Author: sucity (page 13 of 33)

Top Ten Tips on Choosing an Agent (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

November 27, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

Top Ten Tips on Choosing an Agent

By: Susan Kouguell | November 25, 2015

Congratulations! You just might have found an agent. You just got a response from your brilliant query or pitch, and an agent is interested in representing you! Hallelujah! Do the happy dance but don’t lose your common sense!

In my book, The Savvy Screenwriter, I write:

When I first got into the film business I uncharacteristically lost my common sense. I didn’t trust my rational gut instincts. Why? I wanted to write. I wanted to see my scripts made into films. If someone had asked me to jump, I would have asked not only, “How high?” but also, “For how long?” Whether dealing with an independent production company, a studio, or agent, I was putty in their hands.

I didn’t ask agents how they planned on working with me or how they thought they could sell my work. (I was represented by agents who wanted me as part of their stable of writers, but they didn’t really know how to place my work. Because I never asked what type of scripts they actually sold, or if any of my scripts might be submitted as writing samples to companies, or if I should write another script in a different genre to show my diversity, or offered suggestions as to where to submit my scripts, I never got hired for assignments and didn’t sell one script.) By not asking questions, I often worked with people who didn’t share my vision of my work or career. If you don’t ask questions, you might just repeat my mistakes!

Top Ten Tips on Choosing an Agent

Choose an agent who is signatory to the Writers Guild of America (wga.org). Guild signatory agents must abide by rules that will best protect you, including fees they charge for both selling your work and finding you writing assignments.
Research the agent to confirm his or her real film industry connections. You want an agent who has established and extensive contacts in the industry in order to increase that agent’s opportunities to sell your spec script and/or find you writing assignments.
The prospective agent should share your sensibility and vision. If he or she doesn’t really understand you and your work, (and certainly vice versa) this relationship will likely not benefit either one of you.
Don’t be afraid to ask agent questions, including what their game plan is for you and your work, and where they intend to submit your projects.
If the agent represents many writers (maybe too many writers) whereby the ratio of writers to agents is high, (for example more than fifty writers to one agent), than you might want to question whether you’ll get enough attention.
The agent / writer relationship is a business relationship, not a friendship. You may like the prospective agent personally, but honestly consider if he or she is truly the best person to represent you.
Ask the prospective agent how you will be working together. For example: Calling or e-mailing an agent once a week or biweekly and scheduling strategy meetings every few months is a reasonable request.
Agents who represent clients who are working steadily, is a positive reflection on the agent’s ability and clout in the film industry.
Ask the prospective agent if he or she will read your new work, and if so, how long you should wait until receiving feedback.
My best advice: Trust your instincts to determine if the potential agent is the best person to champion you and your work.

Remember…Don’t lose your common sense! It’s great news that an agent has expressed interest in representing you, but do not jump into a relationship without making sure the agent is a good fit for you and your work.

READ MORE HERE

HBO’s “Getting On” Will Scheffer talks collaboration, adaptation, the characters’ evolution & more (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

November 23, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

Susan Kouguell Interviews HBO'S 'GETTING ON' Creator, Executive Producer and Writer Will Scheffer by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine

Mark V. Olsen (L) Will Scheffer (R) (Photo credit: Lacey Terrell / HBO)

I spoke with series creator, executive producer and writer Will Scheffer about the third and final season of his Emmy-nominated HBO series GETTING ON. We talked about his collaboration with his husband Mark V. Olson on this series, adaptation, the characters’ evolution, and more.

Based on the BBC series of the same name, GETTING ON is created for American television by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer (co-creators of the acclaimed HBO series Big Love), the show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.

KOUGUELL: What did you learn as a writer and producer during these three seasons?

SCHEFFER: I think I always learn the same thing: “It’s about the people, stupid.” I learn it different ways, dealing with different problems and crisis and joys — but it’s about the people you collaborate with in all aspects of the production and also the people you’re doing it for. I also learned you can shoot a TV show in three days and it can still be excellent if you’re working with the right people.

KOUGUELL: Do you feel that your writing and/or collaboration with Mark has changed since Big Love and if so, how has it evolved?

SCHEFFER: It has. A lot. I used to be the first draft guy (and I still am on some or our projects) and then we’d trade drafts from there — but Mark really ran with the drafts of GETTING ON. And I felt more like I was connected to him at the hip, channeling. We talk a lot more now — before and during the drafting and we solve problems together like in a “dialogue” and then he’ll execute that in the writing.

