Ed Burns' New Movie Wraps Up the Tribeca Film Festival
by Janet Lawler

Ed Burns at Apple Store                                                                              photos by: Janet Lawler

Ed Burns' new indie film Newlyweds ends tonight's 10th Tribeca Film Festival.  It's only fitting. Burns was part of festival's debut in 2001 and remains one of its most popular filmmakers.

Burns recently chatted at the Apple Store as part of its Meet the Filmmaker series.  Packed house.  Seats filled with students, indie filmmakers and admirers.  Several aspiring artists stood up to tell Burns that his first indie movie The Brothers McMullen changed their lives, their college majors, their belief in themselves to make movies.

   Meet the Filmmakers Series

The talk quickly turned geeky (after all, it's the Apple Store).  Burns' shared his tips to newcomers entering the biz: he shot Newlyweds on a Canon 5D (basically a camera that sells for around $2600).  No extra lights.  No makeup or hair crew.  No wardrobe.  His editor cut the film on Burns' desktop with Final Cut.  Bare bones movie making here.  It took twelve days to shoot over four months.  No permits (maybe a couple, he laughed).  "We didn't worry about permits and cops.  My father is a retired NYPD cop anyway.  I would tell them 'Go talk to Sgt. Burns.' 

Scenes were shot on the streets or in public places -- a downtown cafe, restaurant, etc.  Sound recorded on a flash drive.  Burns showed a clip of the movie -- and it looked like a movie!

Meeting new filmmakers

Contest Winner  By Logogo_Boy

Burns is a filmmaker plugged into social media.  Big time.  He ran contests on Twitter asking followers to submit original music or ideas for his next movie poster.  They did.
One lucky artist  won the movie poster contest.  He'll be attending the Newlyweds cast and crew party with Burns at Tribeca this weekend.  Who says Twitter is a waste of time?  Here's Ed's website link http://www.edwardburns.net/

He gives away all trade secrets.  Does he worry about competition?  Some young, hot shot director moving in on his indie turf?  Nah. This Long Island guy would like nothing better than to see fresh movies being made by upstarts.  That's how he made it back in the day.  He hasn't forgotten what it's like to be an outsider looking in.

Ed Burns made it big  -- acting, directing, writing -- he works with Hollywood's top actors and directors, but he isn't clawing to make blockbusters or stay in the box-office rat race.  Not even tempted.

He likes living in NYC with his family and banging out a movie a year for about $25,000.  No big theatrical releases to sweat over.  Those days are gone.  In this digital age, Burns' movies do well online, finding his niche audience through Netflix, VOD, Comcast and Time Warner... and, of course, iTunes. He tapped into that new market a few years back with his indie Purple Violets.  It was released exclusively on iTunes at the time. 

"People said then are you out of your mother-effin' mind?  Nobody will watch a movie on their phone.  That was back in '07," Burns recalled.  "I want to keep making small movies every year.  Stay in the biz.  Making my stories."

Autograph time

Signing a Brothers McMullen poster for a young fan

Burns recalled how years ago, before hitting it big with McMullen, he was walking down the street in New York City and spotted Spike Lee walking right in front of him.  He was a huge fan of Spike Lee, but couldn't muster up enough nerve to stop the director and ask him advice about filmmaking.  Burns says he choked.  "I didn't have the balls to tap Lee on the shoulder that day," he says, explaining why he's quick now to lend an ear to newcomers seeking their way in the biz.

Just one more photo before you go, Ed.

http://www.edwardburns.net/videos/

SIDE NOTES...

Giving a special Shout-Out Thanks to Hot Damn Short Sales for their donation this week here.  We appreciate you supporting The NY Screenwriting Life blog.  We'll keep the posts coming thanks to supporters like you!!

Also looking for a new band to download?  Check out The Wilderness of Manitoba.  They're a Canadian Chamber Folk group that will blow your mind.  Love their music.  Give 'em a listen.  http://www.myspace.com/thewildernessofmanitoba

The Wilderness of Manitoba

Until next time!

SPRING HAPPENINGS

by Janet Lawler

The April showers have let up, but now the high temps are kickin' in big time here in NYC. Whew! My neighbors in Astoria are breakin' out their flip-flops, shorts and sun dresses already -- summer is fast on our heels.  I'm lovin' spring though.  Besides my Easter basket of candy, I got to meet some of my personal writing heroes recently.

Seth Meyers of SNL

First up --Seth Meyers, head writer and anchor of "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live. We met at C-SPAN's studios on Fifth Avenue (where I freelance). Get ready.  Seth has a new Saturday night gig this weekend. He's the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington, DC.  He'll be cracking jokes about Obama with the president sitting right next to him.  Talk about pressure to be funny.

Seth says his SNL gig is his real first-paying job right out of college. Really, Seth Meyers?! Really?? Yes.  NBC plucked him out of his improvisational group fresh after college and he's been working on SNL every since.

Live from New York...

Like most writers, Seth is a procrastinator.  Not good since he has to write a live show every week. (Tina Fey gives credit in her new book "Bossy Pants" to Seth for writing that now classic SNL skit between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.  http://www.hulu.com/watch/34465/saturday-night-live-palin--hillary-open   Seth Meyers is not only super cool, but smart and funny... (and um, tall and handsome) what more could you ask for in a writer? 

Next up -- story consultant and author Jen Grisanti. Jen held her mini-workshop and book-signing at The Drama Book Shop in midtown Manhattan earlier this month. She talked about her new book Story Line: Finding Your Gold in Your Life. She offered a free workshop filled with great tips for writers about writing a log line for your own life (no easy task!) -- digging deep when writing your truth -- and writing about universal themes. Jen also has a podcast on iTunes and a YouTube Channel. She's also on Facebook and Twitter.  She's one busy woman, not to mention genuine and down-to-earth as all get out.  Jen will be back in NYC speaking at the Moviemaker Screenwriting Conference June 11-12 with other speakers like Spike Lee and Marilyn Horowitz.  Sign me up!

