Oscar-winner Paul Haggis discusses a career that led from writing for TV to his scripts for Million Dollar Baby and Crash. His stories are an indelible primer for how to manage the screenwriting life, develop a strong story, pitch an idea, and surmount Hollywood's more frustrating obstacles.
Sheldon Turner is the prototype for the smart, brash, ambitious young screenwriter. He recently broke through with his script for the remake of The Longest Yard, and has a dozen other scripts in development. He's got insane discipline, writes longhand and boycotts email.
David Goyer knows how to bring comic book heroes to kicking, screaming, vengeful life, as he did in The Crow: City of Angels, the Blade series, and Batman Begins. In this wry and surprising dialogue, he reveals his tricks of the trade, how to hook an actor's ego, and why fear can pay the bills.
Ted Griffin is a man who knows a good con. Anyone who tried to follow the clever criminal head games he built into his screenplays for Ocean's Eleven and Matchstick Men knows not to trust this guy; except when he talks about screenwriting, which he does with great humor and insight.
For this off-kilter discussion, Jim Uhls breaks the first rule of Fight Club: He talks about it. Step inside the mind of the man who figured out how to conquer Hollywood as he explains how to use a newspaper story to build a brilliant pitch and why you should interview your characters.
The blockbuster comedy writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel formed while writing for TV sitcoms in the 70s. They have gone on to write an astonishing 18 produced feature screenplays, including Night Shift, Splash, Gung Ho, Parenthood, City Slickers, A League of Their Own, Mr. Saturday Night, Forget Paris, Edtv, Where the Heart Is, Robots, and Fever Pitch.
Jose Rivera's Oscar-nominated adaptation of The Motorcycle Diaries was his first major screenplay as a writer, as well as one of the most celebrated works of 2005. In this interview, Rivera discusses his experience as a playwright and how it paved the way into film, the pressures of creating a film adaptation of an American literary classic and the real way that he measures success.
Scott Rosenberg's debut screenplay came in 1995 with Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead and was followed the next year by the critically-acclaimed film Beautiful Girls. He went on to pen the scripts for Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds, and he garnered a WGA Award nomination for adapting the Nick Hornby novel High Fidelity. In this candid interview, Rosenberg exposes his true feelings about plot, writing under the influence and the brilliance of Winnie the Pooh.
Callie Khouri's Oscar-winning screenplay for Thelma & Louise is one of the most provocative cinematic landmarks of the 90s. The Kentucky native went on to write Something to Talk About and adapt and direct Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Here, Khouri delves into the pressures of early acclaim, the passion born of outrage, and the many thorny issues facing the WGA.
John Hamburg is a very funny guy. After writing and directing the crime comedy Safe Men, Hamburg co-wrote Meat the Parents, Zoolander, and Meet the Fockers, spawning a few catchphrases in the process. He also wrote and directed the romantic comedy Along Came Polly. In this amusing interview, Hamburg discusses the importance of monologues, test screenings, and keeping Robert De Niro happy.
Nick Kazan's screenwriting repertoire consists of several films that are based on true events such as Frances, At Close Range, Patty Hearst, and Reversal of Fortune, for which he earned an Oscar nomination in 1991. He also directed his script Dream Lover and collaborated with wife Robin Swicord on Matilda, based on the classic children's book by Roald Dahl. In this in-depth interview, Kazan touches on many important subjects of being a Hollywood screenwriter, from the art of handling studio notes and why he doesn't do lunch, to the science of a script's DNA and why changes can be fatal.
Writer, director, producer MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ is one of the most prominent figures in film and television. With partner Ed Zwick, whom he met while attending the American Film Institute, Herskovitz created and executive produced the highly-acclaimed television shows thirtysomething and Once and Again, and wrote the film The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise. He served as producer on the films Traffic, I Am Sam and Dangerous Beauty, which he also directed. In this revealing interview, you ll learn his theories on why writing is hallucinatory, directing is a samurai job, and how movies are like aircraft carriers.
Nia Vardalos was nominated for the Academy Award and the Writers Guild Award in 2003 for her breakthrough screenplay My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was based on her one-woman play. The film became the highest-grossing independent feature and turned her in to an overnight success, spawning a follow-up sitcom and a cemented spot among Hollywood s elite writers. Listen as she talks candidly about her favorite laugh, tapping into her inner guy, and why her take on the hardest part of screenwriting just might make you blush.