GETTING ON developed in a special way because of time factors and other things, but I did less actual typing and more talking and feeding answers to Mark’s questions. It really felt like a good process for this show. We’ve already written three other “shows” where I did the first draft and Mark is the closer. And then I’ll get it back for some light polish. But GETTING ON was the show where I think I’d say we became a real writing team. With Mark I/we become better. We trust each other. I’ve had almost the same amount of time as a solo act and a duo 15 years and 10 years, respectively — and I know I’d have a body of work and a career without Mark, but I doubt very much I’d have this career. I’m grateful he finally pushed me into collaborating because he made me a better writer and thinker and luckily it’s made our marriage richer, too. We still write some things solo and we help each other on those. I’m a producer on some scripts of Mark’s that I never could have written and I’m just as proud of those as of our work together.

KOUGUELL: How much input, if any, do the actors have on the scripts?

SCHEFFER: I’d say they contribute. They make it better. But we hold the keys to that particular kingdom.

KOUGUELL: On the show’s trailer you mentioned that you are “digging deeper into the characters this season by introducing their family members.”

SCHEFFER: I think the whole season is about allowing the characters to become the patients, in a way. Their stories are what we’d usually call “the patient” stories.” Sure, we have a few great “guest patient” turns — but the show really comes together this year. It takes off like a plane.

KOUGUELL: How have the characters evolved from the first to your final season?

SCHEFFER: Well, like all good TV characters they haven’t evolved too much. I’d say they’ve become more themselves, if anything. Have they grown and learned why they were so f***ed up? No. But maybe they’ve admitted they were a little screwy to begin with. And they all so surprise us this year in ways you’ll have to watch to see. They’ve become more sure of who they are. They have to me, never been more of a joy to behold.

In a January 2014 article for this publication, I spoke with Will Scheffer about Season 1of this series in which he also offered insightful tips on pitching projects.

Learn more about GETTING ON: http://www.hbo.com/getting-on

READ MORE HERE

‘Getting On’ Creator, Executive Producer and Writer, Will Scheffer on the Show’s Final Season (INDIEWIRE/SYDNEYSBUZZ)

November 22, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

HBO’S ‘Getting On’ Creator, Executive Producer and Writer, Will Scheffer on the Show’s Final Season

Mark V Olsen (left) Will Scheffer (right)

In January 2014, I spoke with Will Scheffer about his HBO series “Getting On” for this publication:

You can read that interview HERE

And now we fast forward almost two years later and the show is in its third and final season. In our interview, Scheffer looks back at his experiences with the show and talks about collaborating with his husband, Mark V Olsen – creator, executive producer and writer of “Getting On” and their other shows, including “Big Love.”

In addition to the HBO American cable channel, “Getting On” can be seen on HBO Latin America and HBO Europe and Asia, and through SKY (France, UK, Spain, and so on.)

Kouguell: With the increase of the global cable markets and increasing platforms, reaching a broader audience, how has this affected your shows?

Scheffer: It was gratifying to have read about “Getting On’s” reception in Paris (where they love the show) before the recent attacks and to know that this show speaks particularly to issues of loss and wounding and grief but in a way that enables laughter to mix with heartbreak. This season has so much more resonance to me as it is a comedy. It’s not escapist. It’s healing comedy. You can laugh and cry in the darkest of hours and to me, that’s the greatest service to provide as an artist. To allow people to experience their common humanity. Without self-importance. Experiencing and accepting the fragility of life, of being human, is a wonderful place to begin from.

“Getting On” Creators and Cast

Kouguell:Looking back at the three seasons of “Getting On,” what were some of the most poignant and/or memorable moments for you working with the actors and writers?

Scheffer: We felt that by choosing “Getting On” to adapt we were entering into “stewarding” function with our British team. We wrote all of the episodes and the first two seasons had a lot of material from the original series to adapt, but the final season was all original story. Still, we went to London and ran our ideas by the original creators and worked with them. That relationship, receiving their input bonded us in a way that was unique to most adaptations. The fact that Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna Scanlan appear in Episode 4 as their original characters and meet their American counterparts, and vice versa— felt so amazing. It’s something we’d never seen before and it speaks to the way the British show and the American show are so different but like siblings, so connected. We share the same blood. So that’s a long-winded way of saying, going to London for a week to work with “the girls’ was a high point.

It’s hard to single out moments because working with our actors was the greatest experience of my career. Watching Niecy Nash bloom, seeing Mel Rodriguez
and Alex Borstein prove how brilliant they are. Experiencing Laurie Metcalf’s genius (I mean she is a national treasure — beyond, beyond) and then all of
our guest and co-stars. Just this season alone: Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Kay Place, Francis Conroy, Rhea Perlman, June Sqibb, Kristen Johnson, Jonathan
Silverman, Jayma Mays, Daniel Stern, Rita Moreno, Grant Bowler, Janis Ian!!! Meeting Didi’s family — Marsha, Corey, Gloria and Scott — they felt like a
real family. Anne Guilbert as Birdie. Not to mention the other great women we were able to work with like Betty Buckley, Tsai Chin, Jean Smart, Irma P.
Hall, Alia Shawkat, Carrie Preston, Molly Shannon— I can’t even list them all, I know I’m forgetting people and not even mentioning the supporting cast who
were brilliant. These diverse, brilliant actors in just 18 episodes.

