WME story editor Christopher Lockhart estimates that over his career he’s read more than 50,000 scripts. No typo—50,000 scripts. So when he tosses out a piece of advice consider taking it to heart:
“Writing scripts is really, really, really hard. Get that right first. Do that right first before you start thinking about everything else. Because the truth is your script probably sucks, so all this other stuff that you’re dreaming about is a pipe dream …I’m always about just do the work. Find a great idea that’s a movie. Write it dramatically, write it cinematically, make it intriguing. Make it emotional. Move me. Make me feel differently at the end of the script than I did at the beginning of the script. Try to do that. Try to do that. If you can really, really do that then all of those other things will eventually come your way.” Christopher Lockhart Scripts and Scribes podcast #77
P.S. Lockhart has his own podcast The Inside Pitch, and heads up the Facebook group also called The Inside Pitch.
How did we end up here? Riggan (Michael Keaton) in Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
By his own admission filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu was a “terrible student,” a college dropout, and a street musician who knew he wasn’t good enough to have career in music. So what road did he take to become the three-time Oscar-winner of Birdman (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay)? He worked for a radio station in Mexico for five years where for three hours everyday he entertained listeners with stories, characters, and political satire between songs. At age 21 he was the director of the radio station. He then moved into television where he made “terrible things that I will never show.” But he got hands-on experience producing, directing, editing and “failing.”
In one of his failures was the seeds to his Oscar awards. With another writer he began writing a screenplay about a silent film director who is beginning to lose his image when he looks in the mirror. It was a battle between his evil self, but Iñárritu said, “I could never really nail it right.”
He also studied acting for three years, directed shorts films and TV programs along the way. By the time he started working on Amore Perros (2000) he already had “10 years of commercial directing” (and don’t forget the five years of working on the radio program). It also took a three years for Amore Perros to get produced.
Two projects on the internet reflecting Iñárritu’s non-feature work are The Things That Connect Us he directed for Facebook, and Naran Ja basically non-stop, cutting in camera experimental project shot “with a video camera from the 80s.”
An early Birdman influence was the book El túnel (The Tunnel) by Argentina writer Ernesto Sabato about a deranged painter that was first published in 1948.
“[The Tunnel] was written with no dots or commas and I read it maybe thirty years ago and I remember that it always impressed me. And I always had this idea to make something like that—a non-stop ride…I have been meditating the last four years and by meditate you observe much more clearly the mechanics of your own voice—which we all have. Basically to observe, not to change. Mediate is just that, to observe what’s going on. And I thought it would be interesting to take all these things and in the moment I got that first idea I remember truly by some thing the first image that I took and the first meeting I had with [co-writers Nicolás Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris] in New York, I said guys, ‘Interior, Dressing Room, Day— a middle age man is floating in his underpants’…I knew it was about him getting in that state of mind battling with his evil that will become this voice…The process was one of those magical, very lucky strikes in a way that I have worked with Nicolás and [Armando Bo—the fourth screenwriter on Birdman] on Biutiful so we knew eachother. And then I invited Alexander, so I thought that the the three of them would be the best worse idea to make a comedy, because if you know the work of Alexander, Nicolás or me you will never think that we will be able to work in a comedy because our work doesn’t show humor at all. But because of that I thought this was a perfect bad idea.” Alejandro G. Iñárritu The Q&A Interview podcast with Jeff Goldsmith
Note: Iñárritu mentions on the podcast that Birdman was not ha-ha comedy, but tragic-comedy.
P.S. You can follow Jeff Goldsmith on twitter @yogoldsmith and subscribe to his iPad magazine Backstory, The Art and Business of Storytelling at backstory.net .
“When you can have a positive effect on people’s lives and help them reach their dreams, that is the best reward a teacher can have.”
Ralph Clemente
“A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.” Goethe
Ralph Clemente in his Valencia College office/Photo by Don Burlinson
Earlier this month filmmaker and educator Ralph Clemente died only three weeks after finding out he had pancreatic cancer. He was a professor of mine at the University of Miami and known for his infectious inspiration—and Arnold Schwarzenegger-like accent.
In the late eighties he helped start the film program at Valencia College in Orlando where he and his students would have a hand in producing 47 feature films. Over the years the program allowed students to work with Oscar-nominated actresses Julie Harris and Ruby Dee, and Oscar-winning director Robert Wise (who also edited Citizen Kane). Steven Spielberg once called the program, “one of the best film schools in the county.”
Clemente actually had the distinction of being part of the inspiration for a couple of the filmmakers who would go on to make The Blair Witch Project, as well as just this past November having a small part playing a woodman in Game of Thrones.
