The Dialogue

I've been watching an extremely inspiring series of DVDs called THE DIALOGUE: LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS. A buddy of mine suggested I check them out some time ago but I've only just recently seen volumes one and two show up on netflix.

If you're at all interested in how movies get made, I highly recommend them.

There are (currently) 27 discs in the series and each one features an interview with an A-list screenwriter or screenwriting team. The scribes chat very casually with an interviewer about the craft of screenwriting and about their own individual process, but also manage to slip in the occasional story about how they got started or what it's like working in Hollywood. Very interesting and very, very informative.

Unlike other profile-type interviews with filmmakers, the discs in this series have managed to keep me engaged all the way through. Each one is between 80 and 90 minutes long and the host, Mike DeLuca, keeps things moving without too many interruptions. In fact, DeLuca is a big reason why I enjoy them so much (in addition to being a movie fanatic, DeLuca has been President of Production for New Line Cinema, Dreamworks and Sony and has worked as a screenwriter, producer and/or executive on films like SE7EN, BOOGIE NIGHTS, ZATHURA, DARK CITY, FREDDY'S NIGHTMARE and GHOST RIDER to name a few). DeLuca's bedside manner comes across as low-key, natural and entertaining.

I've seen three discs so far (Paul Haggis, Nia Vardalos and Stuart Beattie) and will likely purchase the Stuart Beattie one.

Concerning the Writer's Strike

For those interested, there's lots of good dialogue about it over on Craig Mazin's blog.

Festival Gems

Back from Texas (and feeling much too exhausted after my first day back at work . . . )

Viewed quite a few interesting films over the course of the weekend but felt that the following warranted a special shout-out:

In the realm of narrative features:

JUNO (narrative feature directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody). In my opinion, the best written and most entertaining of the very few films I managed to see. Wouldn't be surprised to see it get Oscar attention.

RESERVATION ROAD (directed by Terry George, written by John Burnham Schwartz and Terry George). Intense and sometimes difficult-to-watch drama. Very well-done.

KABLUEY (narrative feature written and directed by Scott Prendergast). Small in scope but delightfully warm and funny.

Documentaries for me are often notoriously difficult to sit through, but I really liked TIME PIECE by UK director Kat Mansoor. Also, over the course of the weekend, I heard a lot of great things about CHASING THE DREAM, a documentary about eight high school surfers seeking a career in professional surfing. Really wish now that I had been able to find a way to squeeze that one in.

In the category of animated shorts, I have to list as my favorites OVER THE HILL (Peter Baynton) and THE PEARCE SISTERS (Luis Cook). There is also lots to like in ZOOLOGIC (by Nicole Mitchell) and YOURS TRULY (Osbert Parker).

Off to AFF . . .

I'll be in Texas this weekend for the 14th Annual Austin Film Festival.

I look forward to attending. My brother plans to meet me there, and the entire event is considered by many in the film industry to be one of the more informative (and enjoyable) festivals for writers and filmmakers.

If any other writers - professional or aspiring - plan to be in town between the 11th and the 15th, let me know . . .

Hammered

This year, I'm reminded of just how subjective screenwriting competitions can be.

Behold the carnage . . .

The 2007 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

Received the oft-discussed "top 10%" email (this means that my script finished among the top 508 out of this year's 5,050 entries).

While being part of the top ten percent at Nicholl is very respectable, I cannot help feeling as if I've lost a bit of ground. In 2005, an early draft of the same script finished in the top 15% and last year a rewrite finished in the top 6% (missing the quarterfinals by less than one percent).

Austin Film Festival 2007

Submitted two very different scripts this year but neither advanced.

The results here were especially disappointing, mainly because the exact same script advanced to the second round of last year's competition. It' also unfortunate because I'm scheduled to attend the festival this year and having "second rounder", "semifinalist" or "finalist" on one's badge reportedly gains the attendee instant credibility with fellow writers and other industry types.

The 9th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition
This is my first time submitting to Scriptapalooza, despite its fast-growing reputation as one of the more respected competitions. I received an email from them in August letting me know that my script advanced to the quarterfinals (top 311 out of 3519 entries) but heard nothing after that. Ultimately, I had to visit the website to see this year's results (I did not, by the way, advance to the semifinals).

The 2007 (9th Annual) Cynosure Screenwriting Awards
Originally, I approached this contest with a high degree of skepticism, but was intrigued by the contest's unique angle of limiting the field of entries to scripts featuring strong female protagonists. Against my better judgement, I elected to gamble the entry fee. My instincts were confirmed, unfortunately, when I

a. failed to receive confirmation of my entry and
b. never received a single letter, phone call or email from the contest administrators regarding the competition or status of my entry

Eventually I dropped by the website to view the semifinalists (a list in which my script was not included).