Kouguell:
This is the second show you have created for HBO, “Big Love” ran for 5 seasons and like “Getting On,” pushed the envelope in its examination
of timely, hot button issues. For Big Love, the show was not just about polygamy and the power of the church, at its core it was about family. In “Getting On,” some of the major topics/themes you tackle are ageism and the health care system. While “Getting On” is very funny, it also
strikes a major chord of realism. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Scheffer:
I think I mentioned already the theme of human frailty. And I just can’t stress enough how I believe it is an “undervalued” value in our society. I mean we
all get old and die. It’s not sexy but it’s part of life. And it doesn’t have to be shoved out of our consciousness or romanticized or treated
sentimentally or “importantly.” It’s life. And I wish people knew what they were missing by avoiding dealing with their fears about it. It’s like, do you
wanna deal with those fears now or do it later when it’s gonna be a real drag?

It was such a privilege for Mark and me to both be with our moms when they were dying. Sure it was hard, but it was incredibly layered and sometimes funny
and of course heartbreaking — but it was like I wanted to tell everyone: “Hey, you really should experience this, because it’s so amazing, even though it
hurts, too.”

Mark V Olsen (left) Will Scheffer (right)

Kouguell:
The main characters (with the exception of the brilliant Patsy) focus mainly on women and their relationships with their patients and with their
colleagues. There is so much talk in the industry now about the lack of women’s roles particularly in the ‘over 40’ category. What are your thoughts on
this?

Scheffer:
Yeah. Well. That’s always been the case. And I think it’s finally changing. The volatility in the business is palpable and I think that finally that really
big ugly fact about Hollywood is going to change. It has to. I know we’re going to keep writing great roles for women because, lucky for us, we’re good at
it, I think.

Kouguell:
What can we expect from this final season?

Scheffer:
Well. It’s the final season. So expect big stories, some big reveals and I’d say that I think the finale is one I will always be very proud of.

Learn more about “Getting On”:
http://www.hbo.com/getting-on

What Producers are Really Thinking and Talking About (for SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

November 4, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

Highlights from the ‘Produced By New York 2015′ Conference

Selling a screenplay is not for the faint of heart. It takes a brilliant and well-crafted screenplay, as well as perseverance, moxie, and sometimes just good old-fashioned luck to get your work read and considered for production. While the odds of getting a script made are indeed staggering, knowing how the film industry works will give you an edge over the competition.

Here are some highlights and insights from the ‘Produced By NY’ Conference held on October 24, 2015 at the Time Warner Center in New York.

The Panel: The Changemakers: Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television

Mynette Louie offered this advice: “Learn the marketplace and learn the statistics. Read ‘The Ms. Factor: The Power of Female Driven Content Toolkit.’ It puts all the statistics together about women-driven films. It will help you pitch your projects. It shows all the numbers that are in support of women driven films. Be armed with this. If you’re armed with this, you have a better chance of getting your film made.”

In response to an audience member’s question about the viability of making films in Boston Charles D. King stated:

“You don’t have to necessarily live in Los Angeles or New York, there are productions happening in various cities, like Atlanta. There are those times you go to those places like New York and Los Angeles for meetings. Get incentives where people are learning production. You can be that person, build that infrastructure. Be where you can be as creative as you can be. Cultivate and build relationships.”

Moderator Michael Skolnik asked How to Get Away with Murder creator, producer, and writer Pete Nowalk: When Viola Davis takes off her wig what did you hear on social media, from your friends, and how does that affect you as an artist?

Pete Nowalk: “I’m a white guy. I didn’t know what it would mean or represent. There is something about the open-heartedness of collaboration and listening to a person of color and a woman, and it helps us. It’s partly Viola’s performance. She knew and I didn’t know what taking off the wig meant. I didn’t know how personal that is.”

Effie T. Brown jumped in: “It showed Anneliese taking off the armor, it meant being a strong woman and vulnerable. That’s me reflected. It meant the world to me.”

Nowalk: “I didn’t know she was wearing fake eyelashes. I didn’t know.”

Brown: “Black women knew.”

Nowalk: “I’m proud of lead actress Viola Davis. We created the role together of Annalise Keating. The character is not perfect. The same is true for the gay character, who is also not perfectly perfect. That’s not real or interesting. Viola plays the anti-hero – a character which men always do. She’s a character people love to hate. It’s so nice not to write perfect boring people.”

