Women in the Business

I know this is an issue that's spoken about a lot, but I thought this article/interview was particularly interesting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/24/women-underrepresented-in_n_475128.html

Rerun: The Good Guy

The following is a repost from from last April, after I saw The Good Guy at Tribeca. I thought that since it's finally released, this post might be more relevant. I'm seeing the film again on Wednesday; it should be interesting to see what my thoughts are after the second viewing.

***

This afternoon, I had the privilege of attending a screening at Tribeca of The Good Guy (starring Scott Porter, Alexis Bledel, and Bryan Greenberg). I hope not to give too much away, because it is a worthwhile film and I hope it gets distributed. But I can't stop thinking about the film, especially the script, and thought I'd share my ruminations.

The basic premise is a love triangle centered on Wall Street. It's a romantic comedy -- though not quite in the same league as Kate Hudson/Meg Ryan movies. More a comedy whose anchor was partly romance.

The characters were really the most interesting aspect of the movie. The writer/director Julio DePietro broke all sorts of basic rules with his protagonist. First, there were essentially three protagonists who occupied mostly equal amounts of screen time (though one was slightly more focal than the others). They each had valuable stories that didn't really overshadow one another. Yet, it wasn't an ensemble piece. Each protagonist was also the antagonist at different moments, which kept the audience guessing. And, what I found most intriguing about the film, was that the characters were all people we've seen in real life -- cliches almost -- but not people we've ever seen on screen. They were real people who we'd recognize but not movie characters.

It was actually disconcerting to watch this film with all the script reading I'm doing. The rules for what works in scripts can sometimes be so rigid. This is usually a good thing -- most first time writers don't understand the rules well enough to break them, so the result is a clumsy script. I'm so used to evaluating scripts -- and movies -- with my mental checklist of the dos and don'ts of screenwriting that for a while I couldn't decide if The Good Guy worked or not. But, after marinating on the film and talking briefly with DiPietro, I realize it did.

There are a few reasons the movie worked, even with its rule-breaking characters. First, the comedy was great. The audience laughed out loud multiple times. Even during gut-wrenching scenes, there was room for laughter. Second, the movie hinted at what it was doing. It basically acknowledged that the characters in the film were going to be a little different, and how. The script actually foreshadowed itself in a way. Acknowledging that rules were about to be broken softened the blow. It was obvious that DiPietro understood screenwriting and the basic storytelling rules of the medium, but that he had a statement to make by breaking them. Three, the techinical stuff -- editing, music, direction, acting -- were superb.

So what's the moral? It's okay to break screenwriting rules every so often -- just make sure you know what the rules are, you understand you're breaking them, and you strengthen another aspect (like comedy) of your script so a finicky reader is too excited to pass. Don't be afraid of unconventional characters.

Oh, and check out The Good Guy, either at Tribeca or when it hopefully gets a distribution deal.

Newsworthy?

Variety had an interesting article about screenplays that reflect the writer's life. It's always cool to read where stories come from, so it's a useful article to check out. But is it newsworthy? Who doesn't write something autobiographical when they write? I took a creative writing course in college called "The Autobiographical Imagination." I assumed we'd learn to write memoirs. But on the first day the professor announces that we could write whatever we wanted -- poems, fiction, essays -- anything. That whatever we wrote would be autobiographical because we'd be expressing ourselves.

'They" always say to write what you know. I don't believe it's possible to write anything else. I know you're thinking, "Well, I don't know about the Vietnam War and it's not autobiographical for me because I'm only 30!" You still will write a script about something you know. First off, you'll research the subject matter. But not too much. But you won't be writing a history special. Your script needs emotion and characters and specifics that take it from concept to story. And that stuff will be what you know. Even if you don't know the exact emotion of someone going to war, you know of a time when you've been frightened, and can transfer what you're feeling into the context of your story. The topic compels you for a reason, because you relate to something about it. Write about that. That's what you know.

I think it would be impossible to dedicate myself to several drafts of over 100 pages of screenplay without having an emotional connection to the material. Even a writing assignment needs that element of YOU. Every script is a reflection of its writer. So it's important to remember to tell your story, but kind of obvious at the same time. Why tell anything else?

The Black List

It's that time of year, when unproduced scripts get to shine. The full black list hasn't been released yet, to my knowledge (but I'll post when it does). But here's the top ten scripts on the list.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/the-black-list-to-be-posted-here-in-entirety/

I'm really excited for The Social Network -- though I was before it made the list. Cedar Rapids and Desperados will also be really cool, I think, if they do get released. Because really, who doesn't love something with the description "The Hangover meets the Sweetest Thing?" Two silly, amazingly fun movies come together? Gotta be good.

Anyway, congrats to the writers who made the list this year. As always, this list inspires me to work harder on my own projects so that someday, I can see my name on that list as well. Not that it's the be all and end all of everything, but it's good to have goals.

UPDATE: Nikki Finke has posted the complete roster of the black list. View it here.

Perfect Scene

*SPOILER ALERT*

I was blown away by the writing in a recent episode of Gossip Girl, "The Treasure of Serena Madre." It was the perfect example of creating tension in a scene, and it was beautiful to watch.

It was the Thanksgiving episode. The Humphreys and the van der Woodsens were celebrating their first Thanksgiving together - and boy did they have different opinions on the holiday! Rufus wanted something huge and holiday-like. Lily wanted small, maybe even just take out. She didn't even want to invite her mother. Meanwhile, Vanessa decided to crash at Dan's loft because her mother was driving her crazy. Except she didn't realize that ever since the threesome Dan's been madly in love with her. Blair's mother was hiding something, and Blair (who is obsessed with Thanksgiving) was determined to find out over the holiday -- and when she does, she thinks the big secret is that her mother's pregnant. Serena and Tripp were busy having a quasi-affair, which was driving Nate crazy because he's in love with Serena again. Oh, and you know, the whole political figure scandal. Jenny's discovered that Eric was secretly behind her sabotage at Cotillion.

