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Screenplay & Film Consulting By Susan Kouguell

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Award-Winning Writer and Director Rosemary Rodriguez talks about her film ‘Silver Skies’ with Susan Kouguell for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

March 28, 2017 / / Comments Off on Award-Winning Writer and Director Rosemary Rodriguez talks about her film ‘Silver Skies’ with Susan Kouguell for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

 

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Rosemary Rodriguez

Last year I sat down with writer and director Rosemary Rodriguez in New York City to talk about her career trajectory, and directing for television for this publication.

Rodriguez’s television credits include The Good Wife (she directed 18 episodes, more than any other director in the seven seasons of the series) The Walking Dead, Amazon’s Sneaky Pete starring Bryan Cranston, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Empire, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Outsiders, Law and Order: SVU,  and Rescue Me. Acts of Worship, Rodriguez’s first feature, which she wrote and directed, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature.

We recently caught up to talk about Silver Skies, her second independent feature film, which she wrote and directed. The film is being released by Joe Amodei and his company Virgil Films Entertainment (VFE) and will be available on DVD and Streaming on Amazon and iTunes April 4, 2017.

Silver Skies chronicles a group of seniors whose lives are turned upside down when their Los Angeles apartment complex threatens to be sold out from under them.

The film won the Audience Award at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Best Feature at the Manhattan Film Festival, Best Comedy at the Tiburon International Film Festival, Best Film at the Live Free or Die Film Festival, and it was the Closing Night film at the Palm Beach Film Festival.  Alex Rocco won Best Supporting Actor at the Madrid International Film Festival.

Silver Skies PosterRodriguez: The film opened in September 2016 in a limited theatrical run, playing eight weeks in Palm Springs and eight weeks at The Villages in Florida. We played in Orange County, Arizona and around Florida. Little by little, it’s kept going. We are finishing our theatrical run March 30.

Kouguell: Tell me about the evolution of Silver Skies.

Rodriguez: It took about ten years.  I went to the MacDowell Colony with an outline for ‘Silver Skies‘ and wrote the script there. Then, when I directed an episode of Law and Order, I hit it off with the show’s star Dennis Farina. He loved the script and helped to get the movie made. Two years later I called Dennis, told him we got the money, and we picked the start date. Two weeks later he passed away. I was devastated by his passing. Sometime later we had a script reading and producers Fred Roos and Arthur Sarkissian came, and they said, ‘let’s do this movie.’ The movie is dedicated to Dennis.

Kouguell: Did your actors have any input into the script?

Rodriguez: Yes, they definitely did. I’m a big collaborator; I want to hear what people have to say.  For example: George Hamilton’s character is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  Jack McGee’s brother, George Hamilton’s mother, and my dad, all had Alzehimer’s and we shared our respective experiences to further develop George’s character. In a way it was a tribute for George to his mother, for Jack to his brother, and mine to my father.

Kouguell: You describe Silver Skies as very personal and inspired by your parents’ aging. The characters of Nick and Phil are inspired by your father, who was a bookie in Boston, and the character, Eve, by your mother.

Rodriguez: Valerie Perrine’s character always has flowers; that was my mother. I watched my parents get old when I was still young and I saw how their relationships changed.  I think seniors don’t have a voice in this world.  These are people who want to have sex. They want to work. They want to spend money. Make money. Have money.

On 'Silver Skies' with George Hamilton

On ‘Silver Skies’ with George Hamilton

Kouguell:  These issues about sex and money, as well as ageism and women’s power, are themes in Silver Skies that dare to challenge the viewer. Indeed, these topics have resonated with your audiences.

Rodriguez: The audience response was incredible and that’s what kept us going! When we had no money for marketing, people would show up to see these actors that they miss: George Hamilton, Valerie Perrine, Barbara Bain, Mariette Hartley, Jack Betts, Jack McGee, Alex Rocco. Then as they watched the movie, something wonderful happened: they would stop seeing the actors and start seeing themselves in these characters! That was my goal! These incredible actors pull off some extraordinary, relatable performances.

Kouguell:  ‘Silver Skies’ also doesn’t shy away from thought-provoking subjects, including sexual assault and pornography.

Rodriguez: There is a part of the storyline that is very provocative. It involves a sex addict who’s addicted to online porn. This is something that is happening in society, breaking up families, people getting arrested. We barely discuss it even though it is impacting how we relate to each other in profound ways. I put it in Silver Skies to shed light on it and to provoke thought.  It was risky in this film. What I learned from seniors is that they are ok with everything because they’ve seen it all and they are not afraid to face issues head on. I was so inspired by our audiences!

Seniors are the topic of many conversations these days: whether it’s the ACA or senior housing. and Silver Skies seems to hit home with all seniors and their children and grandchildren. I’ve learned from audiences what I thought all along: that this movie is for all generations. Many people are dealing with Alzheimer’s, not enough money for retirement, not getting hired to work anymore, and all the things that society throws at an aging person in our society. They become invisible. Just when life needs to get easier, it’s supposed to, it gets harder because of our society’s priorities. I want to fight for seniors to be seen and heard. It’s up to us to take care of each other.

Award-Winning Writer and Director Rosemary Rodriguez talks about her film 'Silver Skies' with Susan Kouguell

Jack McGee, Alex Rocco, George Hamilton, Valerie Perrine, Jack Betts and Barbara Bain in SILVER SKIES – Photo courtesy of Roar Productions

Movie distribution is very difficult for character-driven films today. It really takes grass roots efforts and word of mouth for a film to succeed. I’m hoping with the state of politics in our country today, that movies will help bridge the gap between people. The amazing gift of movies is that an audience is drawn into a character’s life and can experience empathy for another’s situation, even if the audience member is from another place, time, financial situation, gender, race, etc. Characters are human beings going through an experience, and we get to experience things through movies that change how we look at life. That is crucial today. We need love and empathy more than ever with so many people feeling afraid, marginalized and judged.