Lindsay Taylor Wood: “It’s important to know how to create a character responsibly. With Pete (Nowalk) it’s ability to ask for input. Those types of conversations are necessary to make sure you’re honoring the character you want to write, and also writing responsibility and engaging people responsibly.”

The Panel: The State of Producing

Moderator Lucchesi asked: What inspires your creations?

Donna Gigliotti: “I think about strong women all the time. As a producer I ask myself: What am I interested in and is there a market? Men who run studios don’t think there’s a market for women-driven projects but that’s not true.”

Meryl Poster: “For ‘Girlfriends Guide to Divorce’ – yes, I’m happily divorced and have two beautiful children — I did draw from some personal experience; the good side of divorce, dating and sex. I’m working now on a project that takes place in the 1970s garment industry, which my father worked in and my mother was a showroom model. I think about life experiences and read a lot of magazines and newspapers.”

Paula Weinstein: “It’s hard for me to fall in love with a script until I find that social component that drives the characters; the moral center of it. I love a good love story but it’s nice when it has a conflict, a reason behind it. It takes a long time to get a movie made. It’s taken 14 years to get Heart of the Sea made. You have to find something that drives you to obsess about it, long after your first encounter with that idea.”

“Here’s the thing about producing – you have to start at square one with every director and gain his or her trust, and you have to earn the right to be in the cutting room in the end and have some say.”

“You better love this (producing) it’s your only source of your ego gratification because it ain’t coming from anywhere else.”

The panel: Startups for Producers: Building Your Media Empire from VC Funding to Achieve Your Vision

The speakers agreed on the vital importance of knowing the landscape and learning how to reach different audiences.

Karol Martesko-Fenster: “Apart from building audience, it helps content creators to fine tune what they’re doing. If you can’t articulate what you’re doing in the short format that you have on Indiegogo or Kickstarter, for example, and not present something visually compelling, it’s not going to resonate.

The speakers agreed on the vital importance of knowing the landscape and learning how to reach different audiences.

Karol Martesko-Fenster: “Apart from building audience, it helps content creators to fine tune what they’re doing. If you can’t articulate what you’re doing in the short format that you have on Indiegogo or Kickstarter, for example, and not present something visually compelling, it’s not going to resonate.

I would start the conversation with writers: What story do you want to tell? Who do you want to hear or see this film? And then figure out the distribution landscape and work my way backwards to then how to fund it on multi-platforms so each story can live on almost any platform you want.

The direct to audience component is critical. You as content creators and IP owners are able to reach audiences more efficiently. This is true for short form and long form content. It’s a critical part of the business. I ask writers to think about A) their audience when writing; and B) to envision where their audience lives and how to reach them. There are so many ways to do that these days. You don’t need an aggregator if you have a film to get on digital platforms. That is a significant change. There are there or four companies that allow you as a content creator to get your long form films on iTunes, Netflix and Amazon without any intermediary. Think about your distribution landscape and how you’re going to reach that audience when you’re pitching or looking for that investor.”

It’s vital to target the production companies, studios, and talent (actors, directors, producers) that are the right fit for your script. Don’t submit your screenplay unless it’s absolutely ready to be considered, know what your story is really about, and who your potential audience is.

READ MORE HERE

The Changemakers: Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television (INDIEWIRE/SYDNEYSBUZZ)

October 29, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

The Changemakers:

Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television

By Susan Kouguell

Panel discussion at the 2015 Produced By New York Conference

President of Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer Michael Skolnik, Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; Project Greenlight, Dear White People Effie T. Brown, Founder & CEO of MACRO Charles King, President of Gamechanger Films Mynette Louie, Television writer Pete Nowalk, Founder & President of LTW Lindsey Taylor Wood

Getty Images: President of Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer Michael Skolnik, Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; Project Greenlight, Dear White People Effie T. Brown, Founder & CEO of MACRO Charles King, President of Gamechanger Films Mynette Louie, Television writer Pete Nowalk, Founder & President of LTW Lindsey Taylor Wood

In the lively and informative morning panel The Changemakers: Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television at the Produced By Conference at the Time Warner Center in New York, the conversation focused on the importance of taking action and concrete ideas to ensure that more people of color and women find opportunities in all levels of the film and television industry.

The speakers:

Effie T. Brown
Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; “Project Greenlight,” “Dear White People.”

Charles D. King
Founder & CEO, MACRO

Mynette Louie
President, Gamechanger Films

Pete Nowalk
“How to Get Away with Murder”

Lindsey Taylor Wood
Founder & President, LTW

Moderator Michael Skolnik (President, Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer) opened with several statistics from the 2015 UCLA report on diversity from the Bunch Center: HERE

The report looked at 175 films, and 1,015 television shows over two years.