Billy Ray has written or co-written the screenplays for Color of Night, Volcano, and Hart's War and also created the sci-fi series Earth 2. In 2003, Ray wrote and directed Shattered Glass, which was based on the true story of fraudulent journalist Stephen Glass. Most recently, he found himself back in the writer/director role for Breach, a story based on real-life FBI agent-turned-Soviet spy Robert Hanssen. In this intriguing interview, listen as Ray touches on his inspiration from movie soundtracks, taking acting classes, genius by osmosis and writing for The Jetsons.
Paul Attanasio's nuanced screenplays for Quiz Show and Donnie Brasco earned him Oscar nominations, and he recently wrote The Good German for Steven Soderbergh. In this intense dialogue, Attanasio describes how he transformed himself from "snotty" Washington Post film critic to master of adaptations for Oscar-winning directors Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, and Soderbergh.
With over 23 years in the business, Bruce Joel Rubin has done it all. From his Oscar-winning screenplay for the romantic-comedy-drama Ghost, to the psychological thriller Jacob's Ladder, the family-friendly adventure Stuart Little 2, and the tearjerker My Life, which he also directed. In this in-depth interview, Rubin delivers some insightful stuff: his carpet-laying theory about writing, the story behind the Jacob's Ladder gut-wrenching opening scene, and which of his screenplays came about thanks to a burrito that didn't digest well.
Susannah Grant received an Oscar nomination for her screenplay for Erin Brockovich, an inspirational story based on the life of a working-class heroine. After her nomination, she went on to adapt In Her Shoes and Charlotte's Web, as well as write and direct Catch and Release. Here, Grant goes into the midwife vs. mother role of novel adaptations, the importance of finding your voice and why sometimes you just have to be able to really, really suck.
Less than 10 years in the business and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are already one of the most successful screenwriting teams in Hollywood. A team who became just that after meeting in high school, they have frequently collaborated with writer-director J.J. Abrams as well as director Michael Bay. This duo's screenwriting credits include The Island, The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III and the upcoming Star Trek XI. Find out more as Kurtzman and Orci reveal their experience analyzing Robocop, writing in Spanish accents, and getting better with age.
David Seltzer knows Hollywood. He knows the business, the tricks of the trade and all the hidden truths. He's got the stories from working with Jacques Cousteau, penning the horror classic The Omen and adapting Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He can tell you why writing is like love-making and why there is no such thing as fiction. His advice about directing? Wear comfortable shoes. In this interview, you'll learn that and more, including what recent screenplay is the most elegant he has ever heard spoken on-screen and why you don't win arguments with movie stars.
Simon Kinberg recently burst onto the scene with his script for xXx: State of the Union, and has since worked on comic-to-film adaptations for Elektra and Fantastic Four and penned the third film in the X-Men series, X-Men: The Last Stand. Kinberg's breakthrough hit, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, began as a script that he wrote in college and became one of the top grossing movies of 2005. Listen in as he reveals his inspiration–from breakdancing movies to mentor Akiva Goldsman, and what you do and don't learn at film school.
Jeff Nathanson is easily among the A-list of Hollywood screenwriters. His script for Catch Me If You Can earned him much critical praise, as well as the devotion of Steven Spielberg, who also brought him to work on his next movie, The Terminal. Nathanson has also collaborated with Jan de Bond on Twister and Speed 2: Cruise Control and with Brett Ratner on the Rush Hour films. In this interview, learn more about why he dreads pitching, never speaks during a notes meeting, and finds he can do almost all his research with the internet and old Playboys.
While most writers find success in either TV or movies, comedy or drama, original or adapted screenplays, Ed Solomon has managed to do it all. He got his start in television sitcoms and went on to write quirky sci-fi-fi comedies Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Men in Black, the crime drama Levity, which he also directed, and the adaptation of the mystery adventure novel Tokyo Suckerpunch. In this interview, get the scoop on Solomon's "bass-ackwards" entry into the world of screenwriting and how being just a funny guy translated into being a funny professional.