As discouraging as the above results are, the year wasn't all bad. After countless unreturned telephone calls from entertainment attorneys, producer's assistants and agents over the last three years, I did manage to get my work in front of some fairly important people. While networking at a Women in Film event, my wife passed one of my scripts on to some creative executives at a mid-sized production company and after meeting with a highly respected attorney in Beverly Hills, I managed to submit a project (via his office) to an A-list producer.

Rochelle's Moviewatch!

Two sample film reviews:


"Hot Fuzz" (2007) directed by Edgar Wright

Summary: A London "supercop" faces boredom and frustration when he is reassigned (against his will) to a sleepy little village in the country. But things get interesting for the sergeant and his dim-witted constable when a rash of fatal "accidents" strike the hamlet . . .

Things I Liked: The film's style and the very solid direction. The camera work expertly evokes (and parodies) the action-filled, big-budget police movies we Americans adore. I found the characters and the relationships between them to be very interesting but I did not in a million years expect the film's story to have as much depth and complexity as it did.

Things I Disliked: The title. The film is funny but the humor is not nearly as pervasive as the humor in SHAWN OF THE DEAD. Wright could have wrapped things up ten minutes earlier and I still would have been satisfied.

Three and one half stars out of five stars





The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) Directed by William Wyler

Summary: Three WWII veterans struggle to adapt following their return home to small town America.

Things I Liked: The characters. The fluid manner in which director William Wyler juggles multiple storylines, all the while managing to keep each one interesting. Excellent performances by Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, Fredric March and Hoagy Carmichael. Worthy of every one of the seven (7!) Oscars it won.

Things I Disliked: The delayed climax made me more aware of the film's running time than I otherwise would have been.

Three stars out of five stars



Moviewatch Ratings Legend:

One Star: Hated it
Two Stars: Didn't like it
Three Stars: Liked it
Four Stars: Really liked it
Five Stars: Loved it




I write these little five-minute reviews primarily to help me analyze the films I watch. I purposely posted here an older film along with a more recently released one in order to reinforce the importance of watching films from all eras.

Composing reviews in this way serves two purposes. One, it forces me to find the good in something I might otherwise not care for. A lot of hard work goes into making a film -- even a bad one -- and this is a much less critical and/or negative way for me to comment on the strengths and/or weaknesses of the film (in fact, I'll even go so far as to say that even the worst movies have something to like about them). Secondly (and most usefully), writing down what I think works and what doesn't has really, really helped me understand the visual storytelling process better.

Disney's Big Decision

Disney recently announced their pledge to ban smoking in it's films. According to the news, they are the first major studio to do so, and anti-smoking groups have applauded the decision.

While I find Disney's attempts at being socially conscious to be commendable, I worry that they're merely pandering to families and that, ultimately, the company's mission of telling the "best story possible" will suffer from the creation of such restrictions. To quote Robert McKee: Stories are metaphor for life and in real life, people smoke.

Some of the most interesting people I've known are smokers. People in my family smoke. The fact that a person smokes, or even the way that a person smokes, often leads to a much richer characterization of that person. And where does it stop? Will studios next eliminate all overweight characters from their films? After all, being heavy is not exactly the best thing for one's health, and according to many studies, overeating is addictive and obesity in children is on the rise.

While it is unfortunate that parents appear to be doing a worse job of raising their children than ever before, I have never felt that it's the responsibility of a major corporation to do it. As a child, I watched countless films featuring smoking children (PAPER MOON) and teens (THE BAD NEWS BEARS) and never once felt the urge to try it. Not once. And you know what? Neither did most of my peers, many of whom watched the same movies and grew up with smoking parents, friends and celebrities as role models.

What worries me most are the rumors that Disney plans to go into it's vaults and erase any and all smoking from their classic films. The cigarette-rolling scene in Disney's PECOS BILL animated short has already been digitally altered and the character's actions now make no sense whatsoever.

I simply cannot imagine Cruella de Ville without that beautifully insidius wreath of toxin about her head. And it frightens me how the studio's banning of tobacco might affect that endearingly flawed - but very human - character of Wilhelmina Bertha Packard in ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE.

One more thing: I can't be the only parent out there who uses the moviegoing experience as just another tool to discuss alcohol, drugs, swearing and smoking with my "little roommates". What will these parents talk about when every film features perfectly unrealistic, overly sanitized human beings?

And as human beings, are we not beautiful in our imperfection?