Janet and Jen at The Drama Book Shop in Manhattan

Everything I really need to know about screenwriting I learned in kindergarten.  Have you seen this video yet?  It's produced by The Onion.  Very funny... and true on so many levels about writing movies today (and cheesy talk show hosts)  http://clatl.com/screengrab/archives/2011/04/26/fast-five-screenwriter-interview-or-all-i-really-need-to-know-about-screenwriting-i-learned-in-kindergarten

Up next here at the NY Screenwriting Life for May -- Ed Burns' new indie flick Newlyweds and the Tribeca Film Festival.  Until next time, enjoy the leftover Easter  jelly beans... and be careful walking around New York in flip-flops.

PS -- here is the C-SPAN interview with Seth Meyers.  http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1104/meyers_gets_ready_for_big_gig.html

Q&A with screenwriter/producer Angelo Pizzo

Screenwriter Angelo Pizzo

by Janet Lawler 

"Sometimes a winner is a dreamer that just won't quit," from the movie trailer Rudy.

  
Angelo Pizzo is an accomplished screenwriter and producer.  He penned Hoosiers and Rudy. Both films usually make the Top 10 Best Sports Movies of All-Time lists.  The NY Screenwriting Life asked Pizzo about his writing ritual and working with actors Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper.


Hi, Angelo, what is your writing process like on an average day?

Pizzo:  Every day is different, I tend to write in flurries with a lot of time where I anguish about what I'm going to write. the last third of a script I tend to write quickly so there is a momentum (and because a producer is ready to send out a hit team because I'm so late).

You've worked with director David Anspaugh on two movies, Hoosiers and Rudy, how did that relationship come about?

Pizzo:  David and I were good friends and roommates in college.

Your IMDB credits say you were a Second Unit Director on both hit movies mentioned above, would you like to direct a movie?

Pizzo:  I have been attached to many of my scripts as a director, unfortunately have yet to get one greenlit.

A screenwriter needs the human spirit and determination of Rudy to keep believing in themselves after facing rejection, how did you overcome early setbacks in your writing career?

Pizzo:. I was fortunate to get a job in development almost by accident and moved up the ranks as an executive fairly easily. I wrote my first script when I was 33 and it was Hoosiers. We got a lot of rejections over a three year period, but I knew that was part of the process. I learned never to take rejection personally in my prior years as an executive. I observed how it ate up and turned writers, directors, actors and producers bitter and disenchanted. Another truth is it takes a minor miracle for any movie to get made. So many, many factors go into it, most out of one person's control.

Besides your own movies, what sports drama is your favorite?

Pizzo:  Raging Bull, Field of Dreams 

What's it like to be at a table reading with Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper on Hoosiers?

Gene Hackman in Hoosiers

Pizzo:  Dennis was shooting Blue Velvet during our table read. Gene said hardly a word, he saved his comments for me the day before we shot the scenes. He wanted to be fresh and immediate with his takes.

How do prefer to watch movies? DVD, theater or online? 

Pizzo:  I love watching movies in the theater, accept the DVD home experience and refuse to watch anything online.

What's the best advice you can give to a screenwriter trying to make it today in the movie business?

Pizzo:  Write, every day. Don't talk about it, worry about it, complain about it. Do it. Passion, vision, commitment count for a lot. Don't do it because you think there is good money or glamor, or fun or hipness. Write the movie you want to see not what you think other people want to see. And always write from the inside out rather than the outside in.

Thanks, Angelo, for being a good sport and for writing movies that inspire us to keep reaching for our dreams.   

Below are the trailer links for Hoosiers and Rudy.  Rent them (along with The Game of Their Lives) and have yourself an Angelo Pizzo movie marathon.

Until next time. 


Rudy Trailer  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDKOlH0I0nQ
Hoosiers Trailer  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diwRrudKHDU

 

A TRIBUTE TO DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET
Some "Serpico" Scenes Shot Right Here in Astoria
by Janet Lawler

Copyrighted Columbia Pictures   Sidney Lumet

My two favorite movie directors are named Sidney/Sydney.  I love these two guys!

There is Sydney Pollack, who directed movies like "This Property is Condemned" (1966) starring Robert Redford and Natalie Wood (based on a story by Tennessee Williams), "Tootsie", "Out of Africa" "Three Days of the Condor", "Jeremiah Johnson" and "The Firm". This Sydney also made "The Way We Were". Need I say more? Sydney Pollack passed away in 2008 at the age of 73.

My other favorite Sidney is Lumet.  If I name ten of my favorite movies -- many from the 70s -- this Sidney made most of them.  Sadly for us, Sidney Lumet passed away this week at the age of 86.

Image Credit Freestyle Releasing/Everett Collection

I first saw "Serpico" in 1973.  It was about a cop who blows the whistle on corruption inside the NYPD. I saw it while growing up in the Bronx. The grittiness of NYC up on the screen matched the rawness of the city streets I was experiencing. Crime running rampant. Drugs everywhere, destroying a generation. Government failing from local, state, right up to the White House in the 70s.

Sidney captured on film the fear that Americans, and especially New Yorkers, were feeling in that decade like no other -- long before 9/11 introduced us to a new kind of terror.

I live in Astoria, Queens today.  In "Serpico" there is a scene shot under the Hell's Gate Bridge here.  It's one of my favorite scenes in a movie.  It's just two men talking... a police chaplain and a desperate cop... shouting at each other on an overcast day by the East River.  The scene was used during the Oscars when Al Pacino was nominated as Best Actor for that role.  Pacino paces back and forth talking to the Chaplain like a caged animal... trapped... scared... enraged... the final image is of Pacino standing in a wide shot... under this MASSIVE bridge... alone... shouting profanities as the priest turns his back and walks away from him.  The image is haunting.  It says everything with one shot of film.

