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Screenplay & Film Consulting By Susan Kouguell

Category: SCRIPT MAGAZINE ARTICLES (page 11 of 13)

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

November 23, 2015 / / Comments Off on HBO’s “Getting On” Will Scheffer talks collaboration, adaptation, the characters’ evolution & more (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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

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

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

November 4, 2015 / / Comments Off on What Producers are Really Thinking and Talking About (for SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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

What Producers Are Really Thinking and Talking About by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine

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

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 24: Gary Lucchesi speaks with producers Meryl Poster, Donna Gigliotti, Michael Travers and Paula Weinstein during the PGA Produced By: New York Conference at Time Warner Center on October 24, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Producers Guild of America)

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

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 24: Karol Martesko-Fenster speaks during the PGA Produced By: New York Conference at Time Warner Center on October 24, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Producers Guild of America)

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.

 

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

October 23, 2015 / / Comments Off on ‘Suffragette Screenwriter’ Abi Morgan and ‘The Assassin’ Writer/Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien on Adapting Historical Events (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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

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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

SUFFRAGETTE 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.

Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien

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

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Aaron Sorkin on Adapting STEVE JOBS (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

October 14, 2015 / / Comments Off on Aaron Sorkin on Adapting STEVE JOBS (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

Aaron Sorkin on Adapting the Film ‘Steve Jobs’

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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

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 Walter Issacson

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.

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Director Robert Zemeckis Talks ‘The Walk’ and Adaptation (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

October 6, 2015 / / Comments Off on Director Robert Zemeckis Talks ‘The Walk’ and Adaptation (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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Director Robert Zemeckis Talks 'The Walk' and Adaptation by Susan Kouguell | Script MagazineDirector Robert Zemeckis at THE WALK New York Film Festival Press Screening

At the recent New York Film Festival press screening of The Walk, director Robert Zemeckis spoke about adapting his film for the screen.  Based on the book To Reach the Clouds by Philippe Petit (the tightrope walker), The Walk is written by Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne.

Zemeckis:  “I came upon the children’s book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers; it had eight pages of illustrations.”

Written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein in 2003, the book recounts Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the top of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

Zemeckis: “I started developing this project and Philippe’s story, almost 10 years ago, way before the documentary ‘Man on Wire’ was made. It was a great documentary; it lets you in to see what all the real characters were thinking and how they did this, but the thing I always wanted to do was Philippe’s story. I wanted to present the walk itself, and of course it couldn’t be done in the documentary because there were no moving pictures of the walk ever recorded.”

In researching Petit’s true life story, Zemeckis found a passionate and driven character who performed the walk because he had to, purely for self-expression.

Zemeckis: “Petit is an anarchist who pulled off an artistic coup.”

Finding the dramatic elements of the story

There were all the elements in this real life story and in the children’s book already built-in for a compelling screenplay: a unique protagonist and his unlikely gang of international recruits to help make the actual walk a reality.  It’s a caper film, except there is no theft.  The adventurous goal that drives the narrative forward is for the protagonist and his gang, to plan, execute, and to survive the walk between the Twin Towers.

What to Keep and What to Cut

There were some elements from the actual coup that that were condensed, such as in real life, Petit made eight crossings, but in the film he does six.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

In the film, Petit’s character, speaking from a perch on the Statue of Liberty, talks directly to the screen, a choice Zemeckis says he made to keep the audience emotionally connected to Petit in order to convey how his character is feeling.

Zemeckis: “All artists are anarchists in some ways, some more extreme than others.”

Screenwriting is — and forgive the metaphor — like walking a tightrope. There are only so pages you have to convey your compelling story and characters, as you make every word count.  It is always a balancing act, deciding what to include and what to cut from the original source material, while conveying the strongest elements of the story onto the page in an engaging and unique way.

Go forth on the screenwriting tightrope and bring out your inner artistic anarchist!

