“I devoted myself to writing for years without representation or a promise of anything. And there were times when I felt quite down about my prospects.”
Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher
Geoffrey Fletcher walked away with an Oscar for his first produced feature screenplay, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. That part is true.
But what is also true is that he’s been at it for 25 years. The 39 year-old writer first began making films when he was 14. He later graduated from Harvard and earned a master’s degree from NYU. He was able to learn first hand from other NYU grads Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, he made short films (and even had one shown at Sundance in ’96), he worked temp jobs to pay the bills, and eventually became an adjunct film professor at Columbia and NYU. And by his account the script count of unproduced pages he has written runs into the thousands. Thousands.
“I often felt like Precious — out of the picture and invisible. I was within reach of my dream of filmmaking but also a million miles away. I kept trying. But it’s tough to get people to listen to what I had to say. It’s the nature of the industry — there are so many people trying to get in. All the doors in the industry seemed to close, and I couldn’t seem to do anything right….While working on this project, I felt resurrected and reinvigorated. I poured every ounce of myself into the script. Looking back, it seemed to require every bit of it.”
Geoffrey Fletcher
Combined quote from LA Times article by John Horn and Take Part article by Wendy Cohen
Perhaps the one thing I’ve leaned most about doing this blog for more than two years is Fletcher has followed the time-honored path of every successful screenwriter I have read about– and that is he wrote, and wrote, and wrote. So when you hear “First time screenwriter wins Oscar,” don’t forget the thousands of unproduced pages he wrote before that first script got produced.
Screenwriting from Iowa 
[…] “I devoted myself to writing for years without representation or a promise of anything. And there were times when I felt quite down about my prospects.” Geoffrey Fletcher Geoffrey Fletcher walked away with an Oscar for his first produced screenplay, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. That part is true. But what is also true […] Original Source… […]
Thanks for an inspiring post. I found Geoffrey Fletcher’s acceptance speech quite moving, maybe because it looked like he wasn’t expecting the award and so it was impromptu and genuine.
Thanks Arti. I didn’t watch most of the Oscar’s broadcast and missed Fletcher’s acceptance speech. But I just listened to it and it was indeed heartfelt and moving.
[…] Another major breakthrough at Oscars 2010 is Geoffrey Fletcher winning Best Adapted Screenplay for his work “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.” He is the first African American to ever win a screenwriting Oscar. Let me re-direct you to an inspiring post on Geoffrey Fletcher’s win from the blog Screenwriting From Iowa. […]
Very encouraging, and true. I’m 39, started writing screenplays when I was 16, and have had a few small successes here and there throughout the years in other mediums, including film… and NOW I’m finally being produced. Someone at a bar I hang out at told me I was “lucky.” If you call 23 years of hard work “luck,” then I’ll accept that. Thanks for this post!
[…] Related post: First Screenplay, Oscar—Precious […]