Al Pacino as Serpico

There were also other key scenes from "Serpico" filmed here in Astoria right on Ditmars Boulevard.  The scene where Serpico is almost shot by two uniform cops who think he's a perp.  They trap him on a side street by a dumpster until he reveals his badge.  Rent this movie if you haven't seen it -- or rent it again if you have.  It's one of Sidney's best movies.  One of Pacino's best too.

Al Pacino & Sidney Lumet

Sidney's next movie "Dog Day Afternoon" was a comedy/crime drama. A perfect blend of lunacy and suspense.  Al Pacino gave a dynamic performance -- after playing the reticent Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" and Frank Serpico in "Serpico" -- Pacino turns flamboyant in this movie, ranting, prancing outside the bank and stealing the show.

Pacino about to chant "Attica!"

The scene where Pacino yells "Attica! Attica! Attica!" outside that bank is amazing... when he kicks the glass door and tells the cops "to put your guns down"... and gays cheer him behind the police barricades... I couldn't believe this was happening in a movie.  What was going on here??

Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon

"Dog Day Afternoon" showed gay and a transsexual character in a way that a mainstream movie hadn't before. Pacino's character sticks up the bank to get money for his transsexual lover's sex change operation. Sidney took on that story (based on a real incident) and directs a spectacular, confined film with heart.

Sidney said in an interview that he sweated over the scene where Pacino talks to his lover over the phone in "Dog Day Afternoon"... it was 1975, remember... because if done badly, that scene would kill the movie for the American audience. The movie would die on the spot.  It didn't. Pacino, Chris Sarandon and Sidney Lumet created a scene that was intimate, uncomfortable, comical and tragic.  Rent it and see for yourself.

What can I say about "Network"?

It's a classic and perhaps more relevant today. Made in 1976, it predicts today's state of journalism and media. It's as if Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky looked into a crystal ball and could see how TV News would change for the worse someday if we weren't careful -- if our news became entertainment for profit -- if corporations ran the evening news -- how we'd change as a collective audience and not for the better. Would we really watch a man blow his brains out on network TV?  Would it get huge ratings then and now?  What do you think?

We're still "mad as hell" like Peter Finch (if not more so today) and still taking it.

Sidney made movies about characters facing outside demons and inner ones and confronting authority. Rent "Prince of the City" or "The Verdict" with Paul Newman as an example of this.  Sidney made small movies (except for The Whiz). He made dramas with razor sharp New York wit and sensibilities. Characters in his movies talked like guys off the streets. His actors looked like guys you knew from your old neighborhood.

Sidney had an authentic eye and voice about New York.  He presented it warts and all.

If you love movies, or wonder how they get made, read Sidney Lumet's book Making Movies. He describes everything from blocking scenes, to rehearsing actors to editing. He lays it all out for us. He gives away his secrets for making magic.  I've read it often (highlighting parts in different colors) because it teaches me something new every time I read it.

There are so many distinct New York directors -- Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Edward Burns, Sydney Pollack, as mentioned above, each present New York City in a different shade of light. Some with romanticism, some with comedy, some with flaws and some with violence. Sidney Lumet is the master though -- the quintessential New York director in my opinion.  His work reflects New York City during the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. He worked in live TV during its Golden Age, the same in film, was a native New Yorker to his core and it showed through his lens with every scene, every syllable and throughout his long legacy of work.  Sixty years of brilliant work.

Sidney Lumet

Sydney Pollack

Thanks, Sidney (and Sydney), for what you guys left us and for what you will continue to teach us through your great movies.  

Until the next time.

Q&A with "Limitless" Screenwriter Leslie Dixon
by Janet Lawler

Does the name Leslie Dixon ring a bell with you? It will if you love movies. Leslie's written the popular movies Hairspray, Freaky Friday, Pay It Forward, The Thomas Crown Affair, Mrs. Doubtfire, Overboard, Outrageous Fortune and now Limitless, still out in theaters.

Limitless opened at #1 at the box office when released in March.

Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star.

The film has a cool premise. A down-on-his-luck writer can't finish his novel, his girlfriend dumps him and his life is spiraling out of control until he takes a new untested drug. This pill allows him to use 100% of his brain power... they say we only use 20% of our brains (and we all know people who use a lot less, don't we?). So what would you do if you could use all your intellect? Learn several languages? Finish that epic script? Play an instrument or two? Or would your use your new found gray matter for power and greed?

Writer Leslie Dixon answers questions for the NY Screenwriting Life.

NY Times film critic A.O. Scott recently said as a screenwriter you're an example of "disciplined productivity" because of your body of work. Do you write every day or are you a binge writer?

"Disciplined productivity" is a total diss, don't you think? Sound like code for "hack" to me. I am writing nothing at the moment. Totally burned out. This movie took a lot out of me and I feel, at the moment, like a shriveled-up husk. (I have, in the past, approached the task with equal parts inspiration and iron will.)

On Limitless you were producer, had consulting rights and director/casting approval -- was adding these responsibilities a blessing or a curse? Would you recommend other writers doing it?

It was good for the end product, but it makes a lot of people hate you. I'm glad I stuck to my guns, but it's bruising.

What's a table reading like with Robert De Niro saying your lines?

Duh.

Double Duh. What book would you give to a friend starting out in screenwriting?

A screenwriting book? I'd say, better to stick to my standard rule: does the reader want to turn the page to the next page? It's a toughie.

Who is the first person you let read your scripts?

Don't remember who the virgin reader was. I was shoving my work under everyone's nose.

How has the screenwriting movie business changed since your early days in Hollywood?

Huge question. Seismic shift after shift -- from corporations owning studios, to the DVD revolution, which kept older moviegoers home (but brought huge profits), to direct download as a method of delivery, the revenues from which still haven't rolled in the way they should. Literacy was already on the way out when I started, so that much is the same! (One of the reasons I wrote "Limitless" was that it gave me an excuse to write a literate lead.)