That Game of Thrones episode was directed by David Nutter who was also Clemente’s student at Miami. Clemente produced Nutter’s first featureCease Fire (which starred an up and coming actor named Don Johnson) which helped launch Nutter’s career that’s included directing gigs on The Sopranos, The X-Files, Entourage, and Band of Brothers. Clemente and Nutter remained friends over the decades so I wasn’t surprised that he hired Clemente as an extra on the set of Game of Thrones shot in Ireland.
(Note: For the younger DSLR crowd, and those totally unfamiliar with Nutter or Clemente, as Vincent Lafort continues making the transition from photographer to filmmaker he’s recently been shadowing the Primetime Emmy-winning Nutter on production sets. It’s all one big interconnected tribe.)
Clemente was born in Germany and actually had his first acting role at the age of two. He moved to Florida as a teenager, studied acting, ending up serving in the Army, before going on to work in TV and film and landing at the University of Miami as filmmaker-in-residence for ten years.
What a life, right? But his legacy is the film program at Valencia which just earlier this year had a 20th Anniversary film festival to celebrate some of the films he and the school helped get made including Sealed with a Kiss which he directed from a script written by his wife Emily.
What sets the Valencia program apart is its early vision. In the late 80s, Disney and Universal built film studios in Orlando, and enough features and TV shows were being shot here (Parenthood, From Earth to the Moon, Passenger 57) that it looked like the promises of central Florida becoming Hollywood East were more than hype. But what there wasn’t a lot of was support personnel grounded in the area— grips, gaffers, camera assistance, etc.
Greg Hale, one of the producers of The Blair Witch project, went through the Valencia film program and more recently worked as an assistant director on The Avengers and Django Unchained. Producer/DirectorBen Rock was also a student of Clemente’s:
“One of the best lessons Ralph teaches is that production should be fun…My best memories of Valencia are of Ralph, working the set, joking around, telling stories, keeping everybody’s morale up.” Ben Rock Vitae Magazine
Clemente always encouraged his students to take chances and I remember editing a student project at Miami where I risked using a Willie Nelson song (Nelson wasn’t quite as hip in Miami in the 80s as he would be with hipsters in Miami today) and it turned out Ralph loved Nelson’s music and would later use one of his songs in a feature he produced.
In college I also remember going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans with a couple of friends on one long weekend road trip but made it back in time for his class on Monday. When I told him I was just off a 12-hour drive to make the class he laughed and told me my grade just went up.
I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of people Clemente touched in his life, but he was one of the good guys. In fact, Ralph also had students work on public awareness projects including Make-a-Wish, Health Care for the Homeless, and His House Children’s Home (for abused and neglected kids) which helped raised awareness, donations, and resulted in some adoptions.
This blog is the overflowing of the good influences in my life and part of that DNA is my time spent with Clemente in Miami. And just to come full-circle, since January of this year I’ve been producing projects at Valencia College and while my tools are not film and Moviola’s anymore, what I learned from Ralph Clemente transferred well to digital cameras and non-linear editing. But beyond the technical aspects and production tips you commonly learn in school, Clemente had an upbeat spirit that was less common.
Related posts: The Perfect Ending (The day one of Ralph’s former students won an Emmy for directing Game of Thrones)
P.S. “Ralph R. Clemente Scholarship” at Valencia Foundation, 1768 Park Center Drive, Orlando, FL 32835 or complete online donation form by selecting the Designation “Ralph R. Clemente Scholarship” at donate.valencia.org.
“And don’t forget to punch the clock, shorty.” Well-known scene from Oscar-winning Breaking Away screenplay written by Steve Tesich
Scene from “Metropolis” (1927), screenplay by Thea von Harbou based on his novel
Have you ever had a job where you punched a time clock? You know, a place where you punch-in with a time card when you start work and you punch-out whenever you stop working. It’s an accurate way to keep track of your work hours.
I punched a clock in my first job in high school at a grocery store, and punched another one summer in college as a driver at a factory that made boat windshields. (Punch in late three times there and you were fired.) Maybe you’ve never had such a job and maybe you have one now (or all they all digital these days?)— but have you ever punched a clock to keep track of your writing?
Screenwriter John Jarrell thinks it’s a good idea.
“Start keeping a time card. Check out the big brain on me, right? Keepin’ it way old-school — straight out of the 18th Century.
“I created a Word Doc called (wait for it) ‘Time Card’, and whenever I sit down to begin writing I type in the Date and my Start Time. Whenever I break for lunch (or any other extended and/or unexpected absence), I put down however long that took. Lastly, after a hard day’s work, usually distraught and balled up in the fetal position, I enter my Finishing Time.
“Tallying it up is simple math. Total hours spent – break time = actual hours worked on any given day.