More articles by Susan Kouguell

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World-Building & the World of ‘The Lobster’ at NY Film Festival (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

October 2, 2015 / / Comments Off on World-Building & the World of ‘The Lobster’ at NY Film Festival (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

World-Building and the World of The Lobster

by Susan Kouguell

Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos Lanthimos – writer and director THE LOBSTER

Building the world of your screenplay, brick by proverbial brick, means effectively establishing your settings, exploring the look, feel, and atmosphere, and demonstrating how your characters relate (or don’t relate) to the various environs they are in.  The reader needs to step into the world you have created with a complete understanding it. The more plausible and/or logical things are, the more real your world will be for the film executive to want to turn the page.

Most screenplays occur in some type of different world. Whether your characters exist in an altered state in the past or present, or if the other world is a metaphor, or even if your story is set in a real place or imagined, the world you are creating should be original and yes, different.

Yorgos Lanthimos: “The idea came from things we observed around us; conditions, situations. We wanted to do something about relationships and how people are under so much pressure to be successful in that, and how other people view them or make them feel.

Let’s step into the very different world of the dark comedy The Lobster directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, screenplay by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou.

The Lobster: Set in the very near future, society demands that people live as couples. Single people are rounded up and sent to a seaside compound—part resort and part minimum-security prison where they are given a finite number of days to find a match. If they don’t succeed, they will be “altered” and turned into animals. The recently divorced David arrives at The Hotel with his brother, now a dog; in the event of failure, David has chosen to become a lobster… because they live so long. When David falls in love, he’s up against a new set of rules established by another, rebellious order: for romantics, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

At the recent 2015 New York Film Festival press screening, Yorgos Lanthimos talked about the inspiration and creation for building the world of his new film.

Yorgos Lanthimos: “The idea came from things we observed around us; conditions, situations. We wanted to do something about relationships and how people are under so much pressure to be successful in that, and how other people view them or make them feel. And, how much pressure we put ourselves under, doing what we’re supposed to be doing. We were not interested in representing reality; we were interested in structuring a world that has particular rules that can give us a situation we can explore.

We started with the rules, the restrictions, and the pressure of being alone. If you don’t make it what happens to you then? After we set up the premise: what would the leadership of the world do if they wanted to present, for example, what happens to the losers, how they could do it in a way that is a bit positive instead of killing them?  That’s how we arrived for them to become animals; it has a positive side. We were interested in the irony of someone who tries to escape this kind of system, and in the end, constructs another one that is slightly different but essentially somewhat similar. People in reality follow completely absurd rules, like in the film. Years go by and you just don’t question the rules.

We are precise what we are showing, but beyond that, you can ask questions and go either way, and that’s what excites me.  You can imagine a bigger world and how it works.”

Writing a savvy screenplay requires a complete understanding of the reality of the fictional world you are creating. Readers need to suspend disbelief and jump into your screenplay with full understanding and awesome wonder. Original and unique worlds will set your script apart from the other screenplays, vying for attention from film executives.

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Top Five Tips on Writing About Family Relationships (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

August 20, 2015 / / Comments Off on Top Five Tips on Writing About Family Relationships (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

Top Five Tips on Writing About Family Relationships

by Susan Kouguell

When one thinks about the word “family” many reactions quickly come to mind. There is the genuine, heartfelt response: “I have the best family ever” – to — “Oy vey. Don’t ask.” Every family has a story to tell. And every family relationship differs.

This is all true in real life, and it’s true in the world you are creating in your screenplay. Regardless of the genre you’re writing in, familial relationships should be conveyed with poignancy and depth.

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.

Top Five Tips on Writing About Family Relationships by Susan Kouguell | Script Magazine

Complex mother/daughter relationships are depicted in such films as Terms of Endearment (written and directed by James L. Brooks), as seen in the stubborn and independence-seeking Emma and her possessive widowed mother Aurora, and in Mildred Pierce, (directed by Michael Curtiz, screenplay by Ranald MacDougall) in which Mildred, an overly devoted and hardworking mother, sacrifices everything for Veda, her spoiled, ungrateful, and insufferable daughter.