An accomplished writer, producer, and director, Peter Tolan is probably best-known as co0creator of TV show The Job and Rescue Me, and co-writer of Analyze This, and its sequel, Analyze That. He started his career on the writing staff of television sitcoms and then became a writer and producer on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show. From there, Tolan made his foray into movies with the screenplays for My Fellow Americans, Bedazzled, and America's Sweethearts. In this candid interview, hear all about his tales of procrastination, writing movies in 5 days, and why he says he would have a great career if it weren't for... himself.
Peter and Bobby Farrelly have single, or rather double-handedly reinvented the comedy. Their films Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Shallow Hal and Me, Myself & Irene combined shocking-but-hilarious gross-out humor with a sweet love story, and became blockbuster hits in the process. And in this interview, you'll learn why their writing methods of painting themselves into a corner and not wanting to know where a screenplay is going, can seem as unconventional as their comedy.
Jonathan Hensleigh knows good action. This former attorney stopped practicing law to pursue screenwriting, and with his big break writing episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, his foray into the action/adventure genre began. After writing the screenplay for Die Hard: With a Vengeance, he worked on the films Jumanji, The Saint, Armageddon and The Rock. Hensleigh also wrote and directed the film adaptation of Marvel Comics' The Punisher, for which he is also writing the sequel. In this no-holds-barred interview, learn his approach to developing action scenes and what he really thinks about screenwriting classes.
Robin Swicord has secured a spot as one of Hollywood's top screenwriters. Her first big-screen adaptation was of the Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women, and that was soon followed by the adapted screenplays for the upcoming The Jane Austen Book Club, which she also directed, The Perez Family, Practical Magic, Memoirs of a Geisha and Matilda, which she penned with husband Nick Kazan. In this interview, learn more as Swicord delves into the adaptations, collaborations and frustrations she's experienced as a screenwriter.
Oscar-winning writer, director and producer Paul Haggis (Crash) reflects on his remarkable journey from television to feature film in this lively conversation conducted in the same spirit as "Inside the Actors Studio." The program is part of a series of in-depth talks between industry professionals and more than two dozen successful screenwriters, who candidly discuss their careers and their varied approaches to the writing craft.
Screenwriter Stuart Beattie, best known for writing Collateral and for contributing to the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, shares his Hollywood war stories in this lively, in-depth interview. The program is part of a series of in-depth talks between industry professionals and more than two dozen successful screenwriters, who candidly discuss their careers and their varied approaches to the writing craft.
In a lively interview akin to an episode of "Inside the Actors Studio," maverick screenwriter Sheldon Turner (who penned the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard) shares his best-kept secrets for playing the Hollywood game. This program is part of a series of in-depth conversations between industry professionals and more than two dozen successful screenwriters, who candidly discuss their careers and their varied approaches to the writing craft.
David Goyer, the prolific screenwriter behind such films as Batman Begins, Dark City and the Blade trilogy, opens up his bag of writing tricks in this in-depth interview. Goyer shares valuable insights into the craft of screenwriting, including how to win over a room of Hollywood execs, how to write can't-miss character descriptions and more. In addition to discussing his filmography, Goyer also explains how he wrote his favorite scene.
In this installment of the Learning from the Masters series, screenwriter Jim Uhls explains how he wrote the screenplay for Chuck Palahniuk's seemingly unadaptable novel Fight Club, which became the subversive 1999 hit directed by David Fincher. Uhls describes how to adopt a journalistic strategy when developing a killer pitch, as well as his peculiar approach to interviewing his own characters.
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg -- whose credits include Gone in 60 Seconds and the BAFTA-nominated High Fidelity -- shares his methods, experiences, insights and secrets about writing for Hollywood in this revealing interview. "The Dialogue" is a series of in-depth discussions with top screenwriters, hosted by industry veteran and film fanatic Mike De Luca.
Comedy-meister John Hamburg -- who penned Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers and Zoolander -- offers an amusing take on the art of screenwriting in this extensive interview. Hamburg, who also wrote and directed the box-office hit Along Came Polly and the cult favorite Safe Men, describes how delivering monologues helped him develop a flair for dialogue and reveals what it's like to hand script changes to megastar Robert De Niro.
The screenwriting team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci offer insights into their meteoric Hollywood careers. In an intimate interview, the duo recounts their experiences collaborating with such luminaries as J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay. They describe working on the scripts for The Legend of Zorro and Mission: Impossible III, and how to get better with age in the hypercompetitive world of Tinseltown.