“I start by spending as much time as possible with the people involved. And I try to be as quiet as possible, and listen and observe.”
Susannah Grant (on her writing research of real life people)
Screenwriter Susannah Grant graduated from Amhert College and the American Film Institute, and in 1992 won the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. She then spent several years working on the TV show Party of Five and writing scripts (28 Days, Ever After, and Pochantas) which all paved the way for her biggest success to date, writing the script for Erin Brockovich. In the introduction to The Shooting Script book of the script Grant explains:
I set out trying to turn a huge, complicated five-year chunk of (Erin Brockovich’s) life and work into a 120 page cohesive screenplay. The question I’m asked most about this movie is how much of it is true. And my answer is, it’s almost entirely true, but it’s not the whole truth. Any life is complex, and Erin’s, especially in the years of the PG&E trial, was a labyrinth. Writing the script was a matter of figuring out which parts of that labyrinth were essential to the story I was telling; which were germane; which were expendable; and which were inessential. but so damn funny, you couldn’t possibly leave them out.
I holed up in my office and, several months later, emerged with a finished first draft. And let me tell you—handing over a first draft over to anyone is a nerve-wracking experience, but I promise you, nothing compares to the anxiety that comes with giving it to the person on whom it is based.
The real life Erin Brockovich liked the script. Stephen Soderbergh liked the script. Julia Roberts liked the script. Audiences liked the movie. And the Academy liked Julie Roberts enough as Erin Brockovich to give her an Oscar as Best Actress in a Leading Role. Grant also received and Oscar nomination for her script.
In a Storylink interview with Debra Eckerling, Grant further explains her writing process:
I always have a road map. It is an outline that gets revised as I move along. I start with, “How does this movie start? What’s the first scene? What’s the scene after that?” And I bite off a little piece at a time. It’s like climbing a mountain. You can’t look at the mountain top, you just have to look at the ridge you’re on.
I start with a full outline. Not every beat will be hammered down and I rarely stick to the original file. I always over-outline. … As I write, I amend and revise and condense. I wouldn’t call it an outline, I’d call it a road map that I detour from.
PS. In total, Erin Brockovich received five Academy Award nominations including Albert Finney in his supporting role as Brockovich’s boss, Ed Masry. Finney, by the way, happens to turn 74 today. Finney came from theater where he was known for his work on Shakespeare plays. If you’ve never seen his roles in Murder on the Orient Express, Under the Volcano, or Shoot the Moon, put them on your Netflix list. Happy Birthday Mr. Finney.
Reality check: If you keep track of such things, Grant’s education at Amhert College and the American Film Institute would easily cost $200,000 in today’s dollars, and take a six year commitment.
[...] “I start by spending as much time as possible with the people involved. And I try to be as quiet as possible, and listen and observe.” Erin Brockovich (on her writing research of real life people) Susannah Grant graduated from Amherts College and went to the American Film Institute and in 1992 won the Nicholl [...] Original Source… [...]
I really like your posts and writing and your insights to screenwriters…
Just watched the DVD “tales from the Script”.. My question, a lot of screenwriters seem to have one or two “hits” and seem to live fairly well…
How much would Ms. Grant make from the movie??..does the writer typically get residuals..??
could she be making five figures per year from past scripts for a long time..??
Just trying to understand the dollar dynamics a little better..Thanks for your consideration.
Joe
Thanks, Joe. I’ll see what I can find. In the meantime, check out this post: How Much Do Screenwriters Make?
http://wp.me/paP6U-1Ll
Joe , the current record for an original screenplay is M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” for $5 million. I’m sure somewhere today a indie script was purchased for $5,000. And most scripts fall in between there.
The WGA minimum is around $50,000. for a feature script. But it’s not unheard of for new writers to make $200,00-600,000. if their film gets made. (Perhaps a 100,000-200,000 option if the film doesn’t get made.)
I don’t know what Grant made on “Erin Brockovich” but a good rule of thumb is the script will cost 2-5% of the budget of the script. “Erin Brockovich” came in around $50 million so she could have been paid around $2 million.
Since the film made well over $200 million at the box office she could have gotten some back end money, but those are tricky waters and it’s not uncommon for writers to not see any money from those profits. (Often because there aren’t any, and even if there are accountants hide it.)
One reason why a lot of solid writers don’t have a ton of credits, but still make a good living, is they are paid well for doing script rewriting. Anywhere from $100,000 and up to fix or add a little punch to a script. Sometimes for just a week of work.
A good gig if you can get it. I read one studio executive say that most films are written by a talent pool of less than 100 screenwriters. That’s a pretty exclusive group.
Hope that sheds some light on the issue. If any one else what’s to fill in some gaps—jump in.
That last response needs to be a blog post by itself. Seriously.
Maybe it’s like most things, you write the play, book, movie and not that project, but all the related publicity and opportunities are income streams.
Thanks very much, I’m glad I asked the question, very informative.
Thanks John & Joe. Think I will re-work that and make a post of it.
Certainly for the real Erin Brockovich the movie brought her a lot of exposure. This link– http://www.nopactalent.com/fees/2/0–says her speaking fee is $20,000-30,000. (Again a good gig if you can get it.)
Also, an example of how crazy the business is; screenwriter Callie Khouri won an Oscar for her first screenplay, “Thelma and Louise.” That movie was released in 1991 and IMDB has her down for writing two more screenplays since then. That’s a total of three produced screenplays in 19 years.
Word is she does very well rewriting for studios, so “Thelma and Louise” opened the door for other opportunities. Though I’m sure she’d like to get back on the mountain top again she has been quoted as saying, “The way the world is right now, it’s very difficult to be a screenwriter in Hollywood and feel like the opportunity to work in the business and do anything important—that those two things will ever intersect, it’s almost impossible.”