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.

Complicated sibling relationships are portrayed in such films as The Skeleton Twins (directed by Craig Johnson, screenplay by Mark Heyman, Craig Johnson), East of Eden (directed by Elia Kazan, screenplay by Paul Osborn), in which rival brothers, Cal—the unappreciated, insecure loner—and his twin, the dutiful and favored son, Aron—compete for their devoutly religious and self-righteous father’s love. In Sweetie (written and directed by Jane Campion) the emotionally unstable, self-centered, overtly sexual, and manipulative Dawn (known as Sweetie) brings chaos and hurt to the lives of her parents and her sister, Kay—who, wrought with her own set of emotional issues, despises Sweetie for creating unrelenting trouble for their dysfunctional family yet is the only one, who attempts to save her life at the end.

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.

Top Five Tips

  1. EMPATHY: Characters’ relationships with family members must be empathetic. Readers need to feel something for your characters’ relationships whether it’s love or hate; they need to understand their dynamics, as to why they get along or don’t get along.
  2. CONFLICT: Regardless of the genre you are writing in, agreements and disagreements, discords and disharmony, must be conveyed in a way that readers gain an understanding of what’s causing the root of their issues.
  3. MAKE THEM HUMAN: Even if your characters are nonhuman (such as the father/son relationship in Finding Nemo) – humanize your characters by giving them identifiable histories, vulnerabilities, 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 must have clear and plausible motivations that give insight into who they are and the actions they take.
  5. ATTITUDE: Characters must have specific attitudes towards each other. Show how your characters view themselves, relate to others or don’t fit in with their family members.

In real life and in the movies, and in comedies and dramas, successfully drawn family relationships can offer insight, truths, nods of understanding, if not a few chuckles along the way.

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CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY TIPS (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

July 28, 2015 / / Comments Off on CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY TIPS (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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10 Tips for Successful Character Biographies

by Susan Kouguell

Who are these people? What do they want? What do they need?

Why do they exist in this story? Why should I care? What time’s lunch?

These are just some of the questions film executives are pondering as they read your script. The latter question – about lunch – is equally important. Why? Because if they’re thinking about something other than your script then it’s time to think more about your characters.

Readers demand a strong understanding of who your characters are. They want your characters to ring true. They want to know why your characters are taking the actions they do in your screenplay. They want to find that winning script. But if you don’t fully develop your characters you increase your chances exponentially of having your script rejected.

Successful characters are multi-dimensional with distinctive physical attributes, emotional traits, appearances, personalities, intelligence, vulnerabilities, emotions, attitudes, idiosyncrasies, and hopes and dreams. Writing successful characters also means digging deep into their past and present.

There are several ways in which to delve into characters, such as writing character biographies in the first person – your character’s voice. (I offer various templates and examples in my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays!). Use whichever exercise works best for you and your writing style. Whether you’re writing your first draft or nearing your final polish, continue to dig deep into your characters’ minds and souls.

For me, I find that taking the time to write character bios at each major draft of my screenplay, strengthens both my characters and my plot. I always advise my students and Su-City clients to write character bios — and while they try to hide their rolling eyes or deep sighs (I know what they’re thinking…I just want to write my screenplay) — I have to say, once they write the bios there’s always that big AHA moment, and they agree that it was worth it. Their characters are stronger. They’ve gained more insights into their plots. And the result? A better screenplay.

10 Tips for Your Character Biographies

These tips can be used for each of your main characters and for your significant minor characters:

  1. Empathy: What elements make my characters likeable and unlikable?
  2. Character Arcs: How do my characters evolve in the beginning, middle, and end of the script, as they attempt to achieve their goals? What do my characters learn about themselves and others, and what do my characters gain or lose, as the plot unfolds?
  3. Goals: What are my characters’ main goals, and hopes and dreams, and why are these important to my characters? How do my characters plan to achieve these goals?
  4. Obstacles: What are my characters’ roadblocks, problems, and hurdles that they must overcome to achieve their goals?
  5. Multi-dimensional: What are my characters specific emotional, mental, physical, and/or social behaviors, idiosyncrasies and traits? How do my characters see themselves and how do they relate to others?
  6. Motivations: What are the underlying reasons that motivate my characters to make critical and specific decisions?
  7. Flaws: What are my characters’ shortcomings and weaknesses?
  8. Vulnerabilities: What are my characters’ Achilles’ heel?
  9. Attitude: How do my characters really feel about themselves and others?
  10. Characters’ pasts influence their present: What are the events in my characters’ pasts, such as schooling, home life, employment, and/or trauma that have significantly molded them to be the person they are today?

Now, imagine yourself seated with a film executive across a table at a fine restaurant. You are both discussing what to order for lunch. And what are you thinking? The executive loves my script and is paying for this expensive meal. I can order anything I want!

– See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/10-tips-successful-character-biographies#sthash.y1LIV8Pk.dpuf

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Writing the Music Documentary (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

July 16, 2015 / / Comments Off on Writing the Music Documentary (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

Tips for Writing the Music Documentary Film

by Susan Kouguell

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In this past year, three very different documentaries, portraying a musical artist have been released: What Happened, Miss Simone? directed by Liz Garbus, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck directed by Brett Morgen, and A Poem is a Naked Person directed by Les Blank.

These three musical artists, Nina Simone, Kurt Cobain, and Leon Russell are as diverse as are the ways in which these directors conveyed their respective subjects. While some very broad comparisons can be made in some choices made (for example the use of archival footage in Garbus and Morgen’s films, and the use of concert footage in all three films), the more specific comparisons can be found in the fact that each director has a unique vision and voice.

music documentary
In my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! I write:

Documentaries can be written, using the traditional 3-act structure or in a nontraditional narrative format. The use of stock film footage, “talking heads” (interviewees’ faces discussing the subject matter), voice-over narration, animation, photographs, live action, and so on, are some examples of the tools used to convey the narrative.

Rather than cover every biographical detail of their subjects’ lives, Garbus, Morgen and Blank, allow their subjects to tell their own story through their own words and music, in conventional and nonconventional ways. In Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, original animation was produced and incorporated into the film, to illustrate important moments in Cobain’s life, using Cobain’s artwork, photography, journals and family photographs as inspiration.

Garbus allows the late Nina Simone to convey her story, in part, through concert footage shot during the course of her career. These moments show Simone speaking and playing to the audience, revealing both her personal fragility and phenomenal talent as a musician.

The late director Les Blank employs a nontraditional narrative cinema vérité approach of his subject Leon Russell, during a time (the 1970s), and place (rural Oklahoma juxtaposed with a state-of-the-art music studio). Rather than revealing Russell’s biographical background, the film offers glimpses of Russell’s concerts, rehearsals, friends, and neighbors in an abstract collage.

Tips:

  1. Immerse yourself in the music. Research the artist and his or her music in order to gain a complete understanding of your topic.
  2. Keep an open mind to what you might discover as you research and shoot. Some filmmakers begin with one narrative idea for their film, but find that along the way that idea changes, as more material is unearthed either through archival finds or interviews.
  3. As you develop your ideas and your interview questions for your subjects, determine what your significant message is, who the main ‘characters’ are and how they will bring light to your topic.
  4. Listen carefully to your interviewees, they might reveal new information and offer unexpected and exciting insights about your subject matter.
  5. Watch documentaries that share your sensibility to give you inspiration.

What Happened, Miss Simone? directed by Liz Garbus is currently playing in theaters and on Netflix, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is in limited release in theaters, as well as A Poem is a Naked Person.

