the proposal - case study

This weekend the number one movie in America is The Proposal. Whenever a movie like this makes it to number one I like to go out and see it, preferably with an opening weekend audience. The reason is, I'm trying to understand the anatomy of a number one movie. Particularly one where I'm so turned off by the trailer and concept.
To get myself in the mood I listened to the Creative Screenwriting podcast interview with the writer Pete Chiarelli. The one thing that struck me about his interview was how he kept stressing the true emotional backstory of his two main characters. They were very much based on people he knew and understood. He based the Sandra Bullock character on people he knows from the intertainment industry (himself having been a development executive). She is more than just the "evil boss" she has a human side that slowly emerges over time. This "thawing out" is, I think, what brought the audience in. They want to see an emotional story and what better premise than the evil boss who learns to be human? This lesson, being human, has a life or death quality to it. Who will she be if she doesn't learn this lesson: lonely, bitter, angry, depleated. It is a kind of living death facing her. Heavy stuff, right? Yes, I'm still talking about The Proposal.
So this emotional story... in the case of this film comes second to the CLEAR AND OBVIOUS concept. You see the poster or the trailer you have no questions about this movie. What is it? Agressive boss forces her assistant to marry her so she can stay in the country. (Her character is from Canada.) How do you think it ends? They fall in love, of course. Everything you expect to see is in this movie but in a slightly different package than you expected. I think the clear and obvious concept is what got people to go see this.
The third component that makes this movie a hit is the chemistry between the actors playing the main characters. Now as a writer you can't really make this part happen. However, what you can do is write a role a star or stars will want to play. In this case the role was attractive and allowed both actors to look good, be noble, learn lessons, have moments, reveal vulnerabilities -- in short, the works. Lots of stuff for them to do and look good doing.
Before you think I've lost my mind, talking about The Proposal like it's The Seventh Seal or something, this movie is terrible. The script is lazy and sloppy. The characters speak the subtext at the drop of a hat. The set pieces are uninspired, unimaginative and insulting. And let me tell you the audience I saw it with was laughing like they'd never seen anything funnier or cuter in their lives. Are they stupid? No, just undescerning. This works in favor of mediocrity. I used to say "you can't fake mediocrity" meaning that you can try to write poorly in an effort to be commercial but it won't work unless you're truly mediocre. I've had a bit of a realization, though. What you can't fake is heart. This film, as bad as it is, has lots and lots of heart. Vulnerable woman needs love. She's desperate. She realizes she's forced this guy to LIE to his family, feels terrible and reverses course to save him. Not to mention him, he has noble ambitions, pursuit of a job editing LITERATURE. He LOVES his family and it pains him to hurt them. There's also a father who LOVES and misses his son, but is too wrapped up in control and approval to show it. Love, love, love and lots of heart. I didn't have to dig for this heart, it was there ladled on sloppy and thick. The genius of Peter Chiarelli is that as a development executive, he learned what people want: Heart, Characters, Clear and Obvious concept.
Now there's no reason a movie can't be good and have LOTS AND LOTS of heart. But make no mistake, as I've said before, heart is not an easy thing to do... Especially if you're all dead inside like me.

yesterday's news

Okay, so Brick (the movie) is a few years old now but the writer/director Rian Johnson has a site up where you can download the script with annotations and an illustrated novella (his original source material). If you're feeling ambitious or just wanting to kill some time it's worth checking out. I heard about all of this on the Creative Screenwriting Podcast interview with him in support of his new movie Brother's Bloom.
Speaking of Independent Film (and the death thereof), there are two movies you should check out this week if possible: Moon and Food Inc.

the treatment podcast

I've gotten a lot out of KCRW's The Treatment podcast. It's a lot like the HLMS. Though you can't ask questions, you can download it and take it with you.

I found this interview with Russell Brand particularly inspiring.

where have i seen this before?

Completely unrelated to writing, though helpful in understanding irony.

Here is the statue at the American Cemetery in Normandy France honoring war dead.
And here is a statue at the Americana Mall in Glendale honoring spending money.

opportunity fellowships

My former student Gil McDonald put together a list of fellowships that he applied for. I have copied them below for your reference. I love these kinds of things- contests and the like. Even if you don't get them they force you to rethink your application materials (usually a script)

CBS Writers Mentoring Program:
The Writers Mentoring Program is not employment and there is no monetary compensation. It is, instead, a structured program of career development, support, and personal access to executives and decision-making processes, with the goal of preparing aspiring writers for later employment opportunities in television.