The ‘Director’s Chair’ Podcast

The Director's Chair (Audio)Kouguell: We’ve spoken a great deal about your love of collaboration.  Your Podcast ‘The Director’s Chair’ available on iTunes, has welcomed writers, producers, directors, and actors, including Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter, to discuss collaborating.

Rodrigues: In the show I talk with my guests about what works for them when collaborating and what doesn’t, what is their creative process, and more. There’s a great episode with Nestor Rodriguez and I talking about collaborating on ‘Silver Skies’.

Upcoming Projects 

Rodriguez: I’ve adapted the memoir Loose Girl, by Kerry Cohen, for a feature film, which has producers attached, MarWin Films.  I’m directing a documentary about pioneering graffiti artist Lee Quinones, produced by Rosadel Varela. And I’m pitching Silver Skies as a TV Series.

Final Words

Rodriguez:  Silver Skies tells the story of people who make a choice to fight back when the system deems them unimportant. We need more movies that help us navigate this crazy world and our feelings about it.  I’m hoping financiers and studios see the importance of telling these stories now more than ever.

Learn more here about Rosemary Rodriguez and Silver Skies.

READ MORE HERE

 

Susan Kouguell Talks to Brian David Cange, Producer of “Take My Nose… Please!” for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

March 18, 2017 / / Comments Off on Susan Kouguell Talks to Brian David Cange, Producer of “Take My Nose… Please!” for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

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take my nose image

Directed by legendary editor of Allure magazine Joan Kron, this provocative and humorous feature documentary explores society’s attitude towards plastic surgery. The film follows two comedians as they deliberate going under the knife: Emily Askin, an up-and-coming improv performer has always wanted her nose refined, and Jackie Hoffman, a seasoned headliner on Broadway and on TV, considers herself ugly and regrets not having the nose job offered in her teens – and maybe she’d also like a face-lift.

With commentaries from cultural critics, psychologists, sociologists, surgeons, along with cameos from comedians Judy Gold, Julie Halston, Lisa Lampanelli, Giulia Rozzi, Bill Scheft, and Adrianne Tolsch, the film confronts the pressure women feel to meet impossible expectations and the judgment they endure when they have cosmetic surgery.

About First-time Director Joan Kron

Director Joan Kron

Director Joan Kron

An author and award-winning journalist, Kron’s work includes stints at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She spent 25 years covering plastic surgery for Allure magazine and documented some of her experiences in the book, Lift: Wanting, Fearing, and Having a Face-Lift.

Take My Nose… Please!

I spoke with one of the film’s producers, Brian David Cange, about the documentary just days before the announcement that the film received the 2017 Miami International Film Festival’s Knight Documentary Achievement Award.

About Brian David Cange

Producer Brian David Cange

Producer Brian David Cange

Cange is an award-winning producer and line producer whose credits include Roxanne, Roxanne and Marjorie Prime (both 2017 Sundance Film Festival Official Selections), Equity, a 2016 Official Selection Sundance Film Festival; the highly acclaimed documentary Mad Hot Ballroom; Backwards; Fugly!; Particle Fever; The Skeptic; the 2008 Peabody Award winning documentary Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life; National Geographic’s I am Rebel, the first in a four-part miniseries; Footsteps in the Snow for A&E and Lifetime Movie Networks; the Emmy-nominated, History Channel mini-series The World Wars, and Making Space, a feature documentary about five accomplished female architects with renowned producer Ultan Guilfoyle.

KOUGUELL: How did you get involved with the project?

CANGE: I became involved through my colleague Andrea Miller. Andrea and I worked together on the documentary film Particle Fever, and I helped her develop other projects, budget them, and sometimes shoot sizzle reels. I met director Joan Kron at the end of 2014. Andrea had suggested I speak to her about physically producing the film and also helping develop the project from a storytelling perspective, making sure there was a narrative structure, and helping her find the right characters to follow. In this case it was Emily Askin and Jackie Hoffman.

Joan was very resourceful; she went out to the comedy clubs every week and sometimes I would go with her to check out comedians.

Script EXTRA: Conversation with Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films

KOUGUELL:  What was the response from the comedians to participate in the film? Were they forthcoming as to whether or not they had cosmetic surgery or reticent?

CANGE: Yes, very reticent. Oftentimes people didn’t want to speak about it. Judy Gold, Lisa Lampanelli, Julie Halston, and a few others were confident enough to talk about it on camera.

KOUGUELL: Tell me more about finding the narrative in the project.

CANGE: When Joan Kron first came to me about the project, she had a clip reel of famous comedians: Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, Phyllis Diller.  Joan had taken an editing class and she put together a sizzle reel of what she thought would be comedians talking about the history of plastic surgery or the history of plastic surgery in the female comedian environment.  I thought it would be very expensive to put this all together because they were very expensive clips and music rights to obtain.

Joan had the clip-driven sizzle reel, an outline, and a group of interviews she had already done in California, including some of the plastic surgeon specialists.  In the film, the interviews done in the theater were done early on, before I came on. She worked in Los Angeles and did eight interviews for two days. A good number of these interviews stayed in movie.

Emily Askin

Emily Askin

Joan, Andrea and I discussed the way to produce this film that there was a narrative to follow. We all agreed to casting and meeting with comedians who were living and perhaps less famous in some cases it was a little bit of both. Emily Askin was the one we were following first.  Emily agreed to the film; she’d already had a stomach belt surgery prior to working with us so she was also open to the possibility of getting a nose job.