For what it’s worth, years ago when I toured the Hemingway Home in Key West they said Hemingway when working on a novel wrote everyday between the hours of 8AM and noon. (Even if he’d been up drinking the night before—which, between you and me, I think he did more than a time or two.) Hemingway also used a typewriter to write his stories and swam laps regularly—just like Oscar-winning screenwriter Quentin Taratino does these days.
P.S. The great thing about artists is they can make art out of anything—even an employee time clock.
“When analyzing any film, two specific questions need to be asked of each beat — 1) What is the ultimate purpose of each scene? 2) What does it accomplish structurally?…There are no random beats in a great screenplay.” Screenwriter John Jarrell (Romeo Must Die) Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal from a Twenty-Year Pro Page 164
This ends posts the past two weeks centered around Jarrell’s book, and as a bonus, below is how he answers those two questions regarding the second scene of the David Ayer written movie Training Day.
A) Alonzo (Denzel Washington) immediately establishes the balance of power between them — veteran/new guy, strong/weak, big dog/little dog, top/bottom. This keeps Hoyt’s character off-balance from the very start.
B) Hoyt’s lackluster drunk-stop tale fails to impress. Why is this seemingly innocent exchange of special note? Because this normal, first day on the job meet-and-greet actually confirms Hoyt’s lackofexperience for Alonzo.
Think Big Picture. As we’ll later learn, Alonzo has plotted out the entirety of this training day well in advance. But to make it all work, he needs a young, green cop he can fully manipulate and control. John Jarrell
The single thing that mostly sets apart screenwriter John Jarrell’s book Tough Love Screenwritingis the more than 70 pages he spends on WGA Credit Arbitration. (With a nod to producer Joel Silver for giving him his own “Cliff Notes on Arbitration.”)
He points out that while not common, it’s not unheard of to have 50 drafts of a screenplay worked on before it goes into production and as many as 15 writers having worked on the script to one degree or another. Who are the 1-3 writers who will get credit? If contested that’s where arbitration comes into play.
I won’t even try to compress Jarrell’s thoughts here, but he mentions in his book that he’s had three wins and zero losses over his 20 year career—and here’s why it’s so important:
“Each writer’s contract contains a credit bonus figure — the amount of additional money you’re owed above and beyond your writing fee if the project ultimately gets produced. Here’s where the plot thickens — studios and production companies only pay credit bonuses to the writers who wind up with their names officially on the film. In a nutshell, no screen credit, no bonus. Simple as that.
“These bonuses can involve mad cashish, ranging anywhere from say $5,000 to well over $1,000,000. Intense right? Keep in mind, this is ‘passive income’ — payments you get without ever having to lift a finger or write another word. The studios just fire off a fat check with your name on it.” John Jarrell Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal from a Twenty-Year Pro
Jarrell calls those fat checks with your name on it,”Little green envelopes of love.”
P.S. If you’re in L.A. and would like to take a screenwriting class with Jarrell, check out his website howtoscreenplay.com.
Update 4/18/15: Just read the transcript from the most recent Scriptnotes podcast where screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin unpack How writing credits work. Good stuff.
Jarrell deviates from Field in that he prefers 4″X6″ cards rather than the 3″X5″ cards Field wrote about. (More writing real estate.) Jarrell says notecards are the first thing students dive into in his workshops. He goes into more detail in his book, but here’s a quick snapshot of his notecard method:
“In the most general sense, I end up with anywhere between 45 and 55 cards when cooking up a feature. Most commonly, I’ve got approximately twelve cards for Act One, twenty-four for Act Two and a final (you guessed it) twelve for Act Three. If I recall, Syd Field recommends fourteen/twenty-eight/fourteen. But since every writer fills in their cards differently, there aren’t any hard numbers to reference. I’ve heard as few as twelve cards total and as many as a hundred.
“For example, I may count ‘CAR CHASE SEQUENCE’ as just one beat, but another writer may have, say, three cards which fully flesh it out — ‘EXT. TOWN SQUARE — CARS RACE DOWN STREET’ then ‘EXT. RAILYARD — CARS SLALOM ONTO TRAIN TRACKS’ then ‘EXT. DOCKS — CARS CRASH AND SINK INTO BAY’. Whatever floats your creative boats while properly building structure is your correct method.
You can pick up a pack of 100 4X6 cards for under four bucks at any Office Depot, Staples, CVS or Walgreens. A pretty cheap investment. (The 3X5 cards that Fields preferred are under two bucks per 100.)
P.S. If you’re in L.A. and would like to take a screenwriting class with Jarrell, check out his website howtoscreenplay.com.
“For screenwriters hungry for an even deeper education, reading the actual scripts is about as good as it gets.”