Lead actors: 75 % men, 25 % women
Directors: 94 % men, 6 % women
Writers: 87% men, 13% women
Television show creators: 71% men, 29% women
Lead actors: 83% white, 17% people of color
Directors: 82% white, 18 % people of color
Writers: 88% white, 12% people of color
Show creators 94 % white, 6 % people of color
Cable television show creators: 89 % white, 11% people of color

And perhaps what drew the loudest audience gasp from Skolnik’s last statistic:
CEO and chairs of the 18 studios: 94 % white and 100% men.

Skolnik : The good news is, if there is good news, is that the audience is demanding much more of us, and certainly on television there has been an explosion of diverse audiences on and off screen.

Skolnick asked the panel about some proud moments in their career.

Brown: In ‘Project Greenlight’ you are actually able to see an inclusive crew that looks like America. So, people watching in Middle America, for example, could see that they have a voice and place in film.

READ MORE HERE

The Writers Lab (INDIEWIRE/SYDNEYSBUZZ)

October 26, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

The first ever Writers Lab, a program targeting female screenwriters over 40, took place at Wiawaka on Lake George, New York from September 18-20, 2015.

Elizabeth Kaiden

The first ever Writers Lab, a program targeting female screenwriters over 40, took place at Wiawaka on Lake George, New York from September 18-20, 2015.

The group of mentors included Caroline Kaplan (“Boyhood,” “Time Out of Mind,” “Personal Velocity”), Kirsten Smith (“Legally Blonde,” “Ten Things I Hate About You”), Jessica Bendinger (“Bring It On,” “Aquamarine”), Mary Jane Skalski (“Win Win,” “The Station Agent”),Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Secret Life of Bees,” “Beyond the Lights”),Lydia Dean-Pilcher (“The Lunchbox,” The Reluctant Fundamentalist”), Meg LeFauve (“Inside Out,” “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”), and Darnell Martin (“Cadillac Records” and “I Like It Like That”).

Launched by New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) and IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers dedicated to championing the female voice in narrative film, was funded in part by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, and with the collaboration of the Writers Guild of America East.

Motivated by its screenwriting members who were frustrated with the paucity of development opportunities, IRIS founders Elizabeth Kaiden, Kyle Ann Stoke, and Nitza Wilson approached NYWIFT to support a screenwriting Lab exclusively for this demographic and The Writers Lab came into being.

I spoke with IRIS cofounder Elizabeth Kaiden to follow up about the first Writers Lab.

Kouguell: How many screenplays were submitted for consideration?

Kaiden: There were approximately 3,500 screenplays submitted. The selected participants were Sarah Bird (“Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen), Vanessa Carmichael (“The American”). Tracy Charlton (“Raised Up”), Kellen Hertz (“Ashburn”), Anna Hozian (“Anchor Baby”), Lyralen Kaye (“St John the Divine in Iowa”), Jan Kimbrough (“The Glastonbury Cow Party”), Billie Jo Mason (“The Cargo”), Peres Owino (“Basketweaver”), Gretchen Somerfeld (“Face Value”), Janet Stilson (“Jaguar Trail”), and Kim Turner (“It Goes Like This”).

Kouguell:
What were some highlights from the three-day Lab?

Kaiden:
Highlights included the chemistry, warmth and enthusiasm of the group, the bucolic setting in which serious and thoughtful individual meetings between
writers and mentors took place, the outstanding, locally sourced, group meals presented by Wiawaka chef Meg, and evening conversations around a bonfire.
Oh, and the weather was fabulous.

Kouguell:
What is the next step for these writers selected for the Lab?

Kaiden:
Writers are all revising their work and communicating with each other. They will use the feedback, resources, references, and friendships they took away
from the Lab to further develop their scripts and their opportunities.

Kouguell:
In addition to the one-on-one meetings, what other events took place?

Kaiden: There were three panel discussions in which the mentors addressed specific craft issues and general industry insight, informal conversations, group meals,
as well as small, directed group conversations led by NYWIFT Board President Alexis Alexanian to address the challenges writers face in navigating the film
world.

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Kouguell:
What do you feel were some of the most positive outcomes from the weekend in Lake George?

Kaiden:
The most exciting outcome of this venture, for me, is uncovering and bringing to public attention the field of women screenwriters, particularly its
enormous breadth and depth. The most positive outcomes of the weekend Lab, for me, include the sense of empowerment I believe the Lab gave the writers to
continue their work and develop their projects, and the supportive community of writers we all discovered, which can only further our goals of ensuring
that more of their stories will reach audiences.