Each participant will be teamed with two different mentors.

• One is a show mentor who is a senior-level writer on a current CBS drama or comedy series. This relationship builds over the course of the Program and is focused on helping the participant with creative feedback on their writing as well as help and advice on career goals.
  
• The other is a CBS network or studio executive with whom they will meet on a regular basis, to discuss their work, get creative feedback on their material and get advice and support in furthering their career.
  

Once a week, participants will be invited to attend a small workshop-style meeting with various CBS show runners and other industry professionals. Speakers include executive producers, agents, managers, development and current executives and others. The purpose of these gatherings is for participants to gain a better understanding of how the business works from many different perspectives as well as creating the opportunity to make critical networking connections.


WB Writing Program:

For over 30 years, the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop has been the premier writing program for new writers looking to start and further their career in the world of television. The list of graduates who have gone on to do great things is long: Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Greg Garcia (My Name Is Earl) and Felicia Henderson (Soul Food) to name a few. Every year, the Workshop selects up to 10 participants out of almost 1,000 submissions and exposes them to Warner Bros. Television’s top writers and executives, all with the ultimate goal of earning them a staff position on a Warner Bros.


ABC Disney Fellowship:

Fellows become employees of Disney | ABC Television Group and will be paid a weekly salary of $961.54 ($50,000.00 annualized) plus any applicable benefits for which they are eligible in accordance with the then-current Company benefits plans. The program is designed to expose aspiring writers to key executives, producers and literary representatives – all essential in the pursuit of a writing career. Additionally, while in the program, fellows have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a current programming or development executive to create spec scripts of series from the current broadcast season. The ultimate goal is to prepare and nurture the fellows for a writing career.

heart attack

I've long had this upsetting theory that shows like Two And A Half Men and movies like Click work because they're mediocre. Like, maybe being crappy enough is the key. Is that the problem? But no, we've all written crappy scripts. That's not how it works. Plus, you can't fake mediocrity as I like to say. John Waters says, "I tried to sell out but nobody was buying."
I had drinks with an executive last week and I asked her about this. The Click phenomenon. What makes Click, click? She said it's heart. Heart being shorthand for deep emotional content. We go to movies to feel something. What she said is basically; it doesn't matter if the script is good or bad so long as it has heart. Curious. And the reality is heart is not easy to do. I've been writing for fifteen years, I've been teaching for five and heart is not easy to do. So... what does this mean? That Click isn't a bad movie? Sort of. It's not my thing. The concept feels vulgar and insulting to my intelligence. But I'm almost certain that if I watched it I'd feel something at the end. No, not rage, but that choked up feeling. How do I know? Because I watched the similarly retarded Ghost Town on an airplane, half paying attention, headphones askew, in a Xanax fog and at the end of that film I felt choked up by the resolution. WTF!? Ghost Town! I know!
The fact is, the writers of Ghost Town achieved the ever elusive heart. The fact that they had a clear marketable concept and perhaps a couple of major actors attached helped, but it's the heart of the thing that turns those red lights green.
So how do you get heart into your script? That is not an easy question to answer. It takes skill, craft, luck and an eye for emotional detail. It takes sensitivity, life experience, a willingness to suspend cynicism and world weary pretense. It takes effort and hard work won through trial and error. It will not be easy. Get to work!

book report

I just got my copy of "Elephant Bucks" from Amazon. I haven't had a chance to read much of it yet, though it comes highly recommended.  It's by Sheldon Bull, a 30 year veteran of sit-com writing. It arrives at an interesting time; I was reading an article today about how TV is facing a crisis moment as Internet distribution takes off. Cable companies are demanding that studios not release their shows to the web but then if the studios don't, fans with time on their hands will. Bit of a Catch 22.

Anyone with eyes in their head can see what's coming; people want to watch what they want, when they want, on any platform possible. Resistance is futile.

All that to say, I actually think now is a great time to develop CHEAP content for television. Run a multi-cam show out of your living room for fun and profit.