Would you write for TV if asked?

I love cable shows more than anything, and if I could start my career over, that's where I'd go. That said, I might not have the brutal monomania to be a showrunner.

Do you prefer watching movies at home, in a theater with an audience or online?

I love being with the audience in a real theater. I don't think you can write for the screen if you don't know how a film affects its viewers -- where they laugh, groan with disgust, etc.

Today when you sit down to write you pretty much know that script will become a movie one day. How did you find motivation and discipline to write before selling your work?

I don't for a second presume that what I write will get made. I have a great batting average, but I still strike out. I've written my heart out and been fired. I've done uninspired work and had it instantly greenlit. I had a good feeling about this one, but you never know. (The only way you, a neophyte, can get through a script is to please yourself. You have to love it, or no one else will.)

If channel surfing on a Sunday afternoon, what one movie will you watch again (and again) if it's on?

The usual suspects. Godfather I or II. Dr. Strangelove. Oddly, Mr. & Mrs. Smith has wormed its way onto that list. It's so damn well directed.

What's next on your plate?

Nothing. I may take a year off, I make take forever. I mean it -- I'm fried. Maybe too much "disciplined productivity?" I've been approached to write a novel, and I'm seriously considering it. I'm such an audience whore, it'd probably get shitty reviews and sell.

Thanks, Leslie. We hope you don't really take forever to tackle your next script. Enjoy some rest and relaxation. Or just pop a pill... ;)

Until next time.

Watch the trailer for Limitless here:

INCITING MOMENTS...THAT CHANGE HISTORY
by Janet Lawler

Sean Astin as RUDY

I love true stories.  Don't you?  That's why we watch Jersey Shore or the Real Housewives that only pretend to be true.  It's also why Hollywood produces movies "based on actual events". When we know something really happened, we invest more emotion into that movie or character.

Think about some of the great movies that were based on real people...Rudy, Silkwood, Serpico, Erin Brockovich, and most recently, The Blind Side.  Would we have been as deeply moved if those movies were about made-up characters with the same names?  Doubt it.

True stories.  We love 'em.  I've been on a big documentary kick lately.  If you look at a documentary in the frame work of a movie script, you see many similarities in telling a solid story with structure: intro of characters, a life-changing inciting incident, conflicts, challenges, violence, hope, then the all is lost moments and finally, God willing, victory in the face of defeat.  We appreciate a strong resolution for having taken the emotional ride with these characters.

American Experience on PBS is hitting one documentary after another out of the park this season.  Each one is powerful and gripping.  I recommend them all.  They're about real people, real instances and tell great tales of bravery and the human spirit.

As writers, we can learn from these actual events in history and from individuals who turned disappointment, repression, violence, and blind raging hate into stories about love, redemption and achievement.

Some of the documentaries to air on American Experience are:

Freedom Riders.  This doc marks the 50th anniversary of Original Freedom Riders.  It asks the question Could You Get On the Bus?  Some Americans did.  They were threatened, attacked and beaten... but their courage helped change the civil rights movement.  Freedom Riders is about our American history. These Americans confronted segregation and death to change the law. It airs May 16th on PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/watch

Stonewall Uprising.  Today with the political debate for marriage equality discussed openly on TV, we forget what gay Americans endured before the gay rights movement: shock treatments, mind-altering drugs, lobotomy, public service announcements denouncing homosexuals, beatings, excommunication, depression, and repression under the law.

Gays growing up in the 40s, 50s, even 60s were arrested, threatened and hunted.  We talk about bullying today in our high schools, but wait until you see what occurred less than just twenty or thirty years ago to gay youths.  There was no coming out then, unlike today.  There was only in.  Hiding for your life.  Stonewall Uprising shows what gay Americans long accepted until on June 28, 1969 when the gay community experienced what one Village Voice reporter who was at the scene called its "Rosa Parks moment" and said no more.  On that June night, when the N.Y.P.D. invaded the Mafia-owned gay bar at the Stonewall Inn  and began handcuffing gays and lesbians for dancing on a Friday night... all hell broke loose.

For the first time ever, gays and lesbians banded together and refused to be led off to jail... it set off a three-day riot in Greenwich Village.  It's the inciting moment that launched the gay rights movement as we know it today.  Stonewall changed the tide.  Pride would overcome shame from city to city across the country.  Stonewall in 1969 wasn't about one night of police harassment in a gay bar.  It wasn't about homosexuals being upset on Judy Garland's funeral day.  It was instead about decades of abuse, hatred and fear rising up and turning on its oppressor.  We see it happening today all over the world.  Stonewall Uprising airs on Monday, April 25th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZUZKtko4R0&feature=related

Great job, American Experience and PBS!  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/schedule/

On a screenwriting side note, soon we'll have Q&A's with top screenwriters Leslie Dixon (Limitless and Mrs. Doubtfire) and Angelo Pizzo (Rudy and Hoosiers).

Rudy!  Rudy!  Rudy!  Yes, we really do love true stories.

Until next time.

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield 

GET OFF YOUR LAZY DUFF... AND DO THE WORK ALREADY
by Janet Lawler

No more excuses... reach your goals... pursue that dream... but one thing you must do first -- Do the Work. 

That's the title of Steven Pressfield's new book Do the Work (I added the lazy duff part as a warning to myself).

He previously wrote The War of Art which I've read a million times.  I give copies to friends. The War of Art is a short book with a powerful punch if you're looking to overcome procrastination, fear and resistance in accomplishing what you want out of life.

You might still procrastinate after reading The War of Art, but at least you'll know why... and steps to overcome it.

Steve's new book Do the Work comes out in April.  For a short time, you can read the digital edition of this bestselling author's new book for free via the Domino Project.  Cool. We like free books!

GE is sponsoring Steve's book (which means GE's picking up the cost to get free copies out to you -- the reader). 

