Back in 2004 I gave my first all day screenwriting seminar for a group called Word Weavers in the Orlando area and the concept for Screenwriting from Iowa came a couple years later when I spoke at The Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls, Iowa, but it wasn’t until late 2007 when the idea for this blog started to gain momentum.
I was looking for a way to bring all my production notes together under one roof and began to write a book. These are notes I began gathering while in film school and have built upon for the past 20 plus years as an award-winning video/tv producer (River Run Productions) and digital filmmaker. (Three of my short films for the 48 Hour Film Projects in Des Moines have won “Best Cinematography” awards to go along with Aurora, Telly, Communicator, Addy and Emmy Awards.
Before moving to Iowa in 2003 I lived in Miami, Los Angeles and Orlando and along the way have produced & shot national TV programs, shot hundreds of interviews including a couple Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation, and have produced, directed, written and/or shot documentaries, teaching videos, youth videos, corporate videos, infomercials and web videos. In 1994 I launched and produced the national radio program Renewing Your Mind with R.C. Sproul.
I’ve also written seven unproduced featured screenplays. (Success is a poor teacher they say. And I keep reminding myself that Oliver Stone said he wrote 10 or 12 scripts before one was produced.) But many of my notes are gathered from top screenwriters and directors in the field with the hope that they will give a sense of direction to those wanting to write scripts and make movies.
Toward the end of ‘07 I began talking to a book publisher in a deal that ultimately fell through but like a good protagonist I forged on. This blog was born in January 2008 after seeing Diablo Cody’s Juno. The fact that she went to college in Iowa, wrote a distinctly Midwestern screenplay while in Minneapolis, and was discovered while blogging seemed like enough synergy and inspiration for me to jump into the blogging world. Toward the end of 2008 Screenwriting from Iowa won a Regional Emmy in Advanced Media from The Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. (In 2009 I won another Emmy for location lighting.)
Various productions over the years have taken me to all 50 States and many countries and I believe there are many great stories waiting to be told outside of L.A. And while you may dream of seeing your work on the big screen, keep in mind that the Internet is bringing many opportunities for the little screen. I hope this blog (and eventually book) helps you tell those stories and encourages you, especially if you feel like you live in the middle-of-nowhere. (And for the record that includes West Des Moines, West Africa, or even just a few miles west of the Hollywood sign in West Covina.)
I welcome your input and suggestions. You can reach me at info@scottwsmith.com .
Waterloo Courier article on Screenwriting from Iowa
Thanks Scott.
I’m writing a script at the moment and I’m just finishing Act 1. Loved reading your blog and will be back time-and-time-again to read your notes. I’d love for you to stop by my blog whenever you get the time: http://chencenter.wordpress.com
But back to scripting… can’t wait to read more. I’ve got a possible blog post for you though. How does the whole Hollywood Writer’s Strike affecting us as writers… really? Does it mean that studios aren’t buying, or that writers aren’t selling? at the same time… movies and shows are being made. what’s the deal?
best regards.
Michael Joyce
Hello Michael,
There are a few writers in LA who I am talking with to get their perspective on life after the strike and will post them in the coming weeks.
But the main thing for writers (both union and non-union) is always be writing.
Check out the post called “Screenwriter’s Head Back-to-Work” where I address this in more detail.
Scott
Just discovered your blog, but it is inspiring. You give us Iowans, who dream of working in some capacity of the film industry, hope! With all the recent film productions in Iowa, I’ve always dreamed that maybe Iowa could be the next Australia … “in where Hollywood plants its’ stakes for new studios and movie development.”
Fox built a state of the art facility in Australia, and I’m sure one could be built for less money here!
I enjoy your posts. Keep up the good work. I am glad there are other screenwriters in Iowa trying to make it a go!
I am in WDSM and of the Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance in DSM.
We’re trying to do great things ourselves.
Have a great weekend!
Scott,
Great seeing you at Jon’s birthday bash tonight.
Let me know if you want to run by the P2 workflow again.
I live way outside of L.A. in Alberta (ever heard of it? Yes, that’s Canada) I’m very impressed by your blog. Presently I’m learning screenwriting, and am half way through my first script. I’m very curious to know though what’s ‘Renewing Your Mind With R.C. Sproul’. Glad I’ve stumbled upon your wonderful site! Will definitely return to learn more from you.
“Renewing Your Mind With R.C. Sproul” is a radio program that is an extension of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando, Florida. Sproul is a theologian who has written more than 60 books and focuses on philosophy, history and Christian thought.
I produced and edited the show for seven years and am sure learning about Augustine, Kierkegaard, Calvin, Luther, Aquanis, Nietzche, Sartre has greatly shaped my thinking as much as my film school and production background.
And interesting sidenote is Sproul is probably the only contemporary theologian ever quoted in a vampire film. In the Abel Ferrara directed film “The Addiction” written by Nicholas St. John, the Annabella Sciorra character says, “Now, R.C. Sproul said we’re not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.” (The film also stars Christopher Walken and Lili Taylor.)
Who knows, maybe the screenwriter or director heard that line one day on a radio program I produced. Circle of life stuff.
Nice site Scott. In addition to the Philosophers you mentioned, did you learn anything about Jesus from spending time with Dr. Sproul? And, if so, how is that working for you in shaping your thinking about contemporary film?
Francis, I’d have to start another blog to answer those questions. Let me just answer the first question by simply saying yes. Though I should add that my life has been lived somewhere between the teaching of Jesus Christ and the music of Jimmy Buffett. (I’m a work in progress like everyone else on a faith journey.)
Though I haven’t heard Dr. Sproul’s teachings for almost a decade one thing he said that has always stuck with me is that the characters in the Bible are presented “warts and all.” That’s a great insight. (A good starting point for writers as well.)
The Bible is full of wicked, mean sinful people doing heinous acts. (Has much changed in the last few centuries?) And it’s not just the bad guys. It’s the key leaders of Judeo-Christian teaching like Abraham and Peter.
And it doesn’t take much to realize that Christian leaders today have warts.
Author/ preacher Steve Brown is fond of saying that, “The church is the only place where they give you a microphone, a spotlight, put you in front of hundreds or thousands of people and tells you to be humble.”
But the truth is we all have warts and I think movies show that side of human nature very well. From Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver,” Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs,” Norman Bates in “Psycho,” to the Glenn Close character in “Fatal Attraction,” audiences are fascinated by watching the depravity of men and women.
And the flip side of movies is they often have a glimmer of hope. At least a step is made in bringing a sense of balance to this crazy world. Sometimes we learn from others mistakes, and sometimes we find courage in a hero’s actions to do the right thing in our lives. That’s the power & mystery of movies.
In the theater we come together as a community of people from all walks of life (and faiths and even no faith) and we watch the magic of a story unfold. Stories that on one level entertain us, but on another level sometimes help give us a sense of direction.
In feature films we regularly find touches of grace. Redemption with a small “r” and salvation with a small “s.” To paraphrase Ibsen, I think it’s enough for screenwriters and filmmakers to ask the questions. Too often when the answers are given they are preachy, pompous, silly and/or sugar coated.
That doesn’t mean as writers that you won’t have a controlling idea, it just means you won’t be hitting the audience over the head with a message.
Take a storytelling tip from Jesus. When he said to love your neighbor he was asked, “Who is my neighbor?.” He could have given a straight clear answer, but instead he told the story of “a man who went down to Jericho.”