Kouguell:
Will the Writers Lab take place again next year?

Kaiden:
YES.

Kouguell:
Anything else you’d like to add?

Kaiden:
We were excited and delighted by the energy and enthusiasm at the Lab. It felt like an important event. It WAS an important event. We discussed and debated
issues of theme, tone, craft, structure, character, as well as production, representation, and target markets. The mentors were unbelievably focused,
supportive and encouraging. Serious work was done. The writers left feeling, I think, that their voices had been heard, and that they should all continue
to tell their stories. I think you will be hearing more from these writers and about these projects. And, although that would have been enough, everyone
had a blast.

Following Up The Writers Lab for Female Screenwriters Over 40

‘Suffragette Screenwriter’ Abi Morgan and ‘The Assassin’ Writer/Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien on Adapting Historical Events (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

October 23, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

‘Suffragette’ Screenwriter Abi Morgan and ‘The Assassin’ Writer/Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien on Adapting Historical Events

By: Susan Kouguell | October 21, 2015

Click to tweet this article to your friends and followers!

The Assassin and Suffragette are films inspired by true historical events. While these two films could not be more different in genre and style, they do share a strong and determined female protagonist, whose unwavering actions drive the story forward.

Screenwriters Morgan and Hsaio-Hsien, also shared a similar writing process; they relied on extensive archival research to find the core of the story.

The Suffragette Panel

SUFFRAGETTE TEAM 3

(From L-R: Ward, Owen, Morgan, and Gavron)

Following a private screening at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in New York City, of Suffragette, Emmy-Award winner screenwriter Abi Morgan spoke on a panel with members of the Suffragette team, including Academy Award nominee Alison Owen (producer), Golden Globe Award nominee Faye Ward (producer), and BAFTA Award winner director Sarah Gavron. After working together on the 2007 film Brick Lane, the four women began discussing making a film on the suffragette movement and the women’s fight to win the right to vote in Britain a century ago.

The panel discussed how the subject of the film was less fashionable when they started out with the project six years ago, stating:

“As we were preparing during the past year for the release of Suffragette, suddenly Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and others were saying, ‘I’m a feminist’ and they were making it a sexy subject — which is great.”

The Suffragette Story
The story centers on Maud, a working wife and mother, who is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s growing Suffragette movement. Inspired by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her fellow Suffragettes underground, they engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, who are shocked as the women’s civil disobedience escalates and sparks debate across the nation.

Highlights from Screenwriter Abi Morgan

“Maud was a composite character based on three women we read accounts on. I had done a number of biopics before and it’s so hard to squeeze in a whole life and it’s so difficult; you’re trying to find a prism.

It took us a long time to find the story. I wrote too many drafts to admit to. But throwing away a draft is liberating. Most of the work is a process of failure and then improving on that failure.

In this film, we’re seeing the suffragette movement after they already had years of peaceful protests. We wanted to capture the moment when they move from pacifism to activism, and as a result there were four of five amazing historical events, such as the Night of Broken Panes. Then we started reading about the testimonies of the working women and that’s when it profoundly changed for me.

You can’t ignore the world around you when you write.

We found in the archives information about the police surveillance operation and the police violence, as well as sexual harassment in the workplace. Issues that echoed today. It seemed very relevant. At the core of this film, we are hoping to empower all women to fight for equality and to use your vote. In the UK we have a very complacent and very ambivalent voting public and we have a dwindling youth vote.”

Inspector Arthur Steed warns Maud about her activities with the suffragettes:

MAUD
(to Inspector Arthur Steed)
What are you going to do? We’re half the population.

The Assassin

At the New York Film Festival press screening, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien spoke about his new film The Assassin for which he won Best Director at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

The Story

The Assassin: Abducted at age 10, Yinniang is now a Tang Dynasty assassin dedicated to the art of killing until memory transforms her course of action.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “The story is based on historical facts and then I fleshed out the characters. There is a lot of information from the Tang Dynasty — tales, legends and novels. I first came across this story in college. I wanted to bring this realism into the film. I wanted to do this film in the wuxia genre. I wanted to draw inspiration from Samurai movies from Japan as a long tradition of this martial arts practice that would be more in line of how I see the wuxia genre; it should be based on the realistic depiction of human capacity.”

When Jiaxin, the princess-turned-nun and Yinniang’s abductor, admonishes Yinniang for not following through with an assassination she states:

“Your skill is matchless, but your mind is hostage to human sentiments.”

Tips on Adapting a Screenplay Inspired from True Events

You have 120 pages or less to tell your compelling story. Your goal is to make every word on the page count.

