Full Description
Austin Film Festival (AFF) is the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer's creative contribution to film. Its annual Film Festival and Conference offers screenings, panels, workshops, and roundtable discussions that help new writers and filmmakers connect with mentors and gain advice and insight from masters, as well as refreshing veterans with new ideas. To extend the Festival's reach, AFF produces On Story, a television series currently airing on PBS-affiliated stations and streaming online that presents footage of high-caliber artists talking candidly and provocatively about the art and craft of screenwriting and filmmaking, often using examples from their own films.
This book distills the advice of renowned, award-winning screenwriters who have appeared on On Story, including John Lee Hancock, Peter Hedges, Lawrence Kasdan, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Randall Wallace. In their own lively words and stories transcribed from interviews and panel discussions, they cover the entire development of a screenplay, from inspiration, story, process, structure, characters, and dialogue to rewriting and collaboration. Their advice is fresh, practical, and proven-these writers know how to tell a story on screen. Enjoy this collection of ideas and use it to jumpstart your own screenwriting career.
Contents
Foreword by Brian Helgeland
Acknowledgments
Screenwriter Biographies
Introduction by Barbara Morgan
I. Inspiration
A Conversation with Randall Wallace
II. Story
What Makes a Great Story: A Conversation with Bill Wittliff
Steven Zaillian on Where the Story Originates
Peter Hedges on Crafting Story
Lawrence Kasdan on Story and Theme
III. Process
A Conversation with John Lee Hancock
Sacha Gervasi on Getting Started
The Basics with Nicholas Kazan
Advice from Bill Wittliff
Anne Rapp's Writing Routine
Caroline Thompson's Writing Process
Lawrence Kasdan on the Challenges of Writing
IV. Structure
Structure and Format: A Conversation with Frank Pierson, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Nicholas Kazan
Caroline Thompson on Structure
Lawrence Kasdan on the Rules of Script Formatting
Visual Storytelling: A Conversation with John August, John Lee Hancock, and Randall Wallace
V. Character and Dialogue
Building Characters and Mapping Their Journeys: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan and Anne Rapp
Nicholas Kazan on Writing Characters
Crafting Characters: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan
Dialogue and Finding the Voice: A Conversation with John August and John Lee Hancock
VI. Rewriting
Writer's Block: A Conversation with Bud Shrake and Bill Wittliff
Bill Wittliff on When to Let Something Go
Steven Zaillian on Defining Scenes: What to Keep In, What to Leave Out
Anne Rapp on Keeping the Writing Fresh
Nicholas Kazan's Rewriting Process
On Rewriting: A Conversation with Daniel Petrie, Jr., Peter Hedges, and Sacha Gervasi
Lawrence Kasdan on How You Know When You're Done
VII. Collaboration
A Conversation with Steven Zaillian
Peter Hedges on Collaborating
Lawrence Kasdan on Writing with a Partner
Randall Wallace on Working with Other Writers
VIII. Go Forth