John Jarrell
Why single out just five screenplays to read? Because it’s more doable than climbing WGA’s mountain of 101 Greatest Screenplays. I bet you can track the five screenplays below online and read them by the end of this weekend. (Bird by Bird to borrow Anne Lamott’s phrase.)
Paddy Chayefsky’s Network — Pretty much the Holy Grail for screenwriting as far as I’m concerned.
Oliver Stone’s Scarface — Damn-near EVERY LINE in the film is right there on the page as Stone intended it. As badass a screenplay as you’ll ever read.
Hampton Fancher’s early draft of Blade Runner — For pure writing’s sake, I much prefer this to the Peoples’ rewrite. It’s just more textural and evocative to me, with some slight differences that I really enjoy. A magical script in my opinion.
Kevin Walker’s Seven — The greatest serial killer movie ever written, and one that’ll never be equaled.
David Ayer’s tour de force Training Day offers us a world-class example of plotting… From Page One/Line One, there’s a jaw-dropping level of screenplay awesomeness taking place here. Exactly what makes Mr. Ayer’s script so outstanding? —The world is thrilling, fresh and unique. —The villain is exceptional.
—The plotting is wicked sharp.
If for some ridiculous reason you haven’t seen or read Training Day, put this book down RIGHT NOW and go do it.
Have a good weekend.
P.S. If you’re in L.A. and would like to take a screenwriting class with Jarrell, check out his website howtoscreenplay.com.
Update: Ambrose Chapel just made your search for those five screenplays easier by posting all five scripts at this ScriptDrive link. (Though you have to signup to be able to download scripts.)
“You believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I’ll work mine.” Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) in Bullitt (1968)
“Here’s the deal — Continually educating yourself by viewing the very best scripted films in history is every bit as important as knowing what’s crowding today’s multiplexes.”
John Jarrell
Screenwriter John Jarrell spends a part of the time in his 400+ page book, Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro, onanecdotes based on his experience in the film industry. And part of the time he offers specific advice on how to improve your screenwriting skills and film knowledge. Here’s one example of his practical and affordable to do advice:
“When it comes to working up your own projects, my suggestion is to always try and learn from the very best examples found in any given genre. These are the handful of legendary lighthouses staggered across a largely blasé cinematic coastline, existing in perpetuity to help guide aspirants in a variety of insightful ways.
“Here’s a practical example of how this tracks. You decide you want to write a cop movie. The three cop films generally accepted as the modern cornerstones of the genre are Dirty Harry, The French Connection and Bullitt. Educate yourself by screening the ones you feel might best inform your script (personally, I’d watch them all). Late ’80’s Lethal Weapon defined the modern day Buddy Cop flick. Throw that on your list, too, if you haven’t already seen it. Yeah, these grey-haired classics may be older than your Dad, but age is not the focus here — structure and superior storytelling are.” Screenwriter & instructor John Jarrell Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro
P.S. If you’re in L.A. and would like to take a screenwriting class with Jarrell, check out his website howtoscreenplay.com.
And speaking of learning from the very best, three of my favorite Screenwriting from Iowa blog posts feature insights from writers Michael Arndt, John Logan and Elmore Leonard.
“Making a living writing movies is a privilege, something that’ll come hard- earned, if at all. Hollywood doesn’t need you, doesn’t give a sh** whether you live or die, and nobody — and I mean NOBODY — is gonna cry if your Tinseltown dreams don’t come true.” Screenwriter John Jarrell (Romeo Must Die) Screenwriter and instructor John Jarrell’s book Tough Love Screenwriting: The Real Deal From A Twenty-Year Pro is not a feel-good read—but screenwriting is a hard business, so this book is meant to toughen you up for the battle. By his own admission, Jarrell is a “less nurturing version of Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket.”
So along with the occasional swipe at soccer moms, hipsters, trophy wives, smartphone spawns, and malnourished Millennials (with a Goodfellas-sized amount of f-bombs), Jarrell offers his screenwriting insights ranging the importance of using notecards to WGA Arbitration. I’ll spend the next week or so pulling some Jarrell quotes that’ll give you a taste of the book, and I hope you find useful in your own writing.
“One of the finest character descriptions I’ve ever seen is found in Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Identity. It’s of Chris Cooper’s C.I.A. character Chester Conklin — ‘Ivy League Oliver North. Buttoned down. Square jaw.’ How’s that for specific? Eight words tell us everything we need to know — the first four alone putting it in the hall of fame.”
John Jarrell Tough Love Screenwriting, page 240
P.S. If you’re in L.A. and would like to take a screenwriting class with Jarrell, check out his website howtoscreenplay.com.
Screenwriting from Iowa 