‘Suffragette’ Screenwriter Abi Morgan and ‘The Assassin’ Writer/Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien on Adapting Historical Events

– See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/suffragette-screenwriter-abi-morgan-assassin-writerdirector-hou-hsiao-hsien-adapting-historical-events#sthash.nLh6RlkK.dpuf

A Conversation with the SUFFRAGETTE team (INDIEWIRE/SYDNEYSBUZZ)

October 15, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

A Conversation
with the ‘Suffragette’ Team

by Susan Kouguell

Faye Ward (producer), Alison Owen (producer), Abi Morgan (screenwriter), Sarah Gavron (director)

At a private screening at the Director Guild of America Theatre in New York City on October 10, Academy Award nominee Alison Owen (producer), Golden Globe Award nominee Faye Ward (producer), BAFTA Award winning director Sarah Gavron and Emmy-Award winner screenwriter Abi Morganspoke, following the screening of their new film “Suffragette.”

The four women met when working together on the 2007 film “Brick Lane,” and soon after began discussing making a film on the suffragette movement and the women’s fight to win the right to vote in Britain a century ago.

“Suffragette” centers on Maud, a working wife and mother, who is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s growing Suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her dedicated fellow Suffragettes underground, they engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, who are shocked as the women’s civil disobedience escalates and sparks debate across the nation.

MORGAN: “ I had done a number of biopics before and it’s so hard to squeeze in a whole life –it’s so difficult; you’re trying to find a prism.”

GAVRON: “Maud, a fictional character, played by Carey Mulligan, was a composite character based on three women we read accounts on.”

MORGAN: “We wanted to capture the moment when the suffragettes move from pacifism to activism and as a result there were four of five amazing historical events, such as the Night of Broken Panes. Then we started reading about the testimonies of the working women and that’s when it profoundly changed for me.”

OWEN: “The subject of the film was less fashionable when we started out with the project six years ago. It’s a sexy subject now. As we were preparing during the past year for the release of “Suffragette,” suddenly Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and others were and saying, ‘I’m a feminist’ and they were making it a sexy subject — which is great.”

Family Connections

Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, a key target for the suffragettes, was the great-grandfather of star Helena Bonham Carter. The team commented on
Bonham Carter’s serious yet light-hearted remarking on having posthumous arguments with him about his negative stance on the suffragette movement.

Faye Ward (producer)

The Look of the Film

GAVRON:
“We felt the film should feel visceral and connected to today. We talked with the production designer to create a 360 set and we had two cameras rolling
all the time. The clothes were actual stock; we used clothes of the time. That was the aesthetic of the piece. We shot in 16mm in the daytime to give it
that gritty grain. We developed a reel of film from the archives and saw the close-ups of those women in the funeral; the faces at the end of our film.”

One Message of the Film

MORGAN:
“At the core of this film: Hoping to empower all women to fight for equality and to use our vote. In the UK we have a very complacent and very ambivalent
voting public and we have a dwindling youth vote. We want this film to encourage people to please use your vote.”

The Team Addresses the Suffragette Protests and How Media Attention Can Make Or Break a Movement

Sarah Gavron (director)

“We found in the archives the police surveillance operation and the police violence as well. Sexual abuse in the workplace. Issues that echoed today. It
seemed very relevant.”

OWEN:
“After 50 years of peaceful protests, the media ridiculed the women in the press for being ignored — erased. One of the things that was very poignant, was
that the suffragettes were all about getting attention; their emphasis was non loss of life. When Emily Wilding Davison throws herself in front of horse,
she did so in front of Pathé newsreels and cameras. It was a strategic move.”

(Davison stepped in front of King George V’s horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby in June of 1913, suffering fatal injuries. Her funeral, organized by the
Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was attended by thousands of suffragettes and thousands of others, marking a turning point for the Suffragette
movement.)

Media Attention Today

For their cover, Time Out London invited the film’s stars Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Anne Marie-Duff to wear t-shirts with the slogan: ‘I’d
rather be a rebel than a slave’ – a partial quote taken from a 1913 speech given by Emmeline Pankhurst. This quote has sparked outrage in the U.S.

Pankhurst’s entire quote was: ‘I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter
what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a
slave.’

Abi Morgan (screenwriter)

THE SUFFRAGETTE TEAM:
“The original quote was intended to rouse women to stand up against oppression — it is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticize those who
have no choice but to submit to oppression or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote and photo out of context have surmised.”

OWEN:
“We all acknowledge and are aware of how acutely sensitive that slogan was in the U.S. We need to keep having the conversation. I hope it’s about diversity
in front of and behind the camera. If it becomes a narrative about a film that is so sincerely meant to promote all women all over the world, then it’s a
misstep and unfortunate.”

WARD: “
We need more diversity in every respect in filmmaking. We need an industry that’s going to want to make that work.”

