So if you can't afford USC Film School you can still feel like you are there if you give this podcast a listen. Starting in 2007 the podcast has interviews from some of the most influential writers, directors and producers of the last century.
I decided to listen to them while at work. I take a note here or there when something really clicks but I feel like if I want to be a serious filmmaker I need to surround my self with the language and the tools of a filmmaker, learning from those who have paved the road before me is just one of the ways I walk my path towards filmmaking success.
Check them all out by clicking
here.
Here are my personal notes from the
Mark Fergus 2007 USC Interview. His works include “Children of Men” and “IronMan. Check out his
full IMDB page here and keep in mind I typed these while listening......
HOW HE GOT HIS START:
·
being HBO script analyst training helped him
become a better full time screenwriter
·
found niche by tackling projects no one else
would
·
Writing spec script at Showtime focusing on what
he thought everyone else wanted to buy, but when he focused on the script he
wanted to make to please himself & writing partner
·
found writing partner Hawk Otsby; but they live
in separate locations but it works for them
COLLABORATION:
·
Collaborators should make you think beyond where
you are and should make your ideas get better
·
You have to be open to letting people challenge
your ideas and be able to look at them in a different way
·
Also if you agree that any of their ideas make
it better, when you incorporate them, you give them a stake in the project.
They believe in you and the project more
WRITING PARTNER:
·
Take turns doing outline, first draft, second
draft, etc.
·
Collaboration worked so well that they decided
to be represented together
·
Likes the surprise of seeing what they come up
with separately and are able to fix each other’s mistakes
SCREENWRITING:
·
Biggest revelation, non-verbal is more important
than what is verbally happening in your script
·
Trust your gut, it can deliver better than your
brain when writing
·
Director, Jon Favreau liked working with Fergus and Otsby so much he hand-picked them
to write on Iron Man
·
You must finish what you started. Deadline and pressure is screenwriter’s best
friend.
·
Collaboration opportunities can be opportunities
to move your script forward
·
Put your morals and passions into your writing.
Unique viewpoints encouraged though the voices of minorities and women are
often not heard.
·
People need to believe your story to go on a
journey with your script
·
Big Franchise Sci-fi movies have producers that
live, breath and eat the background for comic book characters. Use these
experts to help script stay true to these comic book characters. They will
protect their characters
·
“Everything you take away empowers everything you
have left behind”
·
The common denominator of being productive in
the business is being driven and wanting to make the best movie ever made.
·
If you believe in the work, the writing will
come. Don’t write for the market place or what is cool. The timeline for movies is 18 months so what
ever is in will be out of style by the time it comes out.
PITCHING:
·
Less is best but be Concise. 4 minutes should be
all you need to pitch