Joan approached Jackie Hoffman after reading a story about her in the Wall Street Journal.  Jackie was really on the fence as to whether or not to get a nose job.

KOUGUELL: What was the time period over which the film was shot?

CANGE: The majority of the film was shot in 2015 and 2016.  It was less than 100 hours of filming. The editing process took over about nine months. We brought on editor Nancy Novak; she really understood the narrative balance needed between the story of these comedians, their own journeys, and the history of plastic surgery, which was so important to Joan. And, also making sense of how women comedians are often judged by their appearance just as women actors are. Someone actually asked me after our recent screening in Miami if we had considered any male comedians and we did approach a couple but no one wanted to be in the film.

Jackie Hoffman

Jackie Hoffman

KOUGUELL: Because the men didn’t want to reveal that they had cosmetic surgery done?

CANGE: (laughs) Yes, that’s pretty accurate.

KOUGUELL: In this film, there are many archival clips of famous comedians, including Joan Rivers. Talk about acquiring the rights to this material.

CANGE: It was very laborious and took many months. The clips were from various sources, and there were questions of fair use. We worked with our attorney Wilder Knight II at Pryor Cashman; it was really important because of the historical context of the film for us to talk to someone who really knew the ropes. Wilder had a colleague who was one of the top fair use copyright attorneys in the country and he was a great resource for us to help sort out what was fair use and what had to be paid for, and in some cases what we had to drop.

KOUGUELL: The film doesn’t shy away from tackling ageism and how looks play a vital part in casting for women in the entertainment field.   It is particularly compelling because of Joan Kron’s extensive background writing about cosmetic surgery, as well as her age for a first-time director.

CANGE: This is Joan’s first film.  She conceived it when she was 84 years old, and she’s now 89. The film was finished in October 2016, and music rights and clearances were completed in early 2017.  Joan is ready to make her next film!

Will it hurt? Only when you laugh.

 

To learn more about the film visit their site.

 

Better Writing Goals for 2017: Patience and Perseverance – Susan Kouguell’s article for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

January 11, 2017 / / Comments Off on Better Writing Goals for 2017: Patience and Perseverance – Susan Kouguell’s article for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

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Better Writing Goals for 2017: Patience and Perseverance by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine #scriptchat #screenwriting

Now that we are in the film awards season, many screenwriters are even more inspired to get their work produced and onto the big or small screen.  So, bring it on, 2017!  This might just be your year to make the resolution to polish your screenplay and send it out into the world.

Writing a screenplay comes with both its own joy and challenges. But knowing if your screenplay is truly ready to submit to competitions, potential producers, and agents and managers, can be for many writers, daunting.  Let’s start this year by making the process less overwhelming by becoming proactive.

Patience

Make yourself a promise: Be patient.

Is your screenplay really ready to be seen by film industry folks? Be honest now. Are you about to submit your screenplay because you are bored working on it and believe that it’s “good enough” despite knowing in your heart that another rewrite (or more…) is needed? This is the time for a gut check. If this is what you’re feeling, then do not submit your script. If you are tired of your screenplay—so will the agent, manager, producer, director, talent, script competition reader, and film executive to whom you are submitting your project.

Before you submit your screenplay, get feedback from people (preferably in the film industry or knowledgeable about film) who will tell you the truth. And nothing but the truth. Giving it to people who might sugarcoat their responses, such as close relatives, might not be the best choice, unless you are eager to risk family estrangement.

For a quarter of a century – yes, that many years – I have worked with over 1,000 writers and filmmakers, as The Screenplay Doctor, consulting on both independent and studio projects.  At this point, I believe I’ve heard it all – from writers who believe that a company will “just buy their idea and fix it” or say, “the movie I just saw stunk so why do I have to waste my time and rewrite my script?” – to studio executives who are dismayed that their time is being wasted reading amateurish, unimaginative and/or sloppy work that ends up on their desks.

My question to you is this: Why would you submit your screenplay that isn’t absolutely the best it can be?

Take your time writing and rewriting, and rewriting again if needed.  Once your script has been rejected by industry folks, it is just about impossible to resubmit it to the same person or company for reconsideration.

Perseverance

The film industry is a business.  Hence the word “industry.” This business requires a tough skin, determination, tenacity, and diligence. In order to break into the business and/or stay in the business, obviously you must write great scripts, but writing a stand-out work also demands being open to constructive critiques.  If you are receiving similar feedback on the same script issues, chances are you should take these remarks into consideration and make revisions.

Do your research and find out what companies, representatives and competitions are looking for. Submit your work to the company, agent, manager, and script competition that is a match for your project. Some might be seeking only a certain genre while others might be accepting work for specific platforms. Follow their submissions guidelines. If they are requesting comedies and a one-page synopsis, that’s what you send them. Don’t submit a drama and your feature-length script.   Sending a script without it being requested is unacceptable film etiquette and a sure guarantee that it will be tossed into the circular file.

Getting your work noticed means getting your work out there. Read trade publications to learn what companies are looking for. Attending pitch festivals, screenplay conferences, film festivals, taking classes, and so on, are all positive steps to meet others to share ideas, and even getting your screenplay on its way to the silver screen.

Your screenplay is your calling card to the film industry. It is a reflection of your writing talent, the knowledge of your craft, and your distinct vision and voice. Make a resolution this year to be patient and persevere, and submit only your best work.