You can go to Amazon and pre-order your free copy for your Kindle today.  (Man, I gotta buy me a Kindle soon!) It gets auto-delivered on April 20th.  The regular version sells for $12.99 (without discounts).  http://www.amazon.com/Do-the-Work-ebook/dp/B004PGO25O/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1301000199&sr=8-1

We all need motivation and insights on how to keep moving forward with our creative work and every day goals.  Steve Pressfield has overcome his own failures to reach success in his work and life -- he wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance and many other novels -- even one solid tip from Steve could be the gem you're looking for to finally pursue your goal.  Check out Steve's website at http://www.stevenpressfield.com/

The NY Screenwriting Life will review Do the Work in the coming weeks.

Until next time.

A CHAT WITH MOVIE CRITIC ALISON BAILES
By Janet Lawler

Hi Alison, thanks for joining us at The NY Screenwriting Life.  In a nutshell, can you tell us what you've been up to lately?

I write for More Magazine.....two very short film reviews a month....I am a contributing critic on Roger Ebert's new show "Ebert presents at the movies on PBS where my first piece just aired www.ebertpresents.com

  

and I'm soon to start work reviewing for a new website/content provider called Buzz60.  In addition, I just launched my own website www.alisonbailes.com

where I blog and review as much as I can find the time for!

How many movies do you generally see a week?

Not as many as I should!!  I'm constantly feeling that I should see more.....so many new releases as well as catching up on all the stuff I've missed. But I have young kids so I try not to be out every night. Probably about 6 a week?  Although Monday I saw 4 and yesterday 3. So this week it will be 9 or 10.

Is your process as a movie critic more cerebral or visceral?  For instance, do you take notes when first watching a movie you're about to review?  Do you see it more than once before reviewing it?
I do take notes as I find I like to be reminded of dialogue or plot points that strike me as interesting when I later write. I always swear that I will turn the review around the next day....but I don't, cos I'm a procrastinator, so I'm often writing a review weeks after seeing the film. The notes come in handy, if I can read them!  The lasting memory of a film tends to be visceral. I very rarely have time to see a film more than once unfortunately.
  
How important is story in reviewing a movie?  Is that the first element you notice missing or evident more than the directing, acting, etc?

Bad acting is the first thing that ruins a film.  I can't get beyond it. Directing has to be pretty amateurish to ruin a good film if there's a good story compellingly told. I am a stickler for story. It has to be believable for me.....suspending disbelief is OK in very small doses. Sometimes when I find a plot hole then that casts a pall over the memory.  There is something in "Hanna" that I couldn't quite accept, so in my mind the film is tainted, even though it's a great action thriller with amazing performances and a killer soundtrack!!

What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters who will be writing movies for the next generation of moviegoers?
Write what you know and KISS (Keep it simple, stupid).  Invaluable advice. Even Christopher Nolan who twisted our minds with "Inception" started with "Following"....a more or less simple story.

What summer flick are you most looking forward to seeing soon?

Yikes!! what is there again? I don't care about Transformers or Xmen sequels. I'm pretty much over anything with superheroes at this point. I'm equally unexcited about the Pirates repeat. However I loved the last Harry Potter, so I'm looking forward to how they wrap it all up (didn't read the books, so I don't know!).  I'm really looking forward to Steve Coogan in "The Trip", Terrence Malick's new film, and yes, "The Hangover 2".  I've seen a few of the smaller films coming soon and some good ones are "Pom presents: the greatest film ever sold" from Morgan Spurlock and "A better life" from Chris Weitz.  And because I read the book and liked it.....am interested in seeing what they did with "The Help".

Do you prefer watching a movie in a theater with an audience or at home on Pay-Per-View, Netflix or on DVD?

I rarely watch with a "real" audience.  Mostly it's with a bunch of other critics who tend to be respectful and quiet. I have been spoiled. When I do go to the movies I am appalled at the noise, smells and rudeness of fellow movie goers.  I love to be on my sofa, but it's not as conducive to paying attention 100% so I do try and make it to the screenings.  On Demand is great if you miss the press screenings.

And finally, Alison, do you ever text during a movie? ;)

WHO would answer yes to this question?  I would never text. I don't even look at my phone. But funnily enough, my babysitter had an emergency on Monday and  called me right before a film. I did then check my phone to make sure things were OK.  I felt TERRIBLE about it....and did it under my seat with my hand over the screenlight.  There were only two other people in the screening room but that's no excuse. People who let their phones light up, or tap away at them shouldn't be in the movie. If you can't give the film your attention, then you shouldn't bother to watch it in the first place. No one can multi-task that well.  Everyone can have the occasional emergency. But people who email thru the whole film should know better. 

Thanks, Alison, for taking time out to participate with The NY Screenwriting Life.  

Check out Alison Bailes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ALISONBAILES

and don't text at the movies!

Until next time.

PURGING ON PAPER...
by Janet Lawler

Have you ever wanted to write about your own life?  Come on, you know you have! Maybe turn it into a movie or book?  We all have a story to tell, right?  It takes courage to tell the truth... the raw truth... but we can do it honestly and yet fictionalize it to reach an audience.

I just finished reading Jen Grisanti's new book Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story.  If you're considering putting your life down on paper, read Grisanti's book first.  It guides a writer through creating a "log line for your life" just like a movie log line, drawing from your truth without shame or fear, writing about universal themes and moments that will hook your audience emotionally.

Isn't that what makes us want to read a new book or go see a movie?  We want to feel something... learn something... feel connected to others... to know we're not alone.

Being able to write about a real incident is terrifying.  How factual must we be?  Will we hurt someone's feelings?  Do we have to write it exactly as it happened?  Will we wind up on Oprah's show defending our truth, sentence by sentence?

Relax.  Grisanti's book frees up the writer to pull from that gritty reality but disguise it in fiction within a solid story foundation (structure).

