Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Sounds like one hell of an afternoon, and I’m sure our own Quint is going to have a report on this one soon. For now, here’s a description:
Hi Aintitcoolers...
Long time listener, first time caller...
Yesterday afternoon, a good friend and I had the good fortune of attending the writer’s panel at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Below are my thoughts on the event.
“It Starts with the Script”
Moderator: Frank Pierson (Academy Award winning screenwriter, who wrote COOL HAND LUKE and DOG DAY AFTERNOON. He is also the current president of the Academy).
Panelists: John Logan, THE AVIATOR
Julie Delpy: BEFORE SUNRISE
Paul Haggis: MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Zach Braff: GARDEN STATE
Jim Taylor: SIDEWAYS
Jose Rivera: THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
Brad Bird: THE INCREDIBLES
Charlie Kaufman: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
Bill Condon: KINSEY
Frank Pierson: Mr. Pierson told this great story about DOG DAY AFTERNOON. He was talking about the responsibility of writing a story about a living person—how the film would affect the family, etc. He said that he was not able to meet the real bank robber that the script is based on while he writing, but said that years later he screening in Austin, the guy had been let out of jail, and the guy showed up. As he does at all of his screening, Mr. Pierson stops the film at certain parts and allows questions. At one line, some yells out, did you write that line? Mr. Pierson yells back to the real bank robber, who promptly yells back “I wrote that line, asshole”.
*NOTE: at one point, in the middle of this great story, someone in the crowd shouted out “let them [the panelists] speak” to moderator Frank Pierson. The shouter was then chastised by Brad Bird, and rightly so. Frank Pierson is a legend, and yelling out at a panel is BAD FORM.
John Logan: Mr. Logan was asked if he paid attention to competing project on Howard Hughes (as there have been many attempts in development for many years). He said that like all of his projects, he writes with blinders on, only paying attention to his own work. He was also asked by someone in the audience about his approach to incorporating Hughes’ OCD. Logan said that it was always part of him, but that Hughes once said that he wanted to be known for his contribution to aviation and nothing else (not his movies and especially not his private life).
Julie Delpy: Ms. Delpy was a wreck. This was her first panel and she admitted that she was terribly nervous. After she calmed down, she spoke about how they wrote BEFORE SURISE. She wrote about 40 pages and then set it off to the other writers and they wrote some more and then they got together in the same room and finished it off. She said it was very hard to write a story in which nothing happens and yet keep people interested. She also said that she writes a lot but never had anything produced. Someone asked her about writing a role for herself, in which she replied along the lines of: I didn’t really think about it until I became an actor again and realized I had to memorize all of these lines!
Paul Haggis: Mr. Haggis talked about writing from the short stories that MILLION DOLLAR BABY is based on. He initially had “a mess” and actually called a friend to help him sort everything out. Once it was finished, he said that the shooting script did not have any colored pages (no rewrites). Also, he said that once Clint Eastwood signed on, the film was in theaters 10 months later!
Zach Braff: Mr. Braff was the crowd favorite in terms of audience questions. He talked about writing a movie that people his age could relate to. He said he wrote a lot of it while he was really depressed. He rarely writes things on a clean sheet of paper, but the story took shape from ideas he would jot down on matchbooks and napkins and things. He said that he felt that his whole life was planned for him (like most kids) until he was able to drink legally and then there was nothing and he didn’t know what was going to happen next and it was scary.
Jim Taylor: Mr. Taylor was the first person Mr. Pierson questioned and I was surprised that he was not asked more questions by the audience. He said that Alexander Payne and himself like writing character driven stories about flawed people that don’t necessarily fix their flaws. (Interestingly enough, Julie Delpy made the astute comment that all of the writers on the panel had very character driven screenplays and that structure—i.e. something terrible has to happen on page 23—did not necessarily have to dictate the story. She also mentioned that she had gone to a class on screenwriting led by someone who she could not remember—see my favorite moments below).
Jose Rivera: Mr. Rivera spoke about the response to his film. He told a story about screening THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES for Che’s family. He said that halfway through the film, one of Che’s daughters was crying and asked him for a handkerchief. Mr. Rivera did not have one, but wound up holding her hand for the rest of the film. He said that was one of the best moments he has ever experienced. He also said that all of the dialogue of the film was invented except the birthday speech. (All of the panelists complimented Mr. Rivera’s script repeatedly).
Brad Bird: In hearing Mr. Bird speak I have no doubt that he is the perfect fit to make animated films. He is incredibly animated himself, often making sound effects and gestures to get his points across. He said that he often gets asked how he goes about writing and directing an animated film. His response was that it is not very different than a live action film. He thinks of was to subvert expectations while keeping a logical flow.
Charlie Kaufman: Mr. Kaufman is (gasp) very shy. All of his answers were very timid. Mr. Pierson asked him how he was able to get a film made, being so different than anything else Hollywood had to offer. Mr. Kaufman looked back at him and said he felt slightly offended (jokingly of course). Mr. Pierson asked him why he goes by Charlie instead of Charles. Mr. Kaufman said that when he was joining the Writer’s Guild, there was already a Charles Kaufman, so he had to choose something else. Someone in the audience asked him about BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Charlie said that he wrote the film without Malkovich attached and that he was asked by a friend of Malkovich’s to meet with him about the film (after it was written but before it had been picked up). The friend asked why he had used the 7 ½ floor, and Mr. Kaufman responded that he thought it would be funny, people had to bend down. The friend said, but do you realize that Malkovich’s apartment in New York is number 7 1/2 ? Mr. Kaufman told us that he figured out that the friend was sent to see if he was stalking Malkovich!
Bill Condon: Mr. Condon did not have much to say. In fact, Mr. Pierson skipped over him altogether and once he realized it asked him what he had to say and Mr. Condon replied, “I’m really Julie Delpy on the inside”
(laughter)
My favorite moments/soundbytes:
Julie Delpy said she was at a screenwriting class (taught by someone whom she could not remember, see next moment) and she said she learned that CASABLANCA was the best film ever made and that all French film was shit. “And he was trashing Jean-Luc Godard. And I was like FUCK YOU!”
Charlie Kaufman was saying that Robert McKee wrote an afterward in the shooting script of ADAPTATION and Julie Delpy finally realized who taught her screenwriting seminar.
Dialogue below.
Charlie Kaufman: Robert McKee wrote an afterward—
Julie Delpy (excitedly): I know him!
Charlie Kaufman (quietly): Me too.
Well, overall it was one great afternoon.
agent5400
Sounds like fun. That many good writers in one room at one time is always interesting. I’m curious, though... I heard that Jeffrey Wells tried to shout down John Logan at one point about THE AVIATOR. It’s amazing to me how some people get so invested in the Oscars that they start to disparage the work of the people they’re not rooting for, even to the point of attacking them verbally in a public forum. I’d love to hear more about the incident from anyone who was there.
Anyway... thanks.
"Moriarty" out.
