, Horton Foote, Walon Green, Charles B. Griffith, John Michael Hayes, Ring Lardner Jr., Richard Matheson, Wendell Mayes, Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., Arnold Schulman, Stirling Silliphant, and Terry Southern).

A free, multiplatform, feature-rich screenwriting program! Trelby is simple, fast and elegantly laid out to make screenwriting simple. It is infinitely configurable. Trelby is free software, that you can contribute to. Previously on Cinephilia & Beyond: Zero budget software suite for filmmakers
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A free, multiplatform, feature-rich screenwriting program! Trelby is simple, fast and elegantly laid out to make screenwriting simple. It is infinitely configurable. Trelby is free software, that you can contribute to.

Previously on Cinephilia & Beyond:

Zero budget software suite for filmmakers

Source: trelby.org

Inspirational Sly Stallone story. An excerpt from William Goldman’s book “Adventures in the Screen Trade”: I’ll tell you who wrote a marvelous script once, Sylvester Stallone. Rocky’s a marvelous script. God, read it, it’s wonderful. It’s just got marvelous stuff. In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone has written a stunning moment which I’ll try and describe. Rocky, a second-rate club fighter, goes to his gym for the first time in the movie, and walks to the room where the lockers are. His particular lock is a combination type, so Rocky turns the dial one way, makes the second move, the third, then pulls the lock open. Only it’s still locked. He makes a face, spins the dial again, again goes through the combination. But it still won’t open. Now he does this great thing: he takes off his hat and pulls out a piece of paper that’s got the proper combination on it. All right: what do we know about Rocky so far in this sequence? Well, he’s not the brightest and he’s not much at remembering numbers. But he’s not surly about it. He’s more sweet and resigned than mad; he just shrugs, gets the right combination from his hat, dials the right numbers. Only it still won’t open. And now he whirls, grabs the fire extinguisher off the near wall, and smashes the locker until it opens. So what do we know now? Just this: beneath that sweetness, there is a wild anger, and they both exist inside that same skin, and it’s that mixture of sweetness and fury that makes it possible for him to survive with the champion and for us to care so about it. The lock smashed, he yanks the door open and now we find out something more – the photos taped to the inside of the door are of black girls. Which means either that he likes black girls, which we didn’t know, or that he’s smashed into the wrong locker. Then the attendant from the doorway tells the truth: Rocky’s stuff has been moved out, a black fighter has been given his place. In other words, Rocky’s so washed up he’s not even worth second-rate locker space in a second-rate gym. It’s a marvelously economic piece of writing Stallone has done – it set, at least for me, the character of Rocky for the rest of the film. It’s the moment when I really began to care for him. And it has, until the very end, no dialogue. Plus being totally excisable in terms of plot. All that needed to happen was that the attendant say to Rocky as he entered the gym, “Oh, we moved your stuff out of your locker.” But then we wouldn’t see Rocky’s private moments, wouldn’t root for him the way we ultimately do. I don’t know the proper definition of a screenplay, but it might be anything you can come up with to involve an audience in any way you can. —William Goldman on “Rocky”  When I first heard of film school, I thought it was the stupidest fuckin idea I’d ever heard. We fell in love with movies by WATCHING them. —William Goldman  
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Inspirational Sly Stallone story.

An excerpt from William Goldman’s book “Adventures in the Screen Trade”:

I’ll tell you who wrote a marvelous script once, Sylvester Stallone. Rocky’s a marvelous script. God, read it, it’s wonderful. It’s just got marvelous stuff. In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone has written a stunning moment which I’ll try and describe. Rocky, a second-rate club fighter, goes to his gym for the first time in the movie, and walks to the room where the lockers are. His particular lock is a combination type, so Rocky turns the dial one way, makes the second move, the third, then pulls the lock open. Only it’s still locked. He makes a face, spins the dial again, again goes through the combination. But it still won’t open. Now he does this great thing: he takes off his hat and pulls out a piece of paper that’s got the proper combination on it. 

All right: what do we know about Rocky so far in this sequence? Well, he’s not the brightest and he’s not much at remembering numbers. But he’s not surly about it. He’s more sweet and resigned than mad; he just shrugs, gets the right combination from his hat, dials the right numbers. Only it still won’t open. And now he whirls, grabs the fire extinguisher off the near wall, and smashes the locker until it opens. So what do we know now? Just this: beneath that sweetness, there is a wild anger, and they both exist inside that same skin, and it’s that mixture of sweetness and fury that makes it possible for him to survive with the champion and for us to care so about it. The lock smashed, he yanks the door open and now we find out something more – the photos taped to the inside of the door are of black girls. Which means either that he likes black girls, which we didn’t know, or that he’s smashed into the wrong locker. 

Then the attendant from the doorway tells the truth: Rocky’s stuff has been moved out, a black fighter has been given his place. In other words, Rocky’s so washed up he’s not even worth second-rate locker space in a second-rate gym. It’s a marvelously economic piece of writing Stallone has done – it set, at least for me, the character of Rocky for the rest of the film. It’s the moment when I really began to care for him. And it has, until the very end, no dialogue. Plus being totally excisable in terms of plot. All that needed to happen was that the attendant say to Rocky as he entered the gym, “Oh, we moved your stuff out of your locker.” But then we wouldn’t see Rocky’s private moments, wouldn’t root for him the way we ultimately do. I don’t know the proper definition of a screenplay, but it might be anything you can come up with to involve an audience in any way you can. —William Goldman on “Rocky” 

When I first heard of film school, I thought it was the stupidest fuckin idea I’d ever heard. We fell in love with movies by WATCHING them. —William Goldman

 

Source: gointothestory.blcklst.com