Jen Grisanti has a track record in the TV industry.  She worked for Spelling Television as a creative executive during its "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place" days.  Spelling was her mentor and boss.  She went on to become VP of Current Programs at CBS/Paramount.  In 2008, she left that post (when her contract wasn't renewed, which she writes about with candor) and decided to start her own consultancy business Jen Grisanti Consultancy (during the start of the Great Recession).  Now that takes courage!

Grisanti's brand is "Developing from Within".  She explains how scripts, plays, novels can be more meaningful to an audience, and to us as the creator, by digging deep into our past and having the strength to reveal what we've survived.  Universal moments -- divorce, a parent dying, losing a job, battling illness -- are dilemmas most of us can relate to on some level.  Through that loss and pain, we can help others.

Many people find a great Act 3 after a devastating Act 2.

I recently ran into a woman I hadn't seen in about four years.  She looked freakin' FANTASTIC!  New hairstyle and color, stylish outfit and she had dropped 50 pounds... I kept telling her how amazing she looked... what was her secret?  She laughed and said she got divorced. "I like my independence," she beamed.  Well, does she ever... she found a new love and an entire new outlook about herself and life.  The back story was: her husband cheated on her, she took him back (they had two young sons); he cheated again and she finally threw the bum out! This woman needs to write her life story, pronto!  Talk about The Good Wife.

Gristanti's book Story Line touches on stories like above -- in movies and real life.   We've all had our "all is lost" moments.  So how do we go on?  How do we pick up the pieces?  Set new goals?  Often renewal and transformation comes after we hit that brick wall... when we're forced to change direction to survive.

And, we can also write about it.  Purge it on paper.  Truth can elevate fiction, Grisanti notes.  I'm currently writing a play about my sister.  She died at 37 after battling drug abuse since her teenage years.  It's excruciating... it's painful... it's an all up hill battle for me... but I know my sister's story deserves to be told... maybe it will save one young girl from turning to drugs. 

Grisanti's book is a worthy read for my project.  I'm floored by her raw honestly in every chapter.  She never holds back about her own "all is lost" moments... her husband's infidelity, her divorce, her climb up the corporate ladder in Hollywood, what that career cost her, losing her job in her 40s, being single again and having to reinvent herself by starting her own business from scratch.  Wow.  The good news -- she's in a better place for having traveled that path.  It's all there on the page.  She writes without trying to sugar coat events or protect her "corporate image".  Most people would need a glass of wine or two to open up this way.  Grisanti's story and experiences touched me deeply as a reader and writer... the whole point of the book.

I've long followed Grisanti through her podcast Story Wise which is available for free on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jen-grisanti-consultancy/id315874121.  On her podcast she interviews top Hollywood writers and producers.  I really like Grisanti's style -- warm, insightful, fun and yet structured.  She pulls gems out of these writer/producers weekly for her audience to learn from.  An hour with Story Wise is time well invested.

So the next time life kicks your butt, start taking notes.  When the stakes are high, when you're facing insurmountable odds, breathe, and remember that setbacks force us into new directions, for a reason.

Attention to my NYC Bloggers... mark those calendars... Jen Grisanti will be at the Drama Book Shop (one of my favorite places!) on April 15th from 5-6:30 PM for a book signing.  Also she'll be giving a Screenwriting Conference for Movie Maker Magazine June 11 &12th.  Check her out!

Happy St. Patrick's Week!

IS FACEBOOK KEEPING YOU FROM WORKING?

My longtime friend, Barbara, and I were recently talking about how hard it is for writers to concentrate on our writing routines because of Facebook and other social media. 

It has always been a challenge to find the discipline to park it in a chair and get pages out.  We're bombarded with distractions that come in the form of friends, family, kids, pets, iPod, iPad, iPhone, cable TV, the DVR (gotta watch Modern Family!) and so on.

But these days it's even worse for a serious writer to focus on getting work done -- because we're  writing on a darn computer!  Talk about temptation at your fingertips (and eyeballs).

My desktop is connected to the Internet.  So is my laptop.  When I get stuck writing a scene, sometimes I take a break by checking my e-mail, or visiting Facebook, or checking Twitter, or seeing if there are any new jobs posted on LinkedIn that I really should know about... then I somehow wind up over on the news websites... because hey, there's a lot of important news going on (Lindsay Lohan really stole a necklace?!) and before I know it, there I am over at YouTube watching Christina Aguilera flub the National Anthem but doing one spectacular job during rehearsals.  Go figure.

So you see how easy it is to get sidetracked from writing a script or blog post.  Like the Lady Antebellum lyrics say "This world keeps spinning faster to a new disaster" so what happens if we're not online for that breaking news moment, that Sarah Palin Tweet or the latest dancing-baby-in-the-car-seat viral video?  Can we stand to be out of the loop on the next big thing?

Social media is like crack -- a hard habit to break once you post that very first status update.  You're hooked -- and your life is never the same.

I think writers are especially prone to social media because deep down we feel like nerds -- word geeks -- loners.  We write solo, usually leading solitary lives when we're creating (except for those few scribes who can write at Starbucks while the ice blender whirls on high speed.)  So for us geeks who find ourselves alone in our apartments or writing rooms -- checking in with friends on Facebook is a life line of sorts.  A social life line if you will.  We're letting people know, yes, we're still breathing, still alive, but working hard.  So don't bother us.

Here's a radical concept.  What would happen if I unplugged, deactivated my Facebook account tomorrow?  Stopped tweeting?  Would the world end?  Would people even notice I was gone? Would I ever hear from friends again, or worse, make any new ones? 

The great writers before new media were able to write masterpieces without a WiFi connection.  So should we. Imagine how much more productive we'd be without Twitter, Facebook and the Huffington Post popping up in our faces all day?  (Arianna Huffington just signed a $315 million dollar deal with AOL -- I'm helping that woman get richer with every click!  I should get a cut of that $315 mill.)