More articles by Susan Kouguell

Academy Award®-Nominated Documentary Filmmaker, Carl Deal, Talks ‘Citizen Koch’ & ‘Michael Moore in TrumpLand’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

November 14, 2016 / / Comments Off on Academy Award®-Nominated Documentary Filmmaker, Carl Deal, Talks ‘Citizen Koch’ & ‘Michael Moore in TrumpLand’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

by Susan Kouguell

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Regardless of which side of the political aisle you stand, there is probably one point all sides can agree on – Academy Award® nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin make thought-provoking films that challenge the audience to question the world around them. Their two recent films, which guest speaker Carl Deal recently spoke about at Purchase College, SUNY – CITIZEN KOCH and MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND – are no exception.

Academy Award®-Nominated Documentary Filmmaker, Carl Deal, Talks 'Citizen Koch' & 'Michael Moore in TrumpLand' by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine #scriptchat #screenwriting

Carl Deal and Tia Lessin

About the Filmmakers

Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, are Academy Award®-nominated filmmakers, who produced and directed TROUBLE THE WATER, winner of the Gotham Independent Film Award, the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize, and the Full Frame Documentary Festival Grand Jury Prize. Deal and Lessin were, respectively, archival and supervising producers of Michael Moore’s FAHRENHEIT 9/11, winner of the Palme d’Or, Academy Award®-winning BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and co-producers of CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT and most recently Deal produced (with Michael Moore) MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND, which Lessin Executive produced.

Tia and Carl were nominated for an NAACP Image Award and a Producers Guild Award for TROUBLE THE WATER. Tia line produced Martin Scorsese’s Emmy and Grammy-winning film NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN and was consulting producer of LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD: GEORGE HARRISON. Her work as a producer of the series THE AWFUL TRUTH earned her two Emmy nominations, one arrest and a lifetime ban from Disney World. She is the recipient of the L’Oréal Paris/Women in Film’s Women of Worth Vision Award and the Sidney Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for BEHIND THE LABELS, a film about labor trafficking in the US garment industry. Carl Deal has contributed to many other documentary films, and worked as an international news producer and a writer, reporting from natural disasters and conflict zones throughout the U.S., Latin America, and in Iraq.

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About CITIZEN KOCH

The film tells the story of the changing American political landscape through the eyes of three Wisconsin state employees, all lifelong Republicans, who suddenly find their party taking direct aim at them, stripping away the economic ground their families have built and depended on for generations: Set against the rise of the Tea Party in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, a citizen uprising to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker collides with the Tea Party-aligned “Americans for Prosperity,” a group founded and lavishly financed by two of the world’s richest men — David and Charles Koch. As Republican working class voters find themselves in the cross-hairs of their own party and its billionaire backers, they are forced to choose sides.

CARL DEAL: “The film was made in 2011-2012, and came out in 2013. It’s very topical given the election season right now. What you see here is a behind the scenes; and today it’s still happening all over the country; there are still certain states that are being targeted in the same way as Wisconsin was targeted in this film.”

Protesters fill the rotunda in the Wisconsin State Capital in the run up to Gov. Walker’s anti-union bill in a scene from CITIZEN KOCH

Protesters fill the rotunda in the Wisconsin State Capital in the run up to Gov. Walker’s anti-union bill in a scene from CITIZEN KOCH

Advice for Storytellers

CARL DEAL: “This film began with the idea to do something about climate change deniers and along the way of making this, very early on, we concluded that we are filmmakers and we are people who are engaged with the world so we try to make media that engages with what is relevant today, in the moment. It became a movie about money and politics because we realized that’s where the problem lies. We never thought we’d be in Wisconsin; we ended up in Wisconsin sort of on a whim because that’s where the news of the day took us.   So, for you storytellers, I hope you always follow the story where it takes you, and get out of your head and not be fixed in following the idea that you have when you get support to do a project. Let the project also have a life of its own.”

Backlash

Making a film that has the potential to stir up controversy carries its own set of risks. Deal was asked how one manages the issue of backlash and specifically how they handled it on CITIZEN KOCH.

CARL DEAL: “We got Errors and Omissions insurance and we made sure that we were insured in case anything happened that got in the way of us finishing the film. We knew we were taking on some powerful interests with it.  We were set to premiere at Sundance and our broadcaster was about to release the last transfer of the film when they called us and said we needed to change the title or else. The New Yorker did an exposé on it.”

New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer writes: “Lessin and Deal had provisionally called the film “Citizen Corp,” but they worried that the title made it sound like a film about a corpse. After Sundance officials pressed for a final title so that they could start promoting it, Lessin and Deal told ITVS that they had settled on “Citizen Koch.” The new title reflected the evolution of the narrative: reporting had focused increasingly on the pitched battle in Wisconsin over the efforts of Scott Walker, the Republican governor, to ban collective bargaining by public-sector-employee unions. As the  reported, Koch Industries was among Walker’s primary financial backers in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

CARL DEAL: “The title of the film is so important sometimes. The “Citizen Koch” title was a direct reference to Governor Scott Walker; it set up expectations for viewers who thought it was an exposé about the Koch brothers, which it wasn’t. Think about your titles.”

Character-Driven and Context in Citizen Koch

CARL DEAL: “There are many different ways to make a documentary film. There’s a trend now to make only character-driven documentaries and those can be really beautiful and emotional stories, and I also think the context for these stories is really important. Not every audience is going to understand the context with an emotional connection to characters so that’s why we did it both ways here.”

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About MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND

Oscar-winner Michael Moore dives deep in the heart of hostile TrumpLand territory with his daring, profound, and uproarious one-man show. When the show gets banned from the first town they tried, Mike moves on to an even bigger community of Trump supporters in the ironically-named Clinton County, Ohio.

