Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Reuters Health Summit
Hear from CEOs and other business leaders
Get Exclusives
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Entertainment
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Film
Music
People
Television
Arts
Industry
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
You Witness
The Great Debate
Blogs
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
You Witness News
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Hollywood writers spill the ink on their craft
Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:48pm EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Jay A. Fernandez
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Nearly a year after they walked off the job for the Writers Guild of America's 100-day strike, six screenwriters recently met at a Beverly Hills eatery to talk about their work.
In attendance were Dustin Lance Black ("Milk"), Jenny Lumet ("Rachel Getting Married"), Thomas McCarthy ("The Visitor"), John Patrick Shanley ("Doubt"), Andrew Stanton ("WALL-E") and J. Michael Straczynski ("Changeling").
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW ARE YOU GUYS WITH DISCIPLINE?
John Patrick Shanley: When I write the first page, I'm fantasizing about finishing, and that is the propulsion that drags me through a screenplay. It makes me keep up the narrative pacing. I also know that if I think about what I am going to write in advance, and then I write fast, you're going to feel that when you read it. You're going to feel the action of forward propulsion. You can do anything once you have a first draft, but if you don't have a first draft, you're screwed.
Andrew Stanton: So you don't go back?
Shanley: I go back. Sometimes I'll write the first five pages over and over again, which is pleasurable to me, to get a deeper sense of the world. But once I get into the narrative of it, I want to get to the end. To establish style, worldview, sense of place, I might really go over the first few pages a lot.
Stanton: My mantra is: Be wrong as fast as you can. Because I have to have the liberty to know it doesn't have to work so that I'll just keep moving.
Jenny Lumet: The nature of my life: There are screaming children involved. I don't have a choice about when I work, so I have to fail really fast. There are three hours in a day when I can write. Those are the three hours where I have to fail miserably.
Dustin Lance Black: Getting going is tough. I'll stare at blank screens, and I'll check my Web sites and blogs. But once I get going, it's six hours in the morning, then lunch, and then six hours after that, then dinner. I get really obsessive. But I just plow through it. For me, that first 10 pages, I really get detailed, detailed, detailed. And then it's just kind of a disastrous mess.
Stanton: I heard David Sedaris say that he tried to be on a writing schedule once and all he would do is find himself in the mirror looking at his hair, trying to see what it would look like parted in the middle. I thought that encapsulated writing the best way I'd ever heard.
J. Michael Straczynski: I found a long time ago that if you have a compulsion, discipline isn't necessary. I have to be at the keyboard. I'm there 10 hours a day, every day, and if I'm not, I get nervous and twitchy. My wife and I took our first vacation in 20 years and she said, "You're gonna go to London. You're gonna have a good time and not do any writing." Within two days I was vibrating so badly that I got a little notebook in the pharmacist's and was in the bathroom working on my next novel.
THR: JOE AND LANCE WERE WORKING WITH MATERIAL THAT WAS
LITERALLY TRUE. HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR FEALTY TO THE REAL
EVENTS WITH THE NEEDS OF DRAMATIC STORYTELLING?
Black: I did so much research on this (the upcoming Sean Penn biopic "Milk"). It was years of going up there (San Francisco) and trying to find the real-life people who had been involved in that political scene who were still willing to talk about what had happened. There was some real sadness around some of these folks. It was like they had their father stolen away from them, and they had been trying to get this story told for so long and kind of given up. So that was tough. When the dam finally broke, it was a ton of information. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Obama scores ratings high for CBS, "60 Minutes"
Also on Reuters
Theron joins U.N. fight to end violence against women
Slideshow
California wildfire evacuees return home
Group therapy may extend lives of cancer patients
Editor's Choice
Pictures
Video
Articles
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Bond
Jobs
Precycle
Sports: Pujols wins National League MVP award
Health: Family history key in breast cancer risk
US: "Gulf War Syndrome" is real, report finds
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Recommended
Obama, McCain pledge to work together
Congress takes first step on automaker bailout | Video
McCartney hints at “mythical” Beatles track release
James Bond weekend box office lowered to $67.5 mln
Obama, McCain pledge to work together on reform | Video
Search is on for new Yahoo CEO after Yang steps down | Video
Too little sleep tied to increased cancer risk
Many doctors plan to quit or cut back: survey
Forecasters: U.S. in 14 month recession
How low can oil go? A lot lower, but it'll recover
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Obama, McCain pledge unity
Congress weighs auto bailout
Kennedy returns to work
Talk of the Town: New Beatles song
Exit Strategy
Citi to slash 52,000 jobs
Wildfires encircle Los Angeles
Obama's defense policy
Citi, Japan fan recession fears
Protesters, police clash in Peru
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
pictures
Slideshow
Country Music Awards
Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood and George Strait are the big winners at the CMA awards. Slideshow
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.