Granted, social media didn't hurt Aaron Sorkin none.  He wrote a movie about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg.  Sorkin is nominated for an Oscar this year for best adapted screenplay ("The Social Network").  Yet, he claims to not be on Facebook anymore... that he just "created his account while writing the script".  Don't you just hate successful, Oscar-nominated, disciplined guys like that?  (Just to tempt you, here is a profile on Aaron Sorkin from last week's CBS Sunday Morning   http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6920021n&tag=related;photovideo )

I guess like yoga and banking -- social media is all about balance. Don't overindulge online or offline or you will pay the piper.  It's all about finding your inner will and focus to write even if it's just for an hour between profile updates.

Until next time.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica photo by Carolina Correa

YEARBREAK

This is the first day of this year that I've had a chance to focus on the blog again. Sorry for the delay. The holidays were crazy busy. Santa surprised me with a gift to Jamaica from January 8th-14th. Wow! We experienced the country from a local's perspective (thanks, Kenisha and family!!) and then spent days at an all-inclusive resort (with endless theme nights, free beverages and buffets).

Jamaica is paradise, especially in wintertime. I went snorkeling for the first time. The ocean water was crystal clear and cool. I saw some colorful and strange fish eye to eye. I couldn't believe I was lying on a white sand beach in the middle of the week, in January, while NY was being dumped on with yet another snow storm. Glad we missed that one. Nothing like a vacation in the Caribbean to start the year off right (and a nip of Jamaican Rum). Yeah mon, no problem.

We returned home to very sad news. My friend of twenty-three years, Anna Volino, passed away while I was out of the country. I didn't receive word until we touched down at JFK airport seven days later. I still can't believe it.

Anna and I hadn't seen each other in a few years (I live in NYC and she lived upstate), but we always kept in touch through e-mails, Facebook and phone calls. She was like a kid sister to me. When my own sister, and my mother passed away, Anna was one of my first friends knocking at my front door. She always showed up when needed most. That's a true friend. She was such a great person with an even greater, infectious laugh. She loved TV, movies and pop culture. We always had lots to talk about. I'll miss Anna very much.

Anna was only 43. She died from a heart attack. How could this happen? She was too young to leave us this soon. Losing a close friend like Anna -- in such a sudden, unexpected way -- reminds me how important it is to follow our dreams, make time for others in our life and to be thankful for every day on earth. Life is short, indeed.

Make it your goal to live large in 2011-- I know I am -- for Anna and for every loved one we've lost. We owe it to them and to ourselves to embrace life every day. Speak through your art, any way you can. Now. Today. Don't put it off for tomorrow.

That's a message I took home from Jamaica -- a third world country -- don't waste resources, count your blessings, dance to the music while you can and be happy. Good motto.

Have a brilliant new year!


Until next time.

... BRING ON 2011

New Year's Eve, Times Square

Another twelve months gone?  Seriously?  Just like that?  In a blink?  

So I flipped through my planner to see what I actually accomplished from January to December of 2010.  (I don't keep a journal anymore, just a daily planner to jot down events, meetings and experiences from the day.)  What do you know?  2010 was a fairly good year.

I blogged a lot more.  Hope you enjoyed it here.

I had my second play Extreme Green produced in Florida and New York City.  Fun times -- worked with some great NY theater folks at Thespian Productions.

I met or got to see in person some of my heroes: Edward Burns, Thelma Schoonmaker, James Taylor, Carole King, and Bono.  Not bad.

I worked out pretty regularly.  Surprising!

There was even an opportunity for travel -- from sunny Florida in winter to the southwest of Arizona in the spring to camping on the beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina in summer to an autumn drive to the heartland of Indiana.  It was a great year for visiting family, enjoying the company of friends and road trips!

How about you?  Was it a good year?  Did you write that script yet or get closer to your dream of writing it?  I like looking back on my planner to see when I write most, the projects I worked on and the ebb and flow of my process.  There were some dry spells, but overall, I keep plugging away on some story, play or script.  Keep a record yourself -- to see when you're most prolific, and if not, what's getting in your way?

If you need some written inspiration, check out this website to read free screenplays online http://www.screenplays-online.de/

And finally, with this being my final post for '10, I want to thank all of you for following The NY Screenwriting Life for another year.  Five years!  Big thanks to those readers who take a moment to email me with a shout out about the blog.  It's awesome to know you're all out there... and that I'm not writing in a void.

I hope all your dreams come true in '11.  That you have love, good health, success and passion. Who could ask for more?  Maybe a good agent would be nice.

Happy 2011, everyone!!  Toot your horn!  Sip champagne.  Now it's off to the madness of Times Square shortly.  I'll post video or pictures in the New Year!

Until next year...

USING IMPROVISATION AND EMOTIONAL STRUCTURE IN YOUR NEXT SCRIPT...

Creative Screenwriting: Understanding Emotional Structure is a new book out by Christina Kallas.  It will get you thinking about movies -- and your scripts -- in a fresh way.

writer/producer Christina Kallas

Kallas is a screenwriter, producer and academic.  She's also the President of the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe.   

She presented a lab recently held by the Writer's Guild of America, East. 

Kallas champions writing emotion and imagery in your stories.  Plot points are important, but so is  emotion.  We've all seen movies that were supposed to move us, but somehow didn't quite accomplish what it set out to do.  That's why movies rely so heavily on musical scores to manipulate our feelings -- have you really LISTENED to a romantic comedy lately?  Not watched it, but listened... the music takes our hand and leads us along to make sure we're getting the message.

Kallas suggests a writer excite his imagination by turning to Improvisation.  I know about improv when it comes to acting class or stand-up comedy, but screenwriting?

She gave a great example in the lab.  Two actors, male and female, were given key information about a scene. The information was a young couple was divorcing (the relationship), they have a three year old son involved in a custody battle (goal), and the husband has returned to their home to retrieve "his books" (action).  Haven't we all ended relationships and had to go divvy up all the books and CDs before parting ways?  Not a pretty scene.  Talk about emotions and subtext.  Kallas had the male actor leave the room and she told the female actor that her motivation (action) was to get the husband to get violent (for custody points).  The male actors returned and was told his key emotion was anger.  Begin scene...