THE SUFFRAGETTE TEAM:
“Meryl Streep recently said at a press conference about the film, how female voices are hard to be heard: ‘People read ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ and less than a
fifth who rate the movies are women.’ The quartet of women chuckle: “We thought about doing ‘Equal Tomatoes.” Their tone more serious now: “Something that
reflects the diversity of our society equally and properly.”

Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien: THE ASSASIN

October 15, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Filmed on location in Japan and on set in Taiwan, “The Assassin” centers on the story of Yinniang, who, abducted at age 10, is now a Tang Dynasty assassin dedicated to the art of killing until memory transforms her course of action.

The Story

Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “There is a lot of information from the Tang Dynasty — tales, legends and novels. I first came across this story in college. I wanted to bring this realism into the film. The story is based on historical facts and then I fleshed out the characters.

I wanted to do this film in the wuxia genre. I wanted to draw inspiration from Samurai movies from Japan as a long tradition of this martial arts practice that would be more in line of how I see the wuxia genre; it should be based onthe realistic depiction of human capacity.”

“The Assassin”

Working with Actors

Hou Hsiao-Hsien : “I work with actors and actresses I have worked with together before; they know my style and how I work on set. They will know the script and know the mood I want to create. There is no rehearsal. They come to the set prepared. They know what the scene is about. I have to set up the lights and camera, and I set up the dolly and tracks, and then I ask them to go onto the set I created for them. Hopefully they will be inspired by this mise-en-scène, and the location. The actors immerse themselves and embody the characters. Things happen naturally. Sometimes they do take after take, and when they get too comfortable, they get mechanical and unnatural. I want to somehow change the scene for them, to really act. The long takes go with that particular way of directing.”

Aaron Sorkin on Adapting STEVE JOBS (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

October 14, 2015 / sucity / Comments Off

Aaron Sorkin on Adapting the Film ‘Steve Jobs’

By: Susan Kouguell | October 8, 2015

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Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin, Seth Rogan

Director Danny Boyle, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, Walter Issacson, (writer of the authorized Jobs’ biography), along with actors Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, and Michael Stuhlbarg took to the stage after the New York Film Festival press screening of Steve Jobs. The conversation centered on creating the characters of this film based on the actual people and making them their own and not a caricature. The cast spent time with their real-life counterparts to learn more about them.

Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet

Danny Boyle: “It wasn’t about the actors being a look alike or imitating physical mannerisms of the real people. Jobs was a historical figure. His life was really Shakespearean.”

Adapting a book into a screenplay can be challenging in and of itself, but it can be further challenging when the book is a biography. Examples of book to screen adaptations based on a real person include The Aviator, Schindler’s List, Ray,The King’s Speech, Lincoln, Raging Bull, 12 Years a Slave, American Sniper, Frida, Wild, and Straight Outa Compton.

Jeff Daniels and Walter Issacson

Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network (for which he received the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay) shares similarities to the script for Steve Jobs; The Social Network is about the behind-the-scenes of the founding of Facebook and Steve Jobs is a behind the scenes look at the founder of Apple.

The structure of the Steve Jobs screenplay is literally set in three distinct acts — each taking place backstage at a major iconic product launch — the Macintosh in 1984, NeXT in 1988, and the unveiling of the iMac in 1998.

Sorkin: “It started from Walter’s book. I know what I wanted to do and what I didn’t want to do and that was a biopic. That was a cradle-to-grave structure that audiences are so familiar with and I didn’t want to land on all the greatest hits.”

“I like claustrophobic spaces. I like compressed periods of time. I like the ticking clock. I like things that are behind the scenes, in this case literally behind the scenes. I wondered if I could take all of the work Walter had done (in his biography) and if there was a way to dramatize the points of friction in Steve’s life and dramatize it in this way. I identified five or six conflicts in Steve’s life and have those conflicts play themselves out in these scenes backstage—in places where they didn’t take place.”

When adapting a book into a screenplay, find the shape of the story and the story arc. One major plot element in this film that drives the engine of the narrative forward is Steve Jobs’ initial denial of paternity of his daughter, Lisa. The story arc is Steve finding his way to being a father to her by the end.

Unless you are writing a documentary, there are liberties to be taken. Fictionalizing events, combining several characters into one, and reorganizing the time lines are just some of the elements that can be employed in the adapting process. Consider what makes the main character in the biography interesting to you and what elements of the story you find engaging. Use the answers to these questions as your jumping off point. Find the essence of the story you are adapting and bring your characters to their new lives in your screenplay.

From Steve Jobs:

STEVE JOBS
Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.

More articles by Susan Kouguell

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Su-City Pictures East, LLC

Screenplay & Film Consulting By Susan Kouguell

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