A SCREENWRITER'S RUMINATIONS
Practices, precepts & prescriptions
1. SENDING YOUR SCRIPT
Who should you let read it before you hit ‘send?’ Do you want criticism or are you only looking for praise? A reader should be able to turn to any page at random and be able to tell whether it’s worth his time. Too harsh? Not if your career depends on it.
2. THE PITCH
Craft a confident false self, a mask behind which The Real You can scream, “Who are you to judge my work ?!” Use the phrase “strong, independent woman” as often as possible even if your movie is about the Bataan death march. Smile! You’ve become Willy Loman.
3. TAKING THEIR NOTES
The great Japanese screenwriter, Yo Takayama, has the best advice: “Never say, no,” he says. Instead say, “Interesting note!” Say, “Oh! I’ll try that!” And most important,“…Always say, Yes! And the lower you bow, the less you mean it.”
4. REWRITES #5-#10
Ask yourself, “Have I served the supporting characters equally?” Do I love them all?” Write a draft paying special attention each part in turn. Are their voices unique? Do they have arcs of their own? A script is no better than its weakest character.
5. WHY ACTORS DON’T READ
It’s not dyslexia, it’s supply and demand. Too few ‘bankable' actors and too many choices.Actors come from hunger: they’d rather say nothing than say no in case the next one that comes along is better. Etiquette doesn’t oblige them to respond at all.
6. YOUR CONTINUING EDUCATION
Spend time if you can with an experienced director – in prep, on set, in the cutting room. You’ll soon realize how expendable your precious dialogue can be, how easy to cut what you thought essential. Nothing better than the death of your narcissism.
7. MOVIES VERSUS TV
The conventional wisdom was that movies were told in sequences while television relied on scenes. This was simple economics: a sequence took a long time to shoot while television had shorter schedules. As streaming budgets grow, this is changing. Hallelujah!
8. FORM OVER CONTENT
Does every streaming episode need to end in a cliff-hanger? An occasional cocktease is fine, but need it be the object of the work? If ‘gorging’ is the goal rather than catharsis, you're treating the audience as a consumer and turning yourself into a hack.
9. CONTENT OVER FORM
The Brits have long known that long-form is tailor-made for adapting a novel. Consider the BBC’s legendary Smiley series, or “The Glittering Prizes.” Lately, Steve Zallian’s “The Night Of” and Scott Frank’s “Queen’s Gambit” have raised the bar. More, please.
10. CAN MOVIES CHANGE THE WORLD?
Some say political subjects exploit serious topics for commercial ends.Then again, hard to imagine acceptance of same sex marriage without years of lgbtq characters. Will more inclusion and representation have the same effect? Stay tuned.

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More from @EdwardZwick1

19 Jul
10 MORE THINGS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
communication, confrontation & confession
1. THE HUMAN FACTOR
Stunts are tedious but a car or a helicopter will do pretty much as you expect. Actors, not so much. They hear music you can’t imagine and their volatility is a gift. Forget your expectations. Open your heart. Let them give you the miracle of themselves.
2. THE EXCHANGE
Actors rip their souls apart and show them to you. The least you can do is try a bit of the same. Doesn’t have to be deep personal confession. But you’ll be amazed just how much you get in return for losing some of your inhibitions and sharing the feels.
Read 12 tweets
6 Jul
THE MOVIE DIRECTOR'S WORKBOOK
Homework, playtime, and prayer
1.THE DIRECTOR’S SCRIPT
Create a new script on the opposite page from the dialogue. Include everything: camera moves, business, blocking. Breaking down of a script is a dress rehearsal in your head, but it’s just an exercise. Nothing is ever as you plan. Always work in pencil.
2. BREAKING DOWN YOUR SCRIPT
Don't accept what the writer gave you even if you’re the writer. Whatever you imagined will be different once it’s on its feet. Your job is to figure it out on the day. No do-overs. Directing begins with preparation and flowers in improvisation
Read 12 tweets
22 Jun
FROM, A SCREENWRITER'S NOTEBOOK
observations, incantations and exhortations Image
1. MAGIC
There’s a time of despair in every first draft. This is a hormonal condition common to all writers. The only remedy is to put it away and take a walk. By morning you'll find it better than you feared. Or not. Perhaps the elves will come overnight and rewrite it.
2. LARCENY
Good artists borrow, great artists steal. Every artist is a thief; some are just sneakier than others. Just as painters learn by imitation you put someone else's work in your own voice until one day you find you actually have a voice. And then someone steals from you.
Read 12 tweets
8 Jun
THE SCREENWRITER'S CRAFT
theory, practice & the marketplace
1. SHAME
How many times do we finish a first draft and realize we’ve accomplished everything except what we most intended? The hardest thing to overcome is our inhibition to reveal what’s personal, yet shame is invariably the thing with which others most identify.
2. SECRETS & LIES
The challenge is finding something of ourselves in each character. Especially the shadow side. We are all criminals and saints. To understand a character, you must first understand his dreams and fears. What are yours?
Read 11 tweets
13 Apr
LIVING THE HOLLYWOOD LIFE
(dis)enchantment
1.SEX AND HOLLYWOOD
Saul Zaentz, the legendary producer from SF, once told me he’d lived through the Summer of Love, read the Kama Sutra cover to cover and believed he knew everything there was to know about getting fucked. Then he came to Hollywood.
2.PITCHING A SERIES IS EASY
All you need is six seasons’ worth of a serialized story complete with cliff-hangers, a pilot outline, character arcs, a sizzle reel, a look book, and “a hook.” And maybe some “rules” for “world building.” In a twenty-minute zoom call. On spec.
Read 11 tweets
13 Apr
HOLLYWOOD: LIVING THE LIFE
(dis)enchantment
1.SEX AND HOLLYWOOD
Saul Zaentz, the legendary producer from SF, once told me he’d lived through the Summer of Love, read the Kama Sutra cover to cover and believed he knew everything there was to know about getting fucked. Then he came to Hollywood.
2.PITCHING A SERIES IS EASY
All you need is six seasons’ worth of a serialized story complete with cliff-hangers, a pilot outline, character arcs, a sizzle reel, a look book, and “a hook.” And maybe some “rules” for “world building.” In a twenty-minute zoom call. On spec.
Read 9 tweets

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