What resulted was completely unexpected by us in the audience and Kallas.  The actors started out angry, bickering, name-calling, swearing, but then soon softened, joked easily and reconciled right before our eyes.  It was amazing.  The dialogue was rich, spontaneous and deeply emotional.  Actors have to remain truthful in order to reach an audience, as does the writer.  Emotion and truth.

The point of the exercise?  To be innovative, creative and open to your scene with actors (or friends) and see what develops from the main situation.  We tend to get to locked into our beat sheets, outlines and rigid notes. Improvisation is a way to see a scene come to life in an authentic way... you may use what you hear or toss it away, but you will get some direction from the actors interpreting your work.

In this example above, the husband was so set on getting "his books" because he revealed later that he's lonely staying in a hotel room twelve blocks away from his family... and reading is his only salvation under the circumstances.  The actress/wife quipped "Read the Bible".  It got a big laugh.  

I recommend Creative Screenwriting: Understanding Emotional Structure.  Be warned, it's not a breezy read -- you'll need to have read several screenwriting books before getting this one.  It refers to Aristotle, Plato and all the classic screenwriting mechanics and theories.  But, it should make it's way on your writing shelf along with books by Syd Field, Linda Seger, Michael Hauge and Robert McKee. 

The book is available at Amazon and at www.palgrave-usa.com and www.palgrave-com in the UK and the rest of the world.

Go tackle your scripts with images, thematic richness and feeling.

Nice Guy Johnny by Edward Burns

Which reminds me...  one of my favorite filmmakers is Edward Burns.  I had the pleasure of meeting him this year at a Tribeca Film Festival event and he couldn't have been sweeter. Support his new indie movie Nice Guy Johnny (I liked it) -- it's available to rent this week only for .99 cents at iTunes!!
Here's the trailer.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBT00dP43_k

Until next time.

THE ACADEMY...

So, did you hear?  Anne Hathaway and James Franco will co-host the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th.   Cool.  Maybe that's just what the Academy Awards needs... some new blood and fresh air.

It's the same with the movie industry... it desperately needs new blood and new voices.   I only think about "the Academy" (the one everyone thanks in their acceptance speeches) a few times a year -- about who will host the show, who they'll honor, who they'll nominate, and finally, who will they award those precious little statues to next year.

But, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does many more things year round... especially for screenwriters.  Here is a compilation of sound advice from seasoned screenwriters about the art and craft of screenwriting.  These videos are produced by the Academy to inspire new writers.  Many more videos are available to watch on the Academy's website  http://www.oscars.org  The advice is insightful... writers who appear in this video were nominated for the Oscar or won.
http://www.oscars.org/video/watch/screenwriters_advice.html

One of my favorite screenwriters is Callie Khouri, whose first script won her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1991...  she wrote Thelma & Louise. 

So check out the Academy's website now and not just in February when you download the list of nominees for your office Oscar pool.  The Academy is working hard to dazzle you, movie lovers and writers, not just on Oscar Night.

Enjoy, take notes... and start planning that Oscar party.  Who will you be wearing?

Until next time.

EXTREME GREEN...    

"You're nothing but a radical with a rake!" a NYC land owner says to a young farmer who is caught trespassing on his vacant lot with hopes of planting a garden.

The play starred Michael Soldati (as Paul) and Cris Morales (as Adesh). This one-act comedy by playwright Janet Lawler and director Chrysta Naron received 3 performances as part of Thespian Production's Year End Event III.  The show was recorded on Joria Productions' Main Theater on November 6, 2010.

Enjoy some highlights from the performance..  and continue to  Dream Green!  

CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO WATCH VIDEO... (warning: some explicit language)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cQapLlUIwI

A PLAY IN BLOOM

Scene from the one-act play Extreme Green by Janet Lawler

Well, I survived my play being performed and so did the audience.

Extreme Green premiered in NYC this past weekend in a Thespian Productions Showcase.  It went very well.  Whew!  Live theater is one nail-biting event.  So many things can go wrong (and right) and the playwright just has to sit there and trust his actors and director. 

Extreme Green is about a NYC land owner who deeply resents it when a young, idealistic farmer decides to grow vegetables on his vacant lot.  It's a social comedy... about the local food movement.

The audiences really related to it, especially about buying organic, local and cage-free and experiencing the recent food movement in our country as a revolution!  In the play, Adesh, the land owner refers to Paul, the young farmer, as a "radical with a rake".

The play was directed by Chrysta Naron, who did an amazing job.  The actors (Michael Soldati and Cris Morales) received great feedback, especially on their final show.  Thanks to them both for giving hours of rehearsal time and three performances.  With just twenty minutes together on stage, they convinced the audiences -- as extremely different as they are as characters/actors -- that they could unite for a better cause (growing an organic vegetable garden)... while also making a fast buck doing it.

Many people have asked me where I got the idea for the play.

I read about an idealistic group in NYC who were throwing seeds on vacate lots in the city (to grow flowers and beautify empty lots) but it was a problem when those lots didn't belong to them.  Did these do-gooders have the right to transform lots without permission from the land owners?

And, thus, the play was born.

What's next for Extreme Green?  Well, I just might shoot it as a short film come spring.  It will also be performed in more community theaters.  Somehow, I see the play moving forward.

It seems a play destined to bloom further.

Big thanks to all who spent their hard-earned "cash flow" on tickets to see my play (especially in these tough times) and for supporting Off-Broadway arts.

It was an incredible weekend in a tiny theater.

Until next time.

For those interested in Extreme Green for their theaters, workshops or student drama clubs please visit:
http://www.productionscripts.com/janet-lawler-extreme-green-p-461.html