 

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Top Ten Tips for Writing Memorable Minor Characters (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

June 30, 2015 / / Comments Off on Top Ten Tips for Writing Memorable Minor Characters (SCRIPT MAGAZINE)

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Top Ten Tips for Writing Memorable Minor Characters

by Susan Kouguell

Film industry folks are always looking for compelling and  attention-grabbing protagonists and antagonists in a well-crafted screenplay. That, fellow screenwriters, is not really ground-breaking news, but there is a consistent grievance that echoes the halls of studios and production companies throughout the land. Actually, it’s a consistent complaint. It’s all about those ignored minor characters also known as supporting characters.
The complaints go something like this: “These characters are dull, interchangeable, one-dimensional, predictable, stereotypical…”
What happens next? The screenplay is rejected. The writer is not considered for writing assignments. It’s a sad day in screenplay land.
Supporting characters can and should be memorable. For example: In All About Eve, (written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz) minor character Birdie Coonan helps to propel the narrative forward by expressing her doubts about antagonist Eve Harrington’s intentions to protagonist Margo Channing. Birdie Coonan is memorable because she is also distinct; she’s direct and doesn’t mince words.
In my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! I analyze Betty, a memorable minor character and her arc in Five Easy Pieces directed by Bob Rafelson, screenplay by Adrien Joyce.
In this film, protagonist Bobby Dupea abandoned his promising career as a concert pianist and now works as an oil rigger in the California oil fields. After hearing from his sister that his father is dying, Bobby returns to his wealthy, cultured family’s Washington home where he attempts to reconcile with his father, falls for his brother’s sophisticated wife, and later abandons his brash but well-meaning live-in girlfriend, Rayette.
Betty, a minor character, who appears in only three scenes, advances the narrative by providing subtle insights about Bobby. (This is also an example of the rule of threes. This rule can be applied to a specific action that occurs at three different times during the film or to a character, who appears three times in the film. In the rule of threes, the third time the action or dialogue is seen or heard again, there is a variation from the first two times.)

'Five Easy Pieces'

 

Betty’s First Scene: The Set Up
Betty and her friend, Twinky, meet and flirt with Bobby in the bowling alley where they are playing in an adjacent lane. During Betty and Bobby’s dialogue exchange, Betty reveals that she has taken on a new identity separate from her childhood when she tells him that her real name is Shirley but she is called Betty: (Like Bobby, she has taken on a new identity separate from her childhood.) Although Bobby’s girlfriend, Rayette, is waiting for him outside in their car, Bobby flirts back. Betty’s new identity is a significant clue to Bobby’s character; he is portrayed as a working-class guy, but in fact, his family is wealthy, and was a concert pianist.

Betty’s Second Scene: The Build
Singing and partying with another couple, Betty, bouncing on Bobby’s lap, recounts a childhood incident with her mother, which also foreshadows Bobby’s estranged and complicated relationship with his father. 

Betty’s Third Scene: The Resolution
Betty and Bobby have no dialogue while they have sex. Bobby is seen being unfaithful to Rayette, which shows rather than tells the audience about his character. It also sets up Bobby’s infidelity when he later returns to his family’s home and has an affair with his brother’s wife while Rayette is waiting for him in the motel.

Top Ten Memorable Minor Character Tips

  1. Use minor characters to propel your plot forward.
  2. Minor characters can act as a sounding board, a mirror to the protagonist’s soul, and/or knowingly or unknowingly assist your protagonist in achieving his or her goal.
  3. Minor characters can help advance the protagonist’s storyline forward, reveal information, and/or give additional insight about major characters, including back-story, which will help you to avoid writing exposition.
  4. Use minor characters to assist in creating or reinforcing the mood and tone of your script, and to give color to the world you have created.
  5. Utilize minor characters to further reveal the atmosphere and era of your setting.
  6. Minor characters can bring a different perspective to your story.
  7. Minor characters can prevent your protagonist from running away from a problem or encourage your protagonist not to run away.
  8. Take advantage of your minor characters by having them provide insight into your main characters’ storylines.
  9. Minor characters’ behaviors, attitudes and idiosyncrasies, will help to set the tone of a scene.
  10. Each minor character in your screenplay must serve a purpose, otherwise cut them.

Take the time to develop your minor characters as you do your major characters. Don’t give film industry executives more to complain about!

 

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