After a turn of events, everyone winds up at the van der Woodsen/Humphrey Thanksgiving. EVERYONE. Including Lily's mother, Vanessa's mother, and Tripp and his wife. The table is buzzing with secrets and tension. Everyone has to be on their best behavior, because it is a holiday, and they don't want to embarrass themselves. So there are a lot of snide comments. A lot of subtext. And finally, a lot of storming off.

It's a great scene because the audience is aware of all the tension. The audience knows everyone's secrets, everyone's drama. So we're just waiting for the pot to boil over. Waiting. It comes slowly...what's going to happen...how will our characters react...and then it all erupts at once.

This is what they mean when they say you should make sure your scenes have tension. Make your characters uncomfortable. Surprise them. Take the day we're all supposed to be happy -- Thanksgiving -- and blow it up so that there's nothing to be thankful for.

Watch the scene here.

Welcome to LA!

I spent the last month in a whirlwind, planning a move to LA. I determined that it was the place to be for writing, especially TV, and that if not now, when? So here I am, in my new apartment between Culver City and Century City, knowing that not too far away are all the studios and agencies and places that are just waiting to hire me. Right now, it's a bit of settling in and job hunting. Since I know a lot of blog readers are interested in the job search, I'll try my best to keep everyone updated on how things are going.

So far...I have a couple informational interviews lined up, I keep meeting people who know people who are passing along contact info, and I've applied to practically every job on the UTA joblist. As expected, the cold call applications haven't done much for me -- but I've only applied to a few in the week I've actually lived here, and I get that no one wants to hire someone who isn't physically in the state yet.

I'm trying my best to jump right in. I attended a panel last night at 826LA about women TV writers. The panelists were FANTASTIC, just such warm people with good info and a good outlook. I'll post my notes on that a bit later. But I was delighted to have a great conversation with the lovely Amy Berg, formerly of Leverage, currently of Eureka. It's a little crazy moving into an apartment, figuring out LA traffic and crazy drivers (never thought I'd miss NYC driving), keeping up with script reading, looking for a job, and networking. But it's the hustle, and if I can juggle all of these things, certainly I'll be able to juggle a 14 hour a day schedule in a writer's room.

The Vampire Diaries

I finally caught up on last week's episode of The Vampire Diaries. I really didn't expect to watch this show at all, much less get caught up in it. I thought I'd check it out purely because I miss Buffy a lot, and I wanted to see how Nina Dobrev did outside of Degrassi. And what I found was a clever, dramatic, well-written show. So if you haven't checked out this show yet, I recommend it.

But that's not the point of this post. In this past episode, I started really noticing Bonnie (played by Katerina Graham). She's Elena's (the protagonist) best friend. Her relatives are witches (Salem witches, but don't get me started on that...I'm a self-proclaimed Salem semi-scholar, and the misuse of Salem witches irks me...but it is the CW), and she fears she might be a witch as well. At first I thought she was just a sidekick and her powers were just there for convenience and to give her something to do. I didn't expect much out of her. Certainly not depth. But I realize now that her character might be the most compelling. She's crafted very well, very subtely, and though her journey is very much a subplot, it is fully-thought out and engaging. There's a great deal about character building to learn by examining Bonnie.

And yes, the rest of this will be a spoiler. Mostly.

Since the first episode of the show, Bonnie's been freaked out by her strange premonitions and odd feelings that she sometimes gets from touching people. At first, she tried to convince herself it was all in her head. That she was perfectly normal. And while she believed that, the audience didn't really have any reason to care about her. In fact, I thought she was a bit whiny. Just accept your powers, you know? But come to think of it, if I started being psychic and witchy I don't think I'd just ease right into it. And neither does Bonnie. She has a vision of numbers, and something really horrible happening with those numbers. And it turns out the coach gets murdered and those numbers appear at the murder scene. So Bonnie's a bit more freaked than usual. She kinda sorta predicted it. What does that mean? What else will she predict? Is she responsible? Hey, maybe she is a witch, and isn't that kind of cool in a scary kind of way? So in this week's episode, she comes into it with all these wrapped up emotions and trepidations. And she doesn't talk about her fears with anyone much. She just comes to grips with her powers slowly and subtly. She realizes she can light a candle with her mind. She doesn't try this, it just happens. She's a little scared, a little proud. All silent emotions written on the actress' face. And later, when presented with the opportunity to try this again, she takes it. And at first it seems not to work. And we see disappointment. We see that she wanted to be a witch, even though she's terrified. And when she looks back at the candles, they're all lit. And she's excited. And terrified. Because even though she wants her powers, she is scared. It was easy to want them when she didn't have them. But now it's all real.

Watching Bonnie deal with this discovery of powers is compelling. We see an entire internal conflict, even she's in only a few scenes. We understand this girl. She's real. She's not just some sidekick built so that Elena can have someone to think aloud to.

That's what makes Bonnie so great. She's not the most important character in the show (yet...I have a feeling she will become important) but she's an actual character. Too often, side characters are faceless nobodies. They exist only for the protagonist. But a better story is told when all of the characters are developed and real. When they all have arcs. I heard a powerful quote once that I always keep in mind when writing: "We are the hero of our own story." That's how it should be for secondary and tertiary characters. (And especially antagonists). They are the heroes of their own stories. If someone wanted to tell a story from their perspective, they'd have all the tools. This emphasis on secondary characters makes The Vampire Diaries must see TV, and it will make your scripts must reads.