 

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CARL DEAL:  “CITIZEN KOCH was a totally different process than MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND.  CITIZEN KOCH took a year and a half to make because there were events unfolding over time.  With MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND we decided to make it in early to mid-September (2016) and we shot it as a live performance in two days and we cut it in a week. The morning we finished it I called the IFC Center in downtown New York City and asked if we could do a preview screening and they said sure, and they cleared out the decks, put us in the big theatre and we had thousands of people who were winding around the block because there was a hunger for something new, for someone to say something new about this election cycle in popular media.”

Final Words

CARL DEAL: “When you make movies hopefully you’re transformed through the process in some way because you’re engaging with material with events in the documentary but you’re trying to tell the story and there’s an artistic component to it. When it works well, the audience can tell that the creator has been changed or transformed in some way, has been impacted by what they’re doing.”

Visit these sites to read more about CITIZEN KOCH and MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND.

Join Susan’s ‘Writing the Animation Feature’ Online Class September 29

September 28, 2016 / / Comments Off on Join Susan’s ‘Writing the Animation Feature’ Online Class September 29

Writing the Animated Feature Film at Screenwriters University

In this 4-week course, you will learn key screenwriting and animation writing concepts that will allow you to take your idea and turn it into a working outline for a movie that you will then be able to write from. Essentially, you will learn how movies ‘work,’ and when and where things need to occur in your story to keep an audience engaged. By the end of the course, you will have a thoroughly reviewed ten-page treatment of your film.

Next Session:  September 29

Join My Online ‘Writing the Family Feature’ class starts Thursday.

September 5, 2016 / / Comments Off on Join My Online ‘Writing the Family Feature’ class starts Thursday.

Writing the Family Feature Film at Screenwriters University

What exactly a “family film” is can be hard to define—they can be humorous or deadly serious. They can be total fantasy or a (sometimes) painful reality. This workshop will guide you through the structural and thematic elements common among the most successful family films of all time. If you aren’t considering writing for this target market, you are ignoring a prosperous genre that attracts big names and big budgets. Besides all that,these stories spotlight relationships, high-stakes conflicts, and a quest: all exciting goals to look through and to try to achieve for any screenplay. By the end of this workshop, you will have a complete treatment for your feature length family film that has been vetted by a professional screenwriter, and also all the tools you need to see your project to the end.

Next session: September 8 – October 6

Looking for a World-Building Online Screenwriting Class?

September 5, 2016 / / Comments Off on Looking for a World-Building Online Screenwriting Class?

Join me Thursday, September 8 for my four-week Online class

World Building: Crafting Screenplays Readers Can Step Into at Screenwriters University

This course will offer specific tips for creating and implementing advice on building the world of your screenplay. Research advice and tips, strengthening visual storytelling in action paragraphs, developing and implementing settings, examining character and plot conflict as it relates to your settings, and genre consistency, will also be covered in this class. Original and unique worlds will set your script apart from the other screenplays, vying for attention from film executives; this course will also discuss understanding film industry folks’ expectations without compromising your vision and creativity.
Next session: September 8 – October 6

Susan Interviews Producer & Co-director Juliana Penaranda-Loftus of ‘Landfill Harmonic’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

August 25, 2016 / / Comments Off on Susan Interviews Producer & Co-director Juliana Penaranda-Loftus of ‘Landfill Harmonic’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

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“To have nothing is not an excuse to do nothing”
–Favio Chávez,
Conductor of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura

Favio Chavez (Orchestra Director)

After their awe-inspiring concerts made them viral sensations and put them in the spotlight of international media, The Recyled Orchestra of Cateura has been featured on 60 Minutes, NBC News, People, Time, Wired, Oprah Magazine, NPR Music, and more.

LANDFILL HARMONIC, the award-winning documentary has received over 30 awards at international festivals.

As a classically trained violist, I had the opportunity to play with a youth orchestra when I was a teenager and travel on concert tours to South America and the Far East.  Whether we played in the jungles of the Amazon or a president’s palace, and regardless of the audience’s economic and ethnic backgrounds, these six weeks of summer travel and approximately 30 concerts, forever impacted my life.

The often-used phrase “the universal language of music” is not a cliché, it is indeed the truth and underscored in the documentary Landfill Harmonic.

Several years ago when I first saw the 60 Minutes piece about Favio Chávez and his Recycled Orchestra of Cateura in Paraguay, it grabbed my attention and as time passed the story of the orchestra continued to pique my interest.  After viewing a press screener of Landfill Harmonic, I knew I had to set up an interview.

One doesn’t need to be a musician or even sing in tune, to be enthralled by the power of this film.

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Synopsis

Landfill Harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. Under the guidance of idealistic music director Favio Chávez, the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-­out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their country, Favio must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.

Producer and co-director Juliana Penaranda–Loftus

DSC_6213 Juliana head shotRecently I had the opportunity to speak with producer and co-director Juliana Penaranda-Loftus by phone for our interview.

Juliana Penaranda-Loftus began her career working in production for prime time television shows in Colombia. After completing her Bachelor’s degree, she moved to the United States where she received her Master’s Degree in Film from the American University in Washington, DC. After September 11, she directed and produced a documentary about Aid Afghanistan, an organization fighting for the right to educate women. The organization used the documentary to raise funds to support schools and programs in Afghanistan. Since then, Juliana has produced several independent feature films and in 2009 established her own production company, Hidden Village Films with the purpose of producing films of social relevance. In 2012 she was one of eight women selected by the American Film Institute for their Directing Workshop for Women.

KOUGUELL:  Tell me about the evolution of this film.

PENARANDA–LOFTUS: Alejandra Amarilla (Founder and Executive Producer) contacted me at the end of 2008 to talk about the idea of making a documentary about underserved children in Paraguay her home country.

In April 2009, we traveled to start the research and find the story. It was the last day of the trip when we heard the story about Favio Chávez and his efforts of teaching children with recycled instruments. Alejandra loved the story from the beginning and as founder she selected from the options we had. I loved the story too. We saw the potential with Favio to be able to take the kids to where they are today.

We started following up the story via phone calls and email.  I was doing pre-interviews over the phone and email. We returned to Paraguay every year, sometimes twice a year depending on what was going on.

The production took five years. We started shooting in July 2010 and the last shoot took place in September 2014.

About the Collaboration

Landfill Harmonic is directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley, and co-directed and produced by Juliana Penaranda-Loftus.

Due to the filmmaking team’s outside work commitments and changing schedules, the process was further complicated by the need to reshoot some sections.  Penaranda-Loftus emphasized the importance of the great teamwork they had, which made this film become a reality.

PENARANDA–LOFTUS:  Allgood and Townsley joined the project in 2012 and 2013. It was a collaborative work, as the story took place over the course of five years but Alejandra and I were keeping the integrity of the story from beginning to end. I was the direct contact with the characters over the years.   Our co-producer, Jorge Maldonado, joined us in 2010 and he went to Paraguay since then too.

Brad Allgood was the director and editor; he also shot the flood sequence.   Because of the amount of footage collected over the years, Brad was fundamental to building the overall story.  Alejandra and I worked very closely with him on the structure since we followed the story from beginning.

Preproduction

KOUGUELL: Did you do pre-interviews with the young musicians?

PENARANDA–LOFTUS:  Yes. We sent the interview questions to the field producer in Paraguay.  Back then, the kids did not have Internet or phones, now actually everyone has one.  We had five characters and we had to find who was the most open to talk.  Some characters were closed to talk about their life.

Miércoles 8 de mayo de 2013. Cateura, Paraguay

The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, Paraguay

The Message

KOUGUELL: Without being didactic, the film conveys several poignant messages about the universal language of music, as well as the direct connection about environmental issues (the complexities of the landfill provides jobs yet it comes with health risks) and the environmental disaster of the flooding the community endures to survive.  Can you speak more to this?

PENARANDA–LOFTUS: We tried not to be preachy.  We wanted to make a point about the environment, the music, and posing the topic of recycling in a different way without being that obvious.  Music was giving us a means to talk about recycling. People don’t want to talk about global warming when we talked to them.

Favio Chávez actually raised that issue; he used music as a way to talk about recycling without saying, ‘We’re going to talk about recycling.’  We knew that the music was very universal and emotional, and how Favio used music as a tool. Favio Chávez was an environmental technician and he tried to talk first about the environmental challenges and he felt he couldn’t do it. He found music as a way to talk about the importance of the environment and of recycling.

KOUGUELL:  Indeed.  If an audience member thought this film was romanticizing the town’s impoverished situation, the flood puts their story in raw perspective and the continued challenges the community faces.

PENARANDA–LOFTUS: The flood was obviously unexpected.  In 2013, Brad was editing the film, we didn’t know how we were going to find the funding to reedit the film we just knew we had to film the flood.

Brad Allgood and Juliana Penaranda-Loftus

Brad Allgood and Juliana Penaranda-Loftus

Paraguay was devastated by the largest flood in over 20 years. Nearly 300,000 people were displaced due to the flooding, and many members of the orchestra were flooded out of their homes.

With their budget and time was running out, they took a skeleton crew to Paraguay on two shoots to cover the flood. The community of Cateura sat under nearly eight-feet of water for two months, as the 15,000 families in surrounding communities moved to higher ground, living in plywood shacks during that time.

_MG_9144 Tania holding violin at home

PENARANDA–LOFTUS: The flood brings a lot to the story; it brings the issue about community effort and how they were able to help each other. It also brings the story of the environment, the floods that are happening in the world, and climate change.

Landfill Harmonic opens theatrically in New York City on September 9th  and in Los Angeles on September 23.

 

More articles by Susan Kouguell

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Top Five Family Conflict Tips for all Genres: Examining Family Conflicts in Natalie Portman’s ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ and Daniel Burman’s ‘The Tenth Man’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

August 18, 2016 / / Comments Off on Top Five Family Conflict Tips for all Genres: Examining Family Conflicts in Natalie Portman’s ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ and Daniel Burman’s ‘The Tenth Man’ for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

 

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Examining Family Conflicts in Natalie Portman’s ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ and Daniel Burman’s 'The Tenth Man': Top Five Family Conflict Tips for all Genres by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine #scriptchat #screenwriting

Family relationships are complicated.  (Yes, that’s an understatement!)  Parents and children have their own specific backgrounds, attitudes, motivations, agendas, and feelings.  And this is in real life.

In a successful screenplay, these relationships must ring true in order for film executives to want to turn the page and keep reading, and embark on the journey you have created for your characters.

Regardless of the genre you’re writing in, the plausibility of the family dynamics and their conflicts are steeped in your characters’ histories.  Past successes, triumphs, arguments and failures are just a few of the elements that comprise family relationships.

Family conflicts can occur at any age. Becoming an adult does not necessarily shift the feelings a child has for a parent.

Opening this month, are two films, which center on family conflicts:  Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman’s A Tale of Love and Darkness in her directorial debut, adapted from the book by Amos Oz, focuses on a relationship between a mother and her 10-year-old son, and Daniel Burman’s The Tenth Man, centers on an adult son and his father’s relationship.  These two films are poignant examples that indeed family conflicts are complicated and continue to evolve at any age.

TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESSA Tale of Love and Darkness is based on the memories of Amos Oz, growing up in Jerusalem in the years before Israeli statehood with Arieh, his academic father and Fania, his dreamy, imaginative mother. They were one of many Jewish families who moved to Palestine from Europe during the 1930s and 40s to escape persecution. Arieh was cautiously hopeful for the future but Fania wanted much more. The terror of the war and running from home had been followed by the tedium of everyday life, which weighed heavily on Fania’s spirit. Unhappy in her marriage and intellectually stifled, she would make up stories of adventures (like treks across the desert) to cheer herself up and entertain her 10-year-old son Amos.  He became so enraptured when she read him poetry and explained about words and language; it would become an influence on his writing for the rest of his life. When independence didn’t bring the renewed sense of life that Fania had hoped for, she slipped into solitude and sadness. Unable to help her, Amos was forced to say an untimely good-bye. As he witnessed the birth of Israel, he had to come to terms with his own new beginning.

TenthMan_Poster_v2_webThe Tenth Man: This dramatic comedy wrestles with notions of identity, home and the intricacies of the father and son relationship. After years away, Ariel returns to Buenos Aires seeking to reconnect with his father, Usher, who founded a charity foundation in Once, the city’s bustling Jewish district where Ariel spent his youth. In the process of trying to meet his father Usher, who staves off a meeting with his son; roping him into a number of small assignments getting more entangled in his charitable commitments, Ariel meets Eva whose independent spirit motivates Ariel to come to grips with the traditions that once divided him and his father and rethink his own identity.

These two very different films in eras, settings, tone, genre, and plot do share important themes; the protagonists’ need to please and understand their respective parents.  In The Tenth Man, the father and son relationship is portrayed in a unique way; (without revealing too much of the film) although we hear them have conversations, the two share only a brief, yet satisfying, time together on screen.  In A Tale of Love and Darkness a young son’s adulation of his mother and their trusted bond becomes threatened as her health spirals downward.

In my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! I discuss family relationships. Here’s an excerpt:

Relationships between parents and children, siblings, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and grandparents, and so on, are wrought with misunderstandings, jealousy, poor communication, disappointments, as well as love, joy, and pride.

Unstable family relationships are portrayed in writer/director Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale and in writer/director Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages. The Squid and the Whale examines the Berkman family’s transition and redefinition when parents Bernard and Joan decide to divorce.  Teenage sons, Walt and Frank, prematurely come of age, struggling with their conflicted and confused emotions, as they must cope with the repercussions of their estranged parents’ respective actions.  In The Savages, Wendy, an aspiring Manhattan playwright, and her brother, John, a theater professor in Buffalo, New York, are forced to come to terms with their respective troubled lives and romantic relationships, when they must take care of their unsympathetic father, who is suffering from dementia.

Equally complex father/son relationships are seen in Big Fish, (directed by Tim Burton, screenplay by John August) and Catch Me If You Can, (directed by Stephen Spielberg, screenplay by Jeff Nathanson).  In Big Fish, traveling salesman Edward Bloom’s fabled tales about his fantastical life captivate everyone but his journalist son, Will, from whom he becomes estranged.  When Will returns home to reconcile with his dying father, Edward does not understand how his stories have truly affected his son and Will struggles to accept his father for who he truly is. In Catch Me If You Can, Frank Jr., learns the art of deception from his father whom he tries to impress and financially supports. Although Frank Sr. senses that his son is a fraud, he does not confront him or tell him to stop his cons. As the plot unfolds, the father/son relationship shifts to Frank Jr. and FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who always tells Frank the truth, and repeatedly tells him to stop his cons.

Top Five Family Conflict Tips for all Genres

  1. CONFLICT: Agreements and disagreements, discords and disharmony, must be conveyed in a realistic way that readers can gain an understanding of what’s causing the root of their issues.
  2. EMPATHY: Readers need to feel something for your characters’ relationships whether it’s hate or love; they need to understand their dynamics, regarding the reasons for their discord or harmony.
  3. MULTI-DIMENSIONAL: Humanize your characters by giving them identifiable histories, vulnerabilities, flaws and behaviors. Whether your characters misbehave or are always on good behavior, demonstrate their specific emotional, mental, physical, and/or social behaviors.
  4. MOTIVATIONS: The reasons your characters take the actions they do to help or hinder each other in families, stem from inward and outward motivations. Characters’ motivations should be plausible and should offer insight into who they are and the actions they take.
  5. ATTITUDE: Show your characters’ specific attitudes towards each other and themselves and how they relate to others or don’t fit in with their family members.

Parental relationships can indeed be challenging at any age.  Implementing these subtle and sometimes not so subtle truths about the underlying forces that comprise familial bonds will lead you to a successful screenplay.

READ MORE HERE

Susan’s Interview: Maria Escobedo on Writing for Children’s Animation and Breaking into Television for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

August 8, 2016 / / Comments Off on Susan’s Interview: Maria Escobedo on Writing for Children’s Animation and Breaking into Television for SCRIPT MAGAZINE

 

Susan Kouguell Maria Escobedo

I had the pleasure to speak with Maria about her writing career and her new animated children’s show, Elena of Avalor, which recently premiered on the Disney Channel.

Full disclosure: I was the associate producer of Maria’s first independent feature film Rum and Coke, which she wrote and directed.

Maria Escobedo

Maria Escobedo

Maria Escobedo is a native New Yorker with a BFA in film from New York’s School of Visual Arts. She studied screenwriting at NYU, playwriting at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, and earned a TV Writing Fellowship from ABC/Disney.  Maria’s writing credits include ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and HULU’s Emmy-nominated Original Series East Los High.  Maria has written original movies for Lifetime, Disney Channel, and developed an original TV pilot for Nickelodeon.  She has also written for many animated children’s shows, includingDora the Explorer; Go, Diego, Go on Nick Jr.; Shapes for Peach Blossom Media, Nina’s World for NBC’s Sprout Network, Special Agent Oso on Disney Jr., and the new Latina Disney princess, Elena of Avalor on Disney Channel.  Maria is very proud to have worked for two of the most influential women in television: Shonda Rhimes and Dora the Explorer!

On the feature side, Citadel Entertainment optioned Maria’s very first screenplay. She later wrote and directed the indie film, Rum And Coke, which garnered critical and popular attention at international film festivals and is available on DVD and streaming.  Maria served as Co-Chair of the Latino Writers Committee at the WGA West for 5 years, and is currently an adjunct writing professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts.

I asked Maria to talk about her writing journey.

Escobedo:  When I made my film Rum and Coke I got a lot of attention. We did a huge festival circuit and I got a DVD and streaming deal. People who saw it said it was very character-driven and that I should think about writing for television because it was the place that nurtured characters. That’s what made me think about TV.  Being in New York — which is different now because there’s more TV going on now in New York — but 11 years ago TV just wasn’t what you thought about. Either you went into advertising or you made an independent film. That’s what my husband (Charles Gherardi) and I did.  The first script got optioned and the second one was Rum and Coke.

I wrote a couple of spec scripts for live action, including a Law & Order SVU and a Boston Legal, which got me the Disney Fellowship.

I received the Disney Fellowship about 10 years ago and that led to a writing gig at Grey’s Anatomy; that’s how I started my romance with Disney and NBC when I got into the fellowship.  A friend of mine who was working at Dora the Explorer at Nickelodeon said they had some positions there so that’s how it started to happen. Because of the WGA strike I started working in animation because it’s a different union.

Kouguell: What made you decide to move to Los Angeles?

Escobedo: When I got the Disney Fellowship the decision was to move to Los Angeles for the year and then return to New York and then we ended up staying because there was work here.

ELENA OF AVALORKouguell: How did you get involved with Elena of Avalor?

Escobedo: I’m a freelance writer this season on the show. I was a freelance writer on a lot of animation shows; many times these shows don’t have a staff of writers. They’ll have the head writer and the show’s creator and then the rest of the writers are freelance.  Elena of Avalor actually did have a small staff and when I had gone in for the interview they had already filled their room but they asked me to write one of their freelance episodes and that’s what I did.

What I love about the Elena character is that she’s older, she’s already 17. The episodes are half hour; many Disney Junior shows are 11 minutes each. There’s a lot of humor in this show, more so than in some of the younger shows. Elena has her faults, she’s not perfect and yes, she’s wonderful, loving, and is always thinking of others, but there’s a sense of reality to it and that’s what I love about her.  There’s adventure in what she tries to do but it has that heart that makes great Disney.

Kouguell: Tell me about your experience working in the various writers’ rooms.

Escobedo: It’s both exhilarating and intimidating.  You bond with the other writers, sharing stories. Everyone in the room adding their own point of view makes it so much more of a collaborative effort.  You’re able to talk about the story and the script. The characters are real; you go home thinking about the characters and the story.  Features are so much slower to make than in television where you have the time to really develop the characters in the stories.  But in TV there’s a deadline to get the show done in a short amount of time.

Grey’s Anatomy was the first time I was in a writers room. Coming from the feature world I just always sat in front of the computer and wrote by myself or with my husband/partner.   I actually loved it and I fell in love with TV.

My experience in children’s animation has been that you’re pitching your episode and you get some feedback from the group, which is always good, but you’re pretty much on your own to write it.   You go back and forth with the head writer, and then the network is giving you notes – and that’s similar to live action.

There are smaller writers rooms or there’s no writers room at all; you’re just getting together every so often to pitch what your next story is and work it out, and then go back and write.

Nina’s World was an interesting writers room because I was really writing from my bedroom and Skyping with the other writers. Most were in Toronto, Canada and there were few here in Los Angeles. Most of the time we did it from our homes.  It was different because we were pitching our own episodes — we really weren’t writing them together.

Kouguell: As a Latina woman in the industry, what changes have you seen?

Escobedo: Since I’ve been in Los Angeles for 11 years it feels like there have been a lot of positive changes. I was chair of the Latino writers committee at the Writers Guild. Probably in the last two years or so I’ve seen a lot more Latinos in general coming into the WGA and a good amount of women.  There’s a little bit more attention being paid to diversity and the Guild itself is paying attention to it; they’re saying that the writers’ rooms are not as diverse as they should be.  They’re making sure that that the writers in their rooms are more reflective of the country and what our country looks like.

Kouguell: Your advice to writers looking to break into television?

Escobedo: You need writing samples.  My advice is, know yourself, know your brand, know what you’re good at and what you think reflects you, but diversify it a little bit. If you love, for example, superhero stuff write a superheroes spec but then also write something that’s character-driven that doesn’t rely only on action. Make sure your voice is there. There is so much on network TV, streaming and cable.

East Los High, which is a HULU show, has a huge online/Transmedia component and fan base. Grey’s Anatomy had that too; it was ahead of its time for many reasons.  Another way of breaking into TV is by being a writer/researcher for the online world where the show has a whole other life!  Of course being a writer’s assistant is an excellent way of breaking in especially because as a writers assistant you are in the writers room the whole time!

More articles by